The Kaoshiung City's glory days are far from over. The southern city has developed and exported more than 4 million guitars around the world, making it as one of the top manufacturers of the instrument from 1971 to 2007. Even though the company has shifted its production to China and Indonesia, the government is determined to revive the industry and turn it into the city of music.

32-year old musician Chen Jui-ming handcrafts guitars for a living. Although it takes him six months to complete one guitar, he says that the joy and excitement of his customers when they receive their guitars fills him with a sense of accomplishment.

Kaohsiung has close ties to the guitar manufacturing industry.

In 1971, Yamaha set up a manufacturing plant in the southern port city.

4 million guitars were produced in Kaohsiung every year and sold all over the world until Yamaha moved its plants to China and Indonesia in 2007.

Today, the industry consists only of artisans that handcraft guitars.

The city government announced plans for a new popular music center four years ago, and local musicians were extremely optimistic about the effect the center would have on developing the music industry.

Kaohsiung's music industry is slowly transforming from manufacturing to composing and production, and the city's industrial image is starting to change as well.