Pop goes the symphony under master's direction

Notes slide off the harp like a rippling river. Long tunes on the flute take the listeners into a quiet night. The images of a crescent moon, a curvy bridge and a small boat swaying gently on the river become vivid when melodies swing over the strings.

The Crescent Moon is a song known to every Chinese, with the soft melody soothing their nostalgia. TheMandopop classic was given a new life on its 24th birthday at the composer Li Haiying's concert in Guangzhou's Xinghai Concert Hall recently, with an orchestra replacing the singer's crooning.

Li, a forerunner of Chinese pop music's surge in the 1980s and 1990s, is the composer behind Mandopop classics including The Crescent Moon and I Don't Want to Say.