Photo shows the Tibetan eagle flute, which is made of  the wing bone of vulture, a magic and divine bird in the eyes of Tibetans. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Tseten with his cherished eagle flute in hand during an interview on May 28, 2012 [Photo/China Tibet Online]

"This is the only eagle flute performed on stages at home and abroad", said Tibetan leading flutist Tseten, as he took out a tailor-made silver box from his hand bag and carefully fetched out his flute wrapped in a red handkerchief.

Tseten was excited the night before he performed in a Tibet-themed concert titled Spring in Tibet on May 29, when he would show his Tibetan eagle flute to the audience in Beijing at China's prominent National Center for the Performance Arts.

Whenever playing the eagle flute, in fact, Tseten felt very proud, not because he had made the instrument himself, but due to his rescue of a dying treasured art in Tibet with over 1,700 years history by his unremitting efforts.

Tseten has been playing the flute since he made the musical instrument in 1997, but he is still searching for the vulture bone, rare material for flute making.

The unique eagle flute is made of the wing bone of vulture, a magic and divine bird in the eyes of Tibetans.

Once played by Tibetan herdsmen in pastoral areas including Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan and Gansu, the eagle flute was threatened by extinction because of the lack of hard-to-find vulture bones, the remains of vultures which are generally found on mountains at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.

Tseten had never seen any eagle flute before he was 40 years old, though he loved playing various flutes and heard about eagle flute in his teenage.

Tseten became team leader in the orchestra of Tibet Drama Troupe in Lhasa after he studied as a bamboo flute major in the Central Institute for Nationalities in Beijing and graduated in 1969.

As a professional flutist, Tseten showed his talent in art skills, but he had been pondering about making an eagle flute, bringing the genuine Tibetan instrument to stages.

Tseten was lucky enough to find three vulture bones in northern Tibet’s Nagqu Prefecture with the help of his relatives in 1986.

Tseten dared not to hastily make any processing on the hard-won bones until he saw a real eagle flute for the first time in pastoral area of southwest China's Qinghai province in 1992 at the age of 40.

Imitating the eagle flute he saw from a Tibetan herdsman, Tseten finished the first eagle flute and he performed with it across Tibet.

The eagle flute sounded clear and melodious, which could be used for various performances.

"It is a genuine Tibetan musical instrument apart from the well-known Zanian, a Tibetan guitar", said Tseten with emotion, who has impressed audiences with his eagle flute playing in over 20 countries around the world, including Canada, Belgium, Span and Thailand. 

Asked for the reaction of foreign audiences, Tseten said with a laugh that the audience in Thailand praised his flute as "magic flute in Tibet".

Praises from audiences across the world gave the Tibetan flutist greater faith in carrying forward the unique Tibetan art.

As for inheritance, Tseten also thought a lot even though he was busy with various performances.

On one hand, Tseten has kept searching for vulture bones; on the other hand, he plans to teach a few apprentices.

Tseten applied for Tibetan Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2011 for the eagle flute, feeling delighted about the try, and he was eager to see the assessment result to be announced later this year.

The old artist has been pondering how to inherit and develop the treasured Tibetan musical instrument during his spare time, especially before his retirement in a year or so.  

 Tseten was playing eagle flute during a dress rehearsal at the National Center for the Performance Arts in Beijing on May 28, 2012. [Photo/China Tibet Online]