Yan Haideng (1930－2004) is a Chinese musician well-versed in the sheng. Besides having composed numerous sheng pieces, Yan Haideng has also written a sheng guidebook titled “How to Play the Sheng” in collaboration with Gao Jinxiang and Xiao Yunxiang. Yan Haideng started his musical training from the time he was a child, as a member of a drums troupe. He excelled in the sheng and was recommended by the dizi musician Liu Guanyue to enroll in the Tianjin People’s Art Theater (known as the Tianjin Opera and Dance House today). He has performed outside of China many times on trips with Chinese performance groups, Tianjin Opera and Dance Troupe, and the Consolation Troupe of Literature and Art to North Korea in places such as North Korea, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, Japan, and Western European countries.