Zhao Meng, bassist of rock band New Pants. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"I listened to my Walkman all day long and even when my best friend walked with me to the school," says Zhao.

Zhao's mother bought her a bass guitar in 2003, one year after Zhao studied at an art school in her hometown, Yantai, Shandong province.

Before obtaining her very first instrument, Zhao had already founded her first band, an all-female rock band, in the school.

"I remember that we did our first rehearsal in a musical instrument store. Since we didn't have our own musical instruments, the store owner was very nice and lent us all the instruments we needed," recalls Zhao, who wrote down her memory on her Sina Weibo, marking her 20th anniversary of playing music with rock bands.

As a student, Zhao also formed a rock band with some male classmates and one of the shows they performed was a concert held at the concert hall of the art school in Yantai.

"It was the first time that a rock band gave a concert in the school. The hall was fully packed," says Zhao. "It's been 20 years and I am still in love with rock music. A 20-year-long unchanged love may not be possible even for a man."

Later, Zhao came to Beijing to study at Beijing Midi School of Music, the first and oldest contemporary music school in the capital. "I am born for rock music and I want to perform onstage as long as I can," she said in the reality show.