Low on funds and feeling very resistant to teaching English until I found more gainful employment, I decided to try busking around various metro stations in Beijing. A very uncommon term for a very common phenomenon, “busking” is the practice of performing in public places for tips. And buskers, believe it or not, have been performing for handouts since antiquity. While it is still an effective way for people to make some quick cash in many parts of the world, I asked myself, "How would it work in Beijing?"
Wondering whether or not I’d be able to make a living busking, I decided to experiment. I would record how much money I made busking one hour per day for 30 days. Based upon that average I’d determine what my hourly wage was and see how it compared to an English teaching job.
Part social experiment, part income generator, in my series “北京 or Busk!" I will be documenting my forays into busking in this fine city. Complete with a map and details of the money I earn, I'll also include the best times and locations for busking, as well as descriptions of my interactions with people. Follow along, and then you can learn about the hustle, the music and people's reactions right along with me.
|
|
|
Wednesday June 10, 2009
Jishuitan Metro Sation Exit A
Approximately 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Started the hat with 21 RMB (1 10 and 2 1 RMB bills).
Bills
100 RMB-0
50 RMB- 0
20 RMB- 3
10 RMB- 1
5 RMB- 4
1 RMB- 36
5 MAO- 7
1 MAO- 4
Total: 128 RMB 5 MAO
Also: 1 small bottle of water, 1 business card, a package of cards with the American flag on them.
I decided to busk at rush hour in order to get the crowd on their way home from work. The heat was also a factor, and was much less intense later on in the day.
I set up on the sidewalk just south of the exit and planted my hat with some bills. Human psychology dictates that no one wants to be the first to give money, so I help them overcome their instincts. I’m still working on the right combination of bills to plant. Too low a denomination and people will be inclined to follow, too high and people no longer feel it necessary to give as much. I started my hat with 21 RMB (one 10 and one 1 RMB bill). Of equal importance to the planted bills is how they’re presented. I’ve used my guitar case once with okay results, but I’ve found using a fedora or an old-timey hat is the most effective. You can pick it up and pass it around. This works particularly well when you’re playing in a duo or group because then one member can free themselves up in order to make rounds among the crowd. People feel more inclined to donate when asked directly. It can feel a little crummy, but in its essence, it is simply asking.
Today I didn’t gather much of a permanent crowd, but everyone responded really positively. Some people stood and watched, others walked by briskly with smiles on their faces, a few slowed their pace in order to gape. Regardless of expression, most people tended to be pretty bewildered at the sight of a white western woman singing and playing guitar on the street. I don’t blame them. In China, busking’s for beggars. It’s for the infirm, the disabled; those in society who cannot support themselves any other way. Many look at me (foreigners included) and are plagued with questions: Why is she here playing music for money? She’s western, is it possible that she must do this to make money? But I thought all foreigners were rich? But then again, she looks as though she’s really enjoying herself, so could it be that she is just doing it for fun?
Often people are not too shy to ask, and I answer. I’ve played in a few bars and restaurants in Beijing and around China, and there’s plenty of gratification that comes from that. Still, it’s a bit exclusive, and because I play mainly folk and bluegrass music, people who are interested in that genre of music seek it out. Playing on the street, well, it’s way more democratic. Whether you’re an executive, cleaning up the street, or a granny walking home with groceries, you are at liberty to listen if you want. And most people did. They weren’t typically familiar with the style of music that I played, but many seem to they like what they hear and are curious. Several people came up to me and asked what the kind of music I played was called. As further evidence to how my Chinese vocabulary is becoming more and more exclusive to music, I was prepared to tell them "青草音乐/qing cao yin yue" (bluegrass music) and "乡村民间音乐/xiang cun min jian yin yue" (country music). And that’s the greatest feeling. I always come away feeling like a de facto ambassador for American roots music. They ask me the names of the songs they like, the names of the singers, and I tell them. Johnny Cash and John Prine stand out as the favorites. Standards like, “Roll in my Sweet Baby’s Arms” and “Sittin’ On Top of the World,” are also popular. The songs that get the greatest responses tend to be those that are upbeat, that get some unsuspecting pedestrian stopping, tapping their feet, and trying to sing along.
