SOUND OF THE XITY CHINA MUSIC CONFERENCE AND SHOWCASE FESTIVAL 2013
IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA
My very first trip to China and I was awarded a first class seat upgrade, today I am feeling mighty fine. However wearing a kufi while sitting in first class seems to be disturbing to the white flight attendants, there is no discernible reaction from any of the Chinese in fact they are as comfortable as I am. Appears that the first class purser has developed a sincere attitude, in describing here initially let me say that her hair looks like a bonnet of black & white feathers. The hair style is spiked and not very flattering with its uneven coloring. Ever other flight attendant has black or brunette hair. First class perks on a long flight like this include adjustable private cubicle which can become a bed, slippers, refresh bag, immediate champagne beverage service, private entertainment screen with sound proof headsets, choice of 5 different entrees for dinner served on china and silver service, an inflight snack and a breakfast. I am so excited about going to Beijing that I haven’t slept a wink but I did watch several full length movies over the 13 ½ hour flight.
Upon arriving at the Beijing airport I knew immediately that I was in a country where “humor and jokes” at immigration would not be tolerated. Going through immigration was a harrowing experience especially with the armed guards, vacant stares and non friendly attitude of the immigration workers. I was greeted by my pickup person when I came out of baggage claim via customs and was relieved to see a smiling cheerful person who spoke English and was very respectful. Surprise to me was that the first two restaurants I saw in Beijing were Kentucky Fried Chicken and Starbucks. The KFC franchise is very alive in China and can be seen in almost every neighborhood in Beijing. Television commercials that I have seen are mostly Western companies. Nike, Mazda, Coke, Minute Maid.
My hotel was prescreened and ready upon arrival yet it is very different than what I expected. There is no Internet available, no television available, no room service or room cleaning, no restaurants or lounges. The room is modern, clean and comfortable but I have no key to my room, all entrance must be with a guard who lets me in the building, walks me to my room and opens the door with a master electronic key.
Walking down the street I get stares from the populace however no one wants me to look them in the eye. Once I see them staring I immediately look into their face and they turn their head or look in another direction. I wish this worked in the United States as well as it works in China. Bicycles, mopeds and motor bikes are on every road, traveling without a fear of getting hit and totally not paying any attention to stop lights or pedestrians. I am really fascinated that many people are not hit by cars and motor cycles for the traffic in Beijing has to be one of the worst nightmares I have ever seen. Driving down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic is not frowned upon, driving through red lights is common and turning from the wrong lane seems to be the thing to do.
Meals have been an experience that I will never forget. Having been here for 3 days I have yet to taste any rice. It seems that Chinese meals at restaurants are about eating meat and vegetables in their varied form and adding rice or noodles to the meal is frown upon. Rice & noodles are considered basic food sources and are eaten every day at the homes of Chinese people. Eating out at a restaurant is considered a luxury so basic foods are not served with the meals.
Today I ate Yunnan style cooking from a province in the north of China. These are mountain people and their food has a considerable spice added to it. My meal consisted of ground beef with onions and hot peppers, ground pork with celery scallions and hot peppers, cooked thin slices of beef with lemon, scallions, peppers and ginger, steamed fish with scallions, ginger, onion and hot peppers, deep fried mash potato balls dipped in a garlic, ginger, scallion, lemon based sauce and stir fried prawns (whole shell) with worms, hot peppers, garlic and scallions. Since my arrival I have had duck, sweet and sour fish, marinated eggplant, and marinated green beans, bean paste, scallops served over corn kernels with garlic, 2 types of Chinese pancakes, multiple Chinese sweet cakes, gingered fruit and gallons of tea.
The main reason for my visiting Beijing is the Sounds Of The Xity China Music Conference and Showcase Festival (SOTX) “Hidden assumptions in the music industry”, conceived and developed by Zhang Ran, an extremely creative man reveling in art, music and business mechanics. Wei Gao, the second in command, orchestrated the event logistics, communication, volunteers and day to day operations. She is dedicated to excellence and I applaud her consistent ability to achieve high goals. The daily panel lineup was literally who’s who of the Chinese entertainment industry in conjunction with festival producers from many different countries, educators, press and government officials.
This was a business conference of tidal proportions with business executives speaking to business executives. Not found here were the new entrepreneurs or musical artist looking to find information on how to start their career, instead the professionals were here shaping the course of Chinese music worldwide while making International business connections. Individual radio transceivers were available and every session was translated into English or Chinese depending on who was speaking. As a featured speaker I was given my own personal interpreter for the conference. The 2 days of concentrated panels included oversight into the Chinese online music community, digital delivery, copyright structure, education of the new entertainment professional, foreign music festival markets and music media. With the caliber of executive talent available the meetings after the panels were intense and full of informative information and positive networking.
Music is and will always be the CORE of SOTX so there were multiple “live” showcases every night in 8 different nightclubs of varying sizes. Over 150 individual bands played in 4 days and the music encompassed almost every continent and style. SOTX showed me a new level of expressing and delivering music to entertainment professionals, press and fans. I listened to a Chinese duo that had a unique style, female vocalist with an extremely good voice, male guitarist singer who also operated a digital work station that had bass lines, horn shots and other sounds, I cannot explain the type music that they sang in Chinese however the rhythms were contemporary, pop, electronic dance music with sound effects added.
The highlight of my night was a band from the island of Mauritius that had soca, African reggae and urban contemporary flavors in their music, very danceable, infectious rhythms and party friendly music. Who knew that the Chinese loved reggae? I rod in a motorized rickshaw after 3 of us were leaving one of the night spots and could not get a taxi to stop for us, so a Chinese friend (IVAN) traveling with us stopped a covered motorized rickshaw and we piled in. The vehicle only sat 2 but the 3 of us rode about 3 miles all for the cost of 10 Yuan ($1.75). An elderly bicycle powered rickshaw driver wanted to take me back to the hotel when I decided to leave, but he asked for 100 Yuan ($16.70) which was robbery for Beijing. I took a taxi that cost me $23 Yuan ($3.85) and was glad that no one tips in china.
