Mission: Save vanishing music of vinyl records

Zhongkehuijin Digital Technology Ltd. founder Xiong Zhiyuan at his laboratory in Beijing. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

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While most people await the latest songs, Xiong Zhiyuan looks out for the old.

His office, located inside the former residence of Yihui, or Prince Fu of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is unknown to many of his neighbors.

Yet it draws visits from directors of established universities and national organizations like the Central Conservatory of Music and the National Library of China. They bring large numbers of century-old vinyl records, CDs and tapes to Xiong, whose company can help repair, protect and digitalize the old and delicate sounds.

On a recent hazy afternoon, Xiong walks into a room next to his office, where a vinyl record of famous Peking Opera artist Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) is playing on a gramophone-like machine.

Three engineers from his company, Zhongkehuijin Digital Technology Ltd., are busy working with a record-cleaning machine, a static-electricity eliminator and several computers. Xiong calls the room a laboratory, where broken records are fixed and saved.

During the past three years, the team has been saving all the songs of Peking Opera master Mei, which they have collected from institutions and private collections both at home and abroad, including from Mei Baojiu, Mei Lanfang's youngest son who is himself a prominent Peking opera singer.

In September, Xiong displayed 30 vinyl records at the Beijing International Book Festival.

They contain all the songs the late master performed from 1920 to 1960, including Feng Huan Chao (Return of the Phoenix to the Nest) and Mulan Cong Jun (Hua Mulan Joins the Army).

When the music of the classic Peking Opera work, Farewell My Concubine, which was performed by Mei Lanfang in 1931, was played at the book festival, it drew an audience of more than 2,000.

The music was featured in the popular Chen Kaige movie with the same title, starring the late Hong Kong film actor Leslie Cheung.

"It was a sacred moment for me, to have those old songs heard by today's audience. It was a rebirth for the old songs and showed respect to the great artists," says Xiong, 34, who is from Yiyang, Hunan province, and graduated with a master's degree of cultural industry management from Communication University of China.