tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-285758332024-03-06T03:34:42.250+08:00South of the CloudsA blog about Yunnan, my life in China, and just about anything else that comes to mind. Plenty of photos, and many of my articles contain a Chinese glossary.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-22511126367749723132009-12-19T15:44:00.002+08:002009-12-19T15:57:17.063+08:00An Exciting Day in Twitter-GuoYesterday was a bit slow at the office, so I had time to do some playing on the internet. The internet, of course, is never short on fun little distractions, but the real action yesterday was in what I call Twitter-Guo, aka the Chinese side of twitterland.<br /><br />Twitter has of course been blocked in China for many months, but it’s not really that hard to get past the great firewall. Though twitter lost quite a few Chinese users after the block, there are still thousands of users in the mainland, and they’re a very lively bunch. Not surprisingly, these people are often quite politically aware, and there are many dissident types roaming about. They often use the service to spread the word about protests and human rights issues.<br /><br />The events that took place in Twitter-Guo yesterday are a fine example of why the Chinese government is so scared of social media tools. Beifeng (north wind) is a very active blogger and commenter based in Guangzhou. He is also one of the original signatories of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_08">Charter 08</a> . He describes himself in his profile as an “Internet observer who is dedicated to breaking China’s stranglehold on information”. Oh, and he has nearly 12,000 people following his tweets. Since he only tweets in Chinese, it is a fair assumption that the majority of these followers are Chinese.<br /><br />Yesterday, at roughly ten o’clock, he posted the following tweet: “The police are at the door, wait for further info”. He then promptly went silent. Then Chinese tweeters went nuts. Thousands of tweets went out, spreading the word of Beifeng’s predicament. Within the hour, he had a dedicated hashtag (#wych for his handle @wenyunchao). People were spreading word that his computer was confiscated, his phone was out of service, and that he may be facing arrest. His home address was posted, and people were being asked to show up there and start asking questions. This was apparently aimed at letting the police know that the community was watching. People also began downloading Beifeng’s profile picture and using it as their own. I’m not sure if that was intended as a show of solidarity, or a move to confuse the police. At one point, I was getting over 100 tweets a minute about the unfolding situation<br /><br />Roughly two hours after the police arrived, Beifeng began posting again from an internet café. He was okay. The police, who had identified themselves as “internet supervision police”, came under the pretense of checking for explosives as a security measure for the upcoming Asian Games, hosted by Guangzhou. They had seized his computer and phone, and he was now scrambling to change all of his passwords. The fact that politically-aware people scattered across the country can hear about such incidents in a matter of minutes is something that the Chinese government didn’t have to contend with even just a few years ago. The Guangzhou police were quite lucky that Beifeng was able to send out the all-clear before the Iranian Cyber Army’s <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/twitter-disrupted-by-web-attack/?ref=technology">hack attack</a> shut down Twitter yesterday.<br /><br />Much ink and blogspace has been dedicated to the power of social media services such as Twitter, and their role in political events such as the Iranian protest movement. There is no revolution going on in China, but Twitter-Guo is definitely changing the game. It is becoming part of exactly the kind of diverse and assertive civil society that keeps China’s leaders up at night. Frankly, if I was one of them, I’d probably block it too.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-13542082836125042302009-04-13T18:29:00.006+08:002009-04-13T19:06:49.411+08:00Sausage Party<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/3CDFADA1C57AAEBBA8B13429A43FAD56_500.jpg"></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/4FF6ACE79844CE5A7FA8523098653BF8_500.jpg"></a><p class="MsoNormal">(<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">note: pictures below)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">For all of the city’s endowments, the Kunming cultural scene is surprisingly weak. Many of the great artists, musicians and innovators produced by the province are lured to the big cities of the east coast with its promise of wealth, fame, or just exposure to more kindred spirits. Fortunately, though, this trend seems to be reversing. The past few weeks have seen a slew of art shows, music events and other fun stuff taking place in the city of eternal spring.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I was fortunate to take part two weeks ago in one of my more favorite local events, the Kunming Creative Art Fair. In a way, our involvement represented the convergence of two of the most heartening trends I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ve</span> seen here recently, boutique design and craft food.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Though Chinese contemporary artists have shaken the art world with their work, and Chinese manufacturing has reshaped the global economy, there’s always been one component that’s missing: an explosion of Chinese style and innovation. That’s the case, at least, if you don’t live in China.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">If you do live in China, you might have noticed something different though. In the side streets of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and a dozen other Chinese cities, young people are finding a material way to express their new ways of life, making all kinds of crafts from handbags to clothes, jewelry, stationary and household accessories. This has been followed by a profusion of creative fairs and compartment shops. The former is a kind of periodical flea-market where <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">likeminded</span> people come together to display, barter and sell their unique wares. First held in Guangzhou, this event has enjoyed growing popularity, and they are now regularly held across the country. The latter, what I call the compartment store, is a kind of collective design boutique business model where a shop owner rents out small compartments along the wall to creative folks that lack the money or market to finance a whole brand roll-out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Without this, despite a flood of consumer goods and an array of options that would have been unthinkable twenty years ago, young people in China would really have a paucity of choice in terms of fashion. The other options are highly generic mass-produced Chinese clothes and accessories, or overpriced foreign brands that for complex tax and anti-piracy reasons, are manufactured in China, exported to the US, then shipped <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">back</i> to China for retail at exorbitant prices. Of course, you can always save a few bucks buying the knockoffs and “factory overruns”, but that only works if you want to dress like either Allen <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Iverson</span> or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Zhang</span> the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">salaryman</span>. Now, thanks to the compartment stores and creative fairs, all kinds of new styles are sprouting up, and they have a strong market to support them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This trend is particularly strong in Yunnan, for a few reasons. First, Yunnan, especially Dali, is a kind of testing-ground for the Chinese version of the bohemian life. Slackers from across the country come down here and encounter new forms of music, cheap, laid-back lifestyles, and certain types of plants that became popular in the West in the ‘60’s. Secondly, they enjoy a wider market than most places, fueled by the tourists who come down to Yunnan and fall in love with the bohemian culture that blossoms here, bringing a piece of it home in the form of hemp handbags, tie-dye skirts and Tibetan-inspired jewelry. That brings me to the third factor at work; in Yunnan, conformity-oriented Han Chinese culture encounters the diverse artistic styles of Yunnan’s minorities, and exotic aesthetics <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">flowing in from nearby South and Southeast Asia, usually in the bags of backpackers. This makes for a unique mix, and it’s actually had a strong influence over hipster culture across China (thanks, for better or worse, to tourism).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The other trend I mentioned was craft food. Yunnan is blessed with beautiful weather, and the mountainous topography has ensured that most agricultural operations are small. The great weather means wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables year-round, and the small operations lend themselves to experimentation. Recently, Yunnan has seen a rise in small organic farming operations, something which the foreigner scene and the traveler scene have started to put to use. We have less access down here to the luxurious imported food selections that well-heeled expats in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou enjoy, so we’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ve</span> always had to figure out how to make do on our own <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">foodwise</span>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Now, one group of Kunming-based expats, <a href="http://www.greenkunming.com/en/">Green Kunming</a>, is arranging regular deliveries of fresh organic veggies. A foreign family in Dali is making excellent mozzarella and feta cheeses, as well as a range of foreign agricultural products such as raspberries, artichokes and lemons. The Bad Monkey Bar in Dali is starting to make some truly excellent western food. Phil <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Willson</span> and I are making our own handmade sausages.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Sausages? The variety of available western fare in Kunming has been steadily increasing over the years, and the food at the cafes is getting better, but some key things have always been missing from the equation. I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ve</span> always loved gourmet sausages, and that’s one thing you just can’t get here. I brought a few batches of foreign sausages back from Kunming last year, and we shared them at a barbecue. They were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">disappo<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">inting</span>. Phil said to me, screw it, we should be making our own sausages. And that’s how we began our quest. It’s always fun scouring the Kunming markets for this or that, but this mission turned out to be more complicated than we expected. Though there are plenty of sausage makers in the city, they prefer the Chinese dried variety, which I find particularly dreadful. Also, none of them was willing to go through the trouble of finding proper skins for us, preferring instead to wrap them up in plastic. We found this unacceptable. Finally we found a street-vendor selling his own (albeit crappy) sausages, and Phil convinced him to help us make ours.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The first batch was, well, mediocre, but exciting. We had done it, and with a few tweaks, we’d be able to fatten ourselves up in no time. Word started getting around about our wacky little venture, and the requests, and advice, started pouring in.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Liu</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Lifen</span>, a founding member of <a com="">943 Studio</a>, which runs the Kunming Creative Fair at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Nordica</span>, was ecstatic. “We’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">ve</span> been trying to get people to make food for the fair since it began, but no one ever does. Please come and sell your sausages!” So we loaded up my gas grill into a van, and made a massive 20 kilo batch of sausages, figuring we could eat any leftovers ourselves.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The creative fair was awesome, with all kinds of cool people creeping out of the woodwork. The Dali contingent came out in full force, bringing products, impromptu performances and a cool vibe. Locals scattered in boutique shops from across the city converged on the place, and plenty of people with nothing to sell just came to hang out. There was a lot of dancing and drumming, and even a graffiti wall by the gates of the loft. The festive atmosphere was no doubt fueled by our wonderful sausages. We were worried that 20 kilos was too much, but having almost completely sold out on the first day, we had to make another, even better batch of at least 15 kilos on the morning of the second day.</span></p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Mn6riMISfhyphenhyphenV9kJD8FHxLMsZbdvNeRE6Y3LHve-10-VTWNT2W9LpI_VfTeEVvuGzBb7o5H7j5EfR7WBISvE8OvWP36LywAkCRUj19khiXZN2HMRFLQ6lDwJipdag8kCDh8yz/s200/DSC_0461.JPG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 134px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324123642531839426" /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">mmm</span>...