Fire up the red dragon

　  From Wales, the "land of song," 29-year-old Iain Inglis has become a celebrity in China for his singing talent. His newfound fame is not the result of performing Welsh songs, but rather Chinese songs with a revolutionary spirit, known in China as "red songs."

A foreign voice for patriotic music

Donning an army cap with a red, five-pointed star, and a Red Army uniform, Inglis sang the red song "I Love Reading Chairman Mao's Books Most" on the stage of China's Got Talent. The episode was aired on December 18 by Dragon TV in Shanghai.

The song was part of a medley of red songs that Inglis performed on the show. His aptitude for rhythm, and his charming, comedic performance style won him applause and approval from the audience.

Despite failing to win the favor of one of the show's three judges, Inglis succeeded in entering the next round of competition. According to the program, his seven-minute performance on stage pushed its audience ratings from 17.5 to 18.5.

"My dream is to sing China's red songs all across the country!" Inglis said on the stage. And this isn't just lip service. He already has a head start on this dream. In 2009, a small-scale red song competition was held in Sanya, a tropical city on Hainan Island in southern China, where he has been living since 2007.

"I registered as soon as I saw the posting," Inglis said during an interview with the Global Times. And much to his pleasant surprise, he won fourth place in the contest. The following year, Inglis competed in the National Red Song Competition held in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi Province, winning fifth place.

The competition, sponsored by Jiangxi Television, has been held annually since 2006 and is open to amateur singers. Among the thousands of contestants, Inglis was the only foreigner to make it to the finals. Since then, he has been catching the attention of the entire nation as a foreigner who can give authentic performances of such characteristically Chinese songs.

Inspired by the Chinese spirit

This year is Inglis' seventh year living in China. He has settled down in Sanya with his wife, Yu Yanling, whom he met in 2004 on a flight from Shanghai to Hokkaido. Yu is from Chongqing, the southwestern municipality whose residents are known for their love of red songs.

"The military parade during the 50th anniversary [of the founding of the People's Republic of China] in 1999 left a deep impression on me," he recalled. "The spirit delivered in the parade greatly inspired me."

Inglis then began to focus on China's history and learned about red songs. "I've read Quotations from Chairman Mao and The Communist Manifesto, but mostly I found information about China's history and 'red culture' on the Internet," he explained.

During his first trip to China in 2003, he went on the hunt for this type of music and found an album of red songs at a record store.

"Then I learned my first Chinese red song, 'Socialism is Great,'" he said. "It is also the first red song I ever performed on stage."

As a foreigner, Inglis uses this music to learn more about Chinese history and culture, especially the period after the country won the War of Resistance against Japan (1937-45).

"I think the genre represents Chinese people's spirit and expectations during this time, which I greatly admire," he said.