Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 213 Coming of Age Ceremony

In its early years, Diaoyutai State Guesthouse was not open to the public and was an important venue for Chinese national leaders to conduct foreign affairs activities.

However, it was already open to the public for business in 1980.

Although Diaoyutai State Guesthouse is a five-star luxury hotel, it is not open to ordinary guests, so it cannot be booked through regular channels.

If you wish to stay at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, you need to apply to the security bureau in advance and obtain approval from the central leadership.

Therefore, in the early days, it was basically impossible for ordinary people to show off in this area.

Now, things have been relaxed a lot.

Both Professor An and Liu Xiaoli had the channels and connections to make appointments, and whether it was a coincidence or not, they chose Fangfei Garden again this time.

Fangfei Garden, also known as "Building No. 17", is the seventeenth building of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

The coming-of-age ceremony is scheduled for August 17th, and coincidentally, the date matches up.

Located in the heart of the state guesthouse, it can accommodate 1000 diners. The pillarless space is spacious, comfortable, and luxurious, making it quite suitable for An Xiaoxi's coming-of-age ceremony.

The venue fee for the Fangfeiyuan Multifunctional Hall is 100,000 RMB per half day; the venue fee for the 1,000-person hall is 240,000 RMB per half day; and the venue fee for the large lawn is 240,000 RMB per half day.

The banquet and services for the birthday dinner were also handled by the State Guesthouse, but an additional 15% service fee was required.

Even this price is from over a decade later; it would have been cheaper in 2005. (PS: Early pre-order prices are no longer available.)
However, the value of RMB now is much higher than it will be in the future.

Qianbeifeng Entertainment prepared 180 million yuan in special funds for the coming-of-age ceremony, so this expense was naturally no problem for them, and they generously booked the entire venue.

The coming-of-age ceremony invited many people, including actors, crew members, reporters, and media personnel who had previously worked with An Xiaoqian.

As for the actors, many of the senior actors they had worked with before and the veteran actors they would be working with soon also came to the banquet because of the filming of the "Dialogue Between Ancient and Modern Times" series.

In addition, there were leaders from cultural departments, as well as An Xiaoxi's teachers, classmates, friends, and family.

An Xiaoqian's 18th birthday ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm on August 17th.

The highlight of the event was the launch of his first album, which was open to reporters and the media.

An Xiaoqian, dressed in an elegant traditional Chinese dress, walked slowly onto the stage with a smile on her face.

She gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, picked up the microphone, and said in a clear and melodious voice: "Dear friends from the media, thank you very much for attending my coming-of-age ceremony."

I am also honored to announce at this special moment that my self-titled ancient-style album "An Xiaoqian" will be released on August 25th.

The audience instantly erupted in excitement, with reporters whispering excitedly to each other. Then, thunderous applause and a flurry of camera flashes followed.

A young reporter quickly stood up, leaned forward, and eagerly raised his hand to ask, "Sissi, your new album is highly anticipated. Can you give us a sneak peek at what exciting content it contains?"

An Xiaoqian turned to face the reporter and introduced with great interest: "This album carefully includes twelve ancient-style songs, each with its own exclusive music video."

The album gift box is also very thoughtful, containing many photos, lyrics, and posters. I hope everyone will like it.

As soon as he finished speaking, another senior reporter quickly stood up from his seat, his eyes revealing professional acumen, and immediately followed up with: "It sounds very sincere! Such a high-quality production must have cost a lot."

What is the price of that album? And where can I buy it?

An Xiaoqian smiled gently and replied calmly and firmly, "In order to make it easier for more people to support genuine products, we have set the retail price at 28 yuan. On August 25th, this album will be available for purchase at Xinhua bookstores nationwide."

At this moment, another reporter in the crowd stood up, his face full of doubt, his brows slightly furrowed, and asked, "An Xiaoqian, producing an album must have cost a lot."

According to you, this album not only has excellent songs and music videos, but also a wealth of merchandise, yet it's priced at only 28 yuan.

