SHANGHAI -- Chinese singers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao and the mainland on Saturday gathered at the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai to take part in a music marathon spanning seven continents, pledging to do their bit to help bring an end to the global climate crisis.

They were joined by British singer Sarah Brightman.

The concert, which began at 6:30 p.m., drew an audience of more than 3,000, including volunteers, officials from the Shanghai Municipal Government, along with representatives from United Nations organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Spearheaded by environmentalist and former US vice president Al Gore, the concerts were said to last more than 22 hours. In addition to Shanghai, concerts were also staged in Sydney, Tokyo, Hamburg, Johannesburg, London, Washington, New Jersey and Rio de Janeiro, and a band of scientists performed at a research station in Antarctica.

Following the model of 1985's Live Aid and Live 8 in 2005, Live Earth reportedly hopes to reach up to 2 billion people through radio, television and the internet.

"We hope the Live Earth concerts will trigger a worldwide campaign to make everyone on our planet aware of how we can solve the climate crisis in time to avoid catastrophe," said Lee Charteris, Live Earth China Ambassador, in Shanghai.

Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China, said the environmental protection message of this global music event was of special significance to China because carbon emissions were rising rapidly in China as the economy races along.