Who's the leading figure of Chinese pop music?

Jay Zhou? Jolin? Oh, no, no ... Please don't underestimate our taste. It's this guy!

Xu Wei (许巍) is the singer and songwriter who sings quietly with his guitar. Unlike any other blatantly marketed Chinese singers, he keeps a relatively low profile. He has rarely (never?) been seen singing on stage with dancers behind him. He sings alone and quietly. His style is unique and simple, but his music has won him many young Chinese fans across China. He is called the leading figure of Chinese pop music (乐坛领军人物) by many Chinese media. I read the news that he's going to have a concert in Shanghai this May. My warning to those who are interested: His concert is always a sell-out. Get a ticket, the sooner the better.

Xu WeiXu Wei and Pu Shu at Xu Wei's Concert in April 2009

Photos from sina.com

I got to know him when I was waiting for my train in Shanghai Railway Station in late 2004. His MTV song 《曾经的你》was played on the big screen in the noisy waiting lounge of the railway station. The song caught my attention with his cool music, his unique voice and poetry-like lyrics. Since then I began to follow his music. I think his music touches the heart of young people. If you are young and you've ever felt lost/bewildered in life or you've been trying to solve the reality-vs.-dream puzzle, then you will see what I mean. If you are backpacking, you may talk to young Chinese backpackers about Xu Wei. I am sure they will tell you they love his music. In Lijiang of Yunnan province, I came across a guest house named after his song 《蓝莲花》(Blue Lotus). A young Chinese backpacker manages the guest house which is well known among many Lijiang-bound young Chinese backpackers. Here are some Xu Wei's songs from external links.
《曾经的你》
《蓝莲花》(Blue Lotus)
《完美生活》(Perfect Life)

Cool images

How narrative and reflective images can be? Well, you'll have to look at the following images. Today I came across these images which spread like virus across Chinese online forums. The images easily caught my attention at the first glance as the stories presented in the images seem so familiar to an ordinary Chinese. At first I thought they were the underground works of some Chinese photographer, but they turned out to be the photo shooting for a newly published Chinese magazine called 'ozine'. The title of the series of images is 五星招待所 (or RedStar Motel) which covers topics of sex, murder, fake certificate, prostitution, drugs, kidnapping, etc., all in the setting of a small motel room. How creative that is! But, wait a moment. Some Chinese netizens have pointed out that the photographer copied the ideas of Lyndon Wade's work of Room 107. It seems to be true. But, these images are really cool anyway. What do you think?

Migrant workers
Murder Scene
S & M
Having fun?
What's going on next door?
Give me the ransom!
Want to buy a fake certificate?
Before or after deal???
Party time
Killing yourself softly
Porn film shooting

The salty fish turns around

Photos from http://boston.com

The Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony at the Bird's Nest on Aug. 8th was such a feast. One of my friends kept texting me yesterday talking about how impressive it was. He also recommended that I watch the BBC and NBC versions of the opening ceremony respectively again, which, according to him, were much better than the CCTV coverage. I had watched the excerpts of NBC version of the Opening Ceremony. To me, the version of coverage does not really matter. This is truely the best Olympic Opening Ceremony I've ever seen, which has dwarfed previous opening ceremonies in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004).

'WOW', 'amazing' were the words I uttered when I was watching the ceremony live on CCTV. I've seen Chinese culture well embedded in a ceremony delivered by hard working performers and through modern technology. You know what? I am a very proud Chinese, very proud.

It seems Zhang Yimou, the director of the ceremony, is what we say 咸鱼翻身了(The salty fish turns around) in Chinese. Most of his films have not been appreciated by many Chinese and he has been bashed a lot. Neither do I like any of his past films. But this time, he has got my applause. Well done!

According to a survey by mediametrie.com, the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony was indeed one of the most watched live events in the world, without however breaking records in Europe due to the time difference. In America, NBC gets record rating for tape-delayed Opening Ceremony. It seems the world is impressed by the dazzling Opening Ceremony. Great start!

What will the Closing Ceremony be like?

Olympics? I could have cared less

Thanks to the riots in Lhasa, the farce orchestrated to disrupt the torch relay and the devastating earthquake, it has been a hectic year for China so far. Finally, here we are, just two days away from the long-awaited opening of Beijing Olympics. Before the celebration begins, I would like to talk a little about the question: what does Beijing Olympics mean to you personally? I came cross this question about 2 months ago when I was browsing an expat's blog on the internet. The blogger wrote about his observations on Chinese reactions to the Olympics. He was surprised by the enthusiasm and the passion Chinese poured into this event. A couple of weeks ago, I had a chat with one friend who is not a fan of the Olympics. He said it was just another big event, no more than that. No enthusiasm, no passion and in a plain tone. I sort of expected it. Honestly, Beijing Olympics could have meant very little to me personally. The Word Cup (soccer) is far more attractive. However, the chaotic scenes in London and Paris legs of the torch relay and biased western media have worked and infused meaning into the Olympics. Now I couldn't care more about this event. I strongly hope that this Olympics can be the best Olympic Games ever held in history. Biased western media? Well, we stay defiant.