  There are two contents below:

   The first one was from Professor Wyvill of NZ:

   Professor Wyvill ordered no. 233 violin, wrote me a reference when he received the violin in April 2005, but yesterday (11/23/2007), he wrote me another email and he agrees that I can use this email as his 2nd reference, please read below or from the reference page:

   Dear Bai,

   I just have to write to you. My violin, No 233, has suddenly over about ten days, changed its tone in a subtle and wonderful way. If you can remember, I received it from you in April 2005 and, at first, I was concerned that it had a closed, almost buzzing sound. Over the first year, this gradually cleared, changing almost every day until it stabilised with a strong rather reedy tone that I have come to think of as its natural voice.

   Now, it is clear, open and bell-like. There is a trace of the reediness but only just. It is a bit like the trace of a natural voice that you can recognise behind a trained operatic voice that enables you still to identify the singer. I even asked my teacher to play it to make sure that there wasn't anything different I might be doing and it sounded even better.

   I am slowly beginning to understand the things about a violin that depend on the way it is set up and the things that depend on the wood and inner structure. We do have a local violin maker here now. He came to Dunedin a little over a year ago and I got him to cut me a new bridge, mostly because I wanted to lower the action a little but I didn't want to alter the bridge you supplied just in case I couldn't get back the good sound I already had. At that time, we experimented a lot, moving the soundpost tiny amounts. But this recent change is nothing like the variations we produced then. Nor is it like the change you get with different kinds of string. It is a fundamental shift in the kind of sound and I like it.

   I suppose when you make hundreds of instruments you cannot know where they all end up or which develop best. It is still going to take me a long time before I discover all that this violin can do.

   Best wishes

   Geoff -- Geoff Wyvill
   Office: +64 3 479 8449
   Department of Computer Science
   Department: +64 3 479 8578
   University of Otago
   Home: +64 3 477 5548
   Box 56, Dunedin
   Fax: +64 3 479 8529
   New Zealand
   http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/graphics/geoff

   The second one was from Mr Macfarlane of UK

   Mr Macfarlane was in Beijing and came to my place played the violins I made for other customers, he wrote to me today (11/24/2007), and agreed me to use this email as his reference:

   Dear Mr. Bai,

   It was my great pleasure to visit you in Beijing, and it was very kind indeed of Mr. Gao to arrange it - I could never have done it without his help. We are just back in Scotland this evening, so a quick reply. I thought your violin was very good indeed, and I enjoyed playing it. The sound was even and attratctive and it had a very nice ring to it. If it had been earlier in the day I would have liked to play it for longer. It was a very handsome violin with an excellent scroll, very well worked purfling and good, even varnish. Everything about it looked like the work of a master craftsman. I am sure its new owner will get much pleasure out of it.

   I shall write to you - not an email, a letter - in a few days. Until then, all very best wishes to you and to your son, and thank you again.

   Alastair Macfarlane

   Reason of I put this 2 references here is because Professor Wyvill wrote me the 2nd reference.

   And Mr Macfarlane is not my customer but he likes my violins very much.

   Photo of Mr Macfarlan:

   http://www.chineseviolins.com/Mr%20Macfarlane/Mr%20Macfarlane.jpg