The jury is still out on this year’s Modern Sky Festival, while some have complained about the indoor stages, lack of food options and drinks running out on the first day, others have raved about great performances from Carsick Cars and Top Floor Circus. The Shanghai outfit lived up to their name by bringing along a circus of sorts, complete with clowns and dancing girls, for their final act-performance on the last day of the festival. However, the real highlight of their show was their performance of Shanghai Huanying Ni, their spoof on one of the Beijing Olympic anthems that we’ve all been hearing on a loop for the past 12 months.

The chorus of the song goes like this (remember sing along to the tune of Beijing Welcomes You):

上海欢迎你 欢迎来买东西
Shanghai welcomes you, welcomes you to come shopping

千万不要忘记带上人民币
Don’t forget to bring your RMB

上海欢迎你 奥运会有什么了不起
Shanghai welcomes you, What’s so special about the Olympic Games?

Full lyrics (in Chinese) available here. A  partial translation can be found below. You can compare it to the original Olympic tune here, here or here.

《上海欢迎你》
Shanghai Welcomes You

我家住在上海滩
I live here in Shanghai

黄浦江流经这里
Huangpu River runs through here

东方明珠巍然矗立
Oriental Pearl TV Tower stands right here

海关钟声响起
The customs bell rings out

淮海路上的漂亮姑娘
The pretty girls at Huaihai Road

全国数第一
are No.1 around the whole country

石库门里吃大饼油条
The people eating Dabing and Youtiao indside stone gate

全是小市民
are normal Shanghai citizens

上海欢迎你 欢迎来买东西
Shanghai welcomes you, welcomes you to come shopping

千万不要忘记带上人民币
Don’t forget to bring your RMB

上海欢迎你 奥运会有什么了不起
Shanghai welcomes you, What's so special about the Olympic Games?

让我们在世博会相聚
Let’s get together at World Expo

别说上海人小气
Don’t say our Shanghai people are stingy,

我请你去新天地
I can take you to Xintiandi,

两瓶啤酒一醉方休
Treat you to 2 bottles of beer

尽我地主之谊
they’re all on me

神州五十六个民族
There are 56 ethnic groups in China

是一个大家庭
It’s a big family

有事开口没关系
Just let me know if you need anything

谁叫我最富裕
because I’m the richest

上海欢迎你 欢迎来买东西
Shanghai welcomes you, welcomes you to come and buy things

千万不要忘记带上人民币
Don’t forget to bring your RMB

上海欢迎你 奥运会有什么了不起
Shanghai welcomes you, What's so special about the Olympic Games?

Links and Sources

Youtube: Top Floor Circus perform “Shanghai Huanying Ni” at Modern Sky Festival
Douban: Lyrics to Shanghai Huanying Ni
Douban: Photo Gallery of Top Floor Circus’ Modern Sky Performance
The Beijinger: Anyone attend Modern Sky or MIDI over the break? How were they?
The Beijinger: Modern Sky Festival kicks off this afternoon
The Beijinger: Survival Guide to Working on the Weekend and Holiday Rock in China: Top Floor Circus
Pop Matters: FOREIGN DEVIL: Post (Modern) Punk
CN Reviews: Translation of Olympic Music Video “Beijing Welcomes You” with 88+ stars
Wikipedia: Beijing Welcomes You
Chinatown: Beijing Welcomes You