At present, I can only play and sing one Chinese song on the guitar- "Tian Mimi" or "甜蜜蜜”. Made famous by Taiwanese singer Teresa Teng (in Chinese Deng Lijun), it's one of the most recognizeable Chinese songs out there and always gets a great response and usually more donations. I'm working on another that my friend Sandy recommended to me called "Ye Shanghai" or “夜上海”. I figure the more Chinese songs I can play, the faster I can get people's attention.
The stand-out audience members this time was this woman and two little girls. They stayed and watched for almost 15 minutes. The woman gave each little girl one RMB to put into my hat. One of the girls ran up, tried throwing it into my hat and missed. The other shyly put it into my hat as they were leaving. But the girls didn’t want to go. They stayed and watched for another five minutes after they had walked past on their way to the metro.
|
Thursday June 11, 2009
Chaoyangmen Metro Station N/E Exit
Approximately 6:30-7:30
Started with 6 RMB (1 5RMB and 1 1 RMB)
Bills
100 RMB-0
50 RMB- 0
20 RMB- 0
10 RMB- 2
5 RMB- 3
1 RMB- 32
5 MAO- 0
1 MAO- 0
Total: 67 RMB 5 MAO
Also: 1 small bottle of tea.
I have a hunch that the nicer areas- the business districts and commercial centers- will pay less. I made less than half of what I did at the very same time and span on a weekday at Jishuitan. It seems that the more money people have the less they are willing to part with it. Foreigners also don’t pay as much. Their reaction to me is either that of being humored or embarrassed. Usually the latter.
The vibe that I got from most people, Chinese or foreign (and there were many more foreigners passing by her than in Jishuitan), was that they were too cool to stop and listen even if it was obvious that they were intrigued by the music I was playing. I noticed that the people who did stay and listen, did so from a distance. They waited by the bicycles parked near the street, or on the steps near the metro entrance. The station's security guards, men in their early twenties hung around and watched with big smiles on their faces. A middle-aged man with down syndrome showed up and observed for a while, which I'm pretty sure had an effect on passers-by who would glance at me and then him and wonder what the hell was going on.
Toward the end of my set a young woman who asked if she could take my picture with her cellphone decided to stick around and watch. When I finished playing "Amazing Grace," she asked if I was a Christian, to which I replied "No," but buffered it by including my mother's strong Christian faith. She told me that God must be looking out for me and recommended to me a cafe where I could play, but she couldn't recall the name. I gave her my card so she could contact me and she left. Two French tourists also came up to ask me if I could help them locate the Alliance Francaise. Needless to say, I was feeling a little crestfallen about the money and the turnout.
But the very end, right as I was about to pack up, a nicely dressed Chinese man in his mid-twenties approached, placed 10 kuai in my hat and asked if I knew any Leonard Cohen. I nearly pissed myself. "Yes!" I replied. "I only know two, though." "That's fine!" he said. He was just as thrilled as I was. We then spent the next few minutes belting out “Chelsea Hotel” and “Hallelujah.” I gave him my card and told him that I would be playing at Lush the following day, and if he decided to come, I'd play these songs just for him. And he did.
|
Monday June 15, 2009
Northwest corner of Xizhimen Bridge (as close as possible to Line 13)
6:30-7:30 pm
Started with 16 RMB (1 10 RMB, 1 5 RMB and 1 1RMB)
Bills
100 RMB-0
50 RMB- 0
20 RMB- 1
10 RMB- 5
5 RMB- 3
1 RMB- 29
5 MAO- 0
1 MAO- 0
1 JIAO- 0
Total: 114 RMB
Also: A bottle of Mizone water (like gatorade) and a bottle of tea.
I set up shop near the Line 2 Xizhimen exit right in front of the railway station. I figured this would work. There was loads of pedestrian traffic, as well as crowds of people waiting outside of the railway station. I decided to play on a little triangular slab of sidewalk at the entrance.
Unlike my previous performances, I decided to introduce myself right away.
“Hello everyone!” I shouted. “My name is Daisy I’m a singer from America. I’m here to play American country and bluegrass music. I hope you like it!”
Some laughed, others eyed me curiously. Those that got up and came closer were mostly men. The people working at the nearby public bathroom really seemed to get a kick out of it, too, that is until a security guard in dull green uniform approached and told me I had to leave.
“Why?” I asked, “Everyone likes it. What’s the problem?”
“You can’t do it here.”
