When I was in music school, first time we have Western music influence, and we have contemporary music. We have avant-garde music that we have. We first time heard John Cage, Philip Glass, and also first time I heard jazz, Michael Jackson in ’80s.1 And now I’m just back from China a few days ago. I’ve been back to China quite often lately, but I know kids everywhere are exactly the same here. Kids use iPhone, iTune, whatever they all use, headsets everywhere, walk on the street, they listen pop music, Western pop or K-pop or J-pop.2


It’s incredibly changed the music scenery. Traditional music not that popular than my time, and they still have younger generation, younger kids learning pipa or learning other traditional instruments, but less and less, and largely the young kids, they start to play piano, western classical instruments, and the majority kids enjoy the pop music, like everywhere.3

  1. The Happening []
  2. Moveable Feast []
  3. Always Music To Hear []
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