QUINCY JONES, music composer, producer, and media mogul widely known in China for his ties with Michael Jackson, stunned local media Thursday with an unexpected appearance at the ICIF as a guest of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

"I am here to experience the Chinese culture," the 73-year-old Jones told the Shenzhen Daily.

Reporters mobbed Jones as he visited booths in the International Performing Arts Hall. In the traditional Chinese style pavilion of Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province in the Central China, Jones seated himself comfortably on a wooden chair before a mini-stage, enjoying a musical performance.

"Fourteen years ago I have had some 30 Chinese girls to play that instrument in one of our concerts, which was very successful and impressed the audience a lot," he said, pointing to the guzheng, a Chinese musical instrument.

When asked about his expectations from his first trip to the Chinese mainland, Jones said he wanted to "see the people, enjoy the music, touch the land, taste the food and even smell the air."

Jones said he hoped to bring U.S. performers to the Chinese mainland. Jones has worked for some of the greatest performers of swing, jazz, blues and hip-hop, from Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra to Little Richard and Michael Jackson.

He is the founder of VIBE magazine and Qwest Broadcasting and the winner of over two dozen Grammys.

>> Special Reports: 2nd ICIF in Shenzhen

Editor: Wing