</span></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">ve</span> never been a street vendor before. Now I have a lot more respect for them. It’s tiring standing there and cooking all day, and dealing with change is a drag. But we had a blast talking to everybody, making them happy with our little segments of fatty goodness. Phil and I had help from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">Satchi</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Willson</span>, his wife, and Georgia <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Xiong</span>. Best of all, there was a real feeling of community, of kindred spirits coming together to do something for themselves. I don’t think I’ll ever try to make this sausage thing into a real business, but I’ll definitely be back for the next fair.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/4FF6ACE79844CE5A7FA8523098653BF8_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/4FF6ACE79844CE5A7FA8523098653BF8_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/49FE3999FDF475B5EADA33B624A48202_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/49FE3999FDF475B5EADA33B624A48202_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 500px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/AB8F3283D1ADDFE584C920A47D36F498_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/AB8F3283D1ADDFE584C920A47D36F498_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Musician Han </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Ying's</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> handmade instruments and self-published album</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/72A9695C10194FC624E11C264FD71487_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/72A9695C10194FC624E11C264FD71487_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Rongjie</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> from the Bird Bar (Dali) struts her stuff</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/2A5EB86D1E0FCEE02C51AAFA69EBDA0B_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/2A5EB86D1E0FCEE02C51AAFA69EBDA0B_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 333px; " /></a><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/CC6AC9F220505B00A54945AF1B413C35_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/CC6AC9F220505B00A54945AF1B413C35_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Music by the Dali crew. Han </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Ying</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> at front</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/D8E03B1A1E48CA2CBCBFE64157FE0843_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/D8E03B1A1E48CA2CBCBFE64157FE0843_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/06DC0EFD1953843657D00E68F95BB45D_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/06DC0EFD1953843657D00E68F95BB45D_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveHYr1Lad7XeVJ9DQXXrvwOZt9grh_VM4uHDRO5fbyumIG3KaMvsexEeidKDbSqgyRk3lxwr0UCflZ-eWEBySPihU2WlzsoqxP4Wm5fpyf2JqEGyzqf7amgCM5PCo87QOcT-H/s1600-h/DSC_0471.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgveHYr1Lad7XeVJ9DQXXrvwOZt9grh_VM4uHDRO5fbyumIG3KaMvsexEeidKDbSqgyRk3lxwr0UCflZ-eWEBySPihU2WlzsoqxP4Wm5fpyf2JqEGyzqf7amgCM5PCo87QOcT-H/s200/DSC_0471.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324128713540773602" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 134px; height: 200px; " /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBspbPBEhCovFHOaLeD7RmAfE-2z6EBx7nT2Gvj62xMrFlu6QM454k_PWPrpX4QWwTGQLe308NnpbgPvWTd6UstmUl26qiMhDIXQbXLs4gpUyNXxiO0jlxmPXBG2QZLkA9d07/s1600-h/DSC_0459.JPG"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBspbPBEhCovFHOaLeD7RmAfE-2z6EBx7nT2Gvj62xMrFlu6QM454k_PWPrpX4QWwTGQLe308NnpbgPvWTd6UstmUl26qiMhDIXQbXLs4gpUyNXxiO0jlxmPXBG2QZLkA9d07/s200/DSC_0459.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324125979677613138" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /></a><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">strangely, we didn't have a group picture taken. That's </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Satchi</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> to my left</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; font-size:16px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/3CDFADA1C57AAEBBA8B13429A43FAD56_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/3CDFADA1C57AAEBBA8B13429A43FAD56_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px; " /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Graffitti</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> wall</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: italic;font-size:10px;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/2066DB264673937D8C4464130E2650E3_500.jpg"><img src="http://photo1.bababian.com/upload15/20090408/2066DB264673937D8C4464130E2650E3_500.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 500px; " /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Phil behind the wheel. Notice the burning "fire" character behind him</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Most of the photos are courtesy of Liu Lifen at 943 studio. Thanks!</p></div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-83186411790928176852009-04-08T12:32:00.003+08:002009-04-08T13:39:32.619+08:00Anything else would be uncivilized<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.81890.gov.cn/upload/news/1111890003484@%E7%9C%81%E6%96%87%E6%98%8E%E5%8D%95%E4%BD%8Dbb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 512px; height: 357px;" src="http://www.81890.gov.cn/upload/news/1111890003484@%E7%9C%81%E6%96%87%E6%98%8E%E5%8D%95%E4%BD%8Dbb.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div>I had an interesting encounter on the phone yesterday. A local magazine called to interview me about my thoughts on Kunming's <a href="http://gokunming.com/en/blog/item/831/yunnan_news_roundup">latest push</a> to "civilize" its citizens. Seriously. The city plans to engage almost all of its residents in civilization training courses, and has recently released what it calls the "civilization compact", which is actually a list of behaviors, such as spitting, pushing and cursing, that will now bring fines.<div>The party has been putting this word to some interesting uses recently. Walking around town, you see it everywhere, from billboards exhorting passersby to "construct civilization", to plaques asserting that such and such company is a "civilized work unit". There is a sign on a street corner that labels it a "civilization index observation point". But my all time favorite is posted over urinals in men's rooms around the country, saying "one small step closer to the urinal is one giant leap for civilization".</div><div>Anyway, the obviously inexperienced reporter wanted to know my take on the whole thing. I've dealt with a lot of Chinese reporters before, and I have learned the hard way to be very careful about what I say. Interviews such as these are hazardous, as they're almost never quoted verbatim, and the reporter is almost always interested in having you make sweeping, uninformed generalizations about China and your home country. You can select from the following possible outcomes: a) sound like a bigot, b) sound like a mindless pro-China running dog, or c) sound like a total idiot.</div><div>Here are some of the hard-hitting journalistic gems that were tossed my way: </div><div>- In your opinion, how civilized is Kunming?</div><div>- How civilized is China compared to the United States?</div><div>- Which uncivilized behaviors in China annoy you the most?</div><div>- What do you think civilization training should focus on?</div><div>In the end I broke down and gave the reporter a bit of a lecture on civilization. We started with the distinction between "civilized" and "civilization", adjective and noun. Though people may say that certain actions such as spitting and cutting in line are "uncivilized", that has nothing to do with civilization. Civilization is a blossoming of high culture, literature, the arts, technology, etc that blossoms from complex societies. The only part any government can play in making that happen is provide a bit of order and then step aside and allow it to flourish. I also told her that in my humble opinion, Kunming is a rather civilized place. In fact, I just wrote an article in <a href="http://www.yunnanmagazine.com/">Yunnan Magazine</a> about Kunming's outsized contributions to modern Chinese thought.</div><div>I went on for quite a while, but it all went in one ear and out the other. I'm actually a bit worried about how the interview is going to look when it hits the press.</div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-66094907765517906412009-03-17T15:18:00.003+08:002009-03-17T16:22:02.774+08:00What's Going on at 798?There have been a lot of rumors flying around China about the collapse of the art market, mass gallery closings at 798 and other mayhem. I haven't been up to Beijing for a while, so I don't exactly know the details, but let's face it, the art market has taken a turn for the worse since the financial crisis. On the other hand, I think that rumors of the death of Chinese art are premature and far overblown. Here I'll try to shed a little light on the issue.<div><br /></div><div>First, let's tackle the reasons behind this rumor. Obviously reason number 1 is that the Chinese contemporary art market has never faced a downturn before. For many years the art scene was hot but the market was not. That all changed in about 2003, when leading Chinese artists were holding exhibitions around the world, and they started to garner higher auction prices and attract big name collectors. Then, domestic Chinese investors, pockets full of hot money with nowhere to put it, started playing the game, and the market exploded. For a while it seemed that if any artist could reasonably argue Chinese heritage, he could add an extra zero or two on his pricetag. Now that this isn't the case, people are reasonably freaking out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Reason number 2 is a lack of transparency. There are no publicly listed galleries out there, and many of them work on an almost exclusively cash basis. The only way to take a peek at the market is through the small, highly distorted lens of auction results, which represent but a fraction of the transactions going on. Auctions haven't been doing well recently.</div><div><br /></div><div>Reason number 3 is the one that is feeding the mainstream rumor mill. Last year, when the market was full of euphoria, the 798 art district was chock full of galleries, and every weekend the place was mobbed with people. Galleries averaged a new show once a month, and even mediocre artists could expect a dozen group exhibition opportunities and three solo shows a year. Now the place is empty, new openings are rare (bad news for the free booze schmoozers), and a lot of places haven't been open for a while. So everyone who strolls through there says, gee, this place has tanked.</div><div><br /></div><div>As an aside, there was a lot of badmouthing going on about 798 last year. People said it was too commercial, too simplistic and too noisy. Most of those accusations are correct, but I think most of the detractors were secretly (or subconsciously) angry that the place had made art so accessible to the public. The loudest complaints were heard from art communities way out in the outskirts of Beijing, impossible to find by outsiders. For political reasons, Chinese contemporary art did much of its development beyond the prying eyes of the public. I for one think that art should engage the broader public, but what do I know.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the topic, what's really going on out there? To be frank, things are bad. One of China's most prominent private collectors put it to me this way: "basically, western collectors started buying, expecting a newly affluent China to one day pay top dollar to buy back all their art. Chinese collectors started buying in hopes that they could sell it to western collectors for lots of money. Now the music is stopped, and no one wants to foot the bill". There was a lot of speculating going on, and it was full of irrational expectations based on past performance. Back in the '80's, artists would sell great paintings for a few hundred dollars to pay the rent. Some of those paintings have garnered hundreds of thousands in recent auctions, with better specimens breaking the million dollar mark. Based on that expectation, the painting I spend several thousand dollars to buy from a mid-range artist today should be worth hundreds of millions in 2020. Seriously, guys, did you really stop to think this through?</div><div><br /></div><div>So let's sift through what we actually know. Yes, galleries have closed, but it's impossible to tell which ones have gone kaput, and which ones have cancelled some exhibitions to cut costs. Of the ones I can confirm, the closed galleries were all either newcomers or just businessmen out for a quick buck. The real pros are still around. Second, auction prices are down, but they're not falling through the floor. This makes sense. Much of the auction heat was stoked by all the new money floating around, namely finance and natural resources. So it makes sense that auction prices have taken a hit.