China Tribute Blog!

Oh China, my China!

Thousands of miles away, I’m still thinking about my home away from home. Granted, there are a lot of things about China that make me angry/cringe/want to barf. But right now, as I watch the latest nasty Nor’easter wash away New York’s grime from my tiny-ass, overpriced apartment, I am struck with a bit of nostalgia for my quasi-Homeland. Here are some things that I currently love about China:

The Chinese art scene – so hot right now. This past week, two good friends of mine launched Neocha.com, a smart, customizable social networking site for Chinese artists, designers, musicians, and other creative folks to meet one another and share their work. The founders threw a huge launch party on Saturday at a warehouse near Suzhou Creek (pictures here). Thousands of art/party-lovers attended the event, while over 60 vendors, artists, and musicians showcased their goods and talents.

China finally steps up to Sudan (thanks, Hollywood!). Finally, China listens to its conscience (and PR consultants): last week, Zhai Jun, a senior Chinese official, traveled to Sudan to persuade the government to accept a UN peacekeeping force in the face of the Darfur crisis. China, holding strong ties to Sudan through business and oil, has been under mounting pressure to address the killings in Darfur and push the Sudanese government to do something about it. This sudden giving-a-f is attributed to the success of Mia Farrow’s campaign to connect the Beijing Olympics with the killings in Darfur, which China has, until now, turned a blind eye towards. More about this here and here.

China gives aging musicians a second chance (unironically). I love anything that reminds me of junior high, so I was pretty pumped to find out that NOFX played in Beijing on April 13, and that Shanghai would host Sonic Youth later this month. And for you older-generation hip hop heads, the Roots will be rocking Yunfeng Theater Monday night, despite the government’s notoriously low tolerance for Western rap and hip hop acts. The way things are going, it’s only a matter of time before Blink 182 and Snoop Dogg find their way to the Shanghai Concert Hall…

Getting Contemporary in China

 

Christine Huang investigates whether contemporary art in Shanghai lives up to its growing reputation.

The world of contemporary art is not invulnerable to economic forces, and this is nowhere more apparent than here in commercially minded Shanghai. What was once limited to the purview of elite artists and culture vultures has become an open marketplace for a growing number of artists and connoisseurs to buy and sell.

In the last three years, and at an ever growing rate, Shanghai has witnessed the emergence of a handful of large-scale modern and contemporary art museums, along with the openings and expansions of more than a dozen new galleries and alternative art spaces. This growth matches the increase of international recognition Chinese artists have garnered in recent years which has lured aesthetes and collectors to Shanghai to reap the benefits.

Though its evolution began more than a decade ago, the Shanghai contemporary art scene entered a new era with the opening of the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in 2003. The unveiling of the Duolun, self-styled as the “first professional modern museum of contemporary art in China;” signified Shanghai’s emergence as an important player in the international art world. The non-profit, government-funded museum has already presented groundbreaking exhibitions featuring both foreign and local works, including a Basquiat retrospective earlier this year and China’s first group printing exhibition in 2004. Biljana Ciric, former Director of the Curatorial Department at Duolun, now sees the opening of the museum as a significant moment in the development of the contemporary art, even beyond China: “In the last three years, museums have flourished in Shanghai… Twenty years ago, there weren’t very many contemporary art hubs. Now, there is a multitude. The art community is global, multi-city, multi-centered…Indian, Thai, Korean, Chinese centers are building – it is the shift from the center-periphery concept to the multi-centered – that is the important transformation in the last 10 years.”

 

Following the opening of the Duolun came the arrival of the Zendai Museum of Modern Art in spring of 2005, the first art museum to be built in Pudong as well as the city’s first completely private art museum. Though separate entities, the Duolun and Zendai are frequent collaborators and share a director, Shen Qibin. The Zendai, located in the Zheng Da Big Thumb Plaza, is known for its mixed-media exhibitions, like the ambitious “ElectroScape: International New Media Art” show it held in 2005.

Rounding out the major additions to the art scene was the long-awaited unveiling of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, in September 2005 at People’s Square. As “Shanghai’s first private and non-profit museum,” it flexed its muscles by opening with a retrospective of works by Pierre et Gilles, the French duo known for their provocative and pop culture-laden photographs. The introduction of the museum was flanked by openings and re-vampings of several other noteworthy spaces, including the Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, the second 1918 Art Space exhibition area, the relocated ShanghART Gallery, and Da>space, Shanghai’s first art gallery (as well as studio and shop) focusing on urban art. The emergence of alternative spaces like these along with the ambitious MOCA Shanghai capped off a momentous three-year period of rapid change in the cultural backdrop of the city, reflecting the rise of Shanghai (and China) as a significant force in the art world.

