Lifestyle: Sina's Journal & What's Up With the French in China?

Welcome to our Lifestyle page. This page consists of two parts: our weekly special and Sina's Journal.

This month, we focus on the French Culture Year kicked that off in China recently. This week, we’ll get a close look at Chinese and French fashion in clothes and architecture in the last 100 years.

Then we come to Sina’s Journal. Sina is an ordinary Chinese university girl student. She lives the life we live everyday. Everything in the journal is true without disguise. I hope that we can present a real China through this journal. And I hope you can see a real China without distortion.

I know that when talking about China, the first thing that will jump up in your mind must be "communism," or emperor, dragon, poverty or such. Actually, for years, biases, stereotypes and labels have misinterpreted this country to the world so much that I felt it is our medias' obligation to clarify some of these. But how? I don't want it in any form that looks like propaganda, so I choose this way--perceiving a real China in an ordinary young girl's perspective. I'm not talking about objectivity or something like that here. I just want to invite you, with all my sincerity, to experience a real China from this small window with us.

If you have anything to say, any question to ask, any suggestions to make. Email me at lindalynn630@163.com.

A million thanks to our excellent working group who devoted so much to this lifestyle page. They are: Lucy, Even, Song Mo, Jiajia, Gao Jie. And there will be more members joining us very soon. I’m the page host Linda. We’ll do our best to provide you the most vivid pictures of today’s various Chinese people’s lifestyles. Thank you for your support.


Sina's Journal (1)

I hope someday you join us
-----John Lennon

Huoying, which is located in the suburb of Beijing, is a gathering place for people who cherish passion and dreams. On the surface, it looks just like many other common places, but when you wander through the streets, you'll be struck by violent drumbeats played by many underground musicians.

In a rehearsal room, I met:
J vocals age 31 from Jiangsui Province
Lv Xiafei drummer age 30 from Harbin
Wang Lifu bassist age 24 from Tianjin
Ciao Yule guitarist age 21 from Wulumuqi, enrolled student

I have long been crazy over rock music and what's more, curious about the lives of those rock musicians. One sunshine afternoon, I had this chance to get to talk with some band members in their damp little room.

After I'd made clear what I came for, J asked me: "If you love music and wish to have a band of your own, why not try it?"

I snapped back: "Don’t you realize that your dream is too unpractical?"

"That's why it is called a dream." he said without hesitation, proud of keeping pursuit of his dream despite all obstacles.

I used to understand that rock musicians were people who were angry about this society and who would like to show their uniqueness. But I was wrong. Xiafei saw my definition as rather immature. What they are trying to promote is something like love and compassion, as Confucius put it, in the hope that people in this quick-fix society will stop for a while to listen to their own inner voices. Music is a way to advocate their ideas. J said it would be inappropriate to define their music as rock since they also write some fairly sad and nice pieces of music. They do not care how people perceive them. As misunderstanding often results from unfamiliarity, they are now making an effort to let people know more about them.

"Musicians from outside of Beijing used to live in Shuzhuang and they were always lacking money, have the conditions improved?" J said.

J and Xiafei moved from Shuzhuang two years ago. J is comparatively well off among the group, he works part-time for a music magazine. He lives in a basement downtown for the time being. Wang, Xiafei and Ciao rent plain houses built by local people for 100 per month. Wang, who is now running a little grocery there with his girlfriend, said he had done all kinds of jobs struggling to pull through. Ciao still depends on his parents. But Xiafei is the poorest among the four. He used to sing in the bars but not any more, simply because there are too many singers for too little opportunities. As a man over thirty, he feels most depressed when turning to his family for money. A couple of days ago he sold his table and a few belongings for merely 7 Yuan, and he is planning to sell his bed if he runs out of food next time.

Hearing them, I was confused: What do they live for if they neither want to make a fortune or release albums? Haven't their dreams faded when faced with the cruel reality?

I couldn't help thinking about their parents who naturally would worry about them. J said he called his parents at times, they served in the army and were quite supportive of his choice. Ciao promised his parents that he would come back to school if music can’t make him a living. However, Wang was not as lucky. Every time his parents called, they talked about how his former friends got quite decent jobs.

What interests me is that most of the underground musicians remain single. J and Xiafei, both well over thirty, still do not have girlfriends right now. No one can talk about love on an empty stomach. They kidded. Wang has a girlfriend from Henan. "We didn’t think too much about being together, just to keep each other company."

As for friends, though the band members are always changing, their friendship remains for the common things they have shared.

People may imagine their lives to be full of drug or alcohol abuse, but actually it is not the case. J puts all his mind on his work singing and composing. Wang is planning to learn English and I promised to be his tutor. Ciao is the one who bears the least burden and feels free to reach for his goal.

If there is anything different about them, it's their perseverance for living their fantasies. If the dreams are big enough, the facts don’t count.

Before leaving, I left my Zongzi to Xiafei. "You'd better save your bed for sleeping."