To be continued soon ...

Guanyin of the South Sea (南山海上觀音聖像) :: Sanya :: © See-ming Lee


Looks gorgeous, right?

It's this time of year - the holiday season begins (for me, at least, fortunate as I am) and I won't be around the next couple of weeks.

I'll be back at the end of the lovely month of May and promise to present some new posts that you - hopefully - will find interesting enough to wait it out.

Next will be a longer post about the volatile situation in Taiwan where I had the pleasure to spend some study time at the end of the 1980s.

In the meantime, have some pleasant weeks and enjoy spring (if circumstances allow for that).

Stay sharp and 再见!

The timeless allure of a global city

The founders of Balmorhea :: Rob Lowe and Michael Muller :: © Matt Rainwaters


Asia Society's Dan Washburn just posted a wonderful music video set in one of China's most cosmopolitan cities. The video was produced when acclaimed American instrumental band Balmorhea was performing at Shanghai's illustrious MAO Livehouse.

Alternating hypnotic sequences of the long-awaited gig with night scenes from the small lanes around the well-known concert venue that is located in the popular French Concession neighborhood, the video makes you yearn for more.

To quote from Washburn's intro to the lengthy interview with the director and editor of this magnificent piece of art:

'When longtime Shanghai-based filmmaker Luis Tapia learned that Austin, Texas-based instrumental group Balmorhea was headed to town, he immediately knew he wanted to film their performance. 

And he had an idea to make it different from other concert films he had made in the past: take the cameras outside of the venue and onto the streets of Shanghai. 

The result is entrancing (a "time capsule of that night," to steal Tapia's words) and we can attest that the black-and-white, slow motion footage is enough to make any former Shanghai resident more than a little bit homesick.'

I wholeheartedly agree.



For more information about the amazing band, see here.

The next step in Chinese world domination?

Ma On Shan Recreation Ground :: Hong Kong :: © See-ming Lee


I admit, I'm still shocked by the disastrous last-minutes breakdown of German top team Borussia Dortmund versus a strong-willed, more impassioned and clever winning side, trained by former (and still much-beloved in the city) BVB coach Jürgen Klopp, by the name of Liverpool FC.

As a long-time supporter of the German 'Champion of the Hearts & Minds' (in the eyes of every German football addict, minus the fans of Bayern Munich, of course), I was aghast and nearly speechless when the heart-stopping game ended with a (much-deserved) triumph of the heroic Reds.

Then, on Saturday, I came across an article in venerable South China Morning Post (note: no paywall anymore courtesy of a novel approach by new owner Jack Ma!) that made me realize again that there's hope for fans of the most beautiful game (and eased my pain a bit).

Despite excessive commodification, endemic corruption and other ghastly phenomena in the sphere of contemporary football, grassroots football culture is very much alive - even in far-away corners of the world that wouldn't come to mind first as important breeding grounds for red-hot fan culture.

Enter the PR China.

The author of the above-mentioned Morning Post piece, entitled 'China sets out grand plan to become world’s soccer superpower by 2050', appraises the recently proclaimed and - as always - highly ambitious plans of Chinese sports authorities (clearly following 'orders' by paramount leader Xi Jinping who is said to be enthusiastic about the game) to rule the world of soccer in the not so distant future.

Announced in a document released last Monday by the National Development and Reform Commission, Chinese Football Association, Sports Bureau and Ministry of Education, the overall goal is to make China's football clubs as well as the National Team competitive at the highest level - first on the Asian, later on a global stage.

As they are not completely out of touch with realities on the ground, the bureaucracies involved have decided to start with the national Chinese Super League that is already engaging in an unprecedented buying spree. Later on, the National Team is expected to follow suit and be much more than the laughing stock it still is compared to European or other dominant football nations.

Many long-time observers of contemporary Chinese politics, culture and society (including the field of sports) have pointed out that the Chinese state is rather ingenious in following through with large-scale projects deemed as vital for economic, social or national stability.

In spite of the proven abilities of streamlined bureaucracies to fulfill their leaders' high expectations, the grand goal to establish China as a global superpower in the field of football remains a daunting task (for more facts about Chinese football, see an earlier post).

Despite the many obstacles Chinese football is facing, I'm quite optimistic when it comes to grassroots fan culture. It might not be acknowledged around here but most Chinese fans are very knowledgeable, passionate and faithful.

The diverse fan clubs of major Super League clubs, such as Beijing Guo'an, Shanghai Shenhua or Guangzhou Evergrande, are growing exponentially, the stadiums filling up easily with cheering crowds.

Up to now, physical violence has been mostly and admirably absent in and around big Chinese stadiums, but that doesn't mean verbal abuse is non-existent. Quite the contrary.

