In spring this year, I went to visit my relatives in Shenzhen. As soon as I stepped down the train, I was captivated by this 327.5- sq.km place. It only took a decade for the Shenzhen people to build their former remote, backward and sparsely populated border hamlet into a modern and vigorous city in south China. High-rises have sprung up. While foreign funds and technology pour into Shenzhen, its cultural and recreational arenas have also been built and prospered.

Speaking of their cultural life, people in Shenzhen take keen pleasure in mentioning their eight cultural facilities-the Shenzhen Library, the Shenzhen Theatre, the Shenzhen Museum, the Shenzhen Gymnasium, the Science Hall, Shenzhen University, the Shenzhen TV Station and the Shenzhen Media and Cultural Centre. However, the recreational life of the Shenzhen people is not confined to these venues alone.

Song and Dance Halls

I went for a stroll one evening. When I passed many posh song and dance halls with varied decors, the neon lamps overlooking the street were dazzling and the music was soothing. The door attendants were courteous and greeted customers with a smile at the entrance of the halls. To outsiders, all this is part and parcel of "economic prosperity" and a "favourable investment environment." But I wondered whether foreign decadent music and pornographic dances would also appear and spread at these halls along with the influx of foreign funds.

I was guided into a dimly illuminated song and dance hall by a waitress in an elegant dress. After I sat down, she lit a silver candle in an exquisite candlestick whose glow made the programme on the table in front of me clearly legible. The laser Hi-Fi broadcast Beethoven's No. 23 sonata and Mozart's symphony Paris. Singers performed China's pop and folk songs on the stage. A waltz was also played and people danced to their hearts' content. The atmosphere of the dance hall was ardent, healthy and dynamic.

Talking about my earlier misgivings, Zhang from the Shenzhen Cultural Department said smilingly, "Contrary to your view, the song and dance halls in Shenzhen exploit advanced equipment from other countries to enrich people's cultural life, mould their temperament and propagate socialist ethics. Currently, Shenzhen boasts 120 medium- and high-grade song and dance halls.

"We have made unremitting efforts to guard against the penetration of foreign decadence. In 1988, the public security and cultural departments checked these halls and discovered that two employed females to attract customers and broadcast decadent music at dancing parties. They were punished in accordance with Regulations Concerning Song and Dance Halls. In 1989, we launched a campaign against pornographic publications and videos and found that seven song and dance halls solicited customers with women's charms. The Public Security Bureau, the Cultural Departments and the Administration for Industry and Commerce held a joint meeting which was attended by responsible members of the city's song and dance halls. It was decided at the meeting that the seven halls suspend operations for reorganization.

"At the same time, the Cultural Market Management Office was also set up to check and supervise song and dance halls, plus book and news stalls and the audio market. The increasing efficiency of management has enabled song and dance halls in Shenzhen to further develop a Chinese character. As a result, they have been gradually creating a synthesis of the cream of Chinese and foreign song and dance."

Karaoke Music Halls

Karaoke which was introduced from Hong Kong at the end of 1987 has enjoyed an upsurge in Shenzhen. The genre was invented 20 years ago by Endo Minoru, a Japanese composer who wrote the song Spring in the Northern Territory. In Karaoke, amateurs sing along to a musical accompaniment. A decade ago, when Karaoke was regarded by Taiwan businessmen as a commercial business, the word for it was transliterated into Chinese characters, with the alphabet letters OK at the end.

Karaoke in Hong Kong has been technically updated three times. The earliest Karaoke consisted only of taped music to ac company vocalists and performers had to read the words from books. The second version displayed songs on TV videos. The current third generation uses laser video discs and artistic scenes, with the lyrics of songs displayed on the bottom of the TV screen.

I visited a Karaoke music hall in the Futian District. The place was full. Apart from foreign tourists, there were clerks from Sino-foreign joint ventures or exclusively foreign-owned enterprises, businessmen, chauffeurs and some people visiting their relatives and friends in the city. They vied with one another to hand the strips of paper with their choice of songs to the video operator for a chance to perform. An old man was called to the stage and he sang the theme song of a TV series. A tranquil rural night scene, showing the stars in the sky, the remote open country, lush trees, moonlight, farm houses and courtyards appeared on the big TV screen. The elder sang joyfully. While enjoying the rural scenery, the audience could read the words of the song and join softly in the chorus with the singer on the stage.