From Shanghai Bung

The first generation of Mando pop singers came from Shanghai.

Mando pop first grew up in Shanghai in the 1920s. In the concession territories of Shanghai, there emerged a new style of music that combined the dance beat and harmonic thinking of western pop music with the local ballad tradition. Mando pop brought a new sound world, supported by new cultural venues and practices like nightclubs, gramophone records and radio broadcast. In time, the sound became the signature tune for the onward march of China modern itself.