Twelve Girls Band

China has a long musical history. Many of its instruments can trace their origins back thousands of years. Yet, they remain mostly unknown to the outside world. Things took a different turn in June of 2001.

A Chinese band called "The Twelve Girls Band" released its first album, "Beautiful Energy." Its members are talented musicians who have specialized in various types of Chinese musical instruments. For example, they play the pipa, a pear-shaped, four-stringed lute. They play the erhu, a two-stringed fiddle. They play the dizi, a bamboo flute. They play the yangqin, a hammered dulcimer. And they play the guzheng, a zither with 12-26 strings. The Twelve Girls Band uses these and many other traditional Chinese musical instruments to perform classical, pop, jazz, and folk songs. The group's new take on music is unusual and refreshing. Right away, the band became a hit. Millions of albums have been sold worldwide.

In August of 2004, The Twelve Girls Band turned its focus to the U.S. It released an album called "Eastern Energy." Like all its previous albums, this one got great reviews. The album sold very well in the U.S. During its first week of release, "Eastern Energy" was ranked #62 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. That was the highest ranking debut of an Asian artist in the history of the Billboard Top 200. "Eastern Energy" was also ranked #1 on the World Music chart!