Here, MJ lived only in his prime

It might be preposterous to say that Michael Jackson easily trumped Elvis Presley and the Beatles, but in the minds of Chinese fans there is little doubt about it. We grew up with the King of Pop, almost. Elvis and the Fab Four, however, reigned before our times.

Not just the generational gap, but they ruled the music world before China opened its door and let in foreign acts of pop culture. Michael Jackson never performed in China, but through a relentless onslaught of cassettes, disks and videotapes his presence has always been palpable and larger than life.

In other words, we got to know Michael Jackson just as most people in the world knew him, not from his live shows, but from his recordings, especially his music videos.