by Zheng Jiawen and Lai ZhenBEIJING, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Sha Jianwei, a long-haired 21-year-old migrant cook from southwestern China's Yunnan Province who works in a restaurant in suburban Beijing, never expected to make it big, especially for his music.But after a video of him performing the Eagles' iconic song "Hotel California" went viral overnight
, everything changed.The video clip of Sha playing guitar and singing the revamped Eagles hit was taken in a dark, small restaurant. Since being uploaded 11 days ago
, it had already registered over 3.46 million hits by Thursday."I sang two songs for a retiring chef at a farewell dinner. My colleague took a video with his cell phone and uploaded it to the Internet," Sha said. "It's hard to believe that my song could have attracted so many people this time."Sha's song has inspired an excited discussion among Chinese netizens."The song sang millions of migrant workers' hearts out. I am totally immersed in his sorrows and hopes when I listen to it," netizen Muyechangxiao wrote."I was touched and saddened by both the singer and his audience
," Chen Yufan, a famous singer from the Yu-Quan Vocal Duet, wrote on Weibo, China's popular Twitter-like service."Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it. Sha's positive stance has showed migrant workers' determination to overcome difficulties," columnist Fu Wanfu wrote in a commentary published by Beijing News on Sept. 15.Sha discovered a love of music in 2008 when he worked as an assembly line worker in south China's Guangdong Province."I fell in love with music the first time I played my roommate's guitar. Since then, I started to learn guitar by myself. I devoted all my spare time to it
," Sha said.Sha remembers the day when he had saved enough money to buy a guitar. He woke up at four o'clock in the morning to wait for a music shop to open in Beijing, where he was working as a delivery person for a restaurant.He quit his job in 2009 and began singing in Beijing's underground passageways. He dreamed of making a living with his music, but the life of a wandering singer was not as romantic as he had imagined."To sing in a subway passage, we have to play hide-and-seek with metro security guards. My income was so low and unstable that I often had one meal a day," Sha said.Sha thought that becoming a professional singer was just a pipe dream.Discouraged, but holding on to shreds of hope, he decided to cover "Hotel California."" 'Hotel California' is such a classic song that I was afraid to sing it at first," Sha said.After gathering the courage to sing the song, everything stayed the same until the video clip made a surprise splash on the Internet.Sha's talent carried him to "I Want to be on the Spring Festival Gala," a competition show hosted by China Central Television Station (CCTV) to select performers for China's highest rated festival party."I was so nervous because I'd never been to a stage like that. But I think I did a good job
," said Sha after recording the program.Sha hopes this opportunity will usher him into a career in music like it did for Xuriyanggang
, a rock band that got its start when a video of them performing gained Internet popularity and later became famous by performing in the Spring Festival Gala.Besides covering other singers' songs, Sha is now learning composition and has received offers from several music production companies."I am who I am, a migrant worker who works in a restaurant and spends spare time on guitar and music," Sha said. "I will not perform for the sake of performing."
