The unique folk rock band Xishanlaoyao.	An enthusiastic audience member surfs the crowd.	Rock fans show their approval of the festival.

BLAZING a trail through the grasslands of North China’s Inner Mongolia, musicians from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Tuva Republic rocked the stage at the first “Green Flag - Erdos Grassland Rock Music Festival” held from July 20 to 22.

Among the many veteran performers were Dou Wei, Zhang Chu and He Yong, three musicians representative of China’s new music wave of the 1990s. It was the first time the three had played together since a landmark concert at Hong Kong’s Coliseum in 1994. Others to feature at the festival included heavy metal group Tang Dynasty, Chinese grunge rocker Xie Tianxiao and popular rock singer Xu Wei. From Taiwan was singer Wu Bai, while Hong Kong was represented by Paul Wong, former singer and guitarist of Beyond.

Adding variety to the lineup was Sainkho Namtchylak from the Tuva Republic, famous for her style of “overtone singing” in which two parts are voiced simultaneously by one singer. Sainkho incorporates traditional lama and shaman vocal music into her act, as well as more modern styles such as electronica and jazz. Her performance at the festival took place during a downpour, moving Sainkho to declare, “I realize all the hardships people have endured to stage this festival, but in the face of problems and fatigue, the important thing is to keep going.”

More traditionally rock-orientated acts to play included Second Hand Rose, AK47, Thin Man, Face, Yan, Zero Point, Zi Yue, Jiang Xin and Wang Feng. Passionate performances, from the heavy metal of Tang Dynasty to the folk-rock of Second Hand Rose, rocked nearly 50,000 fans each day. After climaxing with Xu Wei’s Blue Lotus, My Autumn and Trip, the festival ended with both performers and audience members embracing and bidding sad farewells.