Beijing Hard Rock's For Hard-Liners -- B.B. King Entertains; Others Left With Blues
BEIJING - Blues legend B.B. King rocked a government-approved crowd with censored songs yesterday to officially open China's first Hard Rock Cafe, where the nation's most famous home-grown rocker was turned away at the door.
Cui Jian, whose songs of social angst and disaffection have made him popular among young Chinese but unpopular with the Communist government, stood outside the main entrance for about an hour before leaving in disgust.
"This is not a real Hard Rock Cafe. I think they are kissing the government's butt," he said.
Nicholas Ong, the Hard Rock's Beijing manager, said Cui could not enter because "we ran out of invitation cards."
But another Hard Rock manager and one of King's promoters said Cui was not invited to avoid angering the government before the fifth anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement in June 1989.
Other Chinese rockers snuck in through a back door.
King played a two-hour set for the 300-strong audience consisting mainly of diplomats, businessmen and foreign celebrities. All the songs were checked in advance by government censors.
The restaurant has a pink 1960 Cadillac and a big red Communist star hanging above the main entrance. The rock memorabilia inside, which was also government-approved, includes a belt worn by Jimi Hendrix and a domed ceiling with paintings of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis and others.
China's ruling Communists frown on rock music, so few record shops sell it and many Chinese have not heard it.