Old songs of the heart

Singer-songwriter Xiao Ke launches a new album with eye on his 50s, Chen Nan reports.

Ke Zhaolei, who is more famous by his stage name, Xiao Ke, turned 47 in October. But soon after his birthday celebrations with family and friends were over, it struck him that he was approaching 50.

"The idea of getting old shocked me," the singer-songwriter from Beijing says of his thoughts when he took a shower that evening. "I immediately sat down in front of my computer and started to write more songs."