This last image remains the most pervasive.
The biggest, best-known music star 
outside China is still Cui Jian, the symbol
of the 1989 student demonstrations.  His
hard-edged, political lyrics mixed well with
the metal and punk influences that 
typified the Beijing rock music scene.
Cui Jian is still a big influence--he played
to a huge crowd in New York's central park
late summer 1999.  And Tang Dynsasty,
another big Chinese rock band of the
1980s, is still playing (somewhere).

But the old days of the Beijing rock scene
are gone forever.  In their place is a dynamic
blend of new Chinese music that mirrors the
complexities and contradictions of modern
China.

From clubby dance grooves, moody
electronica, and garage-band thrash to 
melodious mandopop or old-style punk,
music in China today is exploring and
synthesizing sounds from all corners of
China and the world.  China Soundz
at Sinomania! is a brief introduction to
China's music scene today.

NEW Music from China!  Search any major music website for Chinese music and you will get traditional bamboo flute serenades, if you get anything at all.   Yet China has one of the most dynamic music scenes in Asia and the world today. CHECK OUT: Johnny Hi-Fi at the House of Blues Cleveland on April 2! the biz: mtv | mtv chi | imaginasiaTV

Featured Artists   NOTE: Artist links will take you to MP3.com where you can listen to, download, and buy the artist's music. To return, just click your browser's BACK button. Spoon Studio. Beijing. Spoon Studio is White Spoon is He Jiong Di.  The sound is classified as world fusion. His varied influences include traditional/classical even easy-listening. Have a listen at:  White Spoon's Spoon Studio

Digital Records/ChineseRock.com.
Beijing.
Proving that punk-style rock is alive and well, Digital Records is the first on-line Chinese recording label. Try "Lonely Girl", it's not what you expect. Parental advisory on lyrics. 

Listen to: Digital Records

Wei Wei.
China.
The most popular singer in China, she has sold over 100 million records and is a regular on TV and movies. Is she the Celine Dion of China? Check out "I Believe in China", kitschy but pretty.

Hear her sing: Wei Wei Superstar

VampireX.
Chengdu.
Electronica from the capital of Sichuan province, the band lists the Pet Shop Boys among influences and has an early 80s Euro sound.

Check out: VampireX

A-DO.
Hangzhou.
Categorized as world fusion and trance, A-DO's smooth sophisticated chords and beats have a real East Asian flair. From Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Try "Fly": A-DO

MORE Featured Artists >