Kenny G Shanghai is part of the TPOL in Shanghai Trip Report.
In China, what does the Fake Market, the Fabric Market, and the grocery store all have in common? The answer is closing time means Kenny G.
I didn’t notice it until I read the NYT article, China Says Goodbye in the Key of G: Kenny G, but the song Going Home is played in public places when it is time to go home. Apparently, Kenny didn’t know about it either. Once the same song comes on, it is time for customers to make their way to the check out counter, conclude last-minute price negotiations, and go home. In the Fabric Market, Kenny G is followed by all the lights going out. In the Fake Market, Kenny is the only time that the hustlers would rather close up shop than sell another piece of knock off. At his concerts in China, Kenny always plays it last. “I save it for last,” Kenny said, “because I don’t want everyone going home early.”
I am going to download Going Home for my house in Puerto Rico. That way when people come over, they will know that they don’t have to go home, but they gotta get the hell out of here.
I play Closing Time at the bar before turning on the floodlights. Regulars leave in a hurry while newbies are caught in the glare.
[…] are little things you learn when traveling. Who knew that a Kenny G song was the signal in China that it’s time to leave. In the U.S., I always know the time to leave is when Semisonic’s “Closing Time” […]