When you think of China, things like Chinese history or Chinese food are often the first things that come to mind. Even when thinking about Chinese music, gangtai and C-pop are popular genres. The idea of ​​Chinese rock and roll being at the forefront of Chinese music seems foreign, even strange. Although rock and roll became mainstream during the 1980s and early 1990s thanks to the work of Cui Jian (An Overview of Popular Musicduring the Reform Era, 31), it quickly lost its popularity during the late of the 90s. Through historical account and personal experience, the changing ideologies during the rise and fall of Chinese rock and roll will be examined. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Chinese rock and roll is rooted in the city of Beijing. However the rise of rock and roll is mainly attributed to foreign influence. Rock and roll was "performed mostly in small nightclubs...frequented by foreigners (31)." This in turn influenced Cui Jian. In the late 1980s he became one of China's first important rock and roll musicians. His music is characterized by being individual, bold in expression, and strong in rebellion (32). This is interesting because Cui Jian's rise coincided with the disapproval of the government at the time. Specifically, Cui Jian's music, concerts, and ideas were strongly related to the 1989 Tiananmen Square Incident (34). To provide further evidence, music critic Zhang Guangtian states that rock music was able to give Chinese youth a sense of empowerment and an ethic of rebellion (35). Many Chinese agreed with the views expressed by Cui Jian. These facts make rock and roll's rapid decline surprising. Through personal experience and investigation, it has been found that most Chinese youth are unaware of Cui Jian and his music. Young teachers were asked whether or not Cui Jian was important to Chinese music and the answer was often “who is Cui Jian?” This is very fascinating because many scholars attribute the downfall of Cui Jian's rock and roll to the government. Since 1993, the government began to implement stricter regulations for rock and roll concerts. The government also banned rock and roll shows on television, China's largest means of communication (43). The government diverted the attention of young people so that they did not feel as strongly connected to rebellion and protest as in 1989 (45). This rapid change is intriguing because it shows that the government, which young Chinese people were protesting against, was able to indirectly change people's opinions by restricting rock and roll. Ultimately, this is still evident today as many Chinese are unaware of Cui Jian and his work. The rise of gangtai, or C-pop, music and karaoke were both attributes of the downfall of Chinese rock and roll. Gangtai represented a more commercial ideology in China as record companies could easily commodify gangtai music and sell it in large markets (45). Karaoke represents people's desire to sing music that has a "moderate, even tempo, clear, predictable melodies, and clearly articulated words... the very antithesis of rock (46)." These two ideas become even more evident after the evidence of personal observation. It turned out that today's Chinese youth often prefer to go to sing karaoke rather than go to a concert or rock and roll club. Additionally, much of the best music on websites like Baidu falls into the gangtai genre. This change can also be attributed to the government restricting the media for the.