2011 Chinese Film and Culture Festival

Founded in 1991, the Uyghur rock band Gray Wolf, featuring lead singer and Uyghur native Askar Mamat, fuses modern rock with Han Chinese and Xinjiang elements. Askar sings in both Mandarin and his own mother tongue. The other members of the band are from both the Han and Uyghur ethnicities.

Askar started playing music in the 1980s, when foreign music was almost unknown in Xinjiang. He decided to create a distinctive modern Uyghur sound, and he moved to Beijing in 1991 to pursue a career in music.

In addition to the electric guitar, the band’s music features a variety of instruments, including the rawap (a plucked Uyghur instrument), the dap (a Uyghur hand drum), the long-necked tambur, and the round-bodied fiddle ghijak.

Gray Wolf’s enthusiastic and unrestrained music, mixed with different musical elements, is enjoyed by a variety of audiences and is very popular in China.

Band members

Askar Mehmet, lead singer and guitar

Nu Ermaimaiti, tambourine and percussion

Dulibaer Mehmetijiang, backup singer and accompanying dancer

Aimeimet Ekinmu, percussion and tambourine

Zang Hongfei, keyboard for overseas tours

Mudalipu Metihasimu, folk instruments and backup singer

Nurimehmeti Alzezhi, keyboards and backup singer

Ayniwa Yunus, backup singer and bass and guitar

Tuerxun, folk instruments and backup singer

Tuerxun, guitar

This event is free.

Parking Information

The Visitor Information Center is located on State University Drive near the Bellflower Boulevard entrance to the campus. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the Visitor Information Center for detailed information on guest parking, parking meter locations, daily permit machines, and campus maps. Information hours are from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday-Thursday, and Friday from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

In addition, parking is available after 5:00 PM in the CSULB Foundation Building parking lot (6300 State University Dr., Long Beach, 90815). The parking rate is $5.00 per car. It is a short walk from this parking lot to the University Student Union.

The goal of the Chinese Film and Culture Festival is to improve communication and understanding between China and the U.S. through cultural and artistic exchange.

For additional information, please view the event’s website, Facebook page, or video.