Rock and Rivals: Two Cities
Duel
for China’s Music Capital Crown

摇滚与对手: 两个城市争夺中国音乐之都的桂冠

For Shijiazhuang and Xinxiang, the race to become China’s rock music capital is more than just a title; through social media and
viral
campaigns, they hope to boost tourism.

对于石家庄和新乡来说，成为中国摇滚乐之都的竞赛不仅仅是一个头衔，他们希望通过社交媒体和病毒式宣传活动推动旅游业的发展。


From barbecues
in the
industrial
city of Zibo in eastern China to village soccer in the southwestern Guizhou province, multiple Chinese cities and provinces are looking to
leverage
viral campaigns and social media as tourism gradually recovers. 

从东部工业城市淄博的烧烤到西南部贵州省的乡村足球，随着旅游业逐渐复苏，中国多个省市正在寻求利用病毒式宣传和社交媒体。
Amid this race to
entice
domestic tourists, two cities, almost 350 kilometers apart in different provinces, are aiming to
strike a chord with
music enthusiasts and
cement
their position as China’s unrivaled rock music capital.

在这场吸引国内游客的竞赛中，两个相距近350公里的省份的城市正试图引起音乐爱好者的共鸣，巩固他们作为中国无与伦比的摇滚乐之都的地位。
On July 16, Shijiazhuang, capital and the most populous city of the northern Hebei province, saw the opening event of its “rock and roll hometown” festival, set to last until October. The city plans to hold nearly 20 performances
per day around the city on weekends and invite local musicians to perform
impromptu gigs
on public transport. 

7月16日，作为河北省省会和人口最多的城市，石家庄举行了“摇滚家乡”音乐节的开幕式，该活动将持续到10月份。该市计划在周末每天在全市各地举办近20场演出，并邀请当地音乐家在公共交通工具上即兴表演。

The city has historical ties with the growth of rock and roll in the country, with two of China’s first rock music magazines “Popular Songs” and “I Love Rock and Roll” launched in the city in 1986 and 1999 respectively, according
to local
media outlet
Hebei Youth Daily. 

据当地媒体《河北青年报》报道，1986年和1999年，中国第一批摇滚杂志《流行歌曲》和《我爱摇滚》分别在北京发行。
The city is also the birthplace of several famous Chinese rock bands, including
Omnipotent
Youth Society, whose 2010 song “Kill That Shijiazhuang Man”
immortalized
the city among the country’s rock fans.  

这个城市也是几个著名的中国摇滚乐队的诞生地，包括全能青年协会，他们在2010年的歌曲“杀死那个石家庄男人”让这个城市在中国的摇滚迷中永垂不朽。

The city government has heavily promoted the events, releasing a promotional video
on Monday titled “The Unkillable Shijiazhuang,” inspired by the famous song bearing the city’s name. History aside, local officials have also sought to
highlight
the city’s name — its first syllable, shi, means “rock,” while the second syllable, jia, means “home.” 

石家庄市政府大力宣传这些活动，周一发布了一段宣传视频，名为《杀不死的石家庄》，灵感来自一首以石家庄命名的著名歌曲。抛开历史不谈，当地官员还试图强调这座城市的名字ーー它的第一个音节“是”意味着“岩石”，而第二个音节“家”意味着“家”。
Local media reported
that a company in Shijiazhuang has even registered the trademarks for “ROCK. ROCK. YOU” and “Rock City” under education and entertainment categories. According to Qichacha, a database focused on public companies, the company is indirectly wholly owned by the Shijiazhuang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

据当地媒体报道，石家庄一家公司甚至注册了
属于教育和娱乐类型的商标“ROCK. ROCK. YOU”和“Rock City”
。据专注于上市公司的 Qichacha 数据库称，该公司由石家庄市国有资产监督管理委员会(SASAC)间接全资拥有。
But now, another city is challenging Shijiazhuang for the title of China’s rock capital. 

但现在，另一个城市正在挑战石家庄的摇滚之都称号。
Xinxiang, a city in the central Henan province, has also proposed to create a “rock and roll hometown” and called itself the “birthplace of (Chinese) rock and roll.” 

河南省中部城市新乡市也提议创建一个“摇滚之乡”，并称自己为“(中国)摇滚的发源地”
In a WeChat post
on July 6, the local Xinxiang government put forward its
credentials
for the title, including the fact that the city launched the “Chinese New Music Concert” in 1999, a rock music festival that saw
legendary
Chinese rock acts such as Tang Dynasty and Cui Jian, known as the “Father of Chinese Rock,” perform.

在7月6日的一个微信帖子中，新乡当地政府提交了这个头衔的证书，其中包括该市在1999年举办的“中国新音乐音乐会”，这是一个摇滚音乐节，见证了唐朝和被称为“中国摇滚之父”的崔健等传奇中国摇滚艺人的表演。
The competition to become China’s “rock and roll hometown” has been widely discussed on Chinese social media platforms. On microblogging platform Weibo, the discussion
has attracted more than 100 million views. 

成为中国“摇滚之乡”的竞争已经在中国的社交媒体平台上被广泛讨论。在微博平台上，这场讨论吸引了超过1亿的浏览量。

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