While aficionados, collectors and traders take advantage of this new crop of offerings, art makers and intelligentsia have developed differing viewpoints on how capricious market forces are affecting the quality of Chinese contemporary artwork being produced. Zhao Yonggang, Director of 1918 Art Space, sees the booming market and the ignorance of much of the new audience as contributing to the decline in the creativity and craftsmanship of many artists’ work. “People like to use art as a background – it’s what’s popular. But a lot of people don’t know anything about it. People in cities – in Shanghai – they see a lot of things but don’t understand them. They don’t know what ‘art quality’ is.” Zhao contends that many young artists have begun catering to the interests of (mostly foreign) buyers, losing sight of their own identities and voices in order to accommodate the hackneyed themes that foreigner buyers expect. “Artists are doing what customers like. They are not creating from their hearts.”

History hardly supports Zhao’s argument. An injection of cash, even from clueless foreign buyers, normally gives artists greater freedom to express themselves, not less – artists don’t have to starve, or use money as a reason to be lazy. Indeed, Biljana Ciric has not lost faith in the works and intentions of the serious contemporary artists in Shanghai. She agrees that most collectors are foreign, and that some artists are producing work with themes that “ buyers (especially foreigners) are looking for – statements on China, reflections of what it means to be Chinese.” But overall, she remains confident that the promising young artists are motivated more by the desire for self-expression than marketability: “[Artists] are still sticking to their artistic visions. [Political issues] are not the only thing Chinese artists want to discuss… It is becoming increasingly important for them to be recognized in the international art scene not as Chinese artists first, but as artists.” She points to the growing currency of alternative media (performance, video, installation art) which are traditionally less sellable than painting and sculpture as proof that artists aren’t putting profits before their craft.

And some, like Victoria Lu, the creative director behind MOCA Shanghai, have taken a pragmatic yet positive stance. A founding board member of the Taipei Contemporary Art Museum and a long-standing veteran of the modern art scene, Lu believes this stage in the development of a contemporary art community and market in China is organic and has been witnessed before in other cities at other times in history. She says quite simply, “Art is for sale – this is nothing new; it has been happening for centuries, even in the Renaissance… Only in the last century with Modernism have we encountered the idea of art for art’s sake. Finally, China has an art market – [its] blooming doesn’t surprise me; it’s only the beginning.” And the infancy of the market, she contends, should not be a cause for concern: “Some people worry that Chinese art prices are too high, that this is a bubble. I’m not worried. The Chinese market is just starting to have a taste…” Art, like other industries, is simply obeying market forces, Lu argues, and young Chinese art artists are merely following suit. “Artists have to make a living. Why condemn the artists who have their art for sale? Only if we have more people participating in the marketplace will we have diversity in the production of works – this is healthier.”

It can be difficult to predict how expanding investment in the contemporary art market will shape the works coming out of Shanghai, a city whose identity is so inextricably linked with commerce and commoditization. Though experts might not agree on what direction the Shanghai art world is heading, most come to a consensus about one thing – how very young it is. With another contemporary art gallery set to open in the new World Financial Center upon its completion in 2008, even more widespread international attention will be drawn to the blossoming scene. Also slated for 2008 is the opening of an “art hotel” by the collective mind (and money) behind Zendai, the Zheng Da Group. It will include a 108,000-square-foot museum and will also be located in Pudong. And just last September, the sixth Shanghai Biennale introduced over 90 artists from over 30 countries including China to a welcoming audience made up of both locals and foreigners  

As Eddie Yip, one of the creative directors of Da<space, remarks about the evolution of urban art in Shanghai, “[Street art] began with a lot of Western influence, and there is still a lot of mimicry, but distinct voices are evolving. Artists are trying to narrow down their own personal styles, but we are still on a learning curve.” It is evident that this is the only the first chapter in the new history of the Shanghai art world, and that while the art community has undergone unprecedented growth in last few years, there is still a lot of room to grow. But this should be approached head-on and with no fear, as Victoria Lu assures: “The art scene in China is getting more interesting…This is only the beginning. I don’t understand why people are so worried. We are just a baby.”

 

wasting time, the new-fashioned way.

