#sing your heart out
I finally had the magical experience in China I was waiting for. I was invited to a KTV…
KTV stands for karaoke TV but its not the karaoke that most americans think of which includes singing in front of a random group of people. At these places, which are incredibly popular in China, guest rent a room and you sing your guts out in front of your friends, in a room with a closed door and comfy couches. Most americans are confused about KTV when they first hear about it because karaoke, to many americans,is all about is having the guts to share your talents or completely embarrass yourself in front a group of random people.
The best way I can understand the popularity of KTV is to think of an aspect of Chinese culture that is most obvious to me. Shyness! Overall the Chinese culture is much more shy than the american culture (especially the culture I have grown up around). A huge part of Chinese culture is all about “saving face” and not embarrassing yourself or your family. So that makes sense to why they would rather sing around people they know than random people like Americans do but I really had to think why KTV and singing to others, even in a closed room, is so popular?
Well here is a fun fact… Chinese people have a over all better musical sense than Americans. Yes that is a statement comes with many people that are the exception. But what I am trying to point out is that the Chinese language is a tonal language which helps most of its people have a good musical sense from childhood. So many Chinese people are actually good at singing, or at least not tone def.
It is also a great way to blow off some steam in a culture that is very stressful and doesn’t really have many ways to blow off steam. Clubs and bars are still a western idea and are not very popular in China (except in places like Beijing and Shanghai). But Chinese people, especially northern Chinese people, are not strangers to alcohol. So this gives self-restrained Chinese people a place to leave stresses and social labels at the door and drink in a safe environment with their friends.
