Heart strings

Wearing a simple black sweater and dark blue jeans, Wang Juan strokes her guitar strings and her smooth-sounding voice fills up the tiny studio. The singer songwriter is rehearsing for tonight's important performance at Starlive. It is the first time Beijing-based singer songwriter has played with a full backing band and she wants everything to be all right in the night.

With 10 years of performing experience and two albums under her belt, she has attracted a loyal fan base: not too large to disturb her life nor too small to disappoint her professional ambition.

Among her fans is Cui Jian, China's godfather of rock, who thinks Wang is rare breed of female singer who can make songs independently and without disturbance from the outside.