Welcome to China’s underground raves, from street techno to quotes from Chairman Mao

Associated Press

CHANGCHUN, China (AP) — By day, Xing Long works in an office for a state-owned company in Changchun, an industrial city in the northeastern rust belt of China. By night, he’s a DJ and underground rave organizer, a side gig that offers an escape from the humdrum of reviewing corporate contracts. For a growing number of Chinese young people, techno dance parties are an escape from the intense pressure and high expectations of the society around them. In recent years, even as space for culture and creativity has been shrinking in China, underground rave culture is growing in hidden corners of the nation’s cities like air raid shelters.