Broadcasting Time: 2006-04-23



Hello and welcome to this edition of China Beat on China Radio International. I'm your host .... In this week's show, we'll feature an indie folk rock musician from the city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. The musician is Li Zhi, who more often goes by the name B&B, or simply BB. He quit school as a sophomore to devote his life to the pursuit of his musical career. He's managed to release 2 self-recorded albums, and is currently making an effort to earn enough money to record another one later this year. But before getting to the details, let's first wet our appetites by listening to one of the folk rocker's songs - The Tabooed Game.

The melody of the song suggests its sad inner core. According to the song's lyrics, people have to play different games of life in sequence. In each game, there are specific rules to observe. We all keep on playing with interest and effort, till one day we break some rules and are forced to shift to the next game. The tabooed game refers to a game we once played but can no longer play – as its time has passed. Such a game stands for the loss of a period of one's life, which can never been re-lived again. The transience of life is often the focus of sensitive songwriters - this no exception with Li Zhi, or B&B, the featured singer/songwriter in this week's China Beat.

The next song I'll play for you is perfect for the present season. It is called "Southern City at Late Spring". Though some of us live in the northern part of the country, we may at least imagine that the look of the spring has already started to spread over the main streets and back lanes of cities in the south. However, though springtime always suggests a new beginning, as rainy season follows soon on its heals, we can often see a somewhat gloomy scene in the southern city streets of late spring.
(Southern City at Late Spring)