SPORTS, CHINA, FOOTBALL: Liu Jianhong Says Corruption Has Destroyed League Matches

By Michelle Lee

Chinese football is experiencing its winter, but its spring is waiting for us as long as we go ahead, Liu Jianhong, a famous host of CCTV 5, said when he gave a lecture to the students of Beijing Foreign Studies University on November 19.

A pleasant smile, casual talk, interesting statements and convincing arguments made the whole lecture a wonderful communication.

He said corruption has destroyed league play and that more and more people were disappointed by Chinese football. As a host of TV football programs and a man who has loved football all his life, he also felt confused and didn’t know where Chinese football was going. However, he believed completely that Chinese football must go on.

As a football fan, I feel very sorry seeing Chinese football become totally a mess. Nevertheless, the situation was not unexpected nor was it an accident. The corruption has existed since Chinese league match play was born. Reforms involve pain, and we have to carry on; frankly, though, I don’t think reform can be much help.

In Liu’s opinion, reforms of Chinese football are necessary and inevitable. The Chinese Football Association is obliged to inform the clubs of their annual financial management, and give the clubs their due to make significant decisions. He said the two sides need communication.

He also pointed out that reforms need a wise leader. In history, not all reforms led to improvement. The major reason was that the blind lead the blind.

Exactly. Nowadays, more and more football fans don’t trust the Chinese Football Association. I think, in the Chinese football world, there is no authority. Transparency can remove misunderstanding. Improvement depends on communication. Where should Chinese football go? Go ahead, though it’s painful.

QUICK NOTES:

Roddick Defeats Henman

22-year-old Andy Roddick is famous for his forehand and serve, but defeated the British number one, Tim Henman, with his backhand. With his weakness becoming a strength, Roddick took a new approach. After the match, he said that he didn't think he served that well but that he had never volleyed better.

Hewitt rallies to beat Moya

Leyton Hewitt beat Carlos Moya 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in a first-round match at the ATP Master Cup Championships on November 16.

Afterwards he said since he had been No.1, and finished No.1 twice at the end of a year, there was not a big difference between No.2 and No.3. In his opinion, the only difference was that "It's just going to be a seeding at the Aussie Open." Anyway, he has a chance to catch Andy Roddick for No.2 in the world this year.

Sharapova wins $1 million

Sharapova, the 17-year-old Russian, became the winner of Wimbledon and the year-end WAT Championships, and earned one of the richest paychecks in women's tennis.

By Michelle Lee

TRAVELING IN CHINA: Tibet, a Land of Enchanted Extremes

By Shi Rui

It is the dream of every traveler.
It is the last heaven on Earth.
It is a place high enough to reach the stars.
It is a place called Tibet.

It is said that Tibet is just like a Poppy which is quite attractive but also full of bad things. I agree, as both its beauty and its danger impressed me deeply.

Our plane arrived at the airport in Lhasa at half past ten. The sun was shining brightly, which confused me for a little while. I swear I had never seen such strong sunshine before. I thought I had better not open my eyes too wide, or I might be blinded in an instant. "Tibet is such a fairyland without any darkness, " I thought.

I started to feel a little strange; also, the lack of oxygen and the low atmospheric pressure had given me a terrible headache. What's worse, my heart was working extra hard just like a fat man's in a heavy sweater on a hot day. I wondered sometimes whether I could bear it. After a while, though, I began getting used to the high-altitude changes and started to look around.

Seeing the sky, I was entranced! The meaning of "clean and holy "dawned on me suddenly.

When I saw the Potala Palace, the same feeling came again.

The highest palace in the world, Potala rises above the land to an elevation of over 3800 meters. It consists of a red palace and a white palace. The Red palace is in the middle, in which there is a vast library of classical texts. The white one, which has a Sunshine Hall and an East Hall, surrounds it at a lower level. The Lama uses these two halls as his sitting room and office.