</div><div><br /></div><div>But I still feel that all of the rumors are overblown. Writer Xia Yanguo broke it down pretty well in a <a href="http://www.artnow.com.cn/Finance/FinanceDetail.aspx?ChannelID=637&ArticleID=18336"> recent article</a> on artnow.cnHe brings up a point that many others have ignored - that winter is a really slow season anyway. I think that galleries are cutting costs, and taking an opportunity to give out all those vacations their employees piled up during the last two cutthroat years of 24 hour workdays. This mirrors my recent experience. All last year we were working at over 100% capacity to provide translation for our slice of the art market, and then saw a major slowdown after the first poor auction results in November, and an almost total halt at the end of the year. Then, like magic, my inbox began to fill up two weeks ago. One day, nothing, the next day, five new jobs. The galleries (luckily I deal with the serious ones) are all gearing up for spring season with its festivals, expos and spring auction offerings. </div><div><br /></div><div>So while I'm not totally optimistic about the 2009 season, I think things will be okay. Here's what I expect to see: less exuberance at the spring auctions, but also more conservative offerings; a weeding out of flighty speculators; a culling of the expos (way too many of those last year if you ask me); and finally, some more professionalism among galleries and collectors. China is and will continue to produce a lot of great art, but there was a bit too much in recent years. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some artists with good ideas simply made or sold too much of their work (seems <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/arts/design/11decl.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=zeng&st=cse">Zeng Fanzhi</a> dodged that bullet). Over-eager collectors jacked up prices for mediocre work, and allowed for a blossoming of the counterfeit trade. Some galleries, pumped up by seemingly limitless market demand, spent a lot of money on flash and not a lot of time cultivating their collectors or budding new artists. All of these people need to take a closer look at what they're doing, and hopefully a more professional class of art people will emerge.</div><div><br /></div><div>So what am I looking forward to this year? I'm looking forward to a lot of things. One, I'm definitely planning on expanding my chunk of the market. Two, I'm hoping that all those Yunnan artists who flocked to Beijing in recent years will come back, and that we can start having fun down here again. Three, I'm hoping for the Chinese art scene to do some growing up. Besides, scars give you character...</div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-32044973325577076912009-02-17T10:24:00.002+08:002009-02-17T10:35:15.083+08:00Some rare good coverage of ChinaOver at <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/china-economic-slowdown/">Telegraph</a>, Shanghai bureau chief Malcom Moore has been travelling through the Yangtze Delta, China's second largest manufacturing corridor, to try and get the skinny on China's lot in the financial crisis. I read most everything produced by major western media outlets on China, and I must say I'm impressed. Though I don't agree with the <a href="http://www.anti-cnn.com/">Anti-CNN crowd</a> about some grand conspiracy to demonize China, I am getting tired of seeing every little tidbit of information getting filtered through a lens of Chinese repression and every single economic statistic being pointed out as the potential spark for a future uprising of disgruntled peasant masses. Mr Moore has been poking around factories, wholesale markets and workers' dorms talking about shrinking export orders, laid-off workers and the like, and his prognosis is that things aren't all that bad after all. In fact, he chimes in with Morgan Stanley to say that "China will be the first major economy to recover from the recession". <div>The basic gyst of his argument is that orders are down, people are getting paid less, but things aren't as bad as they're made to look in other media outlets. I'm not angling for an apologist or blindly flattering stance on China, I just think that his coverage shows a rare mix of balance and hard work. There's no sensationalism to be found here. Anyway, his special series is worth a look, and I'm looking forward to seeing what this guy produces in the future. Now you know...</div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-51770099825451010222009-02-11T10:11:00.004+08:002009-02-11T11:07:02.149+08:00On the AP and Artistic Freedom<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge07NV0TM6pJSSHrgY9WtXRAI0BAmJ_J-2M24TRIbe3IyBbocH-WyI7xx5j48ZkK1AfWVwLpmonXy5izomK9MCSp57eeWxFVdKYGqCWNv5WeZx2GbVXXUKVbXt-YhsswR80VBH/s1600-h/Hope.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge07NV0TM6pJSSHrgY9WtXRAI0BAmJ_J-2M24TRIbe3IyBbocH-WyI7xx5j48ZkK1AfWVwLpmonXy5izomK9MCSp57eeWxFVdKYGqCWNv5WeZx2GbVXXUKVbXt-YhsswR80VBH/s320/Hope.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301362508528993218" /></a><br /><div><br /></div>As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html">New York Times</a> reported, artist Shepard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Fairey</span></span>, maker of the iconic Obama campaign poster, has <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">preemptively</span></span> sued the Associated Press over image usage rights. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Fairey's</span></span> poster, pictured above in it's new home at the National Portrait Gallery, was based on an AP photograph taken by freelance photographer Mannie Garcia. The AP has been threatening to sue <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Fairey</span></span> for copyright infringement, demanding part of any proceeds from the image.<div><br /></div><div>First off, any judge following fair use precedents will most likely decide that Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Fairey's</span></span> artwork fits pretty snugly under all categories of fair use. The image is definitely <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">transformative</span></span>, using the photo merely as a reference for a pose in a very good piece of art. Though it has generated a bit of money, it was originally made to support a political cause, not to profit off of. It doesn't use the entire content of the image, and finally, it has not negatively affected the value of the original photograph. In fact, the photograph is certainly more valuable now. </div><div><br /></div><div>Having that out of the way, I have a deeper psychological and emotional reaction to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">AP's</span></span> jack move. One widely accepted explanation for the rise of pop art is that it was in response to the deluge of images hitting us with the rise of the media age. Before commercial advertising and the widespread enforcement of copyrights, artists were free to engage, copy, transform and respond to anything that entered the visual field. Now everywhere we go we are barraged by images <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">meant</span> to convince us to buy certain things, and these images, mass produced, "belong" to corporations. Pop art appropriated this new flow of images, taking them out of context or transforming them to make statements about society and or the nature of this new commodity culture. This also extended to the appropriation of mass-produced objects, such as Duchamp's Fountain. The nature of mass production itself has become a medium and topic of art as well. My favorite example is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Piero</span></span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Manzoni's</span></span> "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Merda</span></span> d' <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Artista</span></span>", literally cans of his own shit.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the topic at hand, what AP is trying to do is turn this tradition on its head. If they were to succeed, then artists would no longer be free to respond to the imagery that invades our visual field and are quickly coming to dominate our perception of the world. The artist would be forced to engage in a commercial relationship with the image owner, literally selling out before his brush even touches the canvas. Our visual field has expanded vastly since the birth of mass media, but the AP wants to make that part of the visual field off limits to artists. </div><div><br /></div><div>The AP pays for its photos, and rightly demands payment when those photos are used in newspapers and websites around the world. But this has just gone too far. Nothing that enters our commons, nothing that affects our lives should be off limits to artists. Period. If you can't deal with that, keep your images to yourself.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides, there's still some dispute about who owns the image. Mannie Garcia claims AP never paid him for the photo. He has also praised the artwork, and said that he wouldn't pursue damages <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">against</span> the artist. Good on him.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Fairey</span></span> is also the creator of the iconic "Obey" image that popped up in cities across America in the '90's. <a href="http://lebowskifest.com/abide_patch.asp">Here's</a> my favorite derivative of that one. </div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-60070163642205951452009-01-24T13:28:00.003+08:002009-01-24T13:32:09.559+08:00Partisan Gods<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YNAsFBmiMhHdmJj2AO-xDI-bNz4HHKwZoD9RKwTubVi77mUE26r9CeTrxveF1BMzZCo5Cz5Oe6kGaoXyFtVyaCFnmnC1YrveUZTSj8yOCKmPGgpycQk5DsRQv3xj1oICtU9c/s1600-h/PLAdoorgod.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YNAsFBmiMhHdmJj2AO-xDI-bNz4HHKwZoD9RKwTubVi77mUE26r9CeTrxveF1BMzZCo5Cz5Oe6kGaoXyFtVyaCFnmnC1YrveUZTSj8yOCKmPGgpycQk5DsRQv3xj1oICtU9c/s320/PLAdoorgod.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294728160459263794" /></a>This just in: in an apparent PR coup, China's door gods have joined the ranks of the PLA. The afterlife communications secretary declined to comment.<div><br /></div><div>Happy Chinese New Year</div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-15256141600965872302009-01-21T23:12:00.006+08:002009-01-21T23:56:26.288+08:00Obama coverage on CCTVThis is great:<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yxBVmkP04Ag&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yxBVmkP04Ag&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>For those who don't understand Chinese, here's a rough transcript:</div><div>Obama: "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism..."</div><div>[simultaneous translation]</div><div>[fadeout]</div><div>[cue startled looking anchor] Wang Haiying (a correspondent), Wang Haiying...</div><div>Wang: yes?</div><div>Anchor: what economic challenges does Obama face?</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently they tried to do live coverage of the inaugural speech, but someone freaked out and pulled the plug when they heard that bit about facing down communism. If they had just left it alone, no one would have noticed, or better yet, it would have sparked a debate among ultranationalist youth about Obama's "attack" on Chinese ideals (actually, some people are arguing about that on the youtube page for this clip). Instead, they freaked out, and now it's all over the place. If they had stayed, though, I wonder what would have happened when Obama started talking about those who would crush dissent being on the wrong side of history.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next question is, of course, who is going to get fired for this mess? Will it be the guy who thought it was a good idea to have a live broadcast of the speech without an advance copy? Maybe. But it's more likely to be the interpreter taking the blame. That's rough. We've got enough to worry about without having to do political analysis at 80 words a minute.</div><div><br /></div><div>PS: props to Danwei.org for their coverage, and to Hoiking for posting the video.</div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-1431842072289163772009-01-14T23:40:00.002+08:002009-01-14T23:51:26.568+08:00Colors in Chinese!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOWwXM0ba1ytptPyD2gdwGydvrmwm8yttw4HIoEdGSqQZ3FkBGALTwf5ilOQcnfRVQf_sDHd20oqyk_v-xY_ljFkdfdwzB9A6Gdo0MSsZhlGNM9Yp_2LwqFAYWAB_WqmC0KJT/s1600-h/Colors+Coversmall.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 230px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXOWwXM0ba1ytptPyD2gdwGydvrmwm8yttw4HIoEdGSqQZ3FkBGALTwf5ilOQcnfRVQf_sDHd20oqyk_v-xY_ljFkdfdwzB9A6Gdo0MSsZhlGNM9Yp_2LwqFAYWAB_WqmC0KJT/s320/Colors+Coversmall.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5291174903294871202" /></a>I was very pleased to see this copy of Colors magazine for sale in Beijing the other day. I've been able to grab a copy or two before, but usually older issues in specialty stores. This issue is different for two reasons: it was at a regular bookstore (O2 Sun at Xiandai SOHO), and it's in English and Chinese.<div>I am happy to report that Colors has set up operations in China, and apparently has plans to publish regularly in China. If you haven't read a Colors magazine before, be sure to pick up a copy. It will change the way you see things.