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China Northwest
Wind
Chinese Rock had its origins in
Northwest Wind (西北风,
xibeifeng) style of music, which emerged
as a main genre in Mainland China. The
new style was triggered by two new
songs, "Xin tian you" (信天游)
and "I Have Nothing" (一无所有),
both of which drew heavily on the folk
song traditions of northern Shaanxi
Province in the northwest. They combined
this with a western-style fast tempo,
strong beat and extremely aggressive
bass lines. Northwest Wind songs
were sung loudly and forcefully. It
represented the musical branch of the
large-scale Root-Seeking (寻根,
xungen) cultural movement that
also manifested itself in literature and
in film.
Northwest Wind
music has a special place in my heart as
I was born and raise in that region, at
Lanzhou Gansu province.
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