When they debuted 20 years ago the mainland music duo Phoenix Legend were mocked for being rustic, only being popular with square-dancing aunties, and their music was labelled "rural heavy metal".

20年前他们刚出道时，这对来自中国大陆的音乐组合凤凰传奇因歌曲太土而被嘲笑，受到广场舞大妈们的喜爱，他们的音乐还被贴上了“农业重金属”的标签。



No one expected that the two-person band, made up of Yangwei Linghua, widely known as Linghua, and Zeng Yi would become the most influential Mandopop outfit around.

没人预料到由杨魏玲花和曾毅组成的二人组合会成为最具影响力的华语流行乐队。

They have created dozens of popular songs, with catchy tunes and simple lyrics often interwoven with rapping.

他们创作了数十首流行歌曲，旋律抓耳、歌词简单，还融入了说唱元素。

Their music is listened to all over China – at dance venues, in shopping centres, as mobile phone ringtones and on social media videos.

他们的音乐在中国各地都受到欢迎——在舞厅、购物中心、手机铃声和社交媒体上都能听到。

It is virtually impossible for mainland people not to know at least a line or two from their songs.

对于大陆人来说，不知道凤凰传奇的一两句歌词几乎是不可能的。

Last year, an amusing anecdote went viral online when a woman in southwestern Guizhou province noticed one of her colleagues was not familiar with some of the band's well-known songs.

去年，网上发生了一个有趣的事，贵州省西南部的一名女子发现她的一位同事不熟悉这个乐队的几首知名歌曲。

She tipped off the police, rightly suspecting that the man, who was later arrested for espionage, was a spy. After all, what genuine mainland citizen would not know Phoenix Legend's songs?

她向警方举报，怀疑这个人是个间谍（后来这名男子因涉嫌间谍活动被捕）。毕竟，哪个真正的大陆人会不知道凤凰传奇的歌曲呢？

Viral videos filmed at the band's concert held in eastern Jiangsu province in the middle of April showed an audience of 30,000 singing along while waving glow sticks in unison.

在四月中旬于江苏省举办的凤凰传奇乐队演唱会上，一段广为流传的视频显示，3万名观众挥舞着荧光棒，齐声合唱。

They also collaborate with singers who are the idols of younger generations. The band is scheduled to hold at least three more concerts across the mainland this year. More than two million people have said they will buy tickets from the sales platform Damai.

他们还与年轻一代的偶像歌手合作。乐队计划今年在中国大陆再举办至少三场演唱会。超过两百万人表示他们将在大麦网购买门票。