Northwest Wind

"Northwest Wind" (Chinese pinyin: xibeifeng) is a style of music which emerged on the popular music scene from the northwestern regions of China, specifically from the Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The genre has an upbeat western tempo with a strong beat and extremely aggressive bass lines that is distinctly different from Hong Kong cantopop and Taiwan mandopop.

In 1986, a special concert was held in Beijing, at which 100 mainland pop singers sang. It was the first time that mainland singers had appeared together on such a large scale. From this concert a Chinese folk combo called Xin Tian You blasted Northwest Wind across the whole China.

Northwest Wind should be considered as the first peak of original mainland music.

In 1988, theme songs from two Chinese soap operas, Snow City and Plainclothes Police brought overnight fame to pop singer Liu Huan. Shortly afterwards a film directed by Zhang Yimou, Red Sorghum, was shown to the public. Its theme song Girl, Just Go Ahead brought Northwest Wind to its peak.

In the face of competition from Hong Kong and Taiwan pop music, this style of music later evolved into Chinese rock.

Audio

Girl, Just Go Ahead (audio)