Wooing the West with a Universal Language

Peng Jingxuan plucks the strings of a guzheng, a zither-like instrument. She is giving a street performance accompanied by a plush toy panda, the animal people associate with China. What makes this street performance unusual is that it is held under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

In another French city, Strasbourg, Zhao Yang plays the pipa, a Chinese lute with four strings. She wears traditional Chinese clothes with a pair of stylish sunglasses, which makes her look like a cross between an ancient poet and a modern rock star.

Both Peng and Zhao are online influencers on the Chinese video platform Bilibili. They post videos of their street performances in France and receive praise from the viewers in response. They also share the videos on YouTube, attracting many foreign viewers from all over the world who leave numerous compliments in different languages.

“France has a popular street performance culture. But when I came here to study, I never saw Chinese instruments played on the streets. I want to share Chinese music with foreigners so they can feel its charm,” Peng said.

Since she started performing in the streets in 2018, she has felt an increase of foreigners’ interest in Chinese culture. She remembers a French child pointing to her guzheng and telling other children, “Look, this is a guzheng from China!” She is also delighted that another French child praised her as a fairy from China. What touches her most is that sometimes some of her audience came up to her after the performance to thank her, saying that although they had never been to China, her music had touched them.

In Strasbourg, Zhao’s gorgeous outfit is a magnet that draws crowds. “Our Chinese clothes and instruments are really eye-catching,” she said. “Sometimes they draw people even before I start playing. Viewers take photos on their mobile phones, so the pipa and Chinese clothes are stored in their albums.”

In order to spread Chinese culture, Zhao has studied the costumes and hairstyles of different dynasties in Chinese history and incorporates them to show the diversity of Chinese culture to the rest of the world. In addition, she adds modern elements as well. For example, when she plays La gloire à mes genoux from the famous French rock opera Le Rouge et le Noir, she wears sunglasses to create a unique look. “Many people think traditional Chinese culture is mysterious and quiet, but I want to show them that it has infinite possibilities and vitality,” she explained.

Moving Exchanges

Through their street performances, the young women have not only won a lot of applause, but also made many new friends, which has built a bridge of friendship in Sino-French cultural exchange.

Zhao mentioned an elderly woman who helped her blind husband walk up near Zhao’s pipa. With her permission, he touched it and said, “It’s pretty much what I imagined. I went to China in the 1970s and 1980s. When I heard your music, I knew it was from China.” This experience moved her.

Sometimes Zhao takes her pipa with her when she travels, which also gets her impressive feedback. For example, in Nice, one listener told her after a performance: “Thank you for the wonderful music! Everyone has enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery with your music and clothes.” It made her understand her mission better: while spreading traditional Chinese culture, she should relish art and enjoy the moment with her audience.

Peng had precious moments of interaction with people in Nice as well. Once she met a pianist with whom she gave an impromptu performance. The sounds of the two instruments from different cultures were perfectly harmonized, creating a memorable experience. This successful improvization gave her more confidence. Then she ventured out in Bordeaux, where she had a wonderful “conversation” about classical and modern music with a street guitarist.

Peng has seen her audience participating in her performances. For example, when she performed Por una Cabeza, a famous tango music, three pairs of tango dancers were so enthusiastic that they spontaneously began to dance to the music, which delighted her. “It made me realize that I can have different kinds of interaction with my audience while delivering beautiful music,” she said.

Innovative Creations

With their increasing popularity, the two women are continuing to come up with innovative ways to provide more special visual and auditory enjoyment to their audiences.

Peng believes that the guzheng can play all kinds of music, fast or slow, loud or quiet, classic or modern, pop or electronic, there are no boundaries for her. Her aim is to present the rich, diverse, and inclusive style of the guzheng to foreigners.

“I want Westerners to better understand and accept traditional Chinese instruments, so I sometimes play pieces they are familiar with to showcase the charm of the guzheng,” she said. “In this process, I adapt the music to some extent, adding the unique musical features and techniques of the guzheng performance to Western music.” She plans to work with a French electronic music master to create more compositions so that more people can feel the charm of Chinese culture.

Zhao is also exploring new possibilities. She has a sense of trends and once performed a popular Chinese song that went viral during the 2024 Spring Festival. “When I choose a song, I always consider first whether it is suitable for playing on the pipa. I also try some innovative playing techniques. For example, I try some bass and guitar techniques to enrich the music of the pipa,” she said.

Zhao is adapting the works of the famous Chinese rock band Second Hand Roses to combine modern Chinese rock music with the classical instrument. “Traditional Chinese culture has great vitality, just like our young people,” she said. “It is not just a memory of the past, it is entering a new era of bright prospects.”