We’re talking rock and roll with Dr. Andrew Field, Associate Professor of Chinese History at Duke Kunshan University.  Andrew is the recent author of “Rocking China”, a book that traces the rise and spread of indie rock from the rock capital of Beijing to Shanghai and other places in China. Through interviews with key players, Dr. Field explores the meanings of rock music in China society and the many obstacles to developing indie rock in the country.

1.  Let’s start from the beginning of the “Chinese New Wave” :  how did indie rock make it to China?
2.  Why Beijing? Why not Shanghai?
3.  The Nirvana/Sonic Youth Effect – where were the rockers getting their ideas?
4.  The Wudaokao scene & the cut CDs.
5.  What was the main transformation from covers to original music?
6.  The Michael Pettis & D-22 Effect
7.   What’s the government’s influence on the rock scene?
8.  What were some of the challenges in writing the book? (it was originally a movie!)
9.   What was the impact of the rock festivals?
10.  Is the scene coming back post-Covid? Will foreigners come back and play again?
11.  A/B Test:  Favorite Cui Jian Song, Yuyintang, Hedgehog & Shanghai

Get the book:  https://www.amazon.com/Rocking-China-scenes-Beijing-beyond/dp/9888769936

Bryce’s 1991 Rock Moment with Cui Jian:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvn8Ql5GOYA

Andrew’s Chinese Indie Mixtape based on the show: 

On Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lpk51moJkyxvQXSEiWzrr? si=a2acd26cb50f401c
On QQ
https://y.qq.com/n/ryqq/playlist/8899639769

Andrew Field’s Blog:  http://shanghaisojourns.net/

For everything ShanghaiZhan:  http://zhanstation.com/

ShanghaiZhan Theme Music:  by Bryce Whitwam
https://soundcloud.com/bryce-r-whitwam/bad-cough-syrup?si=cfb30a6e0c0e459da78b912bf60825ac

Bryce on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brycewhitwam/
Ali on Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/alikazmi/