Zhong Hu is also known as "Medium Pitch Erhu". It is developed from Erhu to complement it with its lower and more mellow tone. It sounds like Viola.

Its structure is similar to Erhu. The two strings are tuned to a perfect fifth (G, D) and the size of the wooden drum is relatively larger than Erhu. Snake skin covers one end of the drum. Bow hair is placed between the two strings. The absence of fingering board allows variety of music effects through variation of the strings’ tension. However variations are not as distinct as Erhu and Gaohu due its low and mellow tone.