Chinese band Haya had a hectic schedule in 2024. They toured 18 Chinese cities, exhausting yet exhilarating, and it provided a powerful source of inspiration for their new music.

The long hours on the road, and the intimate connection with their audience gave the band a fresh perspective on life, love and the human experience.

Despite the physical toll of touring, the journey sparked a deep well of creativity, ultimately leading to the creation of new songs under the title of an EP (extended play), named The Returning Wind. In support of their new songs, the band launched a nationwide tour last Saturday visiting cities, including Beijing, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and Shanghai. The tour will go on until Sept 27.

"Our previous theme was migration, going to new destinations. Haya, in a way, mirrors that too," says Daiqingtana, the lead singer and songwriter of the band, who was born in Delingha, Qinghai province, and studied vocal performance at Minzu University of China. "Inside, I also have this feeling of migration. I hadn't written for a long time, and everything became repetitive. But when I started writing lyrics again, when we began rehearsing, that feeling of inner vitality returned.

"It felt like when I had just graduated from college — it was such a wonderful feeling," she says.

"It's not like before; with age, the feeling has become richer, more grounded. For me, it feels like a return to a vibrant, fresh starting point. My sensitivity to everything around me has become sharper, more emotional. It feels like a gust of wind has blown me back," says Daiqingtana. "My yearning for the beauty of music is like a seed carried by the wind, returning. Music, like the wind, is invisible, yet it can be felt."

One of the new songs that she wrote is titled Touching You, a song born from a deeply emotional and personal place.Daiqingtana shares that the song's creation was influenced by a moment of isolation during the last tour, when she found herself sitting alone in her room, lit only by a candle's flame.

"That night, I felt this overwhelming sadness, a sense of being lost," she says. "But in the stillness of the candlelight, I began to realize how disconnected we are from truly seeing and loving one another. And that's when I started writing this song."