</div><div>This actually wasn't a huge surprise for me. Last year Colors put out an issue on Beijing, and I noticed that it was almost entirely done by local editors. That is a great issue and it's worth tracking down if you haven't seen it yet. I wondered at the time if they weren't taking the steps to set up shop out here.</div><div>We've seen some previous foreign magazies fail out here, as with Rolling Stone (twice, despite the efforts of the esteemed Hao Fang). I hope that Colors is here to stay. Spread the word, people.</div><div><br /></div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-49989587231687315902009-01-03T01:24:00.003+08:002009-01-03T01:31:20.848+08:00Update on the Bombing and its Coverage (or lack thereof)Gokunming.com has been doing a great job of keeping everyone posted, but I feel a need to do a followup on my last post regarding the bombing at Salvador's Coffee House.<br /><br />Police have released evidence that clearly links the deceased bomber to the bus bombings of July. Evidence also shows that Salvador's was most likely not the target of the attack, and that the bomb was inadvertently detonated as the bomber left the bathroom (after ordering, I've been told, coffee and waffles).<br /><br />Several days after the incident, Reuters finally picked up on the story. The headline was something like "Bus Bomber confesses on his deathbed". Basically, the bomb at Salvador's wasn't a story, and was barely mentioned. New York Times followed the next day with a short blurb to the same effect in their back pages. My letters to several major news outlets, including NYTimes and Wall Street Journal, all went unanswered, which is very disappointing.<br /><br />So I guess we can all breath a bit easier now, knowing that there's one less maniac out there.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-88619829883270640562008-12-26T22:49:00.002+08:002008-12-26T22:53:24.884+08:00An Unfortunate IncidentOn Christmas Eve I was saddened by the news that my favorite café in Kunming, Salvador’s Coffee House, fell victim to a bomb attack. Luckily, none of the patrons or staff were seriously injured, though the bomber died of his wounds later that day.<br />In my nearly nine years in Kunming I have always viewed the city as a safe place, much safer than most American cities, and safer than many Chinese cities as well. The idea of a bomb attack that apparently targeted foreigners still seems ludicrous.<br />Salvador’s has been an important part of the community, and was heavily frequented by locals and foreigners alike. The American owners are friendly and easygoing, and have a very enlightened approach to business’s responsibility to the community. <br />The specter of foreign-targeted violence is very unsettling, as are a few other things that I’ve recently noticed.<br />First, and probably the most baffling, is that no major international news outlet (with the exception of South China Morning Post, based in Hong Kong) has picked up the story. Why would that be? It was a bomb, someone died, the city was recently victim to two bus bombings that remain unsolved, and foreigners were targeted in a region that is heavily dependent on international tourism. THIS IS A STORY! <br />I have a few theories as to why they haven’t picked up on the story yet. The first is that the bomb failed to produce a large body count. Sensationalism sells. The second is that the incident fails to fit into the “story-arc paradigm” that so dominates the international press these days. When the bus bombings took place, you had tons of reporters writing things like “China faces growing security risks during the approach to the Olympics”. Reporters were also quick to point their fingers at a farmer protest in southern Yunnan, because newsworthy stories can only be understood in light of other events that made the news. With the Olympics over and things calming down in Tibet, this incident is rather hard to explain. The third theory is less odious, but doesn’t let the international media off the hook. The bomb hit Salvador’s on Christmas Eve, when a lot of newsdesks are stripped down to a skeleton crew. By the time they notice that news actually happened during their time off, the story will be too old to report. Regardless, every China desk should be ashamed for failing to find and report this story.<br />Another unsettling development is that even before the bombing, Kunming was feeling less and less like a safe city. Two buses were bombed at morning rush hour earlier this year. A man was recently shot by police snipers after a five hour hostage standoff in a Kunming Carrefour. I myself was present at the Box, a bar near Salvador’s, when some drunken men stormed the place with crowbars. I also recently witnessed a massive gang fight in Kunming’s disco district which local security guards and police were helpless to stop. What the hell is going on here?<br />The Box incident, though paling in comparison to the recent terrorist attacks (there, I said it), is an interesting case. When police were summoned to the scene, they actually caught the guys coming back to finish the job. Nevertheless, the young men were questioned and released. Then an officer came in and proceeded to grill us about why these people (whom we’d never seen before) would be so mad at us. After releasing our assailants, he was basically trying to lay the blame on us. Perhaps he was angry that we had disrupted his drinking session. One of us noticed that he was not wearing any identification, which is a violation of police procedure. We asked for his badge number, and he threatened to arrest us for not carrying passports (surely a much worse offense than attempted assault with a crowbar). He eventually conceded only that his surname was Yang, and that he is an officer at the local Wenhua Xiang police station.<br />I am very familiar with that police station, as it is right next door to Kunming’s largest purveyor of pirate DVD’s. I wonder if perhaps this kind of attitude towards policing might be contributing to the growing atmosphere of lawlessness in the city. <br />I’m rambling. Back to the unsettling things. The most recent unsettling development is taking place on Gokunming.com, an excellent Kunming expat blog that has been following the Salvador’s attack and doing a good job. At the beginning, the comments section was an outpouring of sympathy for the people at Salvador’s. This seems to be quickly degenerating into a flame war, as shameless ultranationalists are pointing the finger at foreigners. One comment told all foreigners to go home before “bringing more danger to our country”. Another told us all to “fuck off and die”. I really wish these people would realize that they’re not doing their country any favors. If they really cared, perhaps they would direct some of that anger at the people who put so many innocent lives at risk.<br /><br />That is my rant. Now to the important stuff:<br /><br />I love Salvador’s and all of the people there. I am overjoyed that they are all okay, and I can’t wait to go back down there for a cup of excellent coffee as soon as the place reopens. My heart goes out to their family members who right now can only worry from the other side of the world. Let’s all stay positive.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-24064645613229228362008-11-04T17:05:00.002+08:002008-11-04T17:08:11.055+08:00Something funThis is just great: <a href="http://www.artworldsalon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/dow-average2.jpg">signs of the times</a>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-66800054425418524772008-10-24T14:50:00.004+08:002008-11-04T09:45:25.980+08:00Supergirl Li Yuchun and her 50 cent Army (With Update at Bottom)I've been following an interesting exchange recently on <a href="http://www.danwei.org">Danwei </a> . I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the Chinese netizens who flood web postings about China with all kinds of comments, usually 'defending the nation's honor' against perceived bias and whatnot. Some of these people are believed to be employed by the Chinese government in what one sinologist terms the '50 cent army'. He believes that these people are paid small amounts of money per post they make supporting certain stances held by the party. Of course, the majority of these people are not in anyone's employ, but the theory makes sense. Check out any Economist article on China to see what I mean.<br /><br />The interesting thing is, this is a huge phenomenon in the Chinese netsphere. Chinese celebrities have their own armies of netizens, paid and unpaid, to shower them with compliments and flood negative coverage with scathing criticism. One of these, I found out yesterday, is Supergirl <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Yuchun">Li Yuchun</a>.<br /><br />An <a href="http://www.danwei.org/beijing/time_out_picks_two_sets_of_bei.php">article</a> about a recent listing of Beijing heroes by Time Out Magazine has been flooded with dozens of comments that basically heap her with praise. What makes it interesting is that Danwei is a hangout for people who constantly scrutinize Chinese media, whether it's for a hobby, professionally or as academic research. It's like a mycologist getting a fungal infection.<br /><br />Anyway, it's worth taking a look. In the meantime, I am currently hiring conscripts for a 50 cent army of my own. Apply within...<div><br /></div><div>Update: the 50 cent army seems to be taking it easy with Danwei. I estimate they've only made about 70 posts since the story started last week. That's understandable as the article wasn't negative, and it was, after all, in English. While I was playing around in the postings, I came across a woman named Lili who is researching this specific phenomena. She shared a very interesting anecdote:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 18px; font-family:Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Actually, I have seen these kinds of wrecks many times. The worst time was Li's haters attached her fans' Baidu Post (BBS or public forum), using program generated curse comments. The auto-comments could reach 60-100 pieces per minute. Her supporters learned to use the same strategy to defend. Eventually, they drove Baidu servers, the biggest internet engine in China, to collapse for a few days.</span></span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>That's just awesome. </div>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-61472186477407158542008-10-08T10:28:00.004+08:002008-10-09T10:39:40.595+08:00What's Going on Here?Note: Update at bottom<br /><br /><br />I just had an amazing bike trip through Yunnan for the holiday, which I'll hopefully get back to soon. Today, though, a little bit about the Chinese art market.<br /><br />It's nearly impossible to estimate the size and health of the global art market, because so much of its volume is carried out between private individuals and galleries, which are all in private hands. The auction market is considered a barometer of market health, but it is a slippery one, because as some say, "it's only the tip of the iceberg". We get good figures from them because many of the big auction houses are public companies, and because the auction events are always highly publicized, but no one is even willing to guess what fraction of the total art market their sales represent.<br /><br />Nevertheless, we have to keep feeding the habit, as much of the market watches what happens at these auctions and adjusts prices accordingly. This has especially been the case in China, where so many of the collectors are speculators, and there are rampant rumors of price manipulation through insider bidding. China's art market has been soaring in recent years as Chinese private collectors and finance have jumped in, where only a few years ago the vast majority of Chinese contemporary collection was done by foreigners.<br /><br />As I watched with the Puer tea market and again with the Chinese stock market, many of these new entrants seemed to believe that the market for their particular good was not subject to the laws of economics. Works by top flight artists are now selling in the millions of dollars, and efforts by newcomers to discover the next big thing have driven up the prices of much less established artists, even ones who haven't yet graduated from art school. Though I think that in the long term Chinese art will continue to be very strong, we're definitely in for some kind of correction, basically a smack in the face to remind people that the laws of physics still apply.<br /><br />So I wasn't too surprised to see Sotheby's fall auction in Hong Kong fizzle. We are, after all, in the midst of a global financial crisis. Though top artists like Zhang Xiaogang (my fave) and Cai Guoqiang had pieces that sold for over USD 2m, almost a quarter of the lots failed to sell, and the ones that did only clocked in at the low end of their estimates. I think that this is a good thing. We need to start weeding out those artists who see painting as merely a license to print money, and those galleries and collectors who appraise artists solely based on their potential to go up in price. That makes room for true artists to do what they do best: art.