The results of this paper are drawn from interviews with the school principal and the music teacher of a secondary school in Shanghai, China, together with an analysis of 24 seventh-grade students' written assignments entitled "I and Music." These assignments reveal rich and varied connections between the students' social contexts and their musical experiences. More precisely, they show that: (I) most of the students appreciate music as entertainment and as an expression of feelings; (II) their musical experience and learning was related other media and to school and home life; (III) although most of their musical preferences were diverse, their preferences within Western classical music were limited to a few famous composers, whilst those for popular music were limited to Taiwanese popular songs. This paper considers the social issues that challenge, and are being addressed by, contemporary Chinese educational policy and practice in school music. (Contains 1 table.)