Street performers will soon gain legal status in Shanghai_美文

Street performers will soon gain legal status in Shanghai

"The management of street shows demands efforts from many sectors of the municipality. China's national laws don't have any clauses about it and no other city in China can provide an example, so that is why it has taken a long time for Shanghai to make the decision to start the trial operation," said Luo, an ardent promoter of street art.

Chen Jing used to perform near the Super Brand Mall in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. "You don't want to come out in the daytime," Chen said. "After dusk, no police officers or urban management staff will give you trouble. Besides, more people tend to show up after work."

On Aug 11, Chen and several other folk-music lovers played the ukulele for passers-by downtown on Nanjing Road.

"They soon told us to go away because crowds were gathering, and that was forbidden," Chen said.

"They were by no means friendly, but did show an amicable attitude," said Guo Wei, who helped organize the gathering. Guo said he and his colleagues used to organize public performances, and were often driven away by urban management staff.

"We want more people to know about the ukulele and hear the music, and there are simply too few people in a club gathering," Chen said. Both Chen and Guo expressed wholehearted support for the proposal. "We'd love to do it again," Guo said.

About the broadcaster:

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on an Asia New Zealand Foundation grant, working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.