Most of the Hong Kong and Taiwan music circles are doing the same thing

China News Service, Beijing, June 17 (Liu Yue) "Is this a ticketing website or the scene of the Golden Melody Awards?"

In 2024, the "concert economy" continued to become a new flashpoint in the domestic cultural tourism circuit. From Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Li Hechen, Ren Xianqi, to Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, Eason Chan, and Wang Xinling, most of the Hong Kong and Taiwan music circles came to the mainland to hold concerts.

Netizen ridicule: Those people in the headphones are now singing in front of me. Not only my youth, but also my parents’ youth.

Andy Lau 2024 Tour Poster

Hong Kong and Taiwan singers gather on the mainland to set off a nostalgic storm

On June 15, Beijing fans welcomed Karen Mok and Xin Xiaoqi, who sang at the same time at the Bird’s Nest and the National Stadium, less than two kilometers away.

According to the reporter’s incomplete statistics, looking across the country, nearly 20 Hong Kong and Taiwan artists chose to perform on June 15: Miriam Yang in Tianjin, Jolin Tsai in Taiyuan, Deng Ziqi in Qingdao, Su Youpeng in Xi’an, Wang Xinling in Changsha, Cai Jianya in Hangzhou… The last "gathering pageant" was born on April 20 – this day was nicknamed "Concert Day" in China by netizens. On that day, more than 30 concerts were held in cities across the country, including five in Shanghai, namely Zhang Xinzhe, Xu Huaiyu, New Pants, Luo Dayou, Xin Orchestra, and the content of Hong Kong and Taiwan singers was extremely high.

In the first half of 2024 alone, more than 30 well-known singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan sang in the mainland, and in the second half of the year, there were also many heavyweights such as Twins and Power Trains. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the "youth memories" of several generations in the mainland have crossed the ocean, blowing up bursts of nostalgia, and many "famous scenes" have been born at the same time:

Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Ren Xianqi "conducted" the audience to sing "Ronin Love Song", laughing "It turns out that this is the feeling of Teacher Wubai’s concert"; Hefei, Anhui, heckled "refund" on the spot, Pan Weibai incarnated as a supernumerary member of "Deyun Club" and "competed with the audience"; "Yitian" Sanmei Gao Yuanyuan, Chen Zihan, and Chen Xiuli gathered at the scene of Su Youpeng’s concert in Beijing, and the "Wuji brother" on the stage said: God, have all the "love debts" I owe come today?

In the background of the concert, Su Youpeng and "Yitian Sanmei" took a group photo. Picture source Chen Zihan Weibo

In addition, there were the usual unsmiling "Wang Xinling boys" who waved pink glow sticks, their faces sweetly "doo doo doo doo doo doo doo"; "Brother Jay, you are like a star, like the sun, always here", a sincere confession from male fans moved Jay Chou to tears… and female fans were busy saving money, after all, Andy Lau was coming in the second half of the year.

Jacky Cheung cancelled the performance due to illness, and Wang Xinling burst into tears at the scene

From July 2024, Andy Lau will hold a tour in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other places. While happy, fans warmly remind: Andy is 62 this year, don’t keep going, after all, another of the Four Heavenly Kings fell ill some time ago.

On June 7, Jacky Cheung’s concert tour was temporarily cancelled. He apologized to his fans, saying that he was confirmed to be infected with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and that his throat could not make normal sounds. He admitted that RSV was originally a disease that children were prone to: "Probably because I am 60 +, it is said that as I get older, I will slowly become a child, so I am infected."

This is the second time this year that Jacky Cheung has cancelled a concert in Shanghai due to illness after he was infected with COVID-19 in March. According to Taiwanese media reports, after a week off, Jacky Cheung arrived in Taipei on June 13 and continued his tour on the 14th. Therefore, some netizens expressed concern: Is Xueyou brother too "hard"?

