Shanghai plans to launch a pilot program to regulate street performances and give performers more legal spaces to present their shows, according to the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV.
For years, street performers such as singers have been holding shows across the city, but some of them were classified by the authorities as beggars.
In future, the city will provide artists with additional spaces for performances, including streets, urban green areas and subway stations, said Hu Jinjun, head of the administration.
"Authorities in the city have been discussing ways to design benchmarks for access, set up minimum levels for street performance artists, and to try to explore whether the administrative measures clash with existing urban administration rules," Hu said.
Like many metropolises around the world, Shanghai, which has a huge population and thousands of public spaces, has become a hub for street artists. Many of them have permanent spots and loyal audiences.
"In London's Covent Garden and New York's Times Square, and in many other hot spots around big cities in the world, street performances are an essential part of urban culture. In Shanghai, I've seen many street shows and they are wonderful," said Stella McGraig, a 29-year-old teacher in Shanghai who has lived in the city for two years.
A 48-year-old street violinist who plays in the evenings around East Nanjing Road - one of Shanghai's busiest downtown areas - said under condition of anonymity that he applauds the authorities' proposed pilot program for street artists.
China’s weekly story
(2013.5.18- 5.24)
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