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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Some of Today's Lunch Space

On the plus side, the restaurant in the building has pretty good food and an excellent view.

sign at the Space Telescope Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore

On the negative side, I didn't get to use the telescope today.

I had hoped to have a bit more posted by now to help serve as a prelude to the above. I also hope to soon post the material, though in a more postlude-like fashion.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

A Mobile Moment in Nanxiong, Guangdong

A crowd surround these pots for sale when I passed by less than an hour earlier.

Man uses a mobile phone while sitting next to "mobile" pots in Nanxiong, Guangdong.

Regarding the mobile theme, I have been rather mobile myself since yesterday and such joys will continue for about another day or so, depending on how you count. More about that, including my brief but eventful time in Changsha, once I am in a slightly more settled state.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Another Small Space in Shaoguan Filled with China's Redder Days: The Wuya Lane Old Book Room

The Nostalgia Book Room isn't the only place buying and selling old books and other older items on Wuya Lane in Shaoguan. Another place is the similarly small and appropriately named Wuya Lane Old Book Room* (吾牙巷旧书房). Like The Nostalgia Book Room, it opens when it opens and was closed almost all of the times I passed by.

The Wuya Lane Old Book Room (吾牙巷旧书房) in Shaoguan, Guangdong


Fortunately, one evening I arrived just before the door was about to come down. I was able to take a photo of the packed up room.

inside the Wuya Lane Old Book Room (吾牙巷旧书房) in Shaoguan


To peruse the many items call Mr. Mo (莫) at 18344499159 to have a better chance of finding an open door.




*Once again, I took the liberty of providing an English name. "书房" is often translated as "study" (the room), but I thought "book room" worked better in these cases.

Monday, November 2, 2015

A Small Space Filled with China's Redder Days: The Nostalgia Book Room in Shaoguan, Guangdong

Wuya Lane (吾牙巷) between Wenhua Street and Fuxing Road in Shaoguan is home to a variety of establishments including places selling & buying old currency and other collector's items, a restaurant specializing in donkey meat, inexpensive hair salons, and "hair salons" which appear to offer services far more intimate than a haircut. The place which most caught my eye there has the Chinese name 怀旧书屋 (Huáijiù Shūwū). Since no English name is listed, I will take the liberty of calling it The Nostalgia Book Room.

The Nostalgia Book Room (怀旧书屋) in Shaoguan, Guangdong, China


Numerous older books, posters, electronics and other memorabilia fill the small store. Many of them are connected to China's Cultural Revolution. Despite all of the upheaval and terror it brought, many in China today look back fondly on those days or part of what they held.

Chinese author Yu Hua, who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, sees some of the nostalgia for the Cultural Revolution as a sign of people's discontent with today's China:
In today’s China, more and more people speak in positive terms about the Cultural Revolution and hanker for a return to that era. Most of them don’t really want to turn the clock back: It’s mainly their dissatisfaction with current realities that fuels their interest in revolution. The itch for revolution, of course, may have different triggers. Some people are alienated by the increasing materialism of Chinese society, but many more are outraged by the emergence of interest cliques that marry political power to business profits.
But a quote of a Chinese musician in German sinologist Barbara Mittler's "Popular Propaganda? Art and Culture in Revolutionary China" suggests how people can have positive feelings about the era's culture without connecting it to any specific political message:
My generation likes the model works; they are our youth. Yes, there are people who dislike them, too, but really we do like them. Indeed, when I was young, eighteen or so, I needed art so much, we all did. And then there were just the model works as our food, and we actually thought they were quite great. Jiang Qing [Mao’s wife, who was in charge of the production of model works] used really good performers, writers, artists, and musicians. Of course this was propaganda for Mao’s thoughts, but it was also simply good art, it is all against these imperialists and their attacks, yes, it is, but it is also good art, really.
These are just two perspectives out of many on a complex topic which has generated much research and discussion — part of why I found the The Nostalgia Book Room so fascinating. Another part is simply the history. And old books and electronics . . .

Below is a closer look at the store. Some photographs were taken just after it opened and before all of the items had been set up as desired. If you wish to visit*, as far as I can tell the store opens when it opens. In other words, it is best to call Mr. Fan (范先生) at 0751-6109085 or 8979819 or you might be out of luck.

