It is very rare to find someone in Shanghai who has not, at one time or another, had some visa issues. While Mr. Magic and Honk Kong visa runs alleviate many of our L, F or Z woes, the legalities become a little more difficult in the arenas of playing music, where cash-earning performances occasionally show up on the radar of the Ministry of Culture.

Nearly two years ago, Yuyintang's original Longcao Lu location was shut down at the hand of the MoC and several months later there was an infamous crackdown on the French Quintet, Swing Dynasty, resulting in the deportation of one of their guitar players.

While these sort of actions don't seem too outrageous in China, the PRC is not the only country that has restrictions on foreign artists and musicians. Less than two weeks ago, CW Blogger PunknotJunk wrote a story about Wuhan's hometown legends SMZB finally having an opportunity to tour the United States, invited to participate at Washington, D.C.'s Shamrock Festival, also playing a string of East-Coast dates.

Unfortunately, the band's American dreams were shattered, due a rough reception by immigration in Detroit. Rather than board their connecting flight to Miami for the first stop on their tour, SMZB were detained and questioned for nearly three hours about their reasons for going to America. The discrepancy came from the type of visa (tourist) they were issued and the proper (business) documents necessary for a punk band to perform in the "Land of the Free." Considered to be a money-making venture (obviously immigration officials have never been on a punk rock tour), the tour was nixed and SMZB never even made it out of the airport, sent directly back to China via Japan.

It's a real shame, in my opinion, that things had to go down like this. This was a great opportunity for a deserving band who have put in the time and paid their dues (SMZB has been around for a decade and have toured China and Europe) to finally reach US soil. Hopefully Chinese bands will not be discouraged by the news and, even more so, US promoters will provide official invitations with the proper visa sponsorship in the future.

Kind of a bummer indeed, but this will in no way derail SMZB who are currently preparing material for a new LP and intend to come Shanghai in late 2009.