Surrounded by tourists and granite stone blocks, members of musical mash-up Blue Flashing Light hoisted a video camera and instruments up the Great Wall of China.

They stopped on a stoop in the middle of the winding fortress and rocked out, fulfilling bass player Joshua Schwarber’s dream since he visited the country as a student.

This Athens-based band was the first American rock band invited by the Chinese government to play in China, Ian Schwarber said.

Its six-concert performance series for the 22nd annual Chingdu International Peach Blossom Festival began on March 15 and consisted of a series of dream-like experiences with people so friendly that Ian, the lead vocalist and now Chinese-American dignitary, said the trip “formed a mail armor” around his heart.

Whether being mobbed for autographs in a pearl store or proposed to by a mayor’s daughter with a woven peach blossom crown (this happened to Ian, who declined) the visit was packed with excitement.

“They wanted me to be a f—ing rock star,” Ian said as he collected money and wrapped wristbands around attendees to a concert at The Melting Point Friday night. “And I had to deliver. The people were just so joyous and so open.”

Blue Flashing Light was chosen by the Atlanta-based U.S.-China Cultural and Education Foundation to perform in the cities of Chengdu and Beijing.

After learning about the band’s inclusion in the festival through a text message from his manager while sitting in Walker’s Pub, Ian made the decision to learn two Chinese folk songs to perform while in the country.

“I didn’t let [the ambassador who taught me Chinese] leave until I sounded Chinese,” said Ian, who then helped his band members learn to play the songs.

This move, along with Ian’s enthusiasm, impressed so much that Blue Flashing Light was invited to come back and play for the Olympics, Schwarber said.

Natalie Khoury, a second-year English literature master student from Peach County whose father, the county commissioner, helped coordinate the trip, performed as part of a water color clothed dance ensemble that traveled along with Blue
Flashing Light.

“The people mimicked our movements and were so responsive,” she said. “The Chinese loved the melodies [of Blue Flashing Light]. I couldn’t help but fall in love with them.”

Joshua was impressed by the Chinese people’s welcoming spirit.

“We are oversaturated with music in the U.S. and don’t appreciate what we have. In China, it’s like it’s the 1960s [in America]. People just want to experience music,” he said.

While in China, Ian gave a lecture on rock and roll to Chinese music students. He offered three tips to the students:

1. Get a sweet pair of sunglasses.

2. Get a sweet hair cut.

3. You just gotta rock.