So we are almost getting into 2016 and I finally collect all my thoughts to write down how I survived managing 9 events in the first two weeks of December. From 1-5th December we toured with two U.S. bands in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai and Beijing. From 8 – 12th December, we ran the year end parties in Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing. By the end of it, it was quite an exhausting experience both mentally and physically.
Let me start with the preparation stage – Getting the visa. There are 3 types of visa artists can apply: work/travel/exchange. One band has 5 people on tour and across them they were on three three types of visa. This is mainly due to the performance permit. In China you suppose to apply for permits for all live performances, but in some smaller cities you can get away not having one. It can be done through an agent. The application require performers passport information, live sets playlist, video footage of performances and also transcripts of the lyrics. During the preparation I translated one band’s latest album and it was quite a creative process. Once the permit is obtained, the artists can apply for work visa as they would be paid on these tours. However, for everyone who work in events would know that things change at the last minute. There are people who can no longer make the trip or additional people add on to the list. The application normally take around 4weeks to process, to change anything on the members list means reapply the permit again. Also if the additional member is a crew member instead of an artist performing on stage, the authority may not even consider the new application. What do you do? You opt to a tourism visa or a culture exchange visa. For tourism visa, just need to provide travel itinerary and accommodation booking. Both of these documents can be made online. The trick is to keep the destinations as few as possible. For example the individual will visit 5 cities on tour, but when filling in the application just include 2 cities in the itinerary. The more straightforward the itinerary is, the more likely the tourism visa will be approved. Another option is the culture exchange visa, as the tour organiser you need to issue an invitation letter to support the visa application, but need to specifically note the performance is non-commercial and the invitee wont be paid. Although this is not true, you need to include this information to get the visa. Sometime artists asking what if the visa officer ask the purpose of their trip…or what if the custom officer read about promotion of the band’s tour in China, the thing is unless the tour is very well known, the chance of this happen is very small. Just think about how many people going through Chinese customs each day, once you get a visa, normally you wont be questioned much about the type of visa you are on.
The travel and accommodation arrangement are pretty straight forward, most bookings can be arranged 1 month in advance. For travelling between Shanghai and Beijing, better to choose train over flight. There is the amazing porters service at the train stations to assist the band with their instruments and luggage. If budget allows go for business class , on economy, try to get carriage number 5 , there is enough room in that compartment for excess luggage (it was supposed to be for handicap). Train is always on time and also less security checks at the train stations.
Are you tired of reading this yet? Wait…we have not even get to the event day part. It was great to be on tour to different cities, the experience enabled me to compare the venues and the crowds in these cities. Chengdu is probably the most chilled city on this tour, the crowds are happy and easy going . The most professional venues I have worked with are in Shanghai. From stage equipments to venue staff, Shanghai is definitely the best of all. The most difficult event on this tour was the last one in Beijing. It was a cold and smoggy winter night, doors opened at 10pm and by 1030 the venue already reached its capacity. We had people line up outside for hours waiting to get in. If it was me I would be disappointed after waiting outside in the cold and the pollution for hours long. So when we stopped people to get in the courtyard of the venue, there were lots of complaints. It was chaotic, on top of that there was a drunk guy turned up at the gate and start swinging a baton at people. Yep, you read it right….why? It turned out he was the property compound’s head of security . It was his night off, but he kept getting calls from his colleagues complaining our event attracted a lot of people and there were too many waiting outside the gate. He got so pissed off so he came to our event directly and ordered the security at the compound to shut the gates to prevent more people coming in. It was kind of a blessing in disguise as we were way over capacity, but the problem was my artists were also waiting to get to the venue at that time . The tension finally eased when the owner of the venue arrived and talked to the crazy guy. By that time I have also topped up the event security team from 8 people to 12 to prevent further chaos.
Now looking back there are three main factors caused the chaos at the Beijing event. 1. Lack of clear communication on our side to the participants . A well planned event should not have too many people turn up at the door (venue capacity 500 VS RSVP 2000 ), when we received overwhelming number of RSVPs to the event we should inform people well in advance that they may not get in due to venue size limits. 2. The venue was hopeless. They were not even equipped with enough barriers or stanchions to keep crowds in line, they kept asking for more money when we requested basic lighting and audio equipment. I personally would not go back there ever again. 3. The lack of communication between the venue and the property management team. If they have talked to each other about the event in advance, there might not be a drunk guy showing up make things a lot messy than it already was. If the police turned up, its not just about shutting down the event immediately, its about for the next year or possible future, no events will be allowed. There is high pressure of doing events in Beijing, no one can afford for things to go wrong. After all you are partying at the foot of the palace, peace and prosperity should be the main theme. Keep it that way.
I was happy to see people line up wanting to get in the events organised by our team. Also seeing when the music starts, people have a great time. Its an escape from the mundane daily life. However, consider the risks and chaos that could happen at the events, I am not 100% sure I am prepared for all that. We were really lucky that things turned out the way they were.Someone might say you can never avoid the risks in life. But I always believe then you should prepare for the worst to cover your ass when the shit hits the fan (excuse my language). And my friend, this preparation is not a one person’s job in China.
LIYANG'S THOUGHTS 