KTV

The most popular nightime activity in China is by far KTV. KTV is like VIP karaoke. You get to choose songs and sing along to them, but the stage and audience are different than the Western experience. You get your own room, and you dont endure or sing in front of anybody you do not know. To compare this to the Western way is useless, which features a big space for all parties and a single stage in the middle. There are simply too many people here who want to sing with their friends that such a set up would not be possible. You would be waiting forever. Each KTV establishment is an opulent, mansion-like operation. They are three to five floors each, with plush hallways filled with rooms for you and your friends to belt the night away. I get the feeling sometimes than I am in some upper crust brothel. The over-the-top fanciness gives me a tacky feel. Everytime I go I have trouble coming to grips with the fact that all of this is for karaoke.

Why KTV is this popular is so curious to me. I once heard that KTV offers Chinese the rare opportunity to be the center of attention, as there are so many people here you often get pushed to the periphery.

I don't know if its true but it makes me wonder if that is my appeal to China and this city in particular. Do I feel like being in China give s me the same rush that singing a ballad in front of their friends gives to a Chinese person? The anology has some merit. I know full well that I'm not actually garnering any real amount of attention. The sensation is all an illusion, as feeling like somebody here in my city of China is not much different than feeling like a somebody in your KTV room.

Seeing strangers make a fool of themselves is much more fun to me than watching my friends butcher a horrible selection of songs. KTV is one of the few things in China that is more fun when you do it with Chinese people.