STORY: Chinese rock music festival draws big crowd in New York
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 26, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 27, 2023
LENGTH: 0:05:24
LOCATION: NEW YORK, U.S.
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LI HONGJIE, Founder of Friends From The East
2. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): SYLVIE STAIGER, Visitor

STORYLINE:

Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans.

The first leg of the two-day event attracted over 3,000 people. The fans, mostly in their 20s or 30s, filled up Knockdown Center in Queens borough, and many were moved into tears during the three-hour performance.

Wu Tiao Ren, a band from south China's Guangdong Province, and Omnipotent Youth Society, a band based in north China's Hebei Province, featured in the performance.

Music serves as a bridge for communication among young people across the globe to make the world a better place, said Li Hongjie, founder of Friends From The East.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LI HONGJIE, Founder of Friends From The East
"We also hope that music, a universal cultural language among young people, can act as a bridge to enable young people in the East and the West to communicate without borders, and then to make the world a better place."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): SYLVIE STAIGER, Visitor
"We had a wonderful time tonight. I would say this is probably one of the best concerts I've been to in a minute. The energy is there. Everyone was so excited, and they brought it and I really love the mettle of it. I think that's important. It really gets the crowd going and excited."

The bands' performances were well received on their respective tours in U.S. cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and San Francisco.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from New York, U.S.
(XHTV)