Success blooms for Neon Garden

A struggling Chongqing rock band, along with other original Chinese musicians, are being propelled into the spotlight by a musical reality show, Chen Nan reports.

When he was 13-year-old, Tan Congchong fell victim to school bullies. Being angry and depressed, he listened to Chinese rock music, such as singer-songwriter Xu Wei and the band Tang Dynasty, which, to his surprise, comforted him.

"I became a rock music fan overnight. The lyrics made me feel strong and healed me. The melody gave me power," recalls the 24-year-old. He has since taught himself to play the bass and has started to write songs.