Norman Lebrecht

The Chinese are coming

Every music conservatory is now marketing in the Far East, peddling its pedigree for dear life. Norman Lebrecht witnesses the Chinese revolution first hand

issue 25 November 2017

On a bullet train out of Shanghai, a nuclear family catches my eye. The father, weather-beaten and wearing an ill-fitting suit, is clearly a working man. His wife, younger and city sleek, is dressed to impress. Their son, an only child, is four or five years old.

Curious, I get talking and discover they are from a northern city, near the Russian border.

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