Gone are the days of zoning out to People’s Court reruns and counting split ends. In this glorious age, we have the world at our fingertips – as well as a new, nearly infinite set of ways to waste time. If you’re like me though, even in your lazy mode you like to be doing something atleast marginally productive. So here are some of my favorite time-wasters that are actually worth the time you waste on them:

TED Talks – Hosted in Monterey, California, these lectures on “Technology, Entertainment, and Design” (as well as Business and Science and lots of other subjects) are given by some of the greatest creators, innovators, and scholars alive today – and you can download a lot of them for free! Some favorites of mine – Kevin Kelly talking about futurism, and Bono being Bono.

If you’re a music junkie, then you probably already know about Hype Machine. If you don’t – get on it – one day’s worth of internettin’ will give you atleast a few week’s worth of hipster stred cred. Discover what artists and songs are topping the music blogs today and even listen to some tunes while you’re at it (and rumor has it a 2.0 version is on its way). It’s how I discovered the Music Slut!

MAN vs. WILD. Discovery Channel really knows how to do it up. I don’t usually support reality tv, but this series offers some pretty darn good advice for what to do when you’re stuck in the middle of the Sahara/Arctic/Colorado River. Hey, we’ve all been there.

Pretend like you’re going on vacation. ZUJI is Travelocity’s Asia-oriented website. I found some pretty good deals on this when I was planning my hundreds of escapes out of Shanghai. Some other good sites to shop around on if you’re travelling in Asia: AirAsia, Tiger Airways, Dragon Air, 1-2-go, and Jetstar Asia.

Watch TV shows and movies in the privacy of your own cubicle. TV-Links is probably breaking every copyright infringement law on the books, but hey – I’m riding this sucker til it crashes!

my favorite links today!

Hello!

For links I’m discovering in REAL TIME, you can check out my del.icio.us feed to the bottom right side of the page. The list is constantly updating and full of whimsy – promise.

But today, I’d like to highlight a few that deserve special recognition:

www.edge.org This site is all deep stuff, all the time. It’s stated goal: “To arrive at the world’s knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.” Heady! One of my favorite psychologists slash philosophers, Steven Pinker is on their front page – so I gotta respect.

UNIVERSE A friend sent me this link a few days ago – and it gave me a fuzzy feeling inside and made me smile. After finding out a little more about Jonathan Harris, the creator of ..uh, the Universe, as well as the project’s origins, I became even more intrigued. (And not just because he’s a tall drink of water. Okay, maybe a little bit because of that – so sue me.)

Home is where the heart is. I may be thousands of miles away, but I’m still thinking about you, Shanghai. Thanks to photographer Jakob Montrasio, I can remember it as the comic book Future-Fantasyland I had dreamt it to be. Oh man, my poetics are making even me nauseous. I’ll stop here.

“…If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.”

Nothing says, “I know the way you think!” quite like a well-groomed beard.

Dr. Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist behind the shocking but enlightening Stanford Prison Experiment, is back on the scene (is there a social psychology scene? not so sure..) promoting his new book, “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil” (Random House). The NY Times features a short Q & A with Zimbardo, relating his study to the Abu Ghraib prison incident and other examples of human atrocity. If you’ve never heard of the SPE, these are good reads, and they’ll leave you wondering… are we all all just bad seeds on the inside? How much can our rationality and “will” take before being overwhelmed by situational pressures? Are the shamelessly sexist, arrogant expats at Ladies’ Nights in Shanghai just products of their hedonism-condoning environment?

I believe the answer is – as always -  it’s not that simple. Call me Capt. Obvious, but I think it’s important to remember that it’s a combination of external and internal forces that turns people into monsters. Not every soldier in Iraq did what those at Abu Ghraib did. And not every expat in Shanghai is a sleazebag. Institutions may enforce, even promote evil, but it’s in us – the free/random-willed beings that we are – to act and react. Ah the blessing (and burden) of civility.

(And for an interesting perspective on exactly what our “free will” entails, this article on the emerging field of Neurolaw from the NYTimes is worth a read.)

Boutique Chic

The coming out party of Shanghai’s boutique hotels has just begun…

 

Our city is long past its coming out. Now one of the most talked about destinations in the world, Shanghai is as much of a center for tourism as it is for commerce. Travelers here face a glut of accommodation, dining, and entertainment options that seemingly suit everyone, from the budget-conscious to the cash-happy.

