For Yang, his real passion is playing music rather than being a celebrity.
The Beijing native started learning classical music in 1972, and his first instrument was the flute. In the early 1980s, he joined the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and became the principal flutist.
As Yang recalls, it was a time when young people started listening to Western pop and rock music. A friend named Wen Bo, who was also a member of the orchestra, could play the guitar. Yang asked Wen to teach him the instrument and during that time Wen introduced Yang to Cui, who also played the guitar.
In 1981, the three met at a small restaurant and shared their ideas. When Yang was told that Cui also played the trumpet, he urged Cui to apply to the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.
Soon, they were playing music together and in 1984, along with three traditional Chinese folk musicians, including renowned jazz musician Liu Yuan, who played the suona (double-reeded horn) then, they formed a band called Qi He Ban, one of the earliest rock bands in China.
While performing in the band, each member developed his own interest in different music directions. Unlike Cui, who released his song Nothing to My Name in 1986, which won him lots of fans and the title of the "godfather" of rock music in China, Yang switched his focus to country music and blues. In 1989, Yang quit the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and went to France to further his music study by learning the flute and blues harp.
"France has lots of similarities with China. The food is good. People like talking and they are creative. My life in France was quiet and slow. I liked the atmosphere, which was inspiring to me," he recalls. "French music contains a little bit of sadness, which I like very much. Happy songs are like fast food, which come and go very quickly."
Upon his return to China in the early 1990s, Yang was invited to perform blues harp and to compose for singers, TV series and movies. His favorite routine is to play his guitar extemporaneously in the morning, then enjoy food and walks around his house in the outskirts of Beijing.
"I don't watch TV or use the internet. I don't want to make lots of money. I am content with a bowl of noodles and a small bottle of erguotou (Chinese white liquor)," Yang says. "I used to be isolated from the world but now I have to take phone calls after the sudden life change brought by the TV show."
Yang says he tries to keep his life as normal as it used to be. A big concern is his 11-year-old daughter.
"Once you become famous, your past and family will be revealed to the public. I don't want her life to be disturbed," Yang says. "I am still who I am. I always say that I am not a musician because there are many great musicians whose talent makes me jealous. I am just a man playing music."