<br /><br />The confusing thing though, is the reaction I've seen on the internet. The auction results have of course garnered a lot of media attention, being written up by Wall Street Journal and all of the art websites. But one site in particular caught my attention. A recent newcomer, Artintern.net is a well designed bilingual website on the Chinese art scene. The Chinese coverage is excellent, and their English writing is better than a lot of other bilingual sites which have popped up recently. So I was surprised to see yesterday the headline, in English, "Chinese Contemporary Art Sell of Sotheby's (sic) is Still Strong". It cited another website, Artzinechina.com, as saying that sales still remained strong, citing only the high prices that did make the cut, and not one word about the failed lots. Their Chinese mirror site got it right though, citing a "disappointing performance". What's going on here? Was it a bad editing job, or are something else? I checked Artzine, which says on the top of its news page that the Sotheby's auction had a "surprisingly poor showing". One of the first sentences that Chinese students of English learn to say is "My English is very poor", so I doubt that they could have misread the article.<br /><br />Update: Artintern has caught the mistake, and now has not one, but two articles about the poor Sotheby's results.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-15243056824009137392008-09-17T17:33:00.002+08:002008-09-17T17:42:06.432+08:00Gen Dequan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bbs.clzg.cn/attachment.php?aid=139045&k=1b5c81faf4255a24038ec2a5a42f6cd4&t=1221643755&noupdate=yes"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://bbs.clzg.cn/attachment.php?aid=139045&k=1b5c81faf4255a24038ec2a5a42f6cd4&t=1221643755&noupdate=yes" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Gen Dequan, the famous Dai folk musician, passed away last night of an apparent brain hemorrhage. He was a master of the Hulu, a reed instrument fashioned out of drinking gourds which is popular among the Dai and many other ethnic groups throughout Yunnan and Southeast Asia. He was fifty years old.<br />Known as King of the Gourd, Gen Dequan was instrumental in popularizing the folk music of the Dai people, and making their music a household name throughout China, synonymous with the cultural diversity of Yunnan Province. Throughout his career he toured many cities and countries, sharing the musical traditions of his people.<br />I was fortunate to know him. We first met on the Yunnan Revealed tour in 2005, when I was tour manager and he was a performer. He came again with us to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2007. He was a good man and a phenomenal musician.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-4808574108939439272008-09-16T13:37:00.004+08:002008-10-08T11:05:31.266+08:00Virtual City, Empty Fortress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2862121238_41a6c88312.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2862121238_41a6c88312.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hosting the opening ceremony</span><br /><br />Last weekend I made a journey to the virtual city. Though it doesn’t really exist, the portal to this city was on the west side of Shanghai. Shanghai was boiling with artists that weekend that flocked there for the three major art expos that happened last week. Though the city definitely plays second fiddle to Beijing in the China art scene, this time it was host to probably the most important art happening of the year with thousands of artworks and dozens of satellite exhibitions.<br /><br />Virtual City was one such satellite exhibition. It was conceived by Yuan Gong, Shanghai real estate mogul-turned supersized art patron. He recently established the Yuan Gong Art Museum, Artra Space and Yuan Gong Art Organization at a complex of buildings on Gubei Lu near the old Hongqiao Airport. He’s been tossing around money and doing some really cool stuff over the past few years.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2861305795_acc07e5a49.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/2861305795_acc07e5a49.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Visitors descend on the Virtual City<br /><br /></span>The concept behind Virtual City was to manipulate the environment in a way that created an impossible space, one in which the physical environment interfered with reality in absurd ways, and in which virtual reality expanded the experience into another dimension. The complex was filled with installation, sculpture and new media works by over fifty artists, and the complex itself was transformed by a web of obstructions and labyrinths which made navigation all but impossible.<br /><br />I was there to serve as one of the hosts for the opening, as well as general translator. I had friends in the show and friends who came out to see me, and between them and the needs of the event, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. The obstructions created by the space and the massive crowds – especially around the installation with a live exotic dancer on a mechanically bouncing bed – made the day next to impossible. I was constantly cursing the labyrinths and hidden stairwells as I ran back and forth, and I barely had time to look at the artworks. But of course I knew that this feeling was exactly what the curators had intended.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2862136160_e11c01e51a.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/2862136160_e11c01e51a.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">One of the creepier works on display<br /><br /></span>I did have time to see some of the stuff, though. Unfortunately much of the work would have been unremarkable if it weren’t for the stellar presentation. The best artwork of all was the exhibition itself. Two pieces, however, stood out. One was “Sounding off for 5.12”, an interactive media installation about the May 12th Sichuan Earthquake by an artist whose name escapes me. A crushed truck had been removed from the wreckage of the earthquake and shipped to the exhibition space, where it was placed in a cavity in the floor. It was covered in stripped down speakers and lights, and more importantly, an array of motion and sound sensors. The speakers and lights reacted to the sensory input from the audience, and emitted sounds and lights accordingly. The most striking thing about this installation was the sound. Two separate sounds were recorded. The first was the sound of every car horn, factory whistle, siren and other noisemaker in the country, which were sounded off in unison during a nationwide day of mourning for the nearly 70,000 victims of the earthquake. The second sound was that of survivors hammering away at the ruined buildings looking for scrap metal they could sell to supplement their food rations. These were sounds of solidarity, sounds of despair, and sounds of the invincible human spirit. I’d like to spend some time alone with the piece some day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2861311933_e598003e36.jpg?v=0"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2861311933_e598003e36.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Cang Xin's tower</span><br />The second piece that struck me was a three-story scale model of Shanghai’s new World Financial Center, the tallest building in China, in wax. It was a perfectly executed replica by artist Cang Xin and his crew of workers. The building was in an atrium inside one of the compound houses. As it towered over the other artworks and by the various balconies, it was being slowly melted by a massive torch suspended over the artwork. I always have trouble reading into Cang Xin’s works, but there’s never a dull moment with that guy. In fact, though it was much different from a lot of his other work that I’ve seen, I knew it was his without even looking at the label. The first thought that ran through my mind was “only in China”.<br /><br />Before long I was pulled away to catch a really cool experimental dance piece directed by Wen Pulin, followed by an academic forum. The original idea was that I would translate for any foreigners who wished to attend, but they were all lured to other exhibitions by the free booze. Since I was seated at the main table, it would have been rude to leave, and besides, these were some of China’s top critics. I had translated many of their essays, and was keen to get to know them a bit better. The forum was quite interesting, because on top of some of China’s best critics and curators, there was also a philosopher, Philip Zhai, who happens to specialize in the philosophical concepts and issues of virtual reality. He had captivated our dinner and drinking session the night before, and did the same with his opening remarks at the forum. He argues, among other things, that as virtual space becomes a larger part of our lives, it may one day become more important than the real world, and when that happens, the virtual will become the real, and the real, virtual. Interesting guy.<br /><br />Halfway through our forum, the speaker was interrupted by the sound of approaching sirens. Someone joked that maybe Cang Xin’s wax tower had set the building on fire, and we all laughed. The forum continued for another hour or so, during which time I got a text message from a friend, San San, Ms 33, saying, “We’ve been evacuated to the parking lot and are trying to decide where to go next. When are you finished up there?”<br /><br />San San is an attractive young artist and event promoter that I met on a previous trip to Shanghai. She had a piece on the roof of the same building as Cang Xin’s piece. Her installation was a cluster of small structures covered in clippings of newspaper headlines and other media info, in a statement about how much media shapes our world these days. She had kept a fire extinguisher next to the work as she put it together all week, just for safety’s sake. When she finished the artwork, she decided that she liked the fire extinguisher, and also covered it in newspaper, placing it in the center of the installation.<br /><br />That made her the guardian angel of the virtual city. Sometime in the afternoon, the torch above Cang Xin’s artwork managed to burn through the ceiling, surprise surprise. Falling embers ignited the entire wax tower, which promptly collapsed and sent flames flying everywhere. My good friend, Huang Zheng, true to his style, helped evacuate the audience members, and joined with Cang Xin in trying to put out the flames; a job made that much easier thanks to San San’s fire extinguisher. The two men were the last to leave the building just as the fire brigade arrived.<br /><br />Imagine the firefighters’ rage when they found they had to navigate a labyrinth to get to the fire site and that there were no evacuation routes. Our forum was in a building on the other side of the compound, oblivious to the whole thing. When we finished the discussion, we were astonished to find that the labyrinths, the obstacles, the entire virtual city had disappeared without a trace (except for maybe a smoldering blob of wax) on orders of the fire brigade. I congratulated the curators on a job well done. They had succeeded in creating a truly impossible space. Had it ever really existed in the first place?<br /><br />Oh and by the way, San San retrieved her fire extinguisher. Maybe one day when she makes it big we can put it in a museum next to Duchamp’s urinal.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-811694605689145172008-08-31T18:53:00.002+08:002008-08-31T18:59:53.640+08:00A Little ShakyI was working away yesterday when I noticed the ground was shaking. More appropriately, the building was shaking. I'm on the top floor of a building on a hill, so things were shaking quite a bit. It turns out a 6.1 quake hit the town of Panzhihua yesterday, just across the border in Sichuan. This is in a different spot from the one that hit May 12th. There are reports of some casualties and collapsed buildings over there. It's too bad. There are a lot of poor, remote areas in the hills around the area, and Sichuan's still having a tough time in the rescue effort from the previous, more deadly quake.<br /><br />For everyone with friends out here, Kunming is fine. No damage, as far as anyone has heard. The ground shook again the same time today, but less intense. This is getting old.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-37976215206853153532008-07-22T15:36:00.000+08:002008-07-22T15:37:52.188+08:00Damn Good Wine<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Sunday was a particularly fulfilling day. I had given up yet another weekend to my translation work, cramming for two major deadlines. Lo and behold I sent out the documents at five on the dot, a time that means less and less when you’re working at home.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Usually the weather in Kunming is absolutely beautiful while I’m holed up inside at work, and turns to sh-t whenever I have free time. On this day, however, it had been raining all day, but things were just quieting down as I finished the last few sentences.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It’s been a while since I’ve had some quality time on the roof. I grabbed some wine leftover from the night before and moseyed out into the garden with Orhan Pamuk’s “My Name is Red”.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It was as if the clouds had parted just for me. To the east was a low ceiling of grey rainclouds, no doubt still relieving themselves on all my friends over there. On the other side, the Western Hills were dwarfed by a massive, multi-tiered cloudbank. Bathed in the magical golden Yunnan sun and seeming to billow and stack up endlessly, they were definitely renaissance clouds, capturing all the glory of the creation forever on the ceiling of some rich Venetian trader. And right above me was a flawless, endless blue.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Captivating as it was, my Turkish murder mystery just couldn’t beat the weather for pure entertainment value. I grabbed my glass of wine and wandered off to the western edge of the garden. Gnats and flies must have been lured out by the fresh moist air, because I was presented with the spectacle of thousands of dragonflies on the prowl. They filled the sky over the tiny, lush garden valley that the next door slum carved out of the endless rows of housing complexes. If I were down there, I would be able to watch the children chase the dragonflies with nets. Tie a hook on the back of a dragonfly and you have an amazing, living, flying fishing lure to take with you to the lake.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">But up here there was a different kind of hunt going on. Sparrows and other small birds, attracted by the buzz of wings, were hunting down the dragonflies, pulling off effortless war maneuvers. I’ve always wondered why, here in the middle of China’s most thriving ecosystems, I only ever saw slum birds. Maybe it’s just too nice out there in the hills.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There is another kind of bird in the picture. Several of my neighbors raise flocks of pigeons on the rooftops. Today there were two flocks out, flying in tight circular formation around the waving flags of their keepers. As I sat back down to my book, the garden was periodically swept by the shadow of these pigeons as they flew overhead. Once I master the pigeon language, I’ll thank them for never shitting on me after so many flyovers.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I glanced back at the massive golden cloudbank over the Western Hills. It was so distant and expansive, it looked almost like a giant movie backdrop. I spotted a black dot in front of one of the clouds. A bird? A plane? No, it’s an old man. In my American youth, kite flying was a father-son sport, where the father would toss the kite in the air and the son would run around seeing how long he could go before the kite hit the ground or caught a tree. In China, kite flying is about old men in the park effortlessly launching their kites into the stratosphere. On any good day one can spy tiny clusters of black dots hovering motionless over the city.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Seeing all this beauty at once reminded me why I had missed Kunming so much during my dust-covered days fighting through the social ladders of Beijing. It reminded me why I call this place home, why I had quit my corporate job and come back here to live the quiet life of a translator.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I leaned back, listened to the birds overhead and enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun on my back, and I thought, “damn, that’s some good wine.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-35412278972807421932008-04-19T14:50:00.004+08:002008-10-08T11:06:27.711+08:00A Word of OptimismLet's go back to take a look at what I was talking about in my last posting. I still feel that a bit of caution is necessary in dealing with the Chinese art market, but things are still going well. The Sotheby's auction actually went quite well, and prices stayed quite high. One example, Zhang Xiaogang, saw a single painting from his much sought after Bloodlines series sell for HKD 42 million.<br /><br />I still see a bubble looming on the horizon, but whatever happens, Chinese art is here to stay. One of the biggest reasons for optimism is that the Chinese themselves are starting to acquire a taste for art. We're starting to see more local collectors, and they're more than just a bunch of successful artists buying each others' works. That's a good sign, as the political situation in the past allowed Chinese contemporary art to explode without causing even a blip on the local cultural radar. Foreign collectors were snapping everything up, and most of the locals were none the wiser. We're even seeing homegrown corporate and institutional investment in art, thought that's still in its infancy. One of the most promising new developments is the arrival of homegrown non-profit art organizations and events, which is absolutely necessary if we're to see a renewal of dialog between artists and the society around them.<br /><br />The scene in general is slowly growing beyond a simple market organization. Beijing's 798 Art District is now home to two large art centers, the Ullens Center (founded by a big-time European collector) and the Iberia Center (founded by the International Art and Culture Foundation of Spain). Though foreign, these two institutions are more focused on exhibitions, education and outreach than pure sales. In fact, they're not selling, at least not the stuff they exhibit. Overall that's a good thing, but the fact that 798 and a lot of the other art districts are located on the edges of this sprawling city guarantees that the Chinese art scene will remain an insider game for a long time.<br /><br /><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2300/2425000084_0603a15ffa.jpg?v=%220%22/" /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">opening day at the Iberia Center</span><br /><br />I was quite impressed the other day when I attended the Iberia Center's opening exhibition. They've rounded up a lot of talent, leaning towards younger, more adventurous curators and organizers. Another good sign is their film center, which will house a media archive, studio and screening room for independent documentary film. To make this happen, they've tapped Zhang Yaxuan, who is definitely one of the most knowledgeable and active figures on the scene. I met her a long time ago at Yunfest, and I'm really glad to see that someone's willing to give her the money and resources she needs to take things to the next level.<br /><br />There are still a lot of problems with the art scene, and I could make a long, boring list of them (and don't worry, I will keep ranting in the future), but I think they all boil down to a single problem, which is that they've never seen a bubble. Bubbles happen all the time in New York, London and Paris, and eventually people pick up the pieces and wise up a bit. It's a necessary process that weeds out the bad seeds every once in a while. But the more I look into it, the more I'm convinced that this run still has some legs. There are a lot of collectors who are just getting into the market, and a lot who haven't made it out yet. Just as with everything else in China, everyone wants a piece. Hopefully things won't get too out of hand.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-25486361512618011332008-04-09T15:29:00.003+08:002008-10-08T11:07:05.832+08:00A Word of Caution<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The Chinese art phenomenon continues, and shows no signs of abating despite all of the economic problems. Once relegated to the underground, Chinese contemporary art has hit the mainstream in a big way ever since it began raking in untold billions. At the various gatherings of artists, critics, dealers and hangers-on recently I’ve seen nothing but optimism and enthusiasm, with everyone waiting expectantly for the next big thing to explode on the scene. Sotheby’s and Christies (not to mention Poly, Guardian and a host of new mainland upstarts) are gearing up for ambitious spring offerings, and no one seems phased by the financial meltdown at all.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I don’t see any big surprises happening this season, but I am seeing good reason to be cautious over the coming months. Having just walked away from a speculation bubble in the tea market, I may be a little biased, but more than a few art insiders have been expressing a lot of curiosity about that bubble recently, so maybe we’re on to something.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The first issue is that the market has gotten too big, too fast. Though I think that a good Zhang Xiaogang painting is worth every penny of $1-2 mil, I’m seeing way too many artists in the upper mid-range, selling at tens to hundreds of thousands. I think that Chinese artists are producing some of the best art in the world right now, but I have a little trouble swallowing the idea that hundreds of Chinese artists are going to make it into the world art history books and make their mark on the emerging global aesthetic. The prices now would reflect the expectation that each and every one of those guys will be the next Basquiat.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Much of the buying and selling I’m seeing seems to be focused on potential future value, with artworks treated as financial tools rather than objects of desire. It’s easy to fall in this trap when a work that was sold by a starving artist for a few hundred dollars in the eighties is now hitting the auction block for hundreds of thousands. Puer tea traders fell in the same trap when they saw the ’88 Qing vintage start at thirty cents and top off at 1500. The bottom fell out of that market when everyone realized that there was too much production and speculators outnumbered drinkers by several orders of magnitude.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I could go on and on about this, but to make a long story short, approach Chinese art with caution. If you’re entering into the market strictly to cash in, you’re likely to get burned, sometime soon. Having said that, if you’re in it for the art, a careful approach should reward you with some great stuff for your collection.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">A slightly clumsy English version of Zhu Qi’s article is available <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20%27http://www.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid602_en.html%27"> here </a><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The original article is available on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20%27http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_487f2fc601007ik3.html%27"> Zhu Qi's Blog </a><br /></span></p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-3271778345656470742008-04-09T15:26:00.002+08:002008-10-08T11:08:03.367+08:00Free as a Bird<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/2425002004_7c36b033ec.jpg?v=0" /><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It’s a beautiful, kind of sunny spring day as the train rolls its way past the towering apartments of Kowloon on its way to Mainland China. I’ve been in Hong Kong for the past few days sipping free champagne, chomping on finger snacks and looking sideways at little blocks of color, thinking of profound-sounding things to say to impress pretty young women in cocktail dresses. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">That’s right, it’s art season. Actually, it’s the feeding frenzy that leads up to the massive Sotheby’s spring auction, which this year is making one of its largest offerings of Chinese contemporary art ever. A long run of record-shattering auction prices for Chinese contemporary has attracted the players from every corner of the industry for a week-long session of art shows, banquets, name card exchanges and mass bar runs. I can’t claim innocence here; I came down specifically to join the cheering section for one of my favorite artists and clients, Ye Yongqing. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Commander Ye, as we call him, is an interesting case. He was extremely important in the conceptual and artistic movements of the eighties, collectively called the ’85 New Wave, and became even more so during the nineties as he travelled the nation and the globe not to promote himself but to promote the development and recognition of Chinese art, and to build links with other budding scenes especially in the Third World.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">He was one of the first artists to enlist me in the field of art translation, and he has always been one of my staunchest supporters, nearly singlehandedly responsible for my reputation and client base (I can take at least a little credit in that department). </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The funny thing is, I didn’t really become familiar with his art until about a year ago, and though his work is highly respected by fellow artists, he never really took off on the market or in the media until recently. There’s a very simple explanation for that – he’s just too damned busy. It’s surprising he’s had any time at all to develop his creative style what with his job as a professor at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Art, his founding of one of China’s first bona-fide art communities (Upriver Loft, Kunming) and his dozens of trips around the world to foster intercultural exchange. Yet his artistic style has followed an amazing trajectory, from his early days as a bit of an impressionist and dabbler in cubism, through his graffiti and archaeology inspired conceptual experiments of the nineties to his somewhat abstracted, highly meticulous and meditative works today, his artistic path has stretched farther than many artists half as busy as he. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">His work now consists mostly of large birds or giant squiggles scrawled onto roughly treated canvases. From a distance they appear to be composed of broad, carefree strokes, but a closer look reveals that these are works of excruciating labor, made of thousands of tiny “chicken-scratch” strokes with a tiny brush.