However, near the top, luxury accommodation in this city is dominated by a slew of recognizable hoteliers. Around People’s Square alone, 14 four- to five-star hotels from the big-hitting multinational and Chinese brands compete for the attention (read buck) of rich visitors. And it is this top-end development that continues to attract the most investment. But as new high-rise hotels crowd the skyline, Shanghai may be on the verge of a new era – the age of the boutique hotel.

“The first wave of hospitality choices in a city tends to be rather safe – mostly chain hotels,” says Michael Ball, CEO of global hotel group World Hotels, an association of more than 500 independent hotels. “The next wave is when people want something different than where they’ve already been. It’s at this tipping point where people experiment – hoteliers and designers – and they feel confident and start daring to be different. Shanghai has gotten to that point.”

Enter two news hotels, Eton Hotel, recently opened in Pudong, and JIA, which is set to open on Nanjing Lu this month. JIA is the brainchild of Yenn Wong, the 26-year-old Singaporean founder and owner of JIA Hong Kong. JIA Hong Kong was the first boutique hotel in Asia to be designed by global design guru and multi-millionaire businessman Philippe Starck. Starck has been associated with many of the world’s most famed boutique outfits, so Wong has an association with using the best.

JIA Shanghai is a joint venture between Wong and Hong Kong-based businessman John Aryananda, and both consider it to be Shanghai’s “first chic, boutique residence.”

Though Philippe Starck’s signature isn’t on our JIA, Melbourne-based BURO Architects, together with Hecker Phelan and Guthrie Interiors (HPG), have provided a design plan that Wong promises will match the same hip, elegant feel as the Causeway Bay original. With furniture pieces by Knoll, Minotti, and Moroso and lighting by Flos and Artimide, JIA is meant to please the most aesthetically-demanding.

“We used a number of different designers for the project as we wanted to create different ambiances in the rooms, lobby and restaurant. We were inspired by the beauty of old 1920s buildings and the Shanghai vibe, and JIA’s philosophy of homey living,” Wong explains. Expensive homey living that is: patrons should expect to pay around ¥2,140 per night for a studio room, while penthouse suites will cost upwards of ¥11,660 per night.

The hotel will be located at 931 Nanjing Lu, at the intersection of Taixing Lu, and will offer 55 guest rooms including an Executive Floor on the top level, two spacious (and pricey) penthouse suites, a restaurant, a fitness facility and rooftop with panoramic views.

READY FOR A CHANGE?

After the success of JIA Hong Kong, Wong is optimistic about its second incarnation in Shanghai, despite its lack of a precedent in our big brand-driven city. “When my father’s company, PC Asia, purchased the 25-storey Causeway Bay building in 2001, it was a two-star hostel targeted at mainland Chinese tourists. I looked at the environment – it wasn’t classy but it had lots of character. I knew it was the perfect opportunity to create an exciting and innovative hotel development, something that was beautiful, but that provided a fun experience for people. Now we are excited for Shanghai.”

In its three years in the market, Wong’s Hong Kong venture has already made it to Conde Nast Traveler’s ‘Hot List’ and its restaurant, OPIA, was voted ‘Best Restaurant’ in Harper’s Bazaar 2006 Style Awards. It was also recently voted by the Independent (London) newspaper as one of the five best boutique hotels in Greater China – not that China yet has much in the way of competition. And it’s for that reason that Wong believes Shanghai is ripe for change, for options somewhere between the bed and breakfast villas and the opulent template hotels.

“I definitely think Shanghai will embrace our concept. The five-star hotels have a lot to offer but there is definitely a group of clientele that wants to stay somewhere different and would like something more private and personal. This is a group of people who are very lifestyle-oriented, travels frequently, and are looking for unique properties and experiences.”

But is Shanghai ready for – or even interested in – designer boutique hotels? Judging on numbers alone, it seems so. World Hotels has seen remarkable growth in the China region in the last year alone. In Shanghai, the number of hotels in the group has jumped from one to seven.

For these reasons, Michael Ball is hopeful about the future of independent, boutique accommodations in Shanghai. He is though a bit wary of whether the designer hotel concept will survive. “The modern approach – it can be overdone,” he says. “If function gets lost, practicality just isn’t there. Places that are too designed can be a bit fadish.” But ultimately, Ball believes our city is ready for new blood and fresh ideas.

Pudong’s sleek new Eton Hotel, one of World Hotels most recent additions, can also be called a boutique hotel despite its relatively large size. “Boutique has become a misused term. People usually think a boutique hotel has to be small – but that is not always the case. I think a boutique hotel has to have real individuality.”