It seems like there's no profit left, right? Why push the price down so much?

An Xiaoqian tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling with sincerity, and earnestly explained, "The core reason we made this album is to share this music with more people and let everyone feel its charm."

We never intended to make money from albums, so we didn't sign with a music company and instead chose to finance it ourselves.

"Lowering the price this way will allow more fans to buy with peace of mind, which is more important than making a profit." A female reporter stood up gracefully, pen and notebook in hand, cleared her throat slightly, and asked, "Xixi, all twelve songs on this album are in the ancient style."

What makes you so dedicated to traditional Chinese style music, and why did you choose it as the sole style for your album?

An Xiaoqian tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling with a love for traditional Chinese music, and said earnestly, "Hu Xiaobei said that he has had a strong interest in ancient culture since he was a child."

Poetry, clothing, architecture... these elements of traditional culture deeply attract him.

Traditional Chinese music perfectly blends these elements with melodies and lyrics. It acts like a bridge, allowing us to travel through time and space and experience the emotions and wisdom of the ancients.

We hope that through this album, more people will enter the world of traditional Chinese music and appreciate its unique charm.

Of course, the most important point is that all these traditional Chinese style songs were composed by Hu Xiaobei; I simply sang what he wanted to express.

This album, featuring traditional Chinese style songs, is a masterpiece, containing twelve songs in the traditional Chinese style, each with its own carefully crafted music video.

The album production is impeccable; in addition to the meticulous polishing of the music and music videos, the accompanying gift box is full of surprises.

It contains a wealth of small items, including exquisite photos, complete lyrics, and large posters, making it a truly luxurious gift box.

However, to everyone's surprise, the album retails for only 28 RMB.

To put it simply, if a pirate wanted to replicate this quality, the cost would be at least ten yuan or more, even in small quantities.

Only when the number of pirated copies exceeds 100,000 can the cost per copy be barely controlled to within ten yuan.

Otherwise, pirates can only produce the simplest pirated discs. Although the price can be driven down to the lowest level, they are worlds apart from the genuine products.

The genuine product is not only well-made, but the gift box also contains various small items, making it extremely cost-effective. For ordinary people, it is far more attractive than the pirated version that costs less than ten yuan.

In the eyes of pirates, this album doesn't seem to be for profit at all; it's more like they're losing money to gain publicity.

Furthermore, An Xiaoxi has never released an album before.

This upcoming album focuses entirely on the niche genre of traditional Chinese opera singing, which is quite different from mainstream pop music.

In the current market environment dominated by popular music, the audience is relatively small, and the popularity and acceptance of the songs are highly uncertain, making them extremely likely to flop.

As a result, pirates are unwilling to get involved, because the risk of losing everything is simply too high.

Following the press conference, the highly anticipated coming-of-age ceremony officially commenced.

The venue was brightly lit and the atmosphere was lively.

The event began with a spectacular song and dance performance.

The dancers' energetic moves blended perfectly with the music, instantly igniting the atmosphere.

This provided a visual and auditory feast for the guests, immersing them in the experience and gradually building their enthusiasm.

Following that, several celebrities took to the stage one after another, conveying their best wishes to An Xiaoqian through their heartfelt songs.

An Xiaoqian, the main character, also took to the stage amidst everyone's anticipation to sing "Human Fireworks" and "Ballad of Mulan".

Her sweet voice, confident stage presence, and unique operatic singing style in "The Ballad of Mulan" won rounds of applause and cheers.

Afterwards, An Xiaoqian and her mother Liu Xiaoli went on stage together and delivered heartfelt speeches.

Their words were filled with reflections on growth, expectations for the future, and sincere gratitude to the guests present.

The mother and daughter's heartfelt expressions brought the atmosphere to a climax, deeply moving every audience member.

It is worth mentioning that the invitation to this coming-of-age ceremony specifically requested that no gifts be given, so there was no usual gift-giving session.

However, Hu Xiaobei was an exception.

(End of this chapter)