The Illustrated Story of China's Female Punk Pioneers

20 years ago, Wang Yue, Yilinna and Yang Fan of the band Hang on the Box made the Beijing punk scene an international topic, posing for a February 1999 cover of American magazine Newsweek. Where are they now?

Bursting onto the male-dominated rock scene in 1998, Hang on the Box was a self-described “bitch-punk” band determined to break through the Beijing cultural underground’s glass ceiling. They quickly became an international sensation, signing with a Japanese record label and becoming one of the first Chinese bands to perform at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, TX. 

Their original members — singer Wang Yue, better known as Gia; Yang Fan, who started on drums and later moved to guitar, becoming the band’s principal songwriter; Yilinna, the band’s original bassist; and Shen Jing, aka Shenggy, who replaced Yang Fan on drums in 1999 — all remain active musicians and cultural influencers.

Here is an illustrated history of China’s female punk pioneers, excerpted from a forthcoming comic book by animator Krish Raghav and RADII Culture Editor Josh Feola.

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