Tan Yifan cicitan2011@gmail.com HAO XIANGYONG has never visited West Africa, or received lessons on its musical culture. The education he received, at a vocational school in Beijing, had nothing to do with music. Hao, 40, confidently claims to be the first Chinese folk musician to play the djembe, a rope-tuned and skin-covered goblet drum that originates from West Africa. Not merely a djembe enthusiast, Hao calls himself the No. 1 djembe master and educator in China. Hao runs a djembe club on Futian’s Shangbu Road South as well as the only Chinese website on djembe, www.djembe.com.cn. It spreads knowledge of the instrument and seeks to connect people across China who are interested in playing the instrument. Falling in love with djembe at first sight “I knew I would finally make a living when I first saw a djembe drum inside a store in Hong Kong through the window,” Hao said. A freelance bass player, with little accomplishment, Hao was searching for a breakthrough in his career when he paid his first visit to Hong Kong. “I was very unsure about my future at the time,” he recalled. “After spending four years in Tibet when my bar went out of business, I headed south to Shenzhen.” “I thought discovering a new talent in me would help me find my place in such a competitive city. I was very curious about the instrument and I believed introducing an unfamiliar musical instrument to mainlanders would bring me infinite possibilities.” Hao immediately bought a djembe, and based on his own musical talent tried to figure out how to play it. He read books in the libraries of Hong Kong and gradually picked up a basic knowledge of the instrument. From Hao Xiangyong to Feishou Hao was stuck repeating simple beats and unable to learn anything harder. He decided he couldn’t improve without help of other people. “The idea of creating a network of djembe in China popped into my mind,” he said. “As I searched the information of djembe online, there was nothing related to it in Chinese. I decided to set up a website about djembe to share my interest, and build a circle of djembe players.” Hao’s website, www.djembe.com.cn, was launched in 2006. Soon after he built the website Hao got to know online others who were also curious about the instrument and began to talk with them in the chatroom. A girl called Helen from Shanghai with a doctoral degree registered on his website, and began to translate books on djembe from English or Japanese to Chinese. She suggested Hao should be called “Feishou,” from “Feizhougu Shou” — “A player of djembe,” in Chinese. With support of his online friends Hao started a class of djembe, teaching his first batch of “students” most of whom were users of his website. More people expressed their interest in djembe and asked him to sell them the drum. Hao began a business by purchasing djembe drums in Hong Kong and selling them to his acquaintances. His days of singing at Huaqingbei square for 60 yuan were over. FS drums from Indonesia to China Gradually as groups of djembe players started springing up in other Chinese cities it became impossible for Hao to carry enough djembe drums from Hong Kong to satisfy demand. He realized he needed to find a wholesale supplier of the drums. After careful research of the market Hao decided with his wife, a Hong Konger who he met in Tibet, to visit Indonesia — home of many djembe drum producers. Riding a motorcycle they traveled across the whole country. With the help of his wife who could speak English Hao found a suitable factory willing to accept Hao’s relatively small orders. “I was cheated by some dealers and witnessed some robberies during the trip,” he said. “The most useful survival skill I learnt was to run faster than a robber.” Finally Hao managed to send 80 djembe drums to the mainland. As the importing of djembe drums became a stable business, Hao began to design his own trademark and stickered the drums with “FS” — the acronym of his online name “Feishou.” Striving for a professional debut Despite his drum trading business Hao would define himself not as a businessman, but as a huge fan of djembe and “hopefully a professional educator.” Hao and his “students” formed a djembe band, with around 20 players performing regularly at his shop. Hao usually delivers a lecture before they begin practice. “We have never stopped learning,” Zhong Yumin, the first “student” of Hao and a worker at a local pharmaceutical company, said. “We learn from each other and the materials we share on Hao’s website. Hao even invited djembe masters to hold open classes at our club.” To avoid repeating the same music over and over again Hao composed new beats. A year ago he published a book with the content adjusted to meet the demand of Chinese learners. His group have performed at several important local events including a 2012 New Year’s show broadcasted by Shenzhen Satellite TV Station, but they are still far away from being a professional performing group. According to Zhong, “Most of us are amateurs, except Feishou.” The struggle to share djembe Zhong has witnessed the changes and challenges of Hao’s club. “Hao is patient whilst promoting djembe, and he is very generous,” Zhong said. “He teaches djembe for free and gives his book to those who buy a djembe, but there are few people who maintain their passion for djembe for long.” “Over the years there were new faces in our group, but often people only come to practice for a short time, which undermines the quality of our performance.” To keep club members is only one of the problems in Zhong’s eyes, the expansion of Hao’s djembe club has also met stagnation. “We have been interviewed by almost all the media in Shenzhen, but despite this favorable promotion after hearing our story few people have shown up to join the club,” Zhong added. For Hao, this is not a big deal. “As long as I have faith, I can make a living wherever I go and achieve my goals,” he said. “Now I have djembe, I know I have a promising future.” Now I have djembe, I know I have a promising future.” — Hao Xiangyong, the first Chinese folk artist to play djembe | 