Tunes that travel

Evergrande Star Music Festival will be held in 60 Chinese cities, featuring both established musicians and young talents, like Zhou Ziyan (pictured) and Cui Jian. Photos by Zou Hong / China Daily

With two stages, pop and rock, the music festivals will have a mixture of big stars and new singer-songwriters from the local cities.

The first star Song invited is China's godfather of rock 'n' roll, Cui Jian, who will perform at more than 20 stations.

"He is the symbol of China's live music scene and I believe he can help ignite the passion of music festivals," Song says.

Cui is excited about the tours.

"It's more than a few days of shows, which will have fans rocking for a very long time," Cui says. "The tours can also help rock music get back to the mainstream."

He also points out that the outdoor music festival is still new in China and takes time to be widely accepted by audiences.

Most of the outdoor music festivals in China are held in developed cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It is not a healthy trend for the music industry, Song says.

He had spent a year watching live house shows at second- and third-tier cities, where he observed the potential of new music powers.

"I found very good singers at small bars in those smaller cities but they don't have the chance to perform on a larger stage. Our music festival tour will give those artists the opportunity," he says.

Special coverage: Music Festivals