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A year and a half later, Atlanta man recovers priceless instrument left in China

Davis Butner locked away his viola at his apartment and left Wuhan, China when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

ATLANTA — So much has been lost over the last year and a half of the pandemic. 

Many people have lost friends and family. Some lost their jobs, or time with those they love the most.

So, when someone gets something back that’s something to celebrate!

One man went to extraordinary lengths to get back what he'd lost.

An architecture fellowship brought Davis Butner to China in 2019.

"I knew how to say hello and thank you and how to order a Coca-Cola– and that's about it," he said. 

While his love of the job won him the opportunity, he thought it was his love of music that would make the journey worth it.

"Even though I didn't know the language, mandarin, before launching myself out there, I could at least communicate through music," Butner said.

His fellowship took him to China for two years, and he knew he wanted to have his viola with him.

"The choice to just have one object with me... I was at least able to pick up something familiar and have a skill to bring to the table," he said. 

A classically trained musician, Butner quickly picked up gigs in Shanghai.

"I was sort of sought out as the foreign violist in the city," he said. 

While he was immersed in his experience in the city, his friends and family in the states started worrying about COVID-19.

"A first tipoff for me was a text from a friend in the states asking if I had heard of this virus in Wuhan," Butner said. 

He says he hadn't heard anything about COVID-19 until he got the news at the end of 2019 that Wuhan, a city the size of Georgia, was going into lockdown.

"That was when, I think, panic set in," he said.

During the Lunar New Year Celebrations in China, Butner says it became clear he would have to leave.

"With so little time to pack, I figured I would just keep everything locked in the little 10x10 meter apartment I had and just hope I could get back to pack it up," he said. 

He locked his viola inside and left.

"If anything, I knew it was something that would tie me back to China. I would always have a token I would come back to get," he said. 

At first, he thought he would just be gone a few weeks, but as the days stretched into months, he realized he couldn't get back.

And his viola was locked away.

He couldn't even get a spare key sent back to China.

"I tried to get it copied at 3 different locksmiths in Atlanta, all of whom told me this is not the technology they use in the states. And so had to ship it to Bejing and then they copied it there and shipped it to my work in Shangha," he said. 

He searched for months to find someone leaving China who could take his viola with them.

"I would be willing to pay them to hand carry the instrument and I would be willing to meet them at any airport in the states to get it back," he said. 

After striking out with the embassy, coworkers, and connections, Butner found a friend from high school whose parents had stayed in Shanghai through the pandemic.

"They finally made the decision to come back to the U.S. so they were able to hand carry it through to Hartsfield- [Jackson] Airport, so I met them there, and it was a really emotional moment," he said.

Twenty months later, his viola is still in tune in perfect condition. 

Buckner says when he plays his viola, its music reminds him of everywhere he's been. 

"It reminded me of the power of bringing this to the experience and using music to connect with people," he said. 

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