He was a stern man of few words.
“But why?”
I decided to press him.
“There is no ‘Why?’ You can’t play music here.”
“Well, where can I play?”
“Over there,” he said, pointing in the distance.
Thanks, pal.
I grumbled and told the crowd that if they wanted to follow, they could. Only a young couple did, though. And following a few moments of setting up where I imagined “there” to be, another guard approached and told me to move. It was then I decided the best thing would be to have him show me, and he agreed. He took me all the way over to the Line 13 exit and then pointed across the intersection at Xizhimen Bridge.
“There. That’s where you can play.”
So playing anywhere near the Xizhimen metro or the railway was off limits. It makes sense in a way, China being China. Authorities get nervous when you draw large crowds of people in public.
I grumbled again and set up near a bus stop. It actually worked out for the best because I was in closer promixmity to those at the bus stop and those going past (unlike at the railway station). It’s more intimate and people don’t have to do as much work to throw a bill in your hat.
It was actually a really great show. I played “Tian Mimi” as per request 5 times. People just couldn’t get enough of it. I played it as a finale and people were singing and capping along. One man came beside me and started dancing. I got a request to sing “Happy Birthday” and “Country Roads.” In the middle of a song (I can’t recall which one), this woman decided to let her infant pee 5 feet next to me. I looked at the reaction of my audience and none of them seemed to mind, although I was thoroughly horrified. I got another request for the name of “Big Rock Candy Mountain” after I played it so he could look it up at home.
I also noticed that people filming with their phones were more likely to give a little money.
A few foreigners walked passed, but none stayed save for 3 scarved middle-Eastern women who really seemed to enjoy my cover of “Me and Bobby McGee.”
At the very end, after I finished “Tian Mimi” the young woman who had bought me a bottle of Mizone approached and asked if she could give me a hug. I agreed, and offered any to anyone else who wanted one. There were hugs all around.
Later that night, I was talking to Huang at Jinjianjiu Bar about this. He said what I already believed, which is that I am able to make so much more due to the fact that I am a white woman.
“I had a friend play music for hours and not make a quarter of what you made in one,” he said.
And in my own defense, I said that while that’s true, I’ve seen Chinese people busking here, but they always look so pitiful.
“Yes, I’m white and I’m a woman, but I put on a show,” I argued. “I believe that most people give me money because I made them feel good. I smile, I engage and interact with them. I let them film me if they want, make requests. How I go about it is different. It's fun and relaxed.”
My mind returns to the woman who let her child pee right next to me while I was performing.
Okay, perhaps a little too relaxed.
|
Monday June 21, 2009
Wudaokou Metro Station Exit A
5:30-6:30 pm
Started with nothing in my case and then after 10 minutes placed 12 RMB inside it (1 10 and 2 1 RMB bills)
Bills
100 RMB-0
50 RMB- 0
20 RMB- 0
10 RMB- 0
5 RMB- 2
1 RMB- 22
5 MAO- 0
1 MAO- 0
1 JIAO- 2
Total: 32 RMB 2 JIAO
Also: A card from a young Chinese man who told me had studied in Toronto
Was it my fault or Wudaokou’s fault? I could take the easy route and blame stingy students and hipsters, but having chosen relative comfort over cash, I was partly to blame. I approached the station while it was still brutally hot and sunny outside and opted to play for an hour in the shade. I found myself with no other option but to set up in front of a jumble of rusty bicycles and in between 2 Tibetan jewelry hawkers. There was no room for people to collect if they wanted to stay and watch. I also hadn’t thought about how noisy it was going to be. I was under an overpass (where Line 13 is), which compounded the din of beggars, car horns and bicycle bells. There is also a railroad track nearby, with 2 high-speed trains passing through during the hour I played, making it difficult to even hear me.
A busking bust for sure, as I only came away with 32 RMB and 2 measly JIAO. I did receive 2 RMB from foreigners, but they knew me. Still, it does bring the foreigner total up to 3 RMB, although my mean hourly earnings drops significantly, from 103 RMB per hour to 85.5 RMB.
One really funny thing that I should note is that the Tibetans working next to me were awesome. One man even took it upon himself to assist me in the hustle. Whenever someone filmed me or took a photo on their cell phones, he would approach them and tell them to put money into my guitar case.
|
