Wuhan calling: how the city’s punk rock scene changed China’s youth
- Punk is still not a common sight in China, but if you do find a scene, chances are you’re in Wuhan
- ‘An old lady pointed at my head,’ recalls a founding member of the country’s earliest punk band of the first time he shaved his head bald
Zhu Ning, a founding member of China’s earliest punk band, remembers the uncomfortable looks he received the first time he shaved his head bald.
“We were on our way to band practice,” he recalls, “and along the way, a lot of people would get on the bus and then promptly get off. At the back of the bus, an old lady pointed at my head.”
This was the 1990s, when punk rock had just arrived in China. Zhu was young, in his 20s, and rebellious. He knew his sense of style was unorthodox, but he was still surprised by the response he received. “I didn’t think it would be so dramatic,” he says.
Punk is still not a common sight in China, but if you do find a scene, chances are you’re in Wuhan.
Although the city was in the news this year for different reasons, before Covid-19, it was known as the spiritual home of Chinese punk.
The underground scene can be traced back to the formation of the punk band SMZB, short for shengmingzhibing, which means “bread of life”.
