This article addresses two forms of musical events in contemporary China: the ses-sions during which Beijing opera amateurs get together , and the “parties” which are organized by rock musicians .Through a comparative analysis of the structure of the two apparently different forms of musical events , the author notes that both events are more than just musical and artistic events in that they both share some of the qualities of being “rituals” in the anthropological sense.The author states that the action of “positioning”, i.e.the way in which participants find their place within the musical series , and “outsider integration”, i.e.the way strangers or outsiders are integrated into the musical event , are deeply linked as complementary parts of the structure that organizes the expression of the social relationships between the participants .This is a relationship that is inclusive , yet at the same time situates everyone within a hierarchy of posi-tions.