Chinanews client, Beijing, November 6th (Reporter Ren Siyu) "Evening stars are like your eyes killing and setting fire. You didn't say anything. The wild wind disturbed me..."
Recently opened the short video platform, I believe you will always get this song "Mohe Dance Hall".
Unlike the previous "Divine Comedy" that relied on brainwashing melody to go out of the circle, "Mohe Ballroom" has made netizens feel strong empathy because of its creative background: the ballroom in the small northeast city, the solo old man who missed his deceased wife, 30 The huge fire many years ago...
Source: Screenshot of the short video platform.
The Love Behind "Mohe Ballroom"
"I would like to dedicate this song to the elderly Zhang Dequan and his deceased wife." These are the last words written by the musician Liu Shuang in "Mohe Dance Hall".
According to Liu Shuang’s article, the prototype character in the background story of "Mohe Dance Hall" is an old man named Zhang Dequan. His wife was killed in the May 6th forest fire accident in Daxinganling in 1987. The old man was more than 30 years later. He is not remarried and has no children. He often goes to the "Mohe Ballroom" to dance alone to commemorate his wife who loved to dance during his lifetime.
Excerpts from "Goodbye Evening Star".
Source: Screenshot of the "Uncle Ang" public account.
Liu Shuang, who was gathering in Mohe, met this old man by chance. In just five minutes of chat, he learned the time, place, people, and events. After obtaining the old man’s consent, he composed the song "Mohe Ballroom."
In March 2020, before the new song went live, Liu Shuang wrote a letter in the first-person voice of the old man, adding some literary filling and artistic imagination, and attached a moving picture of the old man’s dance.
Excerpts from "Goodbye Evening Star".
Source: Screenshot of "Uncle Ang" public account
One and a half years after the song was released, someone uploaded a video of an old man dancing solo on the street, accompanied by the music and story of "Mohe Ballroom", which attracted the attention of many netizens; October 25, Mohe City The short video account of the Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Film, Television and Tourism released a video of "Mohe Dance Hall", introducing the background of the song.
In the short video era, this song with its own story aroused many imaginations of netizens. In addition to the background introduction, many people associate the song with the solo scenes in movies such as "Fireworks in the Day" and "Old People". Give it more emotional meaning.
"Mohe Dance Hall" quickly fermented. The reporter learned that as of November 5, the topic of "Mohe Dance Hall" has been played more than 1.8 billion times on the Douyin platform, and multiple versions have been circulated on the Internet, which also generated a hot topic " One hundred versions perform Mohe Ballroom".
Ballroom owner and creator respond
After "Mohe Dance Hall" became popular, the whole network began to inquire about the elderly Zhang Dequan and Mohe Dance Hall.
The locals found this ballroom in the semi-basement. The owner of the ballroom "Brother Bao" said that he had met the old man when the ballroom opened in early 2019. The old man seemed to be about 60 years old. He danced there by himself for more than an hour. I left, and came five or six times.
But the old man hasn't appeared in the ballroom in the past two years.
The boss said that due to the epidemic, the dance hall is temporarily closed.
The ballroom is usually open at night, and a ticket is 5 yuan. Those who come to the ballroom are retired old people from the forest farm, all around 60 years old, and the youngest are those in their 40s or 50s.
"After listening to the story of the old man Zhang Dequan, I was very moved. Regardless of whether it is profitable or not, I hope to open the ballroom, and hope that the elderly in Mohe will have a place to relax."
Source: "Baoge Mohe Dance Hall" headline number
Although there is currently no way to test the whereabouts and stories of the old man, netizens are willing to believe this poignant love story: In the northernmost city of China, the dance hall itself has become the mark of the times. There is an old man who dances solo. The romantic way misses the person I love most in my life.
Some netizens commented: "In this impetuous age, listening to a sincere and touching love story is moving."
In the long article "Wanted on the Run "Evening Star"", the musician Liu Shuang responded to various questions about the song and the story behind it. With the popularity of the song, there have been many misinterpretations and malicious interpretations of the behind-the-scenes stories on the Internet, and even some Netizens casually photographed the old man dancing on the side of the road, saying that it was Zhang Dequan, and won over 10,000 likes.
Source: Screenshot of Liu Shuang's Weibo
Liu Shuang said that he did not want to spread this mourning song in a spoof manner.
In the interview, he mentioned that Mohe is only the geographic carrier of the song, and the song is to remind people to remember the disaster.
Of course, the little attention it brought to Mohe City also had a positive effect.
"Mohe Ballroom" and Mohe
In the process of the song's popularity, it is worth mentioning that the Mohe local area followed up on hot spots in a timely manner.
Since October 25th, the Douyin account of the Mohe City Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau has released a number of videos related to "Mohe Dance Hall" for several days, accompanied by dance hall images, Mohe City images, fire history materials and other content for dissemination .
Source: Douyin account of Mohe Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Film and Tourism
Netizens talked about their impressions of Mohe in the comment area, and the account actively responded and invited everyone to have the opportunity to travel to Mohe to check in.
Many local netizens also mentioned the memory of the fire that year. What needs to be pointed out is that there is also a "May 6th" fire memorial in Mohe City.
According to reports, the “May 6th” Fire Memorial Hall in Daxing’anling was built to reflect on and commemorate the extraordinary forest fire that occurred in Daxing’anling on May 6, 1987. The whole process of disaster relief, home reconstruction, and ecological construction is a living teaching material for the development of forest fire prevention warning education and the popularization of safety and fire prevention knowledge in the Greater Xing'an Mountains forest area and beyond.
"May 6" Fire Memorial Hall.
Source: Mohe City People's Government website
A song makes a city popular. When Mohe was mentioned before, people would think of the northernmost point of China and the Aurora, but now, it has more memories of dance halls.
This kind of use of the momentum to spread, invisibly narrowed the distance between netizens and the city.
Feng Guangqing, director of the Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Film, Television and Tourism of Mohe City, told the media that the song "Mohe Dance Hall" is like the song "Chengdu", which can be said to be a local cultural symbol. "In fact, the fire has caused a lot of damage to a city, and we must not forget. The fire warning function, and we must not forget what happened at that time. We hope that the city will get better and better.” He said that in the future, he plans to find a suitable location to restore the state of the old ballroom and let this symbol continue to expand.
(over)