Chinese Punk Band "Reflector"
Playing and Documenting the Underground Music Scene

Justin Clark

justintylerclark@hotmail.com

"I sampled, in the microcosm of Beijing, the cuisine of a dozen far-flung provinces; I attended posh, New York-like parties and met art students, filmmakers, advertising executives, international teachers, aspiring novelists, consular officials, sexual rebels. I regularly fell in and out of love with the city. On a weekend trip to Huladao, I rode the wrong way on a major highway on a tandem bicycle. I nearly got into a fistfight with three different taxi drivers. I learned thirty words of Chinese, all unrecognizable to those I tested them on. I was humiliated at basketball by boys half my height. I was passed counterfeit bills a number of times. I was sometimes frustrated by the Beijing rush-hour, the awfulness of the weather, the general indifference of the Chinese toward one another.

But in the end my experience has added up to so much more than another stamp in my passport. While I wasn't able to achieve some of the goals I set out for myself as a musician, I learned far more about the country and its development that I had expected. I have glimpsed how a sixth of the world's billions live their lives, and gotten a rare opportunity to participate in and observe a cultural renaissance.