There were ancient pictures on the wall inside the palace. They told of the great history of a great nation. Touching the pictures carefully and piously, I was seized by a desire for purification of the soul. It reminded me instantly of the local people in front of the palace methodically praying on their knees and bowing their heads; the whole process was complicated and seemed to cause much suffering, but they could do it for several days without a pause.

Their strong beliefs gave them strength. That strength holds the nation in one solid bond, and it has prospered and grown accordingly.

In my opinion, you will never know and understand Tibet if you just stay in Lhasa. Tibet is made up of 7 areas and my trip covered 3 of them. We chose the most dangerous route to drive through because it had the most gorgeous scenery. A good jeep was necessary, as many big stones left by the constant mudslides were all over the road. Driving was hazardous. You had to be quite careful if you wanted to get where you were going.

A Mitsubishi jeep accompanied me all the way. It moved fast, smoothly and above all, safely. This lovely jeep was great in others ways, too, such as when I climbed its roof ladder to take photos from a higher position.

After getting a good jeep my second suggestion is to make sure you carry plenty of rolls of film, because you will feel like taking photos all day long--and all night.

I can remember the first time I saw a snow-capped mountain. I got excited and used nearly a roll of film to express my joy. Then, half an hour later, I found another snow-capped mountain with a stream running at its foot. I got excited again and used a second roll of film. Another half an hour later, a snow-capped mountain with a stream and a lush prairie came into view. There were sheep and cattle grazing and drinking from the stream. Half of the sun still showed on the horizon, so the snow, the stream and the animals were painted golden. What could I do when I was faced with this vision of Fairyland? Nothing. My last roll of film was used!

The air was cool and the wind was gentle. Some sheep began to move towards me. A Tibetan girl accompanied them. She looked younger than me and the expression of satisfaction on her face suggested a healthy life and contentment.

I am interested in the different life that Tibetans lead, so this trip offered me a good chance to experience it. I tasted their highland barley which is their main food and a kind of tea that was salty. Their food is very simple. Vegetables or fruits do not seem to be needed, as the only dish is air-dried beef.

Once I saw four men on their way to Lhasa. Their pilgrimage could last 2 years or more, because they had to kneel and bow down every three steps. They had a cart on which beef, tea and bread made of highland barley were kept, and pulled it along in turn. They also had some money to buy food in towns, but what they would buy was still beef, tea and bread. Religion plays such an important role that other parts of life become easier and easier.

Tibetans are fond of acting. When they are free, they will get together, drink wine, sing and dance. It seems that they don't have any anxiety. Their Buddha takes troubles away.

I admired the Tibetan kind of life, because it's easy and clean, just like the blue sky. Yes, the sky! The sky was the beginning of my trip. I knew it would also be an ideal end.

The last time I looked up in that marvelous land I nearly burst into tears. I believed, at that moment, I SAW HEAVEN!

MODERN CLASSICS MOVIE REVIEW: The Shawshank Redemption

"Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free."

By Leslie Sun

Based on a Steven King short story, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is famous for its stunning plot, especially the astonishing climax. If you have seen this movie, there is no need for me to retell it; and if you haven't, I won't tell you either because it will absolutely ruin the great charm you are sure to get from the movie. Besides the plot, there are also many factors that have made this movie one of the bests ever--Frank Darabont's direction, Roger Deakins' photography, and Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman's acting. The last element is what this article is about.

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman gave their best performances in this masterpiece for the ages. As the hero of the story, banker Andy Dufresne, Robbins adopted a slightly ironical way of acting to show Andy's poor situation. He also impressed viewers by showing an unchangeable belief in hope. All through the 19 years of prison life, Andy never gave up his hope of being free for even a second. No one will ever forget the scene where Andy spread his body against the falling rain. Andy's escape, forgive me for citing the name of THAT movie, was a triumph of the will.

