From: the.wise.one@abel.co.uk   
      
   A voice from the underground   
      
   (China Daily)   
      
   Updated: 2010-04-02 06:48   
      
      
   Subway singer hopes stepping up into spotlight will help her life   
      
      
   BEIJING - For four years, she sat in a Beijing subway station and sang.   
   Day after day, in extreme hot and cold, she was there because she had to   
   be. She was there because she had to eat. She was there because she   
   loved to sing.   
      
   Her real name is Ren Yueli but she is well-known as "Xidan Girl" because   
   of where she played - an underground passage in Xidan, a commercial hub   
   in Beijing.   
      
   Ren is a rare case of a bei piao, or Beijing drifter, on the verge of   
   making it big. And it is all because of Liu Yuanxiang, an amateur   
   videographer who filmed her performances and posted them online.   
      
   Nearly 30 million people viewed the film clips, spurring the video   
   website youku.com to contact Ren in February last year, encouraging her   
   to sing on a stage instead of in a subway station.   
      
   "I had no idea they were posting videos online," the 21-year-old said.   
   "I had no idea."   
      
   Fast forward one year. Ren is no longer performing underground. Instead,   
   she regularly appears on popular television programs. In January, she   
   was a guest on a Beijing Television music show. After that, she was   
   invited to perform on China Central Television, the national broadcaster.   
      
   Now she spends her days in studios, writing songs, enhancing her voice,   
   hoping to sign a record contract. She says she hopes to finish her first   
   album in the next couple of months as well as star in a television   
   series based on her life.   
      
   Ren's light, delicate voice is only one component of her massive   
   popularity. Beneath her natural talent is a heart-wrenching story of   
   struggle, determination and hope.   
      
   "Her personal life moved millions to tears," said Jean Shao, a   
   spokesperson for youku.com. Shao said youku.com decided to approach Ren   
   after a large number of users wanted to know more about her background.   
      
   Originally from a small village in North China's Hebei province, Ren   
   moved to Beijing when she was 16 to earn money to send back home to her   
   parents who are poor and disabled. Her mother suffers from a mental   
   illness and her father has a handicap with his legs.   
      
   "I just wanted to make a living by myself to reduce the burden on my   
   family," she said.   
      
   She arrived lost, young and lonely, working shifts in restaurants with   
   bosses who never paid her. Out of answers and unsure how to make money,   
   one day she came across another bei piao in an underground passage. He   
   was singing and playing a piano and invited her to try.   
      
   So she did. And never stopped. Singing was something Ren had always   
   loved. Back home, while cleaning the home or working outside, she sang.   
   In Beijing, her natural talent turned into a way to survive.   
      
   She sent half of the 1,000 yuan ($150) she collected underground every   
   month to her family. The rest went towards food and a tiny room that was   
   her home.   
      
   "If I did not sing for one day, I would not be able to eat. I would have   
   no money for my family," she said. "I had no hope for my future. I was   
   just singing, day by day. I did not even dare to think."   
      
   While Ren's future is brighter now, there is still a difficult road   
   ahead. She earns some money from her TV appearances but otherwise has no   
   income.   
      
   Local producers are helping her hone her skills, but there is no   
   guarantee she will ever have a major break in an entertainment industry   
   that is notoriously cutthroat. It is clear she worries she will not fit in.   
      
   "I am a common girl and keep a low profile," she said. "I don't put   
   myself in a very high position."   
      
   Ren now lives in a tiny apartment outside the Sixth Ring Road. It takes   
   her more than an hour to travel to central Beijing each day to rehearse.   
      
   Her parents know about her recent success. Ren says they tell her that   
   they regret their poverty and wish they could do more to help their   
   daughter pursue her dream.   
      
   "I just want to help my family live a better life. If things don't work   
   out, I will go back underground and sing," she said.   
      
   On a recent evening, Ren returned to the subway to perform. She says she   
   occasionally goes back when she has time. Underneath the stale   
   fluorescent light she shone, with the station her stage, pedestrians her   
   audience.   
      
   "In my heart, I have never left this place," she said. "If I have time,   
   I will always sing a song in the underground passage."   
      
   China Daily   
      
      
   http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-04/02/content_9678400.htm   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)