Hotmix China

Hotmix China is a curious anomaly: a French radio station that plays almost exclusively Chinese music. That's its entire identity and it pulls it off with surprising coherence. When you listen to Hotmix China live, you'll hear Mandarin pop, Cantopop, and occasional traditional instrumentals. You might catch Jay Chou's melodic hooks followed by a guzheng piece, which shouldn't work but does. The 128kbps stream is fine for spoken segments but the music deserves better, though for a free stream you can't complain. The presenters speak French but the music speaks Chinese. It's not trying to be mai…