One of the nightclubs I spent an entire evening in was MAO LIVEHOUSE, from the exterior you would have thought it was a vacant warehouse, no neon signs, no advertising, no doorman just paint on the wall but once you got inside you knew that this was a popular spot. I was really impressed with a band called THE TREE and their diverse usage of electronic sounds coupled with acoustical instruments and vocals. Exceedingly harmonious yet subtle and pretty sounds with only 2 players working onstage singing in English, was refreshing and new. The Iron Kite, though singing in Mandarin, gave an exciting and controlled performance; their lead singer (YU SHENG) captivated the crowd and delivered vocals with expression and emotion. The best act of this night was the Amazing Insurance Salesmen a trio consisting of lead guitar and vocals from Jean-Sebastian Hery of France, bass player Maikel from Holland and a Chinese “beast” of a drummer Mao Mao. They got the crowd worked into a frenzy, had women swooning and men shouting and singing right along with their English language set.
Spent my 65th birthday in Beijing by going to the Imperial Palace (Forbidden City) and Tiananmen Square where the monument to the Chinese workers revolution and the body of Chairman Mao are located. Of course I had no idea the scope and majesty of this area and the size of the Forbidden City is massive. Our White House, surrounding land and national monuments could fit into the opening grounds of the Imperial Palace alone.
The conference delegates took me to a birthday luncheon and I ate food I had never tasted before. The restaurant was called the Perfumed Garden and it was a Hot Pot styled restaurant. A large burner was built into the table top where a double bowled pot was placed over. Hot broth was placed into the pot with a wood mushroom, scallion, spice and hot pepper base. Then pieces of tofu, meat, fowl, seafood and vegetables were dropped and cooked in the broth. I had to wait until they were cooked, then place each piece into a sesame seed based sauce before I could eat them. Additional plates on the table held various types of picked and spiced mushrooms, garlic, radishes and vegetables. The appetizer for this meal was deep fried insects, bee larvae, 3 different worms, 2 cocoons and grasshoppers. As the birthday person I had to eat a bowl of noodles for good health and long life.
On the 2 days of sightseeing I was able to include within this trip I visited a Chinese neighborhood super market and I was shocked by the standards that the average Chinese person accepts for buying their food. In America we would call the super market a flea market for every vendor had a stall. The aisles were small yet each stall was packed with whatever the stall owner was selling. I had to buy replacement batteries for my camera at the electronic stall where I quickly understood that you NEVER pay the first price for anything in China, you must negotiate even when you speak no Chinese and they speak no English. Next to the electronics stall was a meat stall (Pork) and legs of pork were hanging against the wall, each person buying would tell the butcher how much meat they wanted and what cut and the butcher would cut the meat by hand right in front of them. There were bean stalls, several butchers, a chicken stall where chickens were sold with the feet attached, fruit stalls, separate vegetable stalls, an enclosed stall that manufactured fresh noodles. An egg vendor with at least 8 different varieties of eggs (I saw a basket of blue eggs as big as my fist each). Ginseng vendors, a soy sauce stall, a jade vendor and several small appliance stalls. I saw one cloth stall and 2 people were sitting in front of it sewing buttons on clothes. This stall only sold bolts of cloth, thread, and buttons and did repairs.
That same afternoon my interpreter, Shei Shei, met me at the hotel and we took a taxi to the Chinese Pearl and Silk market. Was this ever an experience. I was met at the curb by my first Chinese beggar; this woman had begging down to a science and nowhere else in China had I seen another beggar. This was a business just like selling rice cakes and only my American style of saying NO kept her and others away. DVD movies were only 10 Yuan ($1.75) and every movie I knew about was available even the ones that had not been released in China (Django). I never found out if there “bootlegs” were any better than ours for I wanted to shop inside the mall and not on the street. Entering the enclosed Mall my attention turned to the many varieties of goods available. The Mall was 6 stories tall and each floor was devoted to a special category of goods. The grocery was on the top floor and this was more in line with the stores I have become accustomed to in the USA. Prepackaged goods with prices stamped upon them, of course this was for the International tourist and Chinese people continued bargaining on everything they wanted to purchase. I had no desire to buy silk goods during this trip, however pearl, silver & gold was another subject. (NO I DID NOT BRING YOU A SOUVENIR).
After a great afternoon of shopping we went to a Chinese neighborhood seafood restaurant where I was the only non-Chinese person in the place. I wanted a piece of fish and Shei Shei ordered “snakefish”, was I surprised when they brought the fish in a net to the table so we could see exactly what they were going to prepare. The preparation of this fish was unique and was delivered to the table in a divided pot sitting over hot coals and cooking. The fish had been split with one side lying in a broth with a sesame base, the other side lying in a bean paste broth. Both broths had scallions, garlic, hot peppers and cilantro and continued cooking the fish throughout our entire meal. I am becoming quite proficient with chopsticks and can eat almost anything with them now. We had a cold vegetable dish of cooked bok choy, peanuts, walnuts, cashews and red bell pepper, plus an additional dish of pork ribs braised with fresh garlic.
The Sound Of The Xity China Music Conference and Showcase Festival was a tremendous, stupendous success giving me access to many more executive level professionals in numerous countries. Thank you Eric Defontenay, for making me aware of this exciting event and being so instrumental in obtaining my invitation to speak in Beijing China thus giving me the adventure of a lifetime.
