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Veteran musician Liu in concert

Underground voices

Ever since Liu majored in French at the University of International Relations, he liked listening to music broadcast on the campus. He used to like writing songs in his dormitory after classes, accompanied by a few bottles of beer.

He participated in a French songwriting competition in 1985 and won the first prize, which included an all-expense paid trip to Paris.

A year later, Liu was sent to the Ningxia Hui autonomous region to be a teacher, where he absorbed local folk music.

Although Liu has been exposed to both Western and folk music, he had never undergone any formal music training. He says he sings from his heart.

Liu's achievements include writing the English lyrics for Asking Myself a Thousand Times, which was the theme song for popular drama A Beijing Native in New York in 1993.

In 1996, he cooperated with symphony orchestras instead of using conventional band accompaniments in the soundtracks for the TV series Sunrise in the East, Rain in the West.

He also added Peking Opera singing to the song he wrote for TV series Hu Xueyan in 2005.

For the theme song for the TV series Legend of Zhen Huan, Liu wrote poetic lyrics that rhyme.

"One of the best things about fame is that I can express myself at will," he says.

"I am happy that I still have the passion for music after all these years. If one day I don't feel happy doing music anymore, it will be the end of the world for me."

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn.