The festival will be the first time in 13 years that Dou, Zhang and He have performed together. Their last joint concert, in Hong Kong in 1994, is seen by many as a landmark of Chinese rock music. Luo Qi, a rock singer who migrated to Germany in the 1990s, has moved back and will also appear at the festival.

For lovers of world music, Sainkho Namtchylak is well-known for her shaved head and throat-singing, a unique singing technique of the Tuvan people usually reserved for men. She has a voice spanning seven octaves, and her music enmeshes avant-jazz, electronica, modern composition and Tuvan influences.

This will be the second time Namtchylak has performed in China. She toured Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao in 2004.

Other musicians or bands to perform at the Erdos Grassland Rock Music Festival are AK47, Second Hand Rose, Hurd (Republic of Mongolia), Thin Man, Face, Yan, Zero Point, Zi Yue, Jiang Xin and Wang Feng.

"It's the first time that a rock festival will be held on the grassland of Erdos, and we hope that the festival will introduce Erdos to more people so that tourism will boom," said Yan Zhong, deputy director of the Tourism Bureau of Erdos, which is one of the sponsors of the festival.

The festival will be held at the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan in Erdos, about 800 kilometers west of Beijing. It takes eight hours to drive from Beijing, or one can go to Baotou of Inner Mongolia by air (one hour) or train (12 hours), and then take buses arranged by the festival to Erdos (less than two hours).

About 10,000 tents and hundreds of yurts will be provided. Together with the nearby hotels, the festival will be able to accommodate about 30,000 people.

A ticket for a single day costs 180 yuan ($23), while a three-day pass costs 380 yuan ($49).

Editor:Chen Ge