Help! I can’t read these Chinese Music Websites!

音乐网= yīn yuè wǎng = music website

• 歌手= gē shǒu = singer

• 歌曲名称= gē qǔ míng chēng = song title

• 歌词= gē cí = lyrics

• 单曲= dān qǔ = single

• 专辑= zhuān jí = album

• 最新单曲= zuì xīn dān qǔ = newest/latest single

• 最新专辑= zuì xīn zhuān jí = newest/latest album

• 唱片公司= chàng piàn gōng sī = record company

• 发行日期 = fā xíng rì qī = release date

• 下载 = xià zǎi = to download

• 铃声 = líng shēng = ring-tone

• 帐号 = zhàng hào = account number

• 风格 = fēng gé = style

• 流行 = liú xíng = Pop

• 摇滚 = yáo gǔn = Rock

• 爵士 = jué shì = Jazz

What’s Mandopop?

Mandopop is quite simply Pop Music that is sung in Mandarin. In Chinese it’s called 华语流行音乐 or Huá Yǔ Liú Xíng Yīn Yuè:

• 华语, pronounced ‘Huá Yǔ’, means ‘Chinese Language’
• 流行, pronounced ‘Liú Xíng’, means ‘popular’ (adj) or ‘to spread’ (verb)
• 音乐, pronounced ‘Yīn Yuè’, means ‘music’

Mandopop is mostly produced in mainland China (大陆), Hong Kong SAR (香港) and Taiwan (台湾). It’s Cantonese equivalent originates from Hong Kong and is called Cantopop or HK-Pop. Together Mandopop and Cantopop form a music genre called C-Pop, short for Chinese Popular Music (中文流行音乐).

If you want to explore Mandopop, but feel a bit lost in the music stores at your local Chinatown (唐人街), there’s a lot to available online.

• You can listen to C-Pop online at ting1, which also lets you download songs and has lyrics available as well. You will have to negotiate the site in Chinese. If you find that difficult you can always use the search option, where you can cut & paste the Chinese titles of songs you like, click search and a link to the audible version will pop-up. It’s as easy as that.
• If you want lyrics to your favorite Chinese Songs in Pinyin I recommend Karazen – the site is in English and the pinyin lyrics are great if you’re struggling to read Chinese characters.

One of my Favourites:

• Fish Leong (梁静茹=Liáng Jìngrú)

Malaysian born Fish Leong (1978), also known as Jasmine Leong, has been in the music scene for quite a few years and has won multiple awards for her work. I first heard of her when I was traveling in Taiwan, where I bought her first album, released in 1999 . I fell in love with the title song ‘一夜长大’ and to this day it reminds me of that time. Check out the clip on YouTube or listen to the song at 1ting.