Andy was not alone. He had a mate, a supporter, a leader, and a friend--Red. Red is the warmest character I've seen in the movies, ever. Morgan Freeman was nominated by the Academy for the best leading actor in 1995 but the award was taken by Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump, another unforgettable character in the history of Hollywood. In many fans' hearts, however, Red undoubtedly deserved an Oscar. Many Academy members couldn't appreciate Freeman's underplaying of the part rather than acting it so that viewers could more easily see Red's cynicism and boredom. In spite of the odds, Freeman's Red is remembered as the eternal sunshine of Shawshank prison, the heart of the movie.

The name of Steven King's original story was "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." Rita Hayworth was a Hollywood star in the 1940's. She figured in the story because her poster has a role in the climax. From this we can tell that the strength of King's story lies more in its plot rather than anything else. But in this movie, the center is the spirit. It has inspired so many people to rise up from their plight. I strongly recommend this movie to those who haven't seen it. To those who have already seen the movie, I want to say, when you are cornered, think of Andy and Red.

LIFESTYLE, MUSIC, Commentary: Why are their art lives so short?

By Zhenhua Huang

Nowadays, in the circle of pop music in China we find the very common phenomenon that new singers can easily gain fans' affection when they publish their first albums, but they can hardly draw our attention again, especially singers with originality. We are aware that their albums become worse and worse. Then gradually they will vanish from our sight. What worries us is that this kind of singer is not in the minority. Why are their art lives so short? What contributes to this? We believe that all of the participants in the album market, the producers, the singer and the album buyers, have their own roles in this phenomenon.

First come the producers. When they want to promote a singer, they make a lot of preparation before hand; it will take them a year or more to prepare fully and thoroughly, because, as we all know, it will be very hard for a singer to get in favor if he or she fails to strike customers with his or her first album. Thanks to the devoted preparation, the singers' first albums are always of high value and worth listening to. But once they become a little bit famous and own a number of fans, driven by profits, the producers will speed up the album publishing process. A singer can even publish five albums per year. Of course, usually they can't keep all these albums at a high quality. As a result, the fans won't support a singer whose albums are no longer worth listening to. Therefore, we can come to the conclusion that record companies are partly responsible for putting a singer in favor and also for shortening the same singers' art life.

Second are the singers. Before they own that first album, they have produced many songs, among which are their most outstanding ones. To publish the first album, which is obviously their dream, they will work hard. But after that, how can they write songs as good as or even better than their first ones? Since they do not have enough time to produce--both they and their record companies want to make more profit and they know that fans will forget them if they have nothing to offer quickly and often--their albums become "fast food" without much value.

Third appear the album buyers. We always demand singers to publish their albums as fast as they can. To meet our need, the singers often follow the most popular style--always changing their own styles to the current trend. But in fact, we need excellent and various types of music. It is ourselves that first ask for fast food and then dislike it.

Apart from these three reasons, there are other ones still and all of them result in the singers' short art lives. We all have to make our own contribution to developing our record industry. But maybe we can start with the reform of the record publishing system in China.

MUSIC REVIEW: Mira -- Apart

By Vera Chen

Apart is the second full length album of Mira, an indie pop band from Florida, with strong drums, blazing guitars, and singing which can burn everything. The five-member band consists of Alan Donaldson, Melody Fleck, Mark Davidson, Tom Parker, and Regina Sosinski. They released two albums under the well-known label Projekt before moving to Darkwave, another label famous for dark music in the U.S., in 2003, and have so far released 5 singles. Apart is their second album released under Projekt, in 2001.

It is sometimes difficult to define what kind of music Mira is actually producing, since they change it from time to time. In their first album, they seemed to have created a Gothic feeling with the cool sound of guitars, violins and Regina's gorgeous singing. But in Apart, a feeling of typical shoegazing can be sensed everywhere. With the sparkling sound of drums and guitars, they have built a wall of noise, through which Regina's seductive voice burns. Though they have already paid tribute to shoegazing music by covering the famous shoegazing band My Bloody Valentine's "When You Sleep," Apart is unexpected and amazing.