Little Red Books at The Nostalgia Book Room

Culture Revolution era books at The Nostalgia Book Room

books at The Nostalgia Book Room in Shaoguan

illustrated books at The Nostalgia Book Room

old radios at The Nostalgia Book Room in Shaoguan

small poster, bag, and canteen from The Nostalgia Book Room

Cultural Revolution era items for sale at The Nostalgia Book Room

children's picture story books at The Nostalgia Book Room

old radios for sale at The Nostalgia Book Room




*Some online maps identify Wuya Lane as a street (吾牙街), but store signs and standard address plates in the area identify it as a lane / alley (吾牙巷).

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Halloween Scenes from Shaoguan, China

Last week while crossing the Fengcai Bridge in Shaoguan, I noticed a few people looking up at something.

young women walking on a bridge and looking upwards in Shaoguan


I soon surmised their attention had been caught by an advertisement for a Halloween party.

Billboard in Shaoguan advertising the Halloween 2 party


The other side of the billboard was the same.

Billboard in Shaoguan advertising the Halloween 2 party


And similar signs appeared over a road leading to the Shaoguan East Railway Station.

Billboard near the Shaoguan East Railway Station advertising the Halloween 2 party

Billboard  advertising the Halloween 2 party


Not to be outdone, a fitness club had a Halloween activity planned as well.

Advertisement by a fitness club for a Halloween run in Shaoguan


And during several returns to an RT-Mart in Shaoguan I always saw a crowd around the Halloween supplies for sale.

Halloween supplies for sale at an RT-Mart in Shaoguan, China


The RT-Mart also added two Halloween-themed candy displays.

Halloween Skittles display at the RT-Mart in Shaoguan

Halloween M&M's display at the RT-Mart in Shaoguan

All of these signs plus some discussions I had with locals lead me to believe there would be more Halloween spirit in Shaoguan than I had expected after earlier seeing the Halloween offerings at a Pizza Hut.

I had not expected to still be here on Halloween, but life proved to have other ideas. So I was able to experience some of the city on the special day. What I saw on Halloween night was not as extensive as what I saw in Changsha several years ago, but it still surprised me, especially considering the constant rain all night.

For example, people sold masks and other Halloween-related items at both the Pedestrian Street and The History East Street shopping area.

person selling Halloween supplies at a pedestrian street in Shaoguan

Halloween supplies for sale at The History East Street in Shaoguan


And a popular arcade had Halloween activities, including free face painting.

Halloween face painting the City Hero video arcade in Shaoguan

Halloween face painting the City Hero video arcade in Shaoguan

college student with face paint in Shaoguan

Two City Hero employees with Halloween face paint in Shaoguan

young woman wearing face paint and holding a small stuffed bear in Shaoguan


At the History East Road shopping area I saw a variety of people, mostly younger, appropriately dressed for the holiday.

little boy wearing a Spiderman Halloween mask in Shaoguan, China

group of young people in Shaoguan dressed up for Halloween


And a decent crowd showed up for the party I first saw advertised, also at The History East Road, despite the steady rain. Some people took advantage of the opportunity to dance. Others watched.

Dancing at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan

Dancing at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan

people watching the dancing at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan

people on state at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan

Dancing at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan

Dancing at the Halloween 2 party in Shaoguan, China


Surely this is not cover all of Shaoguan's Halloween activities, but it offers a sense of how another Western holiday is gaining acceptance in China. Even a local reporter noted Halloween's growing presence (in Chinese). By far, most of Shaoguan showed no signs of the holiday and at most homes you would likely only cause much confusion (at best) if you show up trick-or-treating. Still, it's good to know one can end Halloween in Shaoguan at a quiet bar and receive an unexpected free holiday treat to complement your Bloody Mary.

Bloody hand made out of hot dogs, cheese, almonds, and ketchup

Friday, October 30, 2015

"Minnight" Movie Horrors in Shaoguan

In addition to the two movie posters I previously saw at the Fengdu Road Pedestrian Street in Shaoguan, another poster there more recently caught my eye.

movie poster for Midnight Whispers (半夜叫你别回头) which misspells "midnight" as "minnight"

More than the warm poses, the word "minnight" is remarkable. An online version of this poster at Douban uses the same word as well. However, all of the other posters for the same movie use "midnight", which makes sense since it is part of the Chinese name of the movie (半夜叫你别回头). While English language errors are common in China, misspelling the name of a movie on a poster which presumably was distributed nationwide seems to include a bit of extra unintended horror. Maybe that was the point though. Midnight Whispers opened today in China, just in time for the Halloween weekend.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

U.S. Destroyer Appears in the South China Sea and the Nanxiong Bus Station

China allowed news agencies to report a U.S. destroyer recently making the "most significant U.S. challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China claims around artificial islands it has built up in the Spratly archipelago". Today at a bus station in Nanxiong, a county-level city in northern Guangdong, I saw news posted about the "illegal" action.

