Stars of the sidewalk

Street performers say licenses provide a place to show off their talentsand some much-needed social recognition, reports Li Xueqing in Shanghai.

One Friday afternoon in September, Xing Zhenhua opened his guitar case and began singing in front of a shopping mall in Shanghai's Changning district. As soon as he started, several urban patrol officers arrived on the scene.

Little under a year ago, musicians like Xing would have had to evade these officers, known as chengguan, like "a mouse escaping a cat" because they had no legitimate right to give street performances.