Video of the Week: Peking Spring

I can't say that I'm a big fan of the song, but the above video of Wang Yuqi's Peking Spring still has a certain appeal. At the start of the clip, the camera slowly zooms in on the former Second Hand Rose guitarist seated on the steps of Jiangjingjiu Bar. As the song goes on, he slowly makes a circuit of the small square that lies between the Drum and Bell Towers before returning to the steps out the front of the tiny live music venue.

It mightn't be so obvious from the above video, but when Wang Yuqi was 14 he went mad for metal. The Henan native who had moved to Xijinang with his family (his father was in the army), learned guitar by studying the ouevre of Metallica and Megadeth. After a couple of unsuccesful attempts to make it in Beijing in 1998 and 1999, the young musician made his way back to the capital in 2000 and took up residence in a small bar by the south gate of Beijing University. It was here that he had a chance meeting with Liang Long and together they started Second Hand Rose (二手玫瑰 ershou meigui).

Although Second Hand Rose are still together (they're playing a Valentine's Day gig at a new venue in Soho Shangdu), Wang Yuqi left the band in 2005. Since then he's supported bands like Muma and also provided musical accompaniment to drama director Meng Jinghui's Glamorous Encounter (艳遇 Yanyu) and Two Dog's Veiw of Life (两只狗的生活意见 Liangge gou de Shenghuo Yijian).

Links and Sources
Youku: Wang Yuqi’s Peking Spring
Youtube: Peking Spring
MySpace: Wang Yuqi
Sina: Qiao Xiaodong
- introducing Wang Yuqi's Peking Spring MV
Rock in China: Second Hand Rose
Rock in China: Muma
CRI: Second Hand Rose in Bloom
CDT: Second Hand Rose
Fabchannel: Second Hand Rose performing in Amsterdam in 2005