I had a lot of friends who worked in foreign embassies so I had the chance to exchange music tapes. That's the way I listened to a lot of rock music … - Cui Jian

We were constantly testing to see how far we could go, testing the aesthetic limits of society, and those of the old cadres too. We felt that if we couldn’t upset them, we weren’t doing it right. We’d be like, really? You’re upset at such a little thing? On the other hand. Every so often, we didn’t get a reaction and we’d be surprised at our luck.

Fear is part of the culture of this country and has been for the past 50 years. But in America everyone is fearful too, just for different reasons. Maybe now it’s the same everywhere. Anyways, I may be afraid, but I usually try to answer questions without putting myself in danger. I just don’t want to lie. Journalists always expect me to answer that black is black or white is white, but if you get to know China you’ll understand that no one answer is ever right. It’s all gray.

I don't really want to talk about the old stuff - I really don't think it's important any more. I have a lot of new songs, which are more important to me