Practice can be boring, and Gu Xu often has a smoke after a while. He usually buys bags of cigarettes for 4.5 yuan each. This thrifty smoking contrasts starkly with the presence of a new guitar that cost more than 20,000 yuan placed carefully in the corner. Unlike other Beijing drifters, Gu’s dream is to make it onto a bigger stage, not to have cars or houses. [Photo/China.org.cn]