Red, Red Whine: Singing Happy Birthday to The Party

While Beijing’s old folks have been singing in parks for so long that the city’s birds are probably scouting out new things to do, the past few months have seen an even greater number of seniors belting out old revolutionary songs leading up to the 90th anniversary of the China’s Communist Party ’s (CCP) founding tomorrow.

“Red Songs” from the country’s cultural revolution and reconstruction days such as “The East is Red” or “I Love You, China” are ringing out in community areas, parks, campuses and workplaces across the Middle Kingdom and concerts, shows and competitions have been organized to further incite the practice.

Even some monks have joined in the retro fun (see photo above), taking a break from chanting to give red songs some yellow-robed swag.

Some foreign news services have painted the occurrence as a return to cultural revolution-style propaganda and party worship but many have defended the singing as being motivated more by nostalgia, national pride and a simple love for singing. The songs were, after all, the Michael Jackson and Jay Chou of their time. The younger generation still seems to prefer their pop stars, though, as university-organized red song events have been much less passionate affairs, according to the Los Angeles Times (sometimes blocked, sometimes not).

The red songs have even been said to have healing powers, as a few Chongqing cancer patients say the songs gave them the strength to survive cancer and chemotherapy. Many netizens, and the author of this Global Times editorial, have defended musicotherapy as a globally-effective treatment.

Foreigners have also gotten in on the act. This video of a laowai singing a revolutionary song went viral on Youku.

If the choirs have neglected to give your shower karaoking some competition directly in your compound, here’s our list of places to check out the patriotic tunes: Ritan Park, Chaoyang Park, Lama Temple, The Temple of Heaven, and at the intersection of Andingmen and Huayuan Qianxiang near the Second Ring Road. The groups tend to convene in the cooler dusk time around 6pm to 8pm.

If that’s not enough, here’s some you can listen to at work.

Photo: Sohu.com