Banhu
The banhu (板胡, pinyin: bǎnhú) is a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It has a history of ovr 300 years and is used primarily in northern China. Ban means a piece of wood and hu is short for huqin.
Like the more familiar erhu and gaohu, the banhu has two strings, is held vertically, and the bow hair passes in between the two strings. The banhu differs in construction from the erhu in that its soundbox is generally made from a coconut shell rather than wood, and instead of a snakeskin that is commonly used to cover the faces of huqin instruments, the banhu uses a thin wooden board.
The banhu is sometimes also called "banghu," because it is often used in bangzi opera of northern China, such as Qinqiang from Shaanxi province.
Famous Banhu Pieces:
《大起板, Strike the board!》（何彬编曲composer: He Bin）、
《翻身的日子The Days after Being Emancipated》（朱践耳曲Composer: Zhu Jianer）、
《大姑娘美Beautiful the Girl》（彭修文编曲Composer: Peng Xiuwen）、
《秦腔牌子曲Numbers in Qinqiang Opera》（郭富团编曲Composer: Guo Futuan）、《马车在田野上奔驰The Cart Runs in the Fields》（葛炎曲，刘明源、徐连曾改编Composer: Ge Yan, Revision: Liu Mingyuan, Xu Lianzeng）、
《月牙五更In the Small Hours》（东北民歌，刘明源改编Northeast Folk Song, revised by Liu Mingyuan）、
《丰收乐Happiness for Bumper Harvest》（刘明源曲Composer: Liu Mingyuan）、《哥哥回来了Brother Is Back》（张长城、原野曲Composer: Zhang Zicheng, Yuanye）、
《春城节日Spring City Festival》（周其昌、丁永盛曲Composer: Zhou Qichang, Ding Yongsheng）.
