New music with meaning

Singer-songwriter Zhou Bichang held a concert in Beijing on Oct 7, which attracted nearly 10,000 fans. Photos by Ma Yiting, Ji Jianpeng and He Chenlong/ For China Daily

"It was winter and very cold. The snow really slowed me down and made me concentrate," says Zhou.

"Both songwriting and performing onstage to me are honest and confessional. I am a different person when I sing onstage."

Traveling alone has become a habit for Zhou in the past few years. And it has resulted in a new hobby - photography.

In 2016, she held her first photo exhibition at Beijing's Enjoy Museum of Art in the 798 Art Zone. Titled Wander, the exhibition featured Zhou's pictures taken during her travels over the past three years, and covered the Tibet autonomous region, Finland, France, New York and Iceland.

Meanwhile, the songs from the latest album will be released one by one on a monthly basis, rather than the whole album at one time.

"The way of consuming music has changed today not only in China but worldwide. This way of putting out new songs is more suitable for me since it allows me more time to improve my work," says Zhou.

In 2015, Zhou became the first pop singer from the Chinese mainland to release a digital album online. It was released through QQ Music, the music service under China's internet giant Tencent. The album, Roll My Eyes, grossed 3.2 million yuan online.

In early 2018, Zhou will spend three months in London to study electronic music production. She says that she enjoys different kinds of music and that she likes doing research on music, not just listening to it.

"Three months is a good break. Six months would be a luxury for me," says Zhou.

"I am trying to balance my life and work. I do not want to just be one thing. I do not want to be in a box."