Stars of the sidewalk

Children and other passersby are amused by a street performer's balloon sculpting near Jing'an Kerry Center in Shanghai. [Photo by Lai Xinlin / For China Daily]

He didn't expect the break would change his life forever.

In late 2007, Yin made his "guerilla" debut in the city's central People's Square and was dodging urban patrol officers until he eventually made it official by getting a license on Oct 25 last year.

More than half of his income comes from his street performances. He does arrange some paying gigs to help cover his basic living costs, but he said singing in the street is different.

"For commercial shows, you need to maintain a relationship with certain people. It's troublesome, as I'm not a sociable person," he explained. "When I'm singing in the street, although I still need to communicate with the audience to some extent, I'm free."

He added that he hopes in the future performers will be given more freedom.

"The regulations makes street performing more like a normal job. Shanghai is still experimenting, so I can understand why the authorities are cautious," he said.

"But these licenses should be more like driving licenses: They should tell you what you can't do, not where you can go."