Han Xia directed our brand new video for Serve the People! We love her. She wrote a little about her inspirations for the video and we wanted to share it with you. Thank you again to Han Xia and to all our friends in Beijing. We miss you!

The very first time I met Handsome Furs was when I was in my second year of film school. I could not speak English and was immersed in weird music and films, awkward and shy. Then these two people showed up and kind of changed my life. As we walked around Beijing talking it was like finding a part of your family from the other side of the planet, it was so special.

I first heard the song (Serve the People) at a concert venue called 2kolegas. Handsome Furs began their second tour of China there. That was a drunken night, young people chatting and drinking everywhere. I totally got puzzled in this scene, I know they wrote this song for Asia, but as I looked at the people around me they seemed to be happy about who they are. Where they happy to lie to themselves, or had they already become used to a life without any freedom? The city behind us is extremely weird and beautiful. It feels like it’s gonna run like a crazy person at any second.

Alexei asked me if I wanna shoot a music video of this song. At almost the same moment, I thought about my high school classmate Yang. He is a cute, shy street cleaner who is into indie music a lot. His only interest is collecting records and listening to them. He goes to 2kolegas every weekend, and watches every gig alone. He doesn’t dance at all. He told me once that he dances in his heart, you cannot see it. This young man earns less than 300 dollars. He cleans the streets from sunrise to sunset; the people who walk behind him have no connection with him. He serves us, but nobody serves him. He knows nothing about how gorgeous the world is outside his mind. He has no idea when this kind of life ends. He feels he has no right to hate it.

However, I know clearly there are thousands of people living like this here in Beijing. I feel a connection with this complicated city. I also hate the invisible damage it brings to young people. This is a feeling I cannot translate with any language.

I cannot express my grateful heart with any kind of words. I do hope people like Yang will get to see this video, and that they will realize: I love myself and I can be a better person. I have not been abandoned by time.

This is my story. I believe you have your own stories with Handsome Furs as well. I love them not only because they are awesome people, or for the amazing music they make. It is because they are totally in love with life, and they have the power to connect this love with the lives of individuals, and then change these people with their passion. It is a god-given talent.

Han Xia Is 24 year old girl from Beijing who is in love with the Chinese independent music scene. She graduated from the stuffy and conservative Central Academy of Drama and has since worked as a music promoter and tour manager. As an aspiring music video director, she has many strange thoughts and explosive ideas which she puts into practice in her videos.