Woman at a bus station in Nanxiong, China, reading news about the U.S. challenging some of China's territorial claims in the South China Sea

In discussing some of the incident's coverage by "the most-watched and most tightly-controlled news broadcast" in China, Andrew Chubb points out why China may not similarly cover future challenges by the U.S.:
The high-handed demand that the American side “correct its mistakes” leaves the CCP well positioned to claim that its stern response forced an aggressive hegemon to back down. At least one US official has described the patrols as “routine“, suggesting there will be more to come. Even if the US patrols happen, say, once a month from now on, it will be up to the CCP to decide how often Chinese mass audiences hear about this. Having established a high level of domestic publicity on this occasion, the CCP might well be able to (implicitly or explicitly) encourage the perception that it forced the US to back down, simply by not affording the same level of publicity to future FoN patrols.
I am not going to even try to predict what will happen, other than that I doubt the issues over the territorial claims will be resolved anytime soon. Read Chubb's post "China announces the US’s Spratly patrols to the masses" for more analysis of the news coverage on CCTV's Xinwen Lianbo and an example of how China's control of news can be as newsworthy as the news itself.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

A Friendly Xiangqi Photo Request in Shaoguan

As on the day before, this past Sunday a man in Shaoguan asked me to take his photo, though this time with others. The man had noticed stop to briefly watch a roadside game of xiangqi (Chinese chess), which he was watching as well. He was disappointed to learn I am not a reporter, as he hoped more of the world could see xiangqi being played. When I told I have a blog, he immediately brightened. Soon he repositioned himself to continue watching the game.

men playing and watching a game of xiangqi on the side of a road in Shaoguan, Guangdong


Before I left, he asked me to take a photo of just him and his friend, who he introduced to me as the retired director of Shaoguan's former Beijiang district, now a part of the central Zhenjiang district. I was curious to ask him some questions about his earlier role, but I refrained. Xiangqi was happening.

two friends sitting next to each other as one plays xiangqi in Shaoguan, Guangdong

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Imitated Art: Giant Abstract Flamingos in Chicago and Zhuhai

Dali L. Yang, Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago, recently tweeted a photo of a sculpture by the American artist Alexander Calder (1898-1976).

Photo by Dali L. Yang of Flamingo sculpture in Chicago

The Chicago Public Art Program's description of the "Flamingo" emphasizes how the sculpture fits in with its surrounding environment and offers an immersive experience:
Alexander Calder’s abstract stabile anchors the large rectangular plaza bordered by three Bauhaus style federal buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe. The sculpture’s vivid color and curvilinear form contrast dramatically with the angular steel and glass surroundings. However, Flamingo is constructed from similar materials and shares certain design principles with the architecture, thereby achieving successful integration within the plaza. Despite its monumental proportions, the open design allows the viewer to walk under and through the sculpture, leading one to perceive it in relation to human scale.
Seven years ago, David Mendell for the Chicago Tribune shared how the cost for a needed renovation at the time may have been justifiable simply in terms of attracting tourists:
Art lovers and conservationists maintain the expenditures are essential, and economical, if Chicago is to continue drawing tourists who want to view public art.

"These works really show the commitment Chicago has to promoting (the city's) cultural landscape in the last half of the 20th Century," said Victor Simmons, director of education for the Chicago Architecture Foundation. "It would be a great loss if those two contemporary works were allowed to disappear."
Fortunately, Calder's work didn't disappear. Two months ago, I felt inspired to take a photo similar to Yang's:

sculpture in Zhuhai resembling Alexander Calder's Flamingo


Perhaps too similar. Unfortunately, I haven't been to Chicago in years. Instead, I took the photo in China — more specifically, at the Huafa Mall in Zhuhai, Guangdong.

sculpture resembling Alexander Calder's Flamingo at the Huafa Mall plaza in Zhuhai


No Bauhaus-style federal buildings border the mall's plaza, and some differences exist between the Zhuhai sculpture and Calder's. But it is hard to believe the striking resemblance is a coincidence, and the Calder Foundation makes no mention of this work.

