With China's growing middle class has come more demand for leisure facilities, and of course, more bars. What set one bar apart from another in this competitive market are often not the beverages, but the ambiance and music. More and more bars now have foreign singers to cater to a growing taste for the international.
Diverzyt, a Filipino band is made up of one female vocalist, one male vocalist and one keyboardist.
Diah San Juan the female vocalist said she is in China because there are many opportunities for musicians. She has four children, the eldest aged 15, twins in the middle and her youngest child is only six-years-old. She said it is hard to be away from her family but she is doing it to make enough money to support them.
The male vocalist is a musician who has been on the road for nearly a decade now. Lauren Geronimo has been in China for two and a half years and he said that although the weather can be hard on him, he is used to the coldness and views Beijing as his second home.
Joe Lumba on the keyboards said the band is like a family; they eat, rehearse and do everything together. He has made many friends, both Filipino and Chinese in Beijing, but there are still some sleepless nights where the feeling of homesickness can eat him up inside.
He said he is grateful for the opportunity here in China, because it is a great source of income to support his family back home.
In a city where there are hundreds of bars, and where the competition is high, the musicians must set themselves apart.
Laurence said after performing for more than a decade now, he is able to feel out the crowd instantly and perform suitable songs according to the mood. They do covers from reggae to rock, they sing in Tagalog, English and even Chinese. But for many artists, Beijing is just another transient stop in the journey toward the big dream.
