Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.

It [success] is really by mistake.

Twitter is the people’s tool, the tool of the ordinary people, people who have no other resources.

By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.

To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.

No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy.

I never think any place is better than others.