A rocky road for music festival goers

For Liu Xi, a 26-year-old college teacher, the Lake Festival in Chongqing during last year's National Day holiday was his first outdoor music festival - and a life-changing experience.

Before that, going to an outdoor music festival seemed unpractical for Liu, whose home in Zigong, Sichuan province, is far from China's few music festivals, mostly in eastern cities.

Rock fans enjoying at an outdoor music festival. [File photo]

Liu was thrilled at the Lake Festival with the live performances by rock stars Cui Jian, Xie Tianxiao and many others, whose music he had only heard through downloaded mp3s, the main source of music for him and most rock fans in western China.

"I really felt the power of the live music - it was like watching a soccer game in a stadium. It was a totally different feeling from watching it on TV," he says.

This May Day holiday, Liu can also visit the Wulong Fairy Mountain Camping Music Festival in Chongqing and the Zebra Music Festival in Chengdu, both from May 1 to 3, and both about 200 km from his home.

He has opted for the latter, which also has other activities such as a graffiti exhibition and a flea market on its bill.

More outdoor music festivals will be held in other parts of China during the upcoming May Day holiday, such as the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing, Midi Music Festival in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, and World Music Shanghai.

If Chinese pop and rock are still only 20-plus years old, outdoor music festivals are even younger; the Midi Music Festival, which began in 2000, is the oldest of all.

Since then, Chinese outdoor music festivals have been few and far between but there was a sudden growth at last year's National Day holiday, when at least seven outdoor music festivals were held across the country, including the "Modern Sky" in Beijing, "Snow Mountain" in Lijiang of Yunnan province, and "Guanyinshan Beach" in Xiamen, Fujian province.

"The growth of outdoor music festivals is a natural phenomenon, as Chinese people need such festivals to enjoy music and relax. China is such a big country that there should be more outdoor music festivals," says Liang Heping, a Beijing-based keyboardist and music critic. "At the same time, after decades of infrastructural development in China, more is being spent on culture."