Carrotmusic Model CX301 F Major Professional Level Xiao Bamboo Flute

I am amazed at the speed of the delivery! My account said it would arrive by July 4th, and yet it arrived on the 30th of may - I only ordered it a week ago!Onto quality, the flute came in a well packaged parcel, which when unwrapped shows a red velvet sock/cover with the two sections of the flute inside. The top can be tightened to ensure maximum coverage. Onto the flute, the parts fit together nicely (it is well oiled), the top section being smaller than the longer. The bamboo feels cool and smooth to the touch, with slightly rougher notches ( about 10 ). Overall very impressed with the quality.The mouthpiece is surprisingly comfortable to rest your chin on, but a quite exact embouchure is required (held at a 45 degree angle away from body) when blowing - different from a traditional western flute. The flute is comfortable to hold, but the bottom hole for the bottom hand is to far to reach for the fourth finger for me, so I use my fifth finger, which doesn't feel that unnatural. As the flute is very light, it doesn't hurt your thumb to hold for a long time.The sound is very breathy - of course this is how it should be, and it is a very comforting tone. I have not experienced the sound of the upper registers yet ( not enough practice yet! ) , but the lower register seems to sound very good. I would recommend practising your technique with only the fingers of the upper hand on the holes - this will play a G, and is the easiest note to produce a sound on ( seeing as the flute is in G) .The flute does look very authentic, although there is a metal joint which connects the two parts. There are gold inscriptions ( Chinese characters) , which really go well with the purple bamboo. Overall the flute looks very nice, with a more refined modern feel, but still retaining the ancient Chinese theme.I am looking forward to improving my technique on this, and am planning on buying more quality flutes from carrot music.com in the future!