Hurling insults at teams other than the one supported or the fan base of opponents is kind of a sport in and for itself and the Chinese are notoriously inventive in naming and shaming imagined or real adversaries.

The so-called 'ultras', above all, are fervent supporters of their chosen teams; they live football as intensively as every hardcore Tifosi, Barça, Liverpool or Dortmund fan.

To get an impression of the sophisticated choreography, the incredible noise, ardent chanting and fierce insults directed at rival teams and fans, have a look at the following videos introducing ultras and the fans of two main Chinese Super League clubs.

And here comes 'The Royal Army' of Beijing Guo'an.




The next one records the spectacular fan choreography, cheering and slanders orchestrated by the backers of Guangzhou FC.

china beats presents :: Stolen

© Stolen


The long-awaited debut album from Chengdu-based indie / electronic rock band Stolen is titled 'Loop (Mimi xingdong 秘密行动)'. Released last August, the newcomers' first full-length work sounds very mature to me.

The five long-time buddies - all graduates of prestigious Sichuan Conservatory of Music - Liang Yi (梁艺 :: vocals), Duan Xuan (段轩 :: guitar), Wu Junyang (伍俊洋 :: bass), Fang De (方德 :: guitar), Yuan Yufeng (袁雨丰 :: drums) and French VJ FORMOL (Fu'er Malin 福尔马林) have experimented with various genres and influences for quite some time.

They were also lucky enough to win a slew of band competitions over the years. Well-established in the burgeoning Chinese underground scene by now, the band's PR text reads:

'In 2014, Stolen officially signed into the newly formed Beijing indie label D Force Records and travelled to the Taiwan indie music headquarter, 112F Recording Studio, to record their debut album.

The record is produced by Xu Bo, the guitarist of legendary Beijing rock band P.K.14. The record includes works the band wrote in the past two or three years and it contains internet hits "Electric Echo", "No Replay", "Suicidium Morbus" as well as previously unheard brand new songs such as "Aamir" and "Hook".

...

"Loop" not only occurs in music, but also in every aspects of our daily life. The band VJ, as well as the cover art designer, FORMOL, explains: "Loops represent endless possibilities. Some of which are too rational and even boring, the others are full of beauty and surprises." Loop the record, undoubtedly, falls into the latter category.'

(Bandcamp)

The full digital album is available for 14.99 USD. If you want to know more about the five young Chinese musicians and their gifted VJ, visit the band's Weibo page.

And when you are at it, why don't you have a look at the brand new Beijing-based D Force Records (Dafu Changpian 大福唱片)  (Douban / Facebook)?

Here the short intro:

'Founded in 2015, D Force has rapidly gathered a brilliant and diverse roster of young talents: from dance music to rock' n' roll, from experimental to folk...

You name it. D Force's agenda is simple and ambitious: to sign artists who have great potentials; to help produce quality music and to introduce these records to as many people as possible.'

(Bandcamp)

(Oh, and not to forget: Eclectic Beatmaster recognizes Stolen's potential, too. For more, see here.)

Who needs fiction anymore? :: The Panama Papers

Panamá City :: © Michael McCullough


Forgive me for not resisting the temptation to do a timely but premature post regarding the latest chapter in a global criminal story of seemingly epic proportions.

A financial, economic, political and social drama that is still evolving as I write this and also one that surely reverberates in the secluded quarters of Zhongnanhai in Beijing as well as in other places where China's top leaders congregate.

Call it Schadenfreude (a peculiar German term that doesn't translate well into English, hence no translation), but this is just too good to let it slide. When you finally convinced yourself that you can't be surprised by anything or anyone anymore, oops, there it happens again:

I am still a bit stunned by this major international scandal involving an illustrious offshore law firm (co-founded by a German, by the way) headquartered in the tax haven of Panamá City that inadvertently provided encrypted internal documents about its international clients (courtesy of a system hack by an unknown attacker and via an insider source) to a German newspaper.

The firm's extremely lucrative business model evidently includes services clearly intended to whitewash dirty money or hide, transfer and reinvest undeclared financial assets owned by the global lot of VIPs (mostly :: powerful, criminal, famous, obscenely rich and greedy men and women).

It should come as no surprise that members of China's so-called 'red nobility' are quite numerous in this special group of One-Percenters who are confident to deserve even more luxury condominiums and real estate, sports facilities, yachts and planes, sports cars, jewelry, mistresses (ernai, in Chinese) and 'canaries' (the male version) or high-end spa treatments for themselves, their relatives and trusted business partners.

The strange behaviour and odd hobbies of the Chinese 'bling aristocracy' (aka new rich), especially the ones exhibited by the offspring of current or former political top brass (dubbed 'princelings' and 'princesses' or taizidang), have been a thick thorn stuck deeply inside every honest, tax-paying and law-abiding Chinese citizen for decades.