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The birds and squiggles resemble smaller ones that often featured in his earlier works. He often used birds and cages to play with ideas about freedom and confinement, and his own life is best described as migratory, which also helps explain the fascination. The squiggles are a bit less clear, but he’s always been playing with graffiti and scribble effects.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The term that pops to mind when trying to describe his recent works is “meditations”. To him, painting seems to have become a meditative exercise, and the resulting images the embodiment of the mental state he reaches. In this way, he shares as much in common with the traditional Chinese painters of old as he does with his peers in contemporary art.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">But I’m not a critic, I’m a party crasher, and my skills in that department were put to great use this week. The main event was the most comprehensive Ye Yongqing retrospective ever held. It was organized by Anna Ning a young, up and coming dealer in Hong Kong, but it drew from many collectors and galleries to bring out pieces from almost every important stage in his development. Call me a cynic, but I have a feeling that this cooperative spirit was aided more than a little bit by the fact that a few of Ye’s works are going on the auction block this week.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2113/2424187393_4867c01738.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Anyway, Anna did it up right, taking over a great space at the Hong Kong Art Center and putting a bunch of us up at the lavish Grand Hyatt right on the edge of the harbor, and coincidentally, a stone’s throw away from the Sotheby’s preview show.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">So many people made the trip out that there were jokes about an evil cult assembly, mafia election or alien invasion. Whatever it was, once you get a few dozen darkly dressed Chinese guys in shaved heads together, you’re bound to attract some stares. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/2424187871_55b7ceb7fd.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The opening was followed by a lavish five course meal for nearly 100 guests at the lovely Verandah Restaurant in Repulse Bay. We must have drained half their wine cellar that night. I had a chance to catch up with some of my favorite artists and meet some great people from the gallery, auction and critique fields. I decided to stay another couple of days to check out the Sotheby’s preview and crash the opening for Chen Jiagang’s exhibition.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Chen Jiagang is the current flavor of the month with a series of captivating photographs staged in the ruins of the Third Front, an area of China’s hinterland that Mao built up with military factories to shield them from an American nuclear strike. The massive buildup is now slowly returning to the soil, and the people who once ran it are now the forgotten heroes of China’s maniacal political history. His photos are lovely, but he’s become an overnight star and one must wonder if he’ll be able to live up to the hype in the future.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">That was the inaugural show for Contemporary by Angela Li. Angela has been working in the field as a consultant for many years and is now going into full time business. She’s smart, personable and attractive, and I have every reason to believe she’s going to have a long and fruitful career. She definitely knows Chinese art like the back of her hand.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The after-party was held at the China club, on top of the old Bank of China building. Step through the doors and you’re in 1930’s Shanghai. They’ve done a beautiful job making the atmosphere there, and David Tang’s impressive art collection makes it just that much more special. But it was the view from the top floor balcony that stole the show. I tend to favor natural scenery, but I have to admit, Hong Kong is one of the most striking modern cities I’ve ever been to.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">All in all, Hong Kong was a blast. In the past it was just a place for me to refill my China visa and load up on English books, magazines and cheap tailored suits. Now I’ve finally had a chance to see more of the city, and though I don’t think I’d want to live there, I’ll jump at the chance to go back.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/2425002490_e50820829b.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span></p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-9839036413389591692008-03-29T20:46:00.000+08:002008-03-29T20:47:59.805+08:00A(mao)rica's Idol<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Today I was watching the “All China Youth Singing Competition”, a yearly extravaganza held on China's national television network. I'm only watching this stuff because I have a few friends in the competition. This very odd television show is one of the most important trials for any young person who wants to survive in China's music industry. Every province and region sends representatives, and the prize for winning is national fame, endorsements and the ability to command high performance fees.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When I turned on the TV, a beautiful Mongolian girl in a golden dress was singing a lovely flowing song from the grasslands she calls home. It wasn't the best folk song I'd ever heard, but then again I've heard a lot of this stuff in my day. But here's the clincher: when she finished her song, an announcer took the stage and asked her a question - “The Summer Palace and The Great Wall are the English names for two famous Chinese landmarks. What are their proper names in Chinese?</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I have to say that the perversity of this whole spectacle never ceases to amaze me, even after all these years. Apparently a singer, even a folk singer, cannot be a true professional unless her head is crammed with all kinds of trivia that is wholly irrelevant to her life or career.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Of course, the girl was stumped by the question, and that's going to hurt her score in the long run. She didn't make the cut because she doesn't know the English names of two tourist sites in Beijing, a city worlds apart from where she was raised. One of the judges (there are about thirty of them and they're all really old) made the following remark: “Some people may be wondering why we've added so many English questions to this year's trivia section. It is because there will be many foreigners here this year for the Olympics, and we need to be able to tell them about our great historic landmarks.” There you have it folks, she can't be a superstar because she hasn't made enough effort to become a perfect Chinese citizen in the party's image. Don't believe me? Wait until you hear the next question they asked her. Footage from some Cultural Revolution music video was shown for a few seconds, and she was asked to name the song. Of course, this time it was multiple choice, because the Cultural Revolution was a long time ago and the Olympics are THIS YEAR. So just in case you stumble on a foreigner deep in the Mongolian steppe who is looking for the Summer Palace, make sure you know enough English to tell him that he's hopelessly lost, otherwise you'll never be a superstar.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Other questions I've seen include “name the cities that these famous European soccer teams are from”, and “name the period that this Italian Opera piece was written in”. And the topics are numbered instead of named, so you have no way of shooting for a topic you're good at. In fact, they're so worried about people cheating on the test that they release no information that might help people prepare for it. You either know it or you don't.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But don't worry, my people tell me the whole thing's fixed anyway, so there's no use in memorizing that encyclopedia.</p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-83619992836532433482007-12-24T02:02:00.000+08:002007-12-24T02:15:34.758+08:00Caravan Stop 1 – Kunming<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2155/2130751763_c774886c25.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">I’ve ranted and raved a lot about <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kunming</st1:place></st1:city> before, so there’s no need to introduce the place again. We came on a mission, but we were basically there to soak up some of what the city had to offer. Between marathon meals and walks in the park, we actually managed to get some work done. For the first day, I called on my old friend Xie Mohua who is the director of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Yunnan</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Minority</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Nationalities</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Museum</st1:placetype></st1:place>, which in my opinion is one of the most overlooked gems in the city. He gave me big face by offering us free access to the museum with his top researchers acting as guides, then free use of his lecture hall. He also brought out some of <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state>’s top historians to tell us what they know about ancient <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> and the caravans.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">The museum is right down by <st1:placetype st="on">Lake</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">Dian</st1:placename> on the southwest edge of the city, across the street from the zoo-like <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Yunnan</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Nationalities</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Village</st1:placetype></st1:place> theme park. Though most tourists only bother to visit the theme park for a dose of cultural misconceptions, the museum is almost always empty. It has an amazing collection of <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state></st1:place> clothing and textiles, as well as just about any artifact you can imagine including religious implements, musical instruments, ritual masks, hemp looms and weaponry. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">One of my favorite exhibits there is called “Memories of Mankind”, which is a complete collection of every form of written language and communication system found among the peoples of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Yunnan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Province</st1:placetype></st1:place>. There are stacks of Tibetan sutras, Yi scriptures and Thai palm-leaf sutras. There are old texts in the Dongba script from the Naxi of Lijiang, which is the only pictographic script still in use today. One can also see the Daoist paintings of the <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yao</st1:place></st1:city> people, who adopted Daoism and the Chinese writing system, though they changed it around along the way making the Chinese characters something akin to the work of an American tattoo artist. One of the most interesting sections of the exhibit is reserved for communication by illiterate peoples. In one culture, sending palm leaves woven in a certain way tells the recipient “I like you a lot, but I’m in a relationship right now. Sucks to be you.” A chili pepper sent to a relative says “it is time to exact our revenge”.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Every time I go to the museum, I end up spending most of my time (and money) in either the bookshop or the clothing shop. The book shop is entirely dedicated to books on <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s minority cultures, and any Chinese book on the topic worth its salt can be found or ordered there. The clothing shop downstairs is a well kept secret among textile nuts that I am revealing for the benefit of my handful of dedicated readers. The shop is run by the museum’s former appraiser, who basically oversaw the purchase of the museum’s entire collection. Ms. Wu now uses her extensive contacts in the countryside and her keen collector’s eye to track down the best traditional clothing, embroidery, jewelry and knickknacks to be had in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state>. The shop is overflowing with the stuff, but I haven’t come across a single item that she couldn’t pinpoint to its exact village and ethnic origin. Ms. Wu claims that 90% of her business is in long term repeat buyers, and I believe her.