In this album, the band is reaching for something more threatening, solitary, and freezing inside. With the opening song , "Space," the mixed atmosphere is set by the changing vocals. As the songs progress, the dark beauty and wonder begins to unfold. The voice seems to struggle between both vague and solid sound-scapes, bending back and forth, having nowhere to get out. Fear and loneliness are spread everywhere in the air, which clutches at your heart always. Simply put it's an album that you'll become addicted to after the very first listen, and the more you touch it, the deeper you fall into its allure.

NATIONAL NEWS, ECONOMY, OPINION: Economic Adjustment in China

By Ellen Ji

On October 29th, the Central Bank of China announced that interest rates would increase by 0.27%. It was the first time the government raised interest rates in ten years. It is said that the economic sector most directly influenced is real estate. In recent years the price of a house has sky-rocketed, reportedly having increased by 13% from January to September this year.

I think the reason this happened is that many Chinese people are much wealthier than ever before with the development of the economy, so more people have bought or intend to buy their own houses. That resulted in more demand than the market could offer, so the price kept going up, which created a vicious cycle involving more and more people. In this case, the government adjusted the interest rate in the hope of lessening the heat on real estate.

It is reported that with this sudden adjustment by the government, 42.09% of people put off their plans of buying a home. I believe there are two main reasons for them to put off their house-buying plans. One is that with higher interest rates houses cost more, which forces potential buyers to reevaluate their economic ability before making purchases. The other reason is that house prices may decrease. Many Chinese buyers prefer to wait and see if the situation becomes more stable. From this we can see that the government is trying to help the market find a balance between buying and selling.

Meanwhile, commodity prices have increased, but stably, without violent fluctuation. The change has taken place mainly in food, accommodation, tobacco and wine, but most especially in food. According to research, the retail price of grain increased by 28% from January to August compared with the same period last year. Those are the results determined by the rules of the market. It's reported that the total amount of grain production decreased to 86.14 million tons last year, with a great gap of more than 10 million tons compared with the amount in 1998. This led to an imbalance between supply and demand. So price increases were the result of diminished supplies.

However, the increase in food price benefits farmers directly through the market. It's also a method of the government to honor its commitment to protect farmers' interests. It's believed that the adjustment will bring about both short-term and long-term changes. It shows that the government is trying to take measures to adjust the economic situation to some extent, avoiding the tendency of inflation and keeping the economy developing stably.

We'll wait and see how the trend floats.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS, MIDDLE EAST, OPINION: Turmoil Will Go On

By Julia Zhu

Yasser Arafat, considered an icon and a father figure by his people, died in a Paris hospital earlier this month, throwing the whole world into a controversial reconsideration of the situation in the Middle East. There are people who hold the optimistic view that though Arafat's death will create emotional upheaval for Palestinians and the risk of a violent struggle to fill the void in the near term, in the long run it can bring hope and breathe life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

According to the optimists, Arafat was the person to blame harshly because they think it was he who had the power and prestige to move his people to peace, failing to grasp the best opportunity for peace in the Middle East; it was he that moved the Middle East into a terrible war of terror that cost thousands of lives, Israelis and Palestinians alike. Now that such a person has passed from the stage, fresh new air will surely come around.

Is it really so? I have my doubts. Viewing the Holy Lands overall, we can not deny that the situation is still worsening: more than 3500 Palestinians and over 1000 Israel people are now involved in the circular causation of suicide bombings and armed helicopter missiles; the West Bank and the Gaza strip, where 3.5 million people live, have already become a burned land, with 60% of the population homeless. Considering this, can anyone really be so certain that peace is due?

Perhaps some people are now cherishing hope on the next Palestinian leadership. But the fact is none of the possible future leaders are able to compete with Arafat's influence and power. It is true that the Palestinian's so-called moderate leaders, especially Abbas and his successor as prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, have made great efforts in the Middle East "roadmap" peace plan and have comparatively strong support and reputation among their people, but when it comes to actual leadership things might be very different.

