Zhang Jiong is a jazz drum teacher. He was attracted by drum beats and their tempo.

“In 1989, I listened to the jazz drum tape for the first time.” says Zhang. “I was stunned and found the thing I shall pursue with all my life.” he remembers clearly that he got his first set of drums at a cost of 934 yuan, which he bought with borrowed money. “Compared to what I have now, the drum set was not of high quality. But I loved it so much that I got up at midnight to disassemble it and clean it. I felt that the drum could speak for me. The drum beats were my voice.” 

However, Zhang Jiong majored in Yangqin, a Chinese percussion-stringed instrument, from a musical institution. In order to learn how to play drums, he turned to an old maestro, who played the snare drum professionally. But the maestro had a very tight schedule. Zhang begged for a long time and eventually got the chance for the lessons between 5:30 and 6:00 in the morning.

“As a kid, I always missed the first class at school because I couldn't get up. But to learn the drum, I left home every day at 5 o' clock and go to the teacher's place by bike. It was very cold in the Northeast, and I still remember the hard North wind.”

“Once I fell in love with the drum, my heart began beating with it. I just couldn't stop thinking about it and tap all the time.”

For Zhang, even the noises of his neighbor decorating the apartment and kitchen knife chopping food are tempos. The best moments in his life are when he lost himself in music.

Then he formed his own band. But in one of the performances, he jumped off the stage of two meters high and injured his waist. It took him more than seven years to recover from the injury and couldn't play the drum anymore. “Suddenly not being able to play was a hard blow for me.”

During the time, Zhang became a composer to earn a living and got some reputation. However, after moving to Beijing in 2000, he noticed that he still couldn't give up playing drum, so he became a jazz drum teacher. “I just want to summarize what I learned in all these years and teach them to the kids. Inheriting my techniques can also help them.”

But his target is not recurring himself in his students. “I feel excited when seeing them progress. I do not think about myself. I just feel so proud and believe that they are much better than my generation.”

Although he has a peaceful mind while teaching, Zhang can still feel the urge of losing himself in the tempo of the drums. “I'm lucky. I hope that I could return to the stage someday.”