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Tue 27 Sep, 2011 01:25 am
An audience of 6,000 was expected for the concert in Guizhou province, but more than 20,000 attended. The singer topping the bill was no rock star but 43-year-old businessman and high-profile philanthropist, Chen Guangbiao.
Many of the concert-goers might have turned up anyway for the free livestock and farm tools Chen had promised to give out after the Sunday night show in Bijie's city square.
"It was packed. There were fans from Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, holding up posters," Chen said by phone on Monday before catching an afternoon flight to Beijing from Guiyang, the provincial capital.
After the two-hour concert of pop songs, including some he had penned himself, Chen handed over 2,000 pigs, 1,000 sheep and 113 tractors to the Bijie city government, asking that they be given to farmers in need.
"All boars and rams were wearing green flowers, and the sows and ewes were wearing red flowers," Chen said. "I hope people will soon have lambs and piglets at home."
Chen said he will check with the local government in a month's time. "I've asked them to put distribution details online."
For Chen Guangbiao, who sang in Guizhou, the power is already evident. "A Guiyang businessman found me this morning, saying he is going to sell his BMW and buy some 1,000 bicycles for the local people."
After 30 years of unprecedented economic growth, the commercial elite, like Chen, are looking for ways to put their money into the hands of those less fortunate. The methods they choose vary.
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