For Lee Shih-hsiang and Huang Chieh-ni, a young Taiwan couple living in the Chinese mainland, Shanghai not only gives them the feeling of a second home, but also injects new life into their music careers.

In 2015, the couple won first place at a music competition in Beijing and started to work and travel between Taiwan and the mainland. In 2017, they decided to stay in Shanghai and finally moved to the city three years later. The couple now runs an electronic music experience center called XN Electronic Music in the city to promote electronic music.

"In addition to the elegant lifestyle of Shanghai people, the important thing is that they are receptive to international culture. This is the main reason why we decided to live here. We hope to convey more culture of the music genre to everyone," Huang says.

Moreover, the booming domestic market and new trends are providing more opportunities for electronic music.

For Huang, the online environment has made her more confident to stay and develop.

"The screen and pictures you see on your mobile phone are actually much better than when we do livestreaming in Taiwan. We have spent a lot of effort pursuing such pictures in the past. But because the platform here has better connectivity, it provides a good environment," Huang says.

In 2021, the couple established a company and spent a year preparing before the center opened in August. Huang says the 160-square-meter space has a production studio, a recording studio, and a livestreaming studio. It also has an area for displaying electronic music equipment and a coffee corner.

"We will combine video games in the 'experience center' because they are relevant to electronic music. We also use the space for tutorials and hold music parties in the daytime to display relevant electronic music equipment," Huang says.

"Since many Shanghai people and we are all coffee lovers, you don't have to drink (alcohol) at the party. You can have a cup of coffee, chat and play video games. In fact, electronic music is to emphasize an atmosphere, and we provide the space for it. Listening to different kinds of electronic music at a specific time can help you think," she adds.

Lee stresses that electronic music is not limited to nightclubs, but because these venues traditionally play this type of music, people associate it with them.

"We can use electronic music to assist learning, sports and other meaningful combinations, which is also what we are trying to do while making the public understand more about the music form," Lee explains.

Their space has more than 40 members who take electronic music lessons and learn how to become a disc jockey.

The couple is interested in expanding the center's reach to other districts in the city and publishing related teaching material to make electronic music learning more systematic.

"We hope to open five stores in the next three to five years with different themes, such as a space mainly focused on selling equipment and a coffee-themed venue. We also hope to extend the training to schools," Huang says.

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