Culture> Music and Theater

Festival moves to a different beat

By Chen Nan ( China Daily ) Updated: 2013-10-25 07:27:47

Yat-Kha, a Tuvan roots-rock band, is one of the headliners of this year's Yulong Snow Mountain Music Festival. Provided to China Daily

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In 2001, Pan Xiulong, the owner of a small guesthouse in the Old Town of Lijiang in Yunnan province, had a group of guests from Beijing come to stay. One of the visitors was Cui Jian, the godfather of Chinese rock 'n' roll.

Over beers and local food, Pan had a long chat with Cui. The musician was impressed with the natural scenery of the Yulong Snow Mountain and Lijiang, saying that "it would be great to have an outdoor music festival here". Pan agreed.

A year later, the first Snow Mountain Music Festival took place on Yulong Snow Mountain. At an elevation of more than 3,000 meters, over 20 Chinese rock acts, including Cui, Dou Wei and Second Hand Rose, performed over two days for nearly 10,000 music-lovers who traveled from all over the country for the event.

"I saw people, who drove hours or even days, to enjoy music under the blue sky, which was very exciting," says Pan, 45.

The Snow Mountain Music Festival is now being held for the sixth time and Pan decided to give it a new twist, combining world music and contemporary art.

Thirteen world music bands and musicians from six countries, including Russia, India and China, will share the stage over the two-day music festival at the World Heritage Park in Lijiang, with 50 artists exhibiting over 150 artworks.

"Outdoor music festivals are booming all over the country and most of them are rock and pop music dominated. I want to do something different and offer music fans another choice," Pan says.

Turning the events' focus to world music is not completely out of the blue. At the first Snow Mountain Music Festival, Pan invited Chinese world music musician Dadawa and musicians from ethnic groups in Yunnan, to give the event some diversity.

Quan Sheng, founder of Chinese world music band Haya, who will perform at the festival, has been combining traditional Mongolian and modern musical instruments for over a decade. He has also fused Mongolian music with rock, jazz and classical.

"World music helps me express my love for my Mongolian music roots," says Quan, who plays horse-head fiddle, or matouqin, a traditional Mongolian instrument in the band.

Pan, who was an artist with a focus on oil painting, moved to Lijiang 12 years ago. Incorporating contemporary art with the music festival has long been on his mind.

"We didn't have too many bands and musicians for the music festival because we want the audiences to take time to enjoy their music and artworks," he says. "I hope it could create a quiet and slow paced atmosphere for audiences to relax and listen to music."

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