When newly-elected president Xi Jinping vowed to combat corruption at all levels and to hunt down 'flies' as well as 'tigers', many Chinese were skeptical at first. Alas, the lofty promise to eradicate age-old systemic corruption was made to the Chinese people so many times before.

But soon after, it became quite clear that the new helmsman at the major steering wheel was deadly serious - much too serious for some factions inside China's opaque party apparatus.

What would they think? Founding group of the CCP / CCP Museum, Shanghai :: © Gavin Anderson


The enormous data leak involuntary provided by incriminated law firm Mossack Fonseca in Panama sheds new light on the dubious business dealings of Gu Kailai, wife of former up-and-coming polit star and mayor of Chongqing, Bo Xilai.

Gu Kailai was finally sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murder of an English business partner in crime by a high Chinese court. Her husband, who first proved very successful in making one of the Chinese mega-cities a lot more 'red' (meaning 'socialist' in neo-Maoist propaganda speak), soon became the first prominent 'tiger' to fall from grace and end up in prison for life.

But more embarrassing to the Chinese government (and highly explosive given the current political climate in the PR China) as the murder-cum-corruption affair involving Gu Kailai and her English / French business associates is the pile of documents containing names and shady financial transactions of close family members of other former or current CCP top officials.

The countless phony companies and business transactions spotted in the massive bulk of data obtained by Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with The Guardian and others implicate not only the daughter of former premier Li Peng, but also the brother-in-law of reigning strong man Xi Jinping, the brother of former vice-president Zeng Qinghong or the son of former politburo member Tian Jiyun, for example.

(For more on China-related disclosures in Süddeutsche Zeitung, see here; for an English-language account, look here)

Eight members of the CCP elite whose family members used offshore companies to camouflage their riches and assets have been revealed so far in the on-going series about findings in the so-called 'Panama Papers'. And as usual, the well-oiled Chinese censorship machinery reacted swiftly.

An army of online 'soldiers' seems to be working nearly around the clock to remove all traces of this latest criminal story involving highest-ranking Chinese officials and their relatives from Chinese web and social media sites and to block international coverage of the unfolding mega-scandal.

The first question that came to my mind after reading some of today's pieces:

Who needs Shanghaiesque or Hollywoodesque film productions or fictional book projects about the connection between semi-legit offshore companies, secretive overseas investment, capital flight and tax evasion, systemic corruption, moribund banking systems and ethical failure when the real stuff is so much more exiting (and irritating)?


P.S.::

Kudos to the small bunch of investigative journalists and their assistants who (hopefully) thoroughly analysed, fact-checked and closely cooperated with each other to enable (criminal justice) courts around the world to convict at least some of the 'characters' involved and put them where they actually belong: behind bars.

Working brothers in arms :: Xiong Di

The brand new short documentary 'Xiong Di (兄弟)' or 'Fellas' by Enric Ribes & Oriol Martínez (aka Häns) just premiered in Doc X by Dazed. The two Spanish film-makers and producers were also in charge of the concept and directed this amazing short film.

Ribes & Martínez closely follow the everyday lives of the four 'fellas' or 'brothers' (xiongdi) Qu Maomao, Wu Zhihua, Zhang Qi and Zhang Beike who have been working and living in an industrial complex owned by Antex (Deqing) Fashion Co., Ltd., a manufacturing giant located in Zhejiang province, for several years.

As prototypical young migrant workers from rural China they live a life confined by rigid factory rules and boring work routines - their only way out of the monotony of factory life is by practicing kickboxing in their spare time.

To be able to face an uncertain future in the city, they rely heavily on their immediate social network, the close friendship with each other and the hope to find a nice (and suitable in the eyes of often traditionally-minded parents) girlfriend.

Professionally edited, with captivating music and some really funny scenes (one of the guys musing about the incredibly large bras he helps to produce on a daily basis for world markets, for instance), 'Xiong Di' is a prime example of state-of-the-art, deeply touching but unsentimental documentary film-making.

(For the Vimeo review, see here; for a recent interview with the Barcelona-based directors, see here).

Spring is in the air :: Some necessary changes to be made

© llee_wu


When I started this blog project back in 2013, I was a total newbie to the blogosphere. As a notorious latecomer to many if not most tech trends, I was more than happy to have somebody at my side who expertly introduced me to the technical, design, typography and photo stuff I didn't know much about.

After lobbying patiently for weeks or even months, my distinguished chief design officer finally convinced me to give the whole thing a smart design makeover to propel it into the 21st century.

What you see now is the result of many hours of painful labour by said specialist and I sincerely hope you like it as much as I do!