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time blowing my wallet that day, because the lecturers were on a tight schedule. Our first lecture of the day was by Mu Jihong, something of a legend among puer tea fanatics. Some time in the nineties, he and a few colleagues heard chatter about a possible southern passage on the <st1:place st="on">Silk Road</st1:place>. Somehow, artifacts from <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state> and <st1:state st="on">Sichuan</st1:state> were turning up in places like <st1:country-region st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:country-region>, and it just didn’t make sense for this stuff to travel all the way up to Xian to cross the desert or all the way across <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region> to end up in <st1:place st="on">Central Asia</st1:place>. Mr. Mu and five others got together to tackle the problem, and soon honed in on the old Tibetan traders that used to send caravan teams into <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> for tea and salt. They made a small caravan team of their own to retrace the path and find out everything they could. They found that the caravan trading routes were much more extensive than previously believed, stretching across <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state>, <st1:state st="on">Sichuan</st1:state> and <st1:country-region st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region>, and reaching into <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:place st="on">Central Asia</st1:place>. The trade dates back at least 4000 years. In later ancient times, <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> and Tibetan merchants amassed large fortunes trading tea and salt (two scarce necessities on the Tibetan Plateau) for prized Tibetan horses, which they sold to the Chinese Empire, which was always under attack from northern nomads.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">The six men returned and named the trading route the “Ancient Tea and <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Horse Road</st1:address></st1:street>”, as they saw plenty of tea and horses, but not a lot of silk. Mu Jihong gave us a wonderful account of his travels, and explained the economics and history of the trading route to us.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Our next speaker is an old friend of mine, Guan Yuda. He teaches art at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Yunnan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, and gave our people a background on Yunnanese art and culture, as well as a colorful explanation of why the place has always been a vortex for all kinds of whackos. A lot of people don’t realize this, but <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state> is one of the most important places in <st1:country-region st="on">China</st1:country-region> for modern and contemporary art, and also served as an important conduit for the exchange of artistic ideas across <st1:place st="on">Asia</st1:place> in ancient times (more on that in the Dali section). One of the first modern art movements to make waves abroad was the Yunnan school in the early eighties, with its flashy and seductive oil color renderings of Yunnan’s tropical borderlands. That was just a blip on the map, but <st1:country-region st="on">China</st1:country-region>’s contemporary art scene has exploded on the world stage, and no other province, region or city has produced more tier one artists than <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state>. We’re talking Mao Xuhui, Ye Yongqing, Tang Zhigang and Pan Dehai, not to mention Zhang Xiaogang who is currently number one in terms of sales prices and cultural influence. Guan’s explanation is that <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> has always been exposed to and receptive of outside influences. It has always been an amazingly diverse (and poorly controlled) frontier region as well as a dumping ground for bad elements and banished officials from <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Beijing</st1:place></st1:city>. <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state>’s modern culture dates back to the ‘30’s when <st1:country-region st="on">China</st1:country-region>’s entire top-tier education system sought refuge there from the Japanese, establishing the <st1:placename st="on">Southwestern</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">United</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype>, flooding the city with <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s most forward-thinking intellectuals. They bumped shoulders with the French, who still hoped to make it part of Indochina, and the Americans who came as the volunteer fighting outfit soon to be dubbed the Flying Tigers. Yunnan today still beckons to lost souls from all generations who wander there for various personal reasons and end up smoking dope, dancing barefoot and bringing home the seeds of China’s new bohemian culture.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Our last speaker was Li Kunsheng, incidentally also a professor at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Yunnan</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">U.</st1:placetype></st1:place> He teaches in the history department, and is one of the most important minds in <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> archaeology and ancient cultures. He gave us a rundown of the political and cultural situation of <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state> during the Nanzhao and Dali kingdoms, a period of several centuries that coincided with the Tang and Yuan dynasties in the rest of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Nanzhao</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Kingdom</st1:placetype></st1:place> is believed to have been a kingdom of the Yi people centered in Dali. It traded with <st1:country-region st="on">Tibet</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">China</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region>, and at its height controlled a territory stretching across the province and all the way to the <st1:place st="on">Indian Ocean</st1:place>. It held its own against the peak of ancient Chinese civilization (the Tang) and once even defeated an army of 100,000 soldiers. One of its greatest cultural treasures is the series of stone carvings in the mountains of Shibaoshan, which I will return to in the Dali chapter.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2205/2131507176_c27d6a098f.jpg?v=0" /> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">Our last major happening in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kunming</st1:place></st1:city> was a dose of traditional folk culture as it lives and breathes. I took my posse to check out another posse of mine, the Yuansheng dance group. This is a folk-based group consisting of a lot of the traditional dancers we brought to the states in 2005 (see </span> <a href="http://southoftheclouds.blogspot.com/2006/05/yunnan-revealed.html"> Yunnan Revealed </a><span lang="EN-US">). They’ve built a theatre in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kunming</st1:place></st1:city>’s Loft Art Community and have been holding regular performances there for the past year. It was great to see my old friends. They’re living well, spreading the word of cultural preservation, and gaining support in their continuing community work. The hypnotic music brought me back to one of the best moments in my life, stirring up some of the happiest and saddest memories of my days in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kunming</st1:place></st1:city>. It was the first time for my posse, and they were absolutely blown away. I’m glad that they got to learn a bit about <st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:state> from bona-fide peasants, because they represent <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Yunnan</st1:place></st1:state> and what it’s about much more than any group of the most accomplished scholars.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2352/2131507172_8763e8a517.jpg?v=0" /><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p> The rest of my weekend was about preparing for the trip and going out for drinks with a lot of old friends you’ve never heard of. I won’t bore you with the details. Next installment, the trading town of <st1:city st="on">Weishan</st1:city> and the mighty <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Dali</st1:placename></st1:place>…</span></p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-78933764773507295972007-12-24T01:49:00.000+08:002007-12-24T02:01:36.678+08:00On the Caravan Trail<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/2131507166_70e799bae4.jpg?v=0" /><br /> My latest trip to <st1:place st="on"><st1:state st="on">Yunnan</st1:State></st1:place> was an interesting one, finally fulfilling a longstanding urge to get some more travel in. This time I was on the company dollar and had seven people in tow. We were making a research trip along the Tea Caravan Trail, for a really interesting project that I can’t quite talk about yet.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 21pt;"><span lang="EN-US">We had a simple goal, to learn as much as we can about the history, traditions and cultures of the Caravan Trail, and record as much as we could in photos, interviews and sketches (there were three artists in the group). After some time in <st1:city st="on">Kunming</st1:City> running around the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Minority</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placename st="on">Nationalities</st1:PlaceName> <st1:placetype st="on">Museum</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and soaking in the wisdom of the experts, we hit the road heading west. Our travels took us through Weishan, Dali, Jianchuan, Lijiang and Deqin, from the central heartland to the Tibetan border. I had been to most of these places before, but it’s been a long time. We ran into some old friends, made some new ones, and saw some stuff I’d never seen before. It was a rocking trip. I’ll introduce a bit about each place below.</span></p>Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28575833.post-6486729728839998642007-09-28T10:56:00.000+08:002007-09-28T14:38:14.305+08:00The Story of Tea<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1138/1450870861_0100ca3825.jpg?v=0"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 330px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1138/1450870861_0100ca3825.jpg?v=0" alt="" border="0" /></a>I recently recieved an advance copy of the new book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide</span> by my friends Mary Lou and Robert J Heiss. I have to say, I am quite impressed. The heavily illustrated book is organized rather like a textbook, and covers a wide swath of tea knowledge, from history to cultivation to production, culture and accessories. It even has a section with tea-based food recipes. The knowledge in there is spot on, as the Heisses have been travelling around the world and researching the background for a long time. But what makes this book really great, aside from being a solid reference tool, is the writing. The book, though organized like a textbook, reads like a piece of literature. One can see right away how the authors are totally captivated by this great beverage. I've read a lot of books about tea, and most of them tend to mystify the subject, as if the leaf is some holy, esoteric thing that should be romanticized but not approached scientifically. The authors manage to work in a lot of the romance and allure of this leaf without trivializing, mystifying or being condescending. Here's one of my favorite bits, from the opening of Chapter 7:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Imagine the following: a Japanese tea master wishing to teach his student the importance of perception dashes a cup of tea to the ground, breaking the cup and spilling the tea. The tea master wished to illustrate the point that the broken cup was no longer a cup but just a pile of shards, while the tea was still tea, immutable and unchanged. But as the tea could no longer be consumed without the cup to hold it, the true importance of the cup becomes clear. It is the empty space of a teacup that performs the most essential duty, one with greater importance than merely the fleeting beauty of a pleasing shape, fetching design or lustrous glaze.</blockquote></span><br />I first met the Heisses while on the Yunnan Revealed tour in 2005 when we performed at Dartmouth College. They were fawning over our handcrafted Yunnanese instruments, and bought some of our best pieces with little hesitation. I was working the craft table that night, so I moseyed over and introduced myself. We quickly figured out that we were all tea nuts and entranced with Yunnanese culture. Since then we've kept in touch, trading shop talk and stories about China. The Heisses have a shop in Northampton Massachusetts called <a href="http://www.cooksshophere.com/index.htm">Cooks Shop Here</a>, which provides high quality cooking products for good cooks. Somewhere along the line they turned their attention to tea, and have since crafted themselves into what NYTimes foodwriter Nina Simonds calls <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19tea.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">professors of tea</a>. They have amassed over 100 varieties of the leaf for their dedicated customers, and in the process have travelled around the world to learn and source the good stuff, and have brought their culinary approach to ingredients on their investigations of what this stuff is and what you need to know.<br />This is a great book and a must-read for anyone who is interested in tea. People across the west are beginning to get the idea that there's a lot more to this beverage than bagged black tea and iced tea in the bottle, but taking a peek at this vast world with thousands of tea types and grades of quality from nearly fifty countries can be intimidating. Put a copy of this on your coffee table (sic) and you're set for your new adventure.Jeff Crosbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11213744203706919193noreply@blogger.com1