In October the disassembled organ arrived in Ningbo in a manner befitting the maritime setting and importance of both its old and its new homes: a sea voyage lasting 39 days. 

Berg would then face the arduous and intricate task of rebuilding the organ, something that took him and a master builder 22 days to complete, working 18 hours a day.

"There are no two organs that are alike", Berg said. "Rebuilding an organ is like a journey of discovery; you never know what sound it will produce."

The rebuilt organ is 4 meters high, 5 meters wide and 3.5 meters deep, the front pipes painted light green and orange, and the top painted gold. 

When the organ arrived in Ningbo, there were 799 pipes, and an extra one was added to make it 800, a lucky number in many circles. 

"The organ should not be just old, or religious, it should also be international, and be Chinese," Berg said. 

Just how little is known of the organ and its music in China was illustrated when Berg and his partners were rebuilding the organ in Tianyi Catholic Church. 

People were asking "What are these pipes?" Berg said. 

"They're organ pipes," Berg replied, using the Chinese word guanfengqin. 

"Guanfengqin? Is that a sort of guqin?" one of the onlookers asked, referring to the traditional Chinese instrument.

And yet the church organ is not entirely uncommon or new to China. The Pipe Organ in China Project, established by Professor David Francis Urrows at the Hong Kong Baptist University 30 years ago, estimates that 31 cities on the Chinese mainland have pipe organs, holders of a tradition that began when the first pipe organ appeared in 1611 in Beijing.