Striking a chord

The gods of fortune, prosperity and longevity have been smiling on the band Fulushou this summer. Considering that is exactly what the group's name means, it's perhaps no surprise.

The group, whose English name is Floruit Show, made its debut on the second season of the popular reality show, The Big Band, which premiered its first two episodes on streaming platform iQiyi on July 25.It was a huge breakthrough for the triplets, Du Bing'er (with stage name Doudou), Du Xue'er (Nienie) and Du Fei'er (Mimi), who, of the post-1990 generation, formed the band a year ago. It received lots of acclaim for its original song, Yuzhen, which the trio performed during the show.

Inspired by their late grandmother, whose given name is Yuzhen, the song, a combination of folk and electronic music, sparked lots of discussion online.

Nienie deftly plucks the strings of her beautifully crafted harp, while the lead vocalist and keyboard player, Doudou, sings the melancholy lyrics with the accompaniment of electronic sounds produced by Mimi.

"It reminds me of my late grandmother. I cried the moment when the band members sang together onstage," says Wang Zi, a viewer of the first episode of the reality show."It's a pleasant surprise to watch their performance, even though I didn't know the band."

Wang, who enjoyed the first season very much, watched the second season of the show with four friends, all music lovers. They gathered together at Wang's home when the show premiered, which Wang describes as like "watching the World Cup together".

"They are so young and talented. The song brings a touch of grief," Chinese pianist Li Yundi posted to his nearly 20 million followers on microblogging platform Sina Weibo.

"One day, we walked on the street and saw an old man sitting on a bench. His hair blowing in the wind, which reminded us of our grandmother," Doudou explains on the show.

In the song, they sing: "Her hair was blown by the wind and her shadow was dispersed into nothingness. The wind is up, it's time to go. The big world is waiting for me but you are not here anymore".

When the three sisters discussed the idea of the song, Nienie was practicing on her harp. The melody came naturally and it didn't take long to finish the whole thing.

"We wanted to create a song as a way to ensure our grandmother 'stays' with us. We sing, but we also sing loudly during our performance, so hopefully she can hear us," says Doudou.

She also admits that, unlike the other bands, which usually consist of a guitarist, drummer and bassist who produce powerful and rhythmic music, Fulushou delivers a softer sound to a slower beat.

"I didn't have the courage to read reviews online after the reality show's premiere. I am glad that many people like our music, which gives us lots of confidence," Doudou says.

Born in Beijing, all three learned to play piano at the age of 4. At 10, Doudou and Mimi began learning composition with composer Xu Zhitong from the Central Conservatory of Music, while Nienie learned to play harp－subjects they would major in when they graduated from the middle school affiliated to the Central Conservatory of Music and were enrolled to study at the university.

"We enjoy a wide diversity of music styles," says Mimi.

Before forming their band, the trio would occasionally perform together. They kept writing original material and were eventually signed by Pollux, a music label launched by Modern Sky, one of China's biggest music production companies.

In August 2019, they made their debut as Fulushou with a performance at Tango Club in Beijing along with several other new bands under the record label, Modern Sky.

"We had never performed so close to the audience. We were both very nervous and excited," recalls Doudou.