Admit it or not, in the Arafat Era, no matter how much of a mess some people claimed he had produced, especially in the past 10 years, he was still able to keep political balance with "a gun in one hand and olive branch in the other." Maybe to some extent he really should be criticized for: supporting Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait; for leading Palestinians through the wilderness of Jordan and Lebanon, wreaking havoc and violence in his wake, to Tunis; for not having seized the opportunity in 2000 to embrace the offer made by then Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak; or for creating the ugly phenomenon of the suicide bomber that has plagued the world. However, as a leader, he has never betrayed his own people.

Arafat knew his people's admiration of the bravery, courage and glory embodied by Palestinian factions such as Fatah, Hamas or Islamic Jihad, and he followed their will. But now can the new leaders carry on with that balance? Will they be able to settle the conflicts among the different factions? The answer is quite uncertain. Worse still, situations outside Palestine are even more complicated. According to Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution, "Nothing will happen unless the Israelis and the United States make it happen." We can say his opinion may be too extreme, but it is reasonable in some part. In fact, if the U.S. or Israel tries to control the direction of Palestinian leadership, the result will be duly destructive.

So far, neither Israel nor the U.S. has put forward a clear strategy, and this no doubt makes the situation in the Middle East more bleak and mysterious. All told, though the Palestinians have been pursuing peace for decades, its possibility is still quite small now. Abu Yusef, an unemployed Palestinian driver who is loyal to Fatah said, "No matter who takes over, violence will continue."

If the violence goes on, dangerous turmoil in the whole Middle East will no doubt go along in step.

ASIAN NEWS, OPINION: Conundrum on the Korean Peninsula

By Moonlet Ding

Uncle Sam is rather used to solving international problems with missiles and troops: sending the former Yugoslavian president to the Hague Tribunal; combing Afghanistan for Bin Laden; grubbing biological weapons which might appear in the event that the land of Iraq is full of bottomless pits.

U.S. President Bush has made a particularly great contribution to the "military talks" method by waging war on Iraq regardless of the U.N. inspector's NMW report. As a result, when I heard Bush labeling North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," my reflexive response was "another war is coming." In addition, we have more facts to support the conclusion. North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, expelled U.N. inspectors, and reactivated its nuclear power facilities while Iraq "hands over a 12,000-page account of its weapons production and allows U.N. inspectors to roam all over the country" (London, The Independent), and "not a jam-jar of dangerous chemicals" was found there. What's more, the U.S. did take some actions preparing for war, for example, increasing the number of soldiers on the South Korean side of the DMZ.

Everything seems to suggest that war is inevitable except one factor: location--which brings us to the complicated politics of the region that outweighs all the others mentioned above. North Korea's brother South Korea has long been the close ally of U.S.; it is bordered by China; and it's in Japan's backyard. Those powers, together with Russia, strongly disagree with military options to solve the problem. And, as the Chinese saying goes, the U.S. "wants to throw something at a rat, but is afraid to break the vase." Comparatively speaking, Iraq is unlucky, being surrounded by countries looking forward to its destruction.

Thanks to the location of North Korea, Uncle Sam had to learn to sit down and talk: he turned to the U.N. and the powers mentioned above for help; he urged North Korea to return to the negotiation table to resume the six-nation talks. It is probably the first time that the Bush government has shown so much patience to a hostile nation. Shan't we rejoice in Koreans' good fortune? Actually, we are not that happy despite that we really loathe wars.

When the Iraq war "ended," we breathed easily to some extent. Though a Korean war is not likely to break out soon we cannot relax. We never know when Uncle Sam alone will decide to strike the uranium enrichment program and nuclear power facilities in Yongbyon.

ASIAN NEWS, OPINION: North Korean Nuclear Crisis and the Six-party Talks

By Angie Zhang

Since the turn of last year, the whole world has kept its eyes peeled for developments in the North Korea nuclear crisis. The international community didn't hide its astonishment when North Korea announced that it had a capacity of developing nuclear weapons. A poverty-stricken country "bearing years of sanctions" abruptly claimed its ambition to produce weapons-grade nuclear fuel and took developing nuclear weapons as an effective way to safeguard its sovereignty, while the world took it as a great menace to worldwide security.

