The Chinese love hand signals: I asked somebody in the crowd what it meant to put your index, baby finger and thumb out (the symbol, as I understood it, for anarchy), and he said it meant 'wo ai ni', or 'I love you.'

Last night, after three days of music, dust, and then mud, China’s tenth MIDI Festival ended. MIDI is China’s longest running rock festival. Although it’s still very new by global standards – Glastonbury, for example, began in 1970 – so is rock to China. The genre only entered the country in the 80s, on cassette tapes brought by the first foreign students to arrive in Beijing.

Buying marijuana and, perhaps, a chicken

This year was MIDI’s first time away from the capital. Organisers were invited to hold the event in Zhenjiang (Jiangsu) by the city council. The venue, opposite Jiangsu University, had two distinct areas. Immediately past the slightly chaotic entrance, where the city’s poor scavenged for empty plastic bottles, was a large strip of concrete. Food vendors assembled on it, to sell meat and squid on sticks, beside the less important and largely ignored electro music stage, and the troublingly small beer tent. Down a rough slope, covered in plastic matting, was the main stage.

The turnout was largest on the first day when locals, many wearing suits, came for the spectacle, rather than to listen to unfamiliar music. Many spent their time taking photos – including a policeman, in one case, who was so involved in capturing the event with his mobile phone camera that he remained oblivious to somebody rolling a joint right next to him.

I also spent much of my time taking photos, and feel that the 16 photos in this set capture the event better than further description might.

MIDI Festival stage, throwing up dust

Blue jeans and brown mud

CMCB on stage, watched by a kid on his father's shoulders

'Love the city, it's home. Hate the city, it's government.'

Chinese soldiers taking a photo of me, while I took a photo of them

The stage, and 'good vibes with our standard line ultimate lovers' house'

Lurid pink knee-high fishnets

A funk train during the Verse's set. At times, the lead singer missed the n in funk, while singing about how much liked to 'funk' us.

Cui Jian, the godfather of Chinese rock, hand on his heart

Muddy toilets on the second day

Fears of swine flu

More by this author:

• Who You Are, Where You Are: Travel and Nostalgia - September 10th, 2009
• A Total Solar Eclipse over Asia - July 15th, 2009
• Puja, Pilgrims and Pandemonium: Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysore - July 7th, 2009
• This Is China: A Handbook - June 25th, 2009
• Between Bombay and Mumbai - June 15th, 2009

About the Author:  Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Iain lives in Shanghai, where he more or less intentionally arrived after a much longer than planned overland journey from London. (The story of that can be found at Old World Wandering.) He now edits Holiday Fu from home, where he battles against his ayi's banter, amongst other distractions .