Miaoju JianD22 (Beijing 2006–2012)
The live music bar, D22, was founded in Wudaokou (the fifth railroad junction, 五道口) in
Beijing, with a capacity of up to 200 people. It appeared at a fortuitous time, just before the
Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, when attention from all over the world was focused on Beijing
and China was looking to present an open image to the world. Wudaokou is the main university
area of Beijing. It is a place where a considerable number of local and foreign students gather,
and where all kinds of subcultural scenes emerge. The founder of D22, Michael Pettis, is a
professor of finance at Beijing University, and a financial strategist and author. Before coming
to Beijing from the United States in 2002, he was a rock fan who had witnessed the art and
avant-garde rock wave that evolved in the East Village in New York in the early 1980s. He dis-
covered a few potential young bands in Beijing’s live scene, and along with managing D22 he
also persuaded Yang Hai Song, the frontman of the local band, P.K. 14 to start their own indie
label, Maybe Mars (兵馬司), to produce and distribute records for rock bands they favored.
The records distributed by Maybe Mars included works from Carsick Cars, Snapline, The Gar
(嘎調), and also of senior bands such as Joyside, P.K. 14, and Hang on the Box (掛在盒子上).
The opening of D22 was originally intended to support the young bands that Pettis personally
loved. After he started Maybe Mars, Pettis was even keener to promote the bands in the global
market. Maybe Mars bands recorded their albums in Europe or in America, and they also toured
bands on their label in the United States, Europe, and China. Pettis and the American sponsors
invested US$3 million, and were eager to promote these emerging Chinese indie bands outside
of China. D22 soon gained popularity for its open, free, noisy, and experimental music style. The
collection album that Maybe Mars released annually, Voice of Young China (青年中國之聲) ,
attracted media attention from China and the international media. During 2006–2012, under
the “rising China” atmosphere, D22 and Maybe Mars soon cultivated a fresh Chinese rock wave
that appealed to a massive populace (Roberts 2009; Gluckman 2012; Cornell 2011).
Before D22
Despite these efforts, to those who were part of the 90s underground rock scene in China,
D22 was not that important. The underground music scene in Beijing had flourished for over
ten years before D22 was founded. Top rock stars arose in the 80s, and were people from China’s
first rock generation. These rock stars include Cui Jian (崔健), Liu Yuan (劉元), the band ADO,
and rock musicians Tang Dynasty (唐朝樂隊), and “the three idols of Magic Stone” (魔岩三傑) :
Dou Wei (竇唯), Zhang Chu (張楚), and He Yong (何勇). These rock stars gained huge success
across the country, and inspired numerous future rock bands and audiences in China. However,
they had nothing to do with the rock music that emerged from the small live venues. There were
no live venues in Beijing in the early 90s, as the only place that both art activities and rock perfor-
mances might appear was a foreign-owned French restaurant called Maxim’s (馬克西姆餐廳).
In the mid-to-late 90s, the concept of rock music in China began to diversify. To the mass
audiences, rock had become a fringe and alternative culture label (Sun 2012). This is also the time
that all types of small live venues emerged in Beijing. Several representative venues started their
businesses in the Wudaokou area, such as bars like the Second Dream (亞夢), Busy Bee (忙蜂) ,
and disco pubs Live in Rhine (萊茵河聲場) and Nasa Disco. By that time Modern Sky, an indie
music label founded by Shen Lihui (沈黎暉), the lead vocal of the band Sober (清醒樂隊), had
started. Modern Sky released works by Sober, New Pants (新褲子), the CIR (麥田守望者) , the
Flowers (花兒樂隊), and Supermarket (超級市場), under a project named “New Sound in Beijing”
(北京新聲). These bands dressed in trendy styles, with music that merged with all types of alternative