Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.

China spends a lot of resources and effort on gaining soft power over culture. The hope is that it can be the last lifeline for the Party's survival. Obviously, the idea will fail.

I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.

I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it's very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.

The society was so different [in China] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.

A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.

The whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.