STORM CLOUDS cloaked the Helan Mountains at sunset, but as the stage lights ignited on China's largest ever rock 'n' roll festival, the sun's last rays glowed red in the sky. Native sons Su Yang thundered on traditional Chinese drums, light rain began to fall and the crowd roared. Here in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, in northwest China's Gobi Desert, musicians and fans gathered from the four corners of the country to support Chinese rock 'n' roll.
Dubbed 'The Glorious Path of Chinese Rock'n'Roll', 18 of the country's best-known rock bands gathered last weekend for a three-day festival to help win respect for Chinese rock. And the tens of thousands of fans impressed Beijing-based reporter Ivy Xu.
'In China, rock music is often still seen as subversive and so is usually denied mass media exposure or large-scale promotion. This event may prove that rock music can also be a positive force,' Xu says.
Zhang Wei, guitar player from Ningxia band Buyi, agrees. 'This kind of festival should have happened years ago,' he says. 'Rock 'n' roll is loved throughout the world. Why should China lag behind?'
Despite the noblest of intentions, however, it seemed the trust of authorities in the festival would not be easily won. Columns of soldiers trooped across the dustbowl venue, raising fears that gathering in large numbers for a rock festival was still a fool's dream. Undeterred, fans from as far afield as Beijing, Xian and Guangzhou camped out along the sandy ridge of the makeshift desert amphitheatre.
Watching soldiers fan out over the bowl, Xian architect Li Tong quips: 'This looks like war. We came here for the music, not to set off bombs.'