A scene from Qingming Riverside, presented in the United States by China Arts and Entertainment Group. (China Daily)

>The minute her plane landed in Beijing late on Sunday, cellist Zhang Yingying turned on her cell phone to call home. She knew her 8-year-old son would stay awake to welcome his mother home after her longest absence from his young life, even though it was midnight.

Zhang`s employer, the China National Symphony Orchestra, had just returned from the United States, where it had undertaken its longest tour - 53 days, with 30 dates across 16 states - since it was established in 1956. It was also the longest overseas excursion by a Chinese orchestra.

"Before joining the CNSO in 2007, I spent seven years in the US, learning the cello and then performing with an orchestra, but I was excited by the tour. I have seldom seen so many standing ovations. The audiences really appreciated our perfor-mances," said the musician.

After a concert at the Strathmore Hall, Maryland, Shelly Brown, artistic director of the Strathmore Hall Foundation, told Liao Yanru, deputy director of the CNSO`s programming department, that the orchestra had improved dramatically since its 2006 performance at the same venue.