Almost four decades later, Yi Jian Mei (Xue Hua Piao Piao) has been given a brand new lease of life. The classic melody, infused with an upbeat Latino reggaeton, topped with the surreal vocals of singer Kelvin Tan & an inspiring rap by Korean American rapper Nyukyung – the track is reinvented into ways you can never imagine!
The classic hit, Yi Jian Mei, from the 1980s by retired artist Fei Yu Qing skyrocketed to a global meme and worldwide phenomenon after the video of a Chinese man spinning himself in the snow whilst singing was uploaded on Kuaishou. Dressed in yellow and sporting a rather unique egg-shaped head, the man sang the classic lines of Yi Jian Mei “xue hua piao piao, bei feng xiao xiao” as he stood in the heavy snow.
The video gained popularity on YouTube, leading to the emergence of memes generated using the lyrics featured in the video. Soon after, the global TikTok community picked up the trend and masses of users started to feature the lines “xue hua piao piao, bei feng xiao xiao” in their videos, with people lip syncing to the song and adding their own captions (often used out of context of the lyrics actual meaning).
Notably, the odd phenomenon gained most interest in countries where Chinese isn’t widely spoken, in many European countries, and thereafter Australia and New Zealand. This could most probably be the first time in history that a Chinese classic song has captured the hearts of Western listeners with such impact. Web searches for “xue hua piao piao” surged since the beginning of May, and the song started taking over the charts on digital platforms globally!
Kelvin Tan was a street busker in Singapore for several years, before hitting the big time by winning Singapore’s inaugural reality TV talent show. Born blind, he had to conquer numerous obstacles from childhood, but grew up independent with a positive attitude towards life.With the inner strength that he possesses, he has broken all stereotypes to emerge an inspiring life champion.
Give it a listen here!