Some argue that these places already exist here, and that in fact, the alternative, boutique hotel (or something close to it) does pretty good business. From tiny to towering, nostalgic to futuristic, hotels of all makes have begun brandishing the label to differentiate themselves in a competitive market. In Shanghai, places as disparate as the charming, garden side Ruijin Hotel to the glitzy, 462-room Eton Hotel can call themselves “boutique.”

But hotels like the legendary Ruijin Hotel, though certainly unique and charming, are a far cry from the quirky, trendy hotels that boast the “boutique” label in most cosmopolitan cities. Hotels promising a little bit of Old Shanghai are not few, but where are the city’s Schrager-style masterpieces of hospitality? Toffler Niemuth, Ruijin Hotel’s Assistant Sales Manager, assures that these historic villas should be considered boutique because of the hotel’s commitment to individuality and service.

“The term ‘boutique’ has been cannabilized,” Niemuth explains. “You can be small, or you can be big… and the perception is that the hotel should be stylish. But it doesn’t have to be. Being boutique is really about the level of service – having a staff that remembers your name, your preferences.”

With the tallest building on the property only four storeys high, the Ruijin Hotel is committed to retaining a cozy yet classic atmosphere. Though formally considered a garden villa hotel, it’s a 62-room state-owned property with four well-preserved main buildings built in the 1920s to 1930s. The Ruijin Hotel has a long history as a high-end yet intimate alternative to the luxury brand names just around the corner, with (in)famous figures like Richard Nixon and Ho Chi Minh having stayed in the villas. Clientele are 70-80% foreign, while the Chinese Communist Party holds regular meetings here and keeps a section of the hotel reserved year-round for their use. “People come here for the history and the culture,” Niemuth explains. “People don’t always want to stay at the same hotels they’ve seen in 30 cities across the world. There’s history here; the Ruijin may not be ultra-modern, but it’s unique.”

Niemuth doesn’t believe Shanghai’s hospitality market will be dominated with funky, designer lifestyle hotels any time soon. “It’s hard to be a boutique hotel here because the revenue you need to pay for the land prices here is so high,” she says.

ALREADY COVERED

With 16 new five-star hotels scheduled to be built here every year between now and 2010, it seems that high-rise, big-name hoteliers have at least one considerable advantage over smaller boutique endeavors: cash. And while some groups like W Hotels and the Eton Group have managed to build brand loyalty around a more unique, boutique identity, this somewhat paradoxical success does not necessary mean that there will be room in the market for more small-scale, luxury hoteliers.

Yang Yongcheng, Manager of the Old House Inn, a popular 12-room boutique bed and breakfast on Huashan Lu, sees it more simply. He believes the market these designer hotels target – affluent, style-conscious visitors – is already covered by the high-rise hotels and the cozier places like Old House Inn. Yang doesn’t believe his guests are any different than those designer boutique hotels are trying to attract.

“We see Americans, Europeans, people from all over China… business people and travelers. They choose our hotel because they like the small, boutique feel – they see that our place has an artistic touch,” Yang explains. The historic house is equipped with antique furniture and modern amenities, allowing patrons a slice-of-life feel without removing them entirely from their comfort zones. With non-locals making up the majority of patrons at high-end, high-priced Shanghai hotels, playing into many of their desires for an “authentic” Chinese experience is an obvious strategy for smaller hoteliers. And for the most part, that formula seems to be working.

Whether or not Shanghai will be receptive to the chic boutique hotel concept is yet to be seen. But regardless of its success or downfall, the arrival of Eton and JIA is a healthy reminder to its competitors that individuality and a little creative risk are not necessarily to be feared – even here. In times of internet-aided price transparency and greater supply, hotels must be pushed to create authentic identities for themselves, lest they be glazed over in an increasingly segmented and highly competitive market. “Hotels today must differentiate themselves by doing something unique,” Ball asserts. “In Shanghai, it’s remarkable how fast this has happened.”

If you’re so lazy, you can’t even google these things yourself.

Want to impress your people with artsy photos of Shanghai but don’t want to have to take them yourself? Go here.

Want to read classic novels but don’t have the time or wherewithal to get them? Go here.

Want to do things in Microsoft Word but don’t want to trouble yourself with moving your hands off the keyboard? Go here.

Want to know what the most popular web applications in China are but not have to find them yourself?  Go here.

Want to learn a little bit of Arabic? Without getting up from your desk? Go here.

Want to find and download the hippest music in the blogosphere? Go here.