Lao song praising One Belt, One Road strikes a chord with President Xi

The Lao composer of a song hailing China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, titled Pheng Yidaiyilu, never imagined his lyrical composition would become famous in China. But so great was its popularity that it reached the ears of President Xi Jinping.
Along with many people in Laos, President Xi Jinping also knows the song, as he made clear during his state visit to Laos at the end of last year.
The president didn’t actually mention the name of the composer but talked about the song and how it inspired cooperation for the One Belt, One Road initiative.
“The fact that President Xi personally mentioned my song is not something that happens every day. It was the most rewarding outcome for me as a singer and made me feel proud,” said the song’s writer and singer Mr Vilayphone Vongphachanh.
Mr Vilayphone currently works in the features division at Lao National Radio in Vientiane. He came up with the idea for the song while he was working for China Radio International (CRI) in Beijing, broadcasting radio programmes for transmission to Laos. He returned to Laos in October last year after spending six years in China.

Mr Vilayphone tours the Great Wall of China.

The song was first broadcast on Lao National Radio and Lao National Television and also on Chinese social media in early 2017. After several years of contemplation, he finally finished writing the song in 2016.
At that time, China was hosting the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, so the Chinese media took a strong interest in it and staff from over 10 media agencies came to interview him, including Hong Kong TV.
After giving interviews to all of them, much to Mr Vilaphone’s surprise the song proved to be a massive hit and the music video clocked up over 20 million views on Chinese social media in about one week.
A resident of Beijing, Ms Zhao Xu, said the song was something of an enigma for her. The song became popular not only amongst the Chinese but also among foreigners working and living in China.
“When I played this song, I didn’t want it to end; I wanted to hear it again and again. The background music is well done and the song itself makes it easy to understand something as important as the Chinese word Yitaiyilu; I think that’s why it was so popular,” she said.
Mr Vilayphone’s reasoning was that the word Yidaiyilu would at least attract the Chinese and tempt them to listen to the whole song. But his musical prowess did not stop with this recording; during his time in China he wrote almost 10 songs about the close ties between Laos and China.
Mr Vilayphone had never written any songs when he became a radio broadcaster in 1986. But gradually the muse inspired him and he started to write songs in 1995. 
“I started to attract attention in 2000 when some people referred to me as teacher Vilayphone, but I was not well known. But in 2009 my name became more familiar when I wrote the song Sabaidee for the South-East Asian Games that Laos hosted. The song was played at the official opening ceremony of the games,” he said.
Mr Vilayphone said he first heard about the One Belt, One Road initiative back in 2013, when President Xi visited Kazakhstan. During his visit he called for countries in the region to work together to develop the Silk Road Economic Belt.
“I knew that Yidaiyilu meant the One Belt, One Road initiative. The president talked about it and I was impressed by the idea that the plan would involve so many countries developing together with no one left behind.”
“Then I started to wonder if a song about it could possibly be a success. But in 2013 I didn’t really know what Yidaiyilu was because there was no information at that time.”
Mr Vilayphone started gathering ideas and facts for the song until he finally had enough information and a well defined plan for the composition. He started writing it in 2015 and came back to Laos to record the song and arrange the musical accompaniment, spending his own money on the project.
When he first started to pen the song, he imagined it being accompanied by traditional Lao music but upon reflection he realised that if it were to have universal appeal, soft rock would be more appropriate.
The music video praises the benefits of the One Belt, One Road initiative and promotes cooperation between Laos and China.
The song contains a mix of Lao, Chinese and English languages, but most of the lyrics are in Lao. Mr Vilayphone decided that the title should be in Chinese, so he named the song Yidaiyilu, which is a direct translation of the words One Belt and One Road.
“It’s an amazing story. I had intended just to record a historic event through music, but in the end I unknowingly raised the profile of Laos and enhanced the nation’s reputation,” he said.
There is talk that he may receive a labour medal from President Xi Jinping, but there has been no official confirmation that this is planned.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update February 2, 2018)