Singer's 'love letter' to city goes viral online

Yin Minzhucheng, a 24-year-old singer from Chengdu, has gone viral on the Chinese internet thanks to his catchy song Stay With You, which the singer says is actually a "love letter" to Chengdu.

In recent years, Chengdu has become a cradle for young music lovers thanks to its inclusive environment, music-friendly atmosphere and solid industrial foundation.

"As soon as I arrived in Chengdu, I fell in love with the city," Yin said. As one of his songs' lyrics says, "The air is full of love and the lovers are filled with laughter".

Growing up in Yunnan province, Yin loved music since childhood. He chose Chengdu as the place to achieve his musical dreams after graduating from university.

Over the past two years, he has grown into a mature independent musician through participating in original music competitions, writing lyrics and songs, busking and taking part in music-themed activities.

In September, Yin held his first solo concert in Chengdu, where he sang a lot of his original songs including Stay With You. Yin plans to embark on a national tour, in which he hopes more people will fall in love with Chengdu through his songs.

Yin is a member of the Star Nest Plan, an independent music commune. In 2017, Xu Xiaofeng, a big player in Chinese original music, set up the music commune in Chengdu, with the aim of supporting Chinese original musicians in the city.

"The solo debut from Yin is a result of him joining Star Nest Plan," Xu said, adding that by integrating resources, they are incubating a group of independent musicians like Yin.

Peter Chen, a popular musician who also set up a music workshop in Chengdu in July said: "Chengdu citizens are not only gentle and elegant, but also have the passion to create new things. Chengdu is a city with creativity and a vibrant atmosphere, which is very suitable for music."

Over the years, a large number of outstanding musical professionals have sprung from Chengdu. Besides popular performers such as Li Yuchun and Zhang Liangying, singers such as Liao Changyong and Fan Jingma, composers Gao Weijie and He Xuntian, and violinist Ning Feng are all from Chengdu.

"Both musicians and music organizations are working to make Chengdu the highland for music development," said Hong Qi, head of the Chengdu office of the Music Industry Promotion Committee of the China Audio Digital Association.

Hong lived in Chengdu for a year in 2018 and said the city can be regarded as having one of the best musical atmospheres in China.

After Beijing, it is Chengdu, Hong said.

At present, popular singers such as Zhang Liangying, Tan Weiwei, Li Yuchun along with a group of well-known music enterprises have set up their businesses in Chengdu.

Hong said that there are also many buskers on Chengdu's streets who have the potential to develop into real industry talent.

A project to popularize street performances in Chengdu was launched in May last year, with more than 3,200 street performances organized through the project.

Chengdu also has over 10 music colleges and universities, which cultivate about 35,000 professional graduates in music every year.

An original music development alliance was also initiated in Chengdu in 2017, bringing together more than 47,000 music performers and over 6,000 professional teachers to Chengdu every year.

"Chengdu does not only have a strong music atmosphere, a solid industrial foundation, a group of excellent musicians and first-class performance platforms, but also a large number of people who love music," a governmental official in Chengdu said.

According to the official, Chengdu's concert box office has always ranked among the top three in the country. In 2018, it took in nearly 500 million yuan ($70.75 million) in ticket sales.

(China Daily 10/29/2019 page19)