China's Gao Xiaosong becomes an associate of Harvard

Chinese singer-songwriter Gao Xiaosong became an associate of the faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Gao announced on social media.

"I am officially appointed to Harvard University today. I went to the library and it was exciting to find out that the staff members at the library had prepared lots of materials I am interested in. I am touched by their professionalism," Gao wrote on Jan 31 on his Sina Weibo account, which has more than 40 million followers.

He also posted pictures of manuscripts written by Sun Yat-sen, the pioneering Chinese revolutionary and political leader, and those from China's famous writer Lin Yutang as well as letters by Lin, American economist Eliot Janeway, and American novelist Pearl S. Buck. He also added that besides doing his job at Alibaba Entertainment, he will "do research at Harvard".

Gao's appointment is also posted on the university's website.

The 48-year-old Gao, who was born in Beijing and dropped out of Tsinghua University in 1991, is recognized for introducing "campus folk music style" to Chinese music lovers in the 1990s by writing popular hits, including My Desk Mate. He released his song collection, No Regret Youth, in 1996, with some of the country's most popular singers performing his songs. In 1996, he, along with Song Ke, a guru in Chinese music circles, launched a record company, Taihe Rye Music.

Now, Gao and Song serve as chairman and CEO of Alibaba Music Group, which is under Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. Besides music, Gao also has his talk show, directs films and publishes books.