According to statistics compiled early in 1990, Shenzhen then had over 50 Karaoke music halls. Many song and dance halls offered Karaoke services. The laser video players were imported from Japan and the laser video discs also came from abroad. As a result, the Shenzhen Karaoke market was flooded with the pop songs from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other regions and countries. The audio personnel in Shenzhen quickly produced Karaoke videotapes with China's own excellent folk songs as the content and the Shenzhen scenery as the main tableau. Immediately after that, China's first laser video disc came into being in the city.

The Shenzhen government has held Karaoke competitions on many occasions, sought gifted people among some 1,000 competitors and provided song and dance halls with new stars. Shenzhen also played host to a national Karaoke competition.

Show & Plaza Market

Of the one million people in Shenzhen, 930,000 are male and female workers coming from the rural areas, townships and remote poverty-stricken areas in various parts of the country, who are scattered over more than 10,000 enterprises and factories. Their average age is about 20. These people rush to and from their jobs every day and work hard on the assembly line all day long. They urgently need recreational areas to go to after their labours. However, they dare not venture into expensive song and dance halls.

In July 1986, the people created a simple open stage with bricks and cement on the Youth Central Square in Hongli Road, Shenzhen. A novel evening party, named "Happy-Happy-Together," was started up. At first, it was held twice a week, and later thrice weekly. Nowadays, it occurs six times a week (from Tuesday to Sunday).

One evening, feeling curious, I took a walk to the square. The party was in the care of four people. One person was in charge, one played the electronic organ, another was responsible for the Hi-Fi equipment and stage lights, and the fourth was a security man. The gathering was proceeding very orderly. The audience did not need to buy tickets. If they wanted to perform on the stage, they had to just hand in 0.5 yuan, after writing their name and song choice at the reception office. Singing to the accompaniment of Hi-Fi equipment, the people could create their own entertainment.

The first singer on the stage was a female worker from Hunan Province. She looked under 20. After giving a rendition of the flower-drum opera of her native region, she went back to her seat amid applause.

The second vocalist who went up on the platform was a chap with a northeastern accent. He raised his voice and excitedly sang the song from the film Red Sorghum. Perhaps, he was too enthusiastic to sing well, but the audience still greeted him with a friendly and understanding smile. The singer himself also stepped down from stage beaming.

The third singer wore a jacket and green military trousers. He took the microphone calmly and casually moved two steps towards the audience to give a profound interpretation of a song from another film. The melodious music and his bold and unrestrained voice won the applause of the onlookers.

When a young couple took to the stage, the sponsor of the evening party asked them to sing Husband and Wife Return Home. They said smilingly, "We come from the desert area in northwest China. We don't want to go back at present. We want to learn something and sight-see for a while in Shenzhen." They sang a song from another film.

When their number finished, the audience burst into thunderous clapping. When the evening party came to a close, some young men were still wanting to perform. The "Happy-Happy-Together" was well organized and the mood one of harmony, friendliness and liveliness.

Incomplete statistics show that since the founding of the "Happy-Happy-Together," there have been more than 600 nightly performances with over 10,000 performers and audiences in the vicinity of two million. Those who attend are mainly young workers as well as primary and middle school teachers, students, government functionaries, retired cadres, plus people on tours or business trips to Shenzhen, some literary and art workers, and residents with their children. The performers all come from the audience. The oldest has been over 70 years and the youngest just three. Their renditions cover pop songs, folk songs, native ditties, dances, disco music, calisthenics, wushu (martial arts such as shadowboxing and swordplay, formerly cultivated for self-defence, now a form of physical recreation), acrobatics, mime, comic dialogues, operas and recitation.

Why is the "Happy-Happy-Together" full of vitality? I am of the view that it has something to do with the concrete conditions of Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a young city and youth constitute a considerable percentage of the population. In a competitive society, young people no longer have the introverted and veiled temperament of the Chinese people. They are open, clear and enthusiastic, and have a strong desire to participate in cultural activities.

Some entrepreneurs are well aware of the important bearing that culture has on the existence and development of enterprises. While attaching great importance to economic returns, they have tried every means to enhance the quality of their personnel and conducted various kinds of cultural activities to establish their corporate images, publicize their achievements and promote the sale of their products.

Along with the widespread promotion of "Happy-Happy-Together," the department concerned in Shenzhen has held open-air concerts on numerous occasions. As a result, pleasant and famous Chinese and foreign songs such as Carmen, The Blue Danube, the Fate symphony and the love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai have resounded through the skies of Shenzhen. The Plaza Art Market, another recreational area on a higher artistic level, has been created based on the "Happy-Happy-Together."

Within a period of less than a year, the influence of the Plaza Art Market has spread throughout Shenzhen. Stars from song and dance halls, and performers from professional troupes have, one after another, left their grand rehearsal arenas and posh halls and directly gone to the public. They have shown off their colourful pieces with amateur song and dance lovers. Apart from famous Chinese and foreign songs, they have also offered folk songs and ballads, and national traditional and modern dances. Their performances have enriched the cultural life of the people, developed the superb culture of the Chinese nation and helped spread the progressive achievements of world culture.