No offence, China, but when it comes to your music, you are a little behind the times. 

Long a powerhouse in European and American music charts, electronica is poised to make its formal debut in the Middle Kingdom with Beijing Sonic, an electronica-cum-art festival at Beijing's Post Mountain live house venue. The man behind the music is veteran DJ Song Zhiqi.  

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"For partygoers, electronic music equals dance music and nightclubs. It's wrong," Song says.

An umbrella term for a vast range of music — techno, rave, and trance are just three styles that qualify — the genre populated with sweeping orchestral movements composed of layer upon layer synthesized sounds and rapid beats is largely restricted to one-off parties in China's dance scene, which is itself dominated by the "cutesy" sugar of J-pop and K-pop, and the Chinese versions of both. 

To be fair, dubious Chinese audiences are following in the footsteps of their American counterparts. While the style emerged in the United States in the 1970s, it found its footing in Europe in the 1980s. Even as it began to trickle back across the Atlantic, electronica was seen as so "Euro" that Americans did not pay attention until artists such as Madonna, R.E.M, and The Prodigy began tapping its styles and beats in their albums. 

Song is taking no chances. Over 60 DJs and artists from Berlin, Paris, and Beijing itself are scheduled to play, including some power names in the industry. Francois X, a key influence in the burgeoning techno movement in Paris, Berlin-based Japanese multimedia artist Ryoichi Kurokawa, and native Chinese DJs Yang Bing and Mickey Zhang are all on the roster.

"I got bored with the parties I did and this festival makes me excited," says Song, 32. "Some of the big names are coming to China for the first time. Our goal is to reshape electronic music's cultural and social impact on the community and build a platform to introduce electronic artists and DJs, and display an interesting atmosphere for people to be involved.

"Besides dancing, you can do lots of things with electronic music."

While often associated with dancing, many electronica sub-styles are meant only to be listened to, and Song incorporates the malleability of the music with art installations and film screenings. Several of Song's events have taken place outside of dance halls, such as art warehouses and cafes.

But he has his work cut out for him; China has not even experienced "Vogueing" yet (although it will; thinking ahead, Song invited Berlin-based Gerogina from House of Melody to introduce the pose-driven dance style to Beijing Sonic's audience).

Attending DJ Nick V, whose Mona Party is legendary in Paris, highlights electronica's upbeat music as a way of uniting people, as well as creating a foothold in what could be one of the largest untapped markets remaining on the planet. 

"It brings a lot of positive energy to the crowd," he says of electronica. "Hopefully we can spread the idea to others around the world."  

Beijing Sonic runs from September 5 to 14. 

Tagselectronica, Gerogina, Ryoichi Kurokawa, Francois X, Beijing Sonic