I have posted a similar question in 8notes viola forum. My wife is learning viola and I am a little dispirited by William Primrose's suggestion that ladies' fingers aren't stubby enough to learn the viola. If Hong Mei Xiao has normal size hands it tends to undermine Primrose's theory since she has surpassed all male viola players of her generation in being the only viola player to win the Geneva International Music competition for about 18 years. Also does anyone know what size viola she plays on - again if it's less than 16 1/2 inches that would break another taboo, although if it's more than 16 1/2 inches and she has normal sized hands, I suppose that proves the possibility of what she's doing just as well.