If you plan on spending Sunday slumped on the sofa (and we’re not judging if you are – we scheduled this post after all), then why not do so in the company of a documentary about China’s clubbing scene?
Clocking in at just over an hour, Break the Wall (which was produced late last year) takes a historical view of electronic music in China. Beijing-based DJ Yang Bing is the main protagonist, but the doc works in a whole host of talking heads from across the capital’s clubbing scene, features some classic footage from the original Great Wall Festival, and also touches on nightlife culture in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Chengdu – as well as spy-trance festival Spirit Tribe in Yunnan.
The documentary takes its name from a conference organised by Yang Bing in Chengdu that aimed to bring together China’s clubbing community, and as such focuses on the figures involved with that event. Its Shanghai visit features Rainbow Gao and her (somewhat notorious) venue The Mansion heavily for example, with only a brief look at Elevator (and co-founder MIIIA). The Shelter, its descendant ALL, and the new wave of electronic music producers emerging from that side of the scene barely getting a mention.
But that part of the scene has been getting plenty of attention of late, and Break the Wall remains an interesting look at a different section of China’s multi-layered clubbing eco-system. Give it a whirl.
