Kenny G

Smooth sax, it seems, transcends all languages. The Seattle instrumentalist Kenny G’s 1989 hit “Going Home” enjoys a mysterious ubiquity across China; the wistful tune plays on loop everywhere from shopping malls to libraries as an adieu anthem when closing time nears. Kenny G’s continuing popularity still packs concert halls in China; perhaps that’s why he was so quick to distance himself from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests after his impromptu visit to a protest site in October angered Beijing.