Source: China Military Network - People's Liberation Army Daily
The clouds are rolling, the green trees and silver beaches are picturesque.
You may not have been to the beautiful Xisha, but you should have heard "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown"...
A song that has been sung for 40 years. Because of this song, the famous high-pitched singer Bian Xiaozhen also formed an indissoluble relationship with Xisha.
I've been in Xisha for 40 years
Narration: Bian Xiaozhen Author: Huang Yanghai
About the author: Bian Xiaozhen, a famous soprano singer of the Haizheng Song and Dance Troupe, is a national first-class actor. Born in 1946 in Wuhu, Anhui Province, he graduated from the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts in 1969. He is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and a recipient of special government allowances under the State Council. Representative songs include: "The Sun is the Reddest, Chairman Mao is the Dearest", "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown", "Spring Water Ding-Dong", "Big Goose Love" and so on.
In 1969, I graduated from military art and was assigned to the Haizheng Song and Dance Troupe. In the 1970s, when the South Vietnamese side repeatedly violated the South China Sea, Chinese naval ships were ordered to go to the Paracel Islands to drive the South Vietnamese army out of the Paracels. In 1976, Bayi Film Studio used this as a background to shoot a movie "South China Sea Storm". At that time, the composer Lu Yuan found me and invited me to sing the theme song "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown" for the film. Since then, I have been in Xisha for 40 years.
When I first sang this song, I had not been to Xisha, but this beautiful treasure island has always fascinated me. It wasn't until the end of the 1970s that I finally won the opportunity to perform in the Xisha Army, which allowed me to set foot in the "lovely hometown" of Xisha.
There are no winds and waves on the surface of the South China Sea, and it is even more difficult to encounter wind and waves. Our performing team members were fully prepared, and in order to perform for the soldiers in the best condition, they specially took seasickness medicine in advance. During the day, I just arrived in Sanya, and I couldn't rest, so I boarded a simple water delivery boat to Zhongxing Island in the evening and set off. For more than ten hours and more than one night, we couldn't sleep at all, and we all threw up and twisted and messed up.
The next day, the water delivery ship docked with the soldiers' letters and supplies, and also took us to the island. The first time I stepped on the land of Xisha, the clouds and waves that haunted my soul in the song, the green trees and silver beaches became the beautiful scenery in front of me. Singing this song "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown" seems to have become a kind of telling, telling the beauty and richness of this treasure island, telling the heroism and feelings of the warriors who are happy to keep the world.
In the performances of the troops again and again, I have traveled all over the islands of Xisha, large and small. The smallest island ever visited is even the size of a basketball court after high tide. From one small island to another, my relationship with Xisha has become deeper and deeper.
The magic of the song is that it spans time and space, singing the story over and over again. Leaving Xisha and singing Xisha again, I have changed from a former yearning person to a narrator. The song makes people who have never been to Xisha also remember the beautiful and rich Xisha, the treasure island of the motherland, my lovely home, the island sprinkled with sweat, and the place where our ancestors grew up for generations.
Now, 40 years later, I have also retired, and the male singer Liang Changxi who sang the theme song of the movie with me and the male singer Lu Wenke who recorded the record have passed away one after another. Now there are fewer opportunities to sing this song, but whenever the music sounds, the full sense of picture emerges in front of you, and the emotions for the hot land of Xisha are also reverberating for a long time.
Photos of the show. (Courtesy of Bian Xiaozhen)
In 2012, Sansha city was established, and I came to Hainan again and sang "Xisha, My Lovely Hometown" again. The construction of Xishabao Island of the motherland is getting better and better, and our lovely warriors have adhered to the southern gate of the motherland, so that we can have happiness and tranquility.
I am honored to be the singer of this song, a recorder of the memory of the times, and The Xisha for 40 years.