When Jiang Wen breezes into the room with bottles of water and boxes of chocolate under his arms, the cameras start clicking. Jiang, one of China's top filmmakers, is accompanied by his 14-year-old daughter.
The father and daughter are there to see another big name, Cui Jian, the godfather of Chinese rock music, who is rehearsing for his upcoming concert at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, on Saturday.
"Do you like rock or hip-hop?" Cui asks Jiang's daughter. When she answers "rock", Cui says with a smile: "Here is a song for you, called Dream Under the Sunshine."
Cui Jian in a performance
Sporting his famous red baseball cap, Cui unleashes his coarse, low yet powerful voice, with his band backing up.
Jiang, the director of "In the Heat of the Sun", and Cui have been friends for more than a decade. Cui starred in Jiang's recent film "The Sun Also Rises" and Jiang has been a fan of Cui's music for years.
"I am happy his daughter likes rock," Cui, 46, says. "My daughter, who is studying abroad, likes my old songs as well."
In 1986, Cui debuted at the Workers' Gymnasium with a trailblazing rock show, creating an alternative genre for Chinese music fans. Two decades later, his comeback has generated huge interest.
"I can feel the pressure," Cui says. "Coming back to the stage after 20 years is special for me. Though I have never veered far from the rock stage of Beijing, playing solo is still challenging for me, especially with the pressure from the audience."
Cui says that he feels compelled to satisfy both old and young fans.
"Some of my old fans are the same age as me. They are expecting my new songs as well as my old songs. There are some young fans too."
Concert-goers can expect to see Cui lead his band through a set chronicling his legendary career. Still, the singer doesn't see it as a greatest hits concert.
"It's not my style to get nostalgic," he says.
Considered by many as China's Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen, Cui still has the same determined, hard rocking sound, values and passion toward music as he did in his 20s.
In the 1980s, when most Chinese had little knowledge of rock music, Cui released two songs now deemed milestones: "Rock on the New March", and "Restart". However it is the track "Nothing to My Name", which is perhaps his best known song.
As a young man, Cui trained as a trumpeter and played for the Beijing Symphony Orchestra for six years. But he says that listening to albums by Talking Heads, the Beatles and Sting helped shape his own writing when he started playing rock.
"I think rock music is more personal for me. I have more freedom. I can show more of my personal emotions in rock and roll music. With classical music, I can only play something that is written already," he says.
Even though Cui's appearances over the last 20 years have been rare, he still occasionally headlines rock concerts, including this year's Beijing Pop Festival and last year's mini-show at Starlive, where the pumped-up crowd was treated to hits like "Mr Red" and "Beijing Story".
Cui says he is still devoted to music. Live Vocals is one of several projects that keep him busy.
"Live music is the only way forward for Chinese rock music. There's a lot of fake singing or lip synching on television music programs. At the moment, Chinese music largely exists in the media, and in piracy."
While his fans worship him, some complain that Cui is still riding on the back of the fame he achieved with "Nothing to My Name". However, the star disagrees.
"If all I could sing was just 'Nothing to My Name', then I'd have been forgotten already. The reason why the song is remembered today lies in its value over the years," he says.
"I have written songs since then and will write till I die. Making music is a way to express myself and whenever I finish a song, I feel empty but fantastic. The emptiness means restarting again. I will create something new."
Of China's current acts, Cui says that he is impressed by a few young rock bands, but generally he thinks that the rock scene is in decline.
"I think that music festivals, clubs, and record companies can really change the Chinese music scene, but I believe there is no festival or record company doing a good job in China," he says.
Many Chinese fans, Cui says, are too worried about how the bands look. "They don't care about what they sound like."
Cui believes that young artists must take more care with their craft and not simply pander to audiences.
"You shouldn't compromise, or give in to any kind of temptation in your music. I will not say, like many pop singers today, that I am making music for listeners. I am working on a career for myself even if there are only two listeners."
While many of his fans have now grown up, and it's their children who are driving China's musical tastes, Cui maintains that he still has much to offer. He says that his new music mixes electronic elements with more traditional rock guitar sounds.
"People over 30 like my old songs. But youngsters around 20 tend to listen to my new songs. I won't just repeat my previous works - it would be a blasphemy against musical creation."
(China Daily January 3, 2008)
