Watch This | Telling Chinese stories: Foreigners sing 'Today is Your Birthday, China' in honor of 74th Anniversary of PRC National Day

Recently, tenor Li Zhentao and José Hernández's Mexican mariachi band released a music video for the song "Today is Your Birthday, China," which celebrates the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 2004, at the age of 24, Li won the Silver Prize at the 11th CCTV Young Singers Television Grand Prix ("Youth Singing Competition"). In the same year, he joined the China Opera and Dance Theater as a soloist, and has since won numerous domestic and international awards for his singing.

During his stay in the U.S., Li met José Hernández, whose Mariachi Sol de México, formed in 1981, is known as one of the world's premier mariachi bands. The band has been invited to play for five U.S. presidents, from Reagan to Obama, and came to Beijing in 2000. José Hernández was so impressed with his visit to Beijing over twenty years ago, and so enamored with the Chinese culture and cuisine, that he has been looking forward to performing in China again for many years.

The release of "It's Your Birthday, China", interpreted in the style of Mariachi, has injected new vitality into this patriotic song, and is the most intimate expression of China's cultural self-confidence.

Li said he is looking forward to having more Chinese musical works sung overseas and telling the Chinese story through music.