Chinese piano concerto No. 1 ... in underground car park

Music students in southwest China have transformed an underground car park at a market into a venue to practise for their piano exams, according to a newspaper report.

Seven second-hand pianos that were on display to attract potential customers at a nearby piano shop in Chengdu have been rented by a training school to help students sit the entrance exams for the nearby Sichuan Conservatory of Music, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported.

Students started practising on the pianos piled with dust this month from 7am to 5pm, a car park ticket collector told the newspaper

An 18-year-old student from Zhejiang province hoping to be admitted to the music education department of the conservatory said she had been practising in the car park since January 9 to prepare for the exam.

“On one hand, it’s very close to the music school. On the other, the underground car park is much warmer,” the student was quoted as saying.

She said she did not mind the parked cars and enjoyed the atmosphere of students busy working together.

A member of staff at the training school which rented the pianos said students also preferred practising in the car park as residents were not disturbed by the noise.