Luo Songsong

    songsongluo@126.com

    WITH musical talent TV shows such as “The Voice of China” and “Chinese Idol” mushrooming in China in recent years, many grass-roots singers dream of performing on the big stage and becoming famous overnight.

    In the past three years, 27-year-old Feng Shuai has been singing mostly English songs with her partner and boyfriend — a guitar player at the public square outside of Shenzhen Book City CBD store, Futian District, — and is searching for their lives’ meaning in the world of music.

    The outside world

    After graduating from a vocational school in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, she found a “safe job” in a kindergarten as an English teacher, and had enjoyed the quiet life for three years before she made a risky decision.

    “During the Spring Festival holidays, the fellow townsmen who returned home from Shenzhen would mention the city where they make a living, which prompted me to leave my hometown for the first time to see what it’s like in the outside world,” she said.

    In 2010, she came to Shenzhen and soon found an office job. Instead of being amazed at its magnificence and prosperity, she actually felt that the city was too big for her to feel “safe” and too dazzling for her to find her position.

    “The tall buildings everywhere make me feel small, or even invisible. The distance between two similar hearts is too far to meet in a crowd,” she said.

    After changing several jobs, she became ashamed of returning home without achieving anything. “It seems that the city has a magical power to keep the people in once they step into the territory. The power might be desire, hopes or dreams,” she added.

    Romance and persistence

    During that time, she would go to the public square outside of Shenzhen Book City CBD store to linger after work and was excited to find street performers in the public square, where she met her music partner and lifelong companion: Huang Qingxiang.

    “He was singing a sad song in a deep voice, which was exactly how I was feeling then: melancholic and depressed. After a short conversation, he began to invite me to sing,” she remembered.

    She believed that the encounter was arranged by a divine purpose. After finishing the song of “It Shines Through My Heart,” she was instantly caught by an irresistible flow of sadness and almost cried alone in the darkness.

    She thought that her parents’ divorce when she was a little child made her tired of wandering around and she looked forward to living an independent life with a reliable companion.

    In the next few months, she often visited him in the square, and complained about her hard work. “She could sing better than me. Therefore, I began to ask her to work with me,” said Huang, who was once a fitness coach and began his career as a street musician in 2009.

    “Due to our introverted character, the love story between us is not dramatic or romantic,” she said of him, as they would practice performing in their apartment in Longgang District during the daytime.

    They said that they were satisfied with their current life in spite of the unsteady income. One day they only received a total of seven yuan after singing for three-and-a-half hours on a rainy day.

    “It was frustrating indeed. Yet, we have to brace up to fight against all odds with our effort and determination because this is the life that we chose,” said Feng.

    In the past, they experienced different emotions, like indifference, opposition, and encouragement. “We used to receive long letters full of encouragement and support written by a young girl. I think that is an important reason for us to persist and move on,” said Feng.

    Dignity and dream

    Over the past four years, the musician couple have witnessed the sharp growth of street artists in the square, some of whom have established close relationships with them. “They are not competitors, but friends for us,” said Feng.

    However, they despise the so-called “artists” who break the rules of the cultural environment and beg for money after telling their miserable stories. “Only the genuine artists who strive for their lives deserve respect and dignity,” she said.

    She said that she didn’t aspire to become famous overnight and truly believes that what they are doing is the right thing.

    “Like other singers here, we also have a dream but we don’t speak it out loud often because flowers will blossom only when their roots are buried deep into the ground. I am just following my heart,” she said.

    The couple said they are considering moving to another place to perform because the environment in the square is getting noisier, which doesn’t match their style.

    “I think I am growing to love this city more,” she concluded.

    “Like other singers here, we also have a dream but we don’t speak it out loud often because flowers will blossom only when their roots are buried deep into the ground. I am just following my heart,”

    — Feng Shuai, 27, a grass-roots street singer