Usually, faced with pressure from economic giants, poor countries incline to take extreme action as a call for attention, just like North Korea, who carries out a deterrent policy developing nuclear weapons. This can also explain why so many poor countries become breeding-grounds of terrorism. North Korea needs more help and care from the whole world; it is eager to be accepted as a member of the international community.

Many rounds of six-party talks have now been held in Beijing. This is said to be a good foundation upon which to build in future rounds. All sides say they are hoping for an acceptable resolution through these talks, but the fact is they are not as constructive as people feel they are; no agreements have been reached and the issue remains unresolved.

North Korea stated its long-standing position that it is willing to end its nuclear ambitions in exchange for a security guarantee, energy assistance, and diplomatic recognition from the United States. It will not give up its nuclear programs without a fight. The talks may turn out to be only a temporary break in the crisis, with North Korea returning to its brinkmanship tactics and moving toward a more robust nuclear weapons capability.

America has remained steadfast in its stance that North Korea must first act to verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear programs. Nuclear proliferation beyond the Korean peninsula, especially to terrorist groups, will not be tolerated.

Thus, I am not optimistic about the functioning of talks when neither side has any intention of giving way to the other on the core issues.

MODERN LIFE, CHINA Commentary: Mobile Trust

By Lianne Li

“So on second thought I’ve decided to tell you. I’m going to quit school on the 30th.”

No shock, please. It happened when February hadn’t yet left and you only had to check the calendar to discover that it was just another one of those junk jests you get on your mobile phone before pressing the delete button.

The fact was I and my roommates had sent this short message to all acquaintances in our phonebooks. We saw it as only a small harmless trick. To prove it, soon a reply came to my phone: “Wow! I’ll hopefully marry on that day!”

But in my heart I was hoping for some dullards. Just at that moment my close friend Juan’s reply came: “What’s up?”

I giggled. Knowing me better than any other friend, she would be the surest that I was not about to quit the college of my choice since early high school.

“Check the date,” I reminded her. But she stuck fast. I was defeated and confessed straight away with an apology that it was just a joke.

Instead of an expected laugh, a furious message struck back at me on the tiny screen: “How could you cheat me so?”

I was dumbfounded, never had I thought that what I did was anything like cheating. To make it worse, another friend called to tell me she almost suffered a heart attack when she saw the message. Shocked myself now, I sent explanations to everyone only to receive more and more “How could you cheat me so?” messages.

Disaster doesn’t travel alone. It seemed the other girls suffered the same fate. Soon, regretful complaints filled the room. Why were there so many “dullards”? I wondered. Wasn’t it well known that February had no 30th? Then why were there people still willing to believe, even when they knew the date was wrong?

Maybe it was not the date that mattered; people believed it because they trusted us. When I realized this, I didn’t know whether to cheer up or cry. The fact that my acquaintances would believe this dumb joke and get angry at the truth was a sign of trust in me. To some extent, what I did was no different from the boy who made fun of nearby shepherds by often yelling, “There’s a wolf!” But the loss of trust is more dangerous than the attack of a wolf.

In an age when a mobile phone is more and more relied on as a personal mass-communication tool in China, it has become a reflection of yourself and your reliability. You are what you say; people have to believe you before opening your message. Imagine if people no longer believe what you say? Therefore, I say: Though it doesn’t take April 1st to send practical jokes for amusement, think before you act. There’s a trust thing that stings.

FROM THE EDITORS: It's all about tests...

Yes, our absence from these pages was all about tests, of the mid-term variety. We played hookey so that every one of us could ace them, of course. Now that the week is history, we will steadily get WOW re-rolling along. In the coming days, you will see postings on Taiwan, Chinese media, and the American presidential election, among other things.

We treasure you visiting with us as we find our voice, pace, rhythm and look. We are doing something very new to us and we would think to all Chinese university journalism schools, so your patience is our balm and your comments and e-mails are our reward, we (gulp) hope.

-- The Editors

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."