It is reported that Jacky Cheung’s "60 +" tour started in Macau in June last year, and more than 100 concerts have been held so far. According to the ticketing website, Jacky Cheung will hold 12 concerts in Hangzhou from July to August. Although the strength of the king cannot be denied, the intensive singing after the recovery of the serious illness, combined with the hot weather in Hangzhou, may not even be able to bear the devil’s itinerary.

Jacky Cheung "Three additional sessions" poster

Jacky Cheung was not an exception. At the Dalian concert on January 7, Wang Xinling suddenly lost his voice and apologized on the spot, saying that he was too tired recently and had a problem with his voice. On January 19, Eason Chan started singing in Xiamen, and because his voice was slightly hoarse, he apologized to the fans on the spot: "I contracted some bacteria a while ago, sorry today."

On May 25, Eason Chan announced at a concert in Hangzhou that the 101st concert would not be held as scheduled due to the loss of his voice. He bowed and wiped away his tears and cried, and then posted Weibo to apologize again, "I really want to spend these three hours with you, but the doctor’s suggestion is that my vocal cords must rest."

Hong Kong and Taiwan singers go two-way with cultural tourists from all over the world

Behind the "non-stop" tour of the mainland by Hong Kong and Taiwan singers not only reflects the fans’ recollection of their youth, but also highlights the increasingly frequent folk cultural exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In addition, the "lively singing" cannot be separated from the stability and improvement of the mainland performing arts market. On May 7, the China Performance Industry Association released a briefing on the national performance market during the "May Day" holiday. The briefing said that during the "May Day" holiday, the number of large-scale concerts, the average box office and the number of spectators increased significantly compared with the same period last year, and the market supply and demand were booming. Data show that during the "May Day" holiday, there were 184 large-scale commercial performances with more than 5,000 people across the country, an increase of 14.49% year-on-year; box office revenue was 1.153 billion yuan, an increase of 78.48% year-on-year; unique viewers 2.6029 million, an increase of 66.35% year-on-year.

Jay Chou thanked Hangzhou fans on his personal social media. Social media screenshots

Not only that, the performance products have become a big "sharp weapon" for "literature" and "tourism" to go in both directions. According to the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, according to preliminary calculations, the Hangzhou Station of Jay Chou Carnival World Tour directly drove the consumption of Hangzhou culture and tourism 1.316 billion yuan, of which foreign audiences contributed as much as 68.1% of the consumption.

In addition, according to the statistics of the Hangzhou Tourism Economics Laboratory, from April 18 to 21, Hangzhou received 4.722 million foreign tourists, with an average of 1.1805 million people per day, the highest since April. It is no wonder that Jay Chou is nicknamed "floating GDP" after singing a "small long holiday" in four days.

Of course, the two-way travel between Hong Kong and Taiwan singers and cultural tourists from all over the world does not stop there – Ren Xianqi clocks in Hefei famous attractions; Eason Chan asks netizens to recommend Ningbo authentic food; Wang Xinling searches for "Xia Yuhe" in Jinan Daming Lake Citywalk; from Guizhou tie-dyeing to Quanzhou dripping beast, Cai Yilin uses the concert vlog form to continue to promote intangible cultural heritage culture in various places…

Cai Yilin experiences Guizhou intangible cultural heritage tie-dyeing. Picture source Cai Yilin Studio Weibo

Cross-strait cultural exchanges are important. Since the beginning of this year, the hit drama "Flowers" has been popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Recently, actor Hu Ge visited Taiwan, and the short 22-hour trip caused a heat wave on the island. "We are indistinguishable from each other" in the mouth of "Bao Zong" has been quoted and recognized by a large number of young people on the island.

It can be seen that the sons and daughters of China have the same heart and origin, empathy and resonance. The collision of cultures has broadened the boundaries of the consumption potential of urban cultural tourism. Under the appearance of the continuous hot star performance market, the pace of economic growth is in a hurry, and the emotional links between people may as well flow. (End)