2011 Chinese Film and Culture Festival
October 10, 2011Founded 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.