Cultural Exchange China-Netherlands at SICA has published a new mapping of the music scene in China. Researchers and those involved in the scene are invited to contribute their content to further build this excellent resource.

The mapping, produced by researcher Jeroen Groenewegen, is also available in PDF version, and includes a short history of the regional differences and shows the importance of Canto Pop for the rest of greater China. There is also a great chapter about festivals.

SICA sees this updated mapping as a great opportunity. A text like this can not be complete, as the music scene is always changing. All writers, thinkers and practitioners involved in the scene are invited to contribute and there is the option of a further reading section. If you have written or read an essay, paper or article that contributes to this conversation, please feel free to share it to provide a platform for many different viewpoints, and a starting point for deeper conversation.

This overview provides a survey of musical activity in China. As such its scope is huge.

• Including popular music, mass music, art music and everything in between.


• Spanning a history that goes back to the beginning of modernity in China in the mid 19th century.


• Covering mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and occasionally Singapore, Malaysia and other areas. Chinese popular music here means popular music in Chinese languages (huayu liuxing yinyue).

The research has a bias towards:

• Contemporary developments (since 2000).


• Popular music, including rock and urban folk.


• Beijing, where most of the research was done.

Download pdf China Music Mappings

Image: from LEAP magazine article on Sound Art in China [LEAP issue 16]