Rdo rje don 'grub bought the flute in Xining City in 2010 for fifty RMB. The flute was made of bamboo. The flute player commented that in the past that was made from a vulture bone. When he wanted to learn how to pay the flute, he gave a piece of silk cloth to an old man. The flute teacher had married a woman because he was a gifted flute player. Given the lack of electricity (TV), his flute playing was much sought after by others in summer and autumn. When asked to play, Snyan grags had not played the flute for more than twenty years. However, after a short time of practice, he then said he remembered most of what he had played before. Snyan grags commented that during the 1960s (?) he had learned to play such popular revolutionary melodies as The East is Red (Dongfang hong). He is literate in Tibetan and illiterate in Chinese. He has very limited ability to communicate in oral Chinese.