Photo by Min Lee of Alexander Calder's "Flamingo" in Chicago
Photo by Min Lee of Calder's "Flamingo" in Chicago taken from a more a easily comparable viewpoint


There have been times when an example of "China copied!", often a justifiable claim, struck me as being no more a copy than examples in the West which were not similarly called out. Many of the most celebrated artists have used others' ideas and material to one degree or another. The line between imitation and similar-in-style can be fuzzy. Some of Calder's own works made me immediately think of earlier artists. And the more I compared photos of the sculptures in Zhuhai and Chicago the more differences I noticed. Revisiting both in person may uncover more.

Nonetheless, I strongly lean towards calling the Zhuhai sculpture an imitation. At best, it seems to be rather near that fuzzy boundary. It would be interesting to know whether the differences are primarily a result of artistic considerations, a desire to technically avoid the "copy" label, or failing to perfectly copy Calder's sculpture.

Whatever the artistic, ethical, and legal issues, though, there is a positive side to apparent imitations like the one in Zhuhai. For example, relatively few people in Zhuhai will ever have the opportunity to visit Chicago or support its tourism industry. At least they can now better experience something similar to its art, if not its deep-dish pizzas and hot dogs. From this perspective, it could be argued it would be better if the Zhuhai sculpture were an exact copy.

Regardless, clearly crediting the original, which I didn't see in Zhuhai, would improve things — perhaps something to the effect of:
Variation on Alexander Calder's sculpture "Flamingo" in Chicago, USA.
Not only could it increase people's art appreciation and knowledge, but it could also help avoid a potentially face-losing situation in which someone proudly identifies the sculpture as an example of Zhuhai originality.

In his thoughts about another Chicago sculpture with a twin in China, Jonathan Jones, who writes on art for the Guardian, had this to say about creativity and Chinese art:
The creative individual has been at heart of Chinese art for a long time. Painters and poets of the Song dynasty, during the 12th century, were celebrated as distinctive creators at a time when European art embodied the labour of anonymous artisans and scribes.

There’s no reason to think that China placed a low value on the creative individual – until the 20th century, that is. . . .

The Cultural Revolution undoubtedly attacked the idea that individual creativity should be celebrated or protected.
Yet despite any lasting negatives effects resulting from events of the previous century, creativity exists in China today.

Even if China feels artistic imitations are justifiable, not openly identifying them as such detracts from the work of artists all over the world. And in a special way it hurts Chinese artists who create original work in the 21st century. An environment exists where it is all too easy to think "this might be an imitation".

Nobody is now wondering if Calder copied a sculpture in Zhuhai.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Night Studies in Shaoguan

There was a time not long ago when I thought I would have two posts ready for today. I suppose the previous sentence already implies that I likely will not. It could also imply I may have three or more posts for today. I definitely didn't intend the latter interpretation.

Instead of either of the two posts I had initially planned, which need just a little more work that is not going to happen at this moment, here is a photo of a girl focusing on her own work tonight.

girl sitting on a wooden chair outside and reading a school text book in Shaoguan


Abstract flamingos and a colorful (heavy on the red) place on Shaoguan's Wuya Alley shall appear shortly.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Fortunes and Accessories on a Shaoguan Stairway

Early this afternoon in Shaoguan, Guangdong, I saw a person offering fortune telling and related services.

fortune teller on a staircase landing in Shaoguan
Another notable hat in Shaoguan


This evening almost exactly seven hours later, I saw a person selling mobile phone covers and other assorted accessories for electronics.

young woman using a mobile phone while selling mobile phone covers and other accessories on a stairway landing in Shaoguan
One of many "mobile moments" I captured today


Both of them made use of the same corner on a landing of a pedestrian bridge staircase — just at different times. In addition to raising a number of intriguing issues, the variety of offerings available at this single location today captures some of the spirit of what I have observed elsewhere in Shaoguan this weekend.

So my own prediction for the future: I will just say don't be surprised if things as different as bamboo rats, xiangqi, marketing for pole dancing lessons, and Little Red Books all appear here soon.