A performer on Zhonghua Square, which Zhu Desong frequently visits.

A nationally respected musician has told Southern Metropolis Daily that Guangzhou is the best city in China in which to be a musician. Zhu Desong, who helped launch the careers of such megastars as Jay Chou and Luo Dayou, pointed to the talent and diversity of Guangzhou’s street performers as an example of the quality of the city’s music scene. However, he lamented that the city had lost its status as the capital of original music to Beijing over the past decade or so.

Zhu, a descendant of Song Dynasty scholar and poet Zhu Xi, is a singer, songwriter, producer and manager who came to Guangzhou in 1988 after being offered a job by the Pacific Audio and Visual Company.

When Zhu came to Guangzhou, the influx of migrant workers was at its most rapid and his career as a producer rode the wave of vibrancy of Guangzhou in the 90s. Stars whose music he has produced include Song Zuying and Na Ying.

During what Zhu calls the Golden Age of the Guangzhou music scene, there were monthly Original Music Appreciation Gatherings, and there would be awards for best original song of the month, season, and year. Local television and radio would help musicians promote their original songs, but Zhu thinks these media have since bowed to commercial pressure.

However, Zhu still uses his considerable influence to support the city’s street performers. He co-organized the concert “游唱侠英雄会” which roughly translates as Heroic Traveling Artists which was held in Wuhan and Lijiang as well as Guangzhou. The concert brought in a total revenue of 100,000 RMB.

A performer on the subway. Many of the city’s street performers rely on it as a livelihood.

He often stops and listens to performers on footbridges, street corners and in underpasses. Their music varies in quality, he says. Some do it just for recreational purposes, others do it for a living. The ones who do it for a living may struggle initially, but Zhu insists that if they work hard they can have a good life in Guangzhou. All of Zhu’s musician friends own houses and cars.

Zhu attributes Guangzhou’s loss of its status as the country’s original music capital to complacency and lack of investment. One particularly telling moment was the city’s failure to use the Asia Games to promote a song that could be as famous as “Beijing, Beijing.”

Despite Beijing having more opportunities for musicians, Zhu still thinks that Guangzhou is the friendliest, most pleasant and most open-minded city in China. He mentions with particular keenness the wide variety of restaurants that appear unremarkable from the outside but offer very special food.

Here is a video of probably the best known of Zhu’s songs: September 9.