Recently, I came across a fascinating BBC Two programme about Wham! — the hugely successful pop duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Their string of memorable hits included **Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go**, **Freedom** and, of course, **Last Christmas**, all released in 1984. Wham! may have broken up in 1986, but one remarkable episode in their short career still stands out: their groundbreaking visit to China in 1985.
That year, Wham! became the first major Western pop act to perform in communist China. George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley travelled to Beijing and Guangzhou for concerts that were about far more than music. China was only beginning to open itself to the wider world, and for many of those in the audience it was their first experience of seeing Western pop music performed live.
Watching the programme was particularly fascinating for me because I visited Beijing myself in 1999, fourteen years after Wham!’s historic tour.
CLICK HERE for a link to the BBC recording of the tour. You can also watch it on Amazon Prime.
Although those fourteen years had brought considerable change, many of the street scenes in the film were surprisingly familiar. The Beijing I remember had not yet become the vast modern city of gleaming skyscrapers, luxury shopping centres and international businesses that we recognise today. There were more buildings, certainly, but comparatively little of the bright commercial advertising and visual glamour that now dominates much of the city.
One image from my visit remains particularly vivid. In the mornings, young and older men would stand at the roadside, often dressed in boiler suits and holding placards advertising their skills. They were waiting and hoping that a passing lorry or contractor might stop and offer them a day’s work.
I also remember visiting the Forbidden City at a time when it seemed remarkably uncrowded compared with the enormous numbers of tourists who visit today. I was able to wander around and absorb its scale, history and atmosphere without being surrounded by vast crowds.
That is perhaps why the Wham! footage resonates with me so strongly. Watching the faces of those young Chinese people in 1985 — curious, excited and fascinated by this sudden arrival of Western pop culture — is quite extraordinary.
I found the Chinese people I met in 1999 warm, friendly and welcoming, and I felt something of that same warmth and curiosity in the young people captured in the Wham! film.
There was also an interesting contrast between the two concerts. In Beijing, the audience appeared much more closely controlled by the authorities, with relatively restrained reactions. In Guangzhou, towards the end of the tour, the atmosphere seemed noticeably freer and more expressive.
Looking back now, Wham!’s visit feels like a small but significant moment in China’s opening to the outside world. It was pop music, certainly — but it was also cultural exchange, curiosity and a glimpse of a very different world beginning to emerge.
