Study of Chinese popular music giving an impression of the social, cultural, economic and political consequences of the rapid change in China since the eighties, presenting punk from Beijing and pop from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Analysis of the rise of the music scenes in China, the fans, and the development of the music industry. Special attention is given to the dakou culture. Dakou are illegally imported CD's punched with a cut, that were crucial for the rise of a new music and youth culture, in which authenticity is the most important factor. But how does sound become local in the global age? Ethnography of the subjectivities articulated to pop music practices and a provocative statement on 'Chineseness' at the crossroads of contemporary media, everyday life, and geopolitics.