A group blog about Chinese tech, media and design
A few years ago, I observed a curious addition to the emoji set on Sina Weibo: a Grass Mud Horse. It was a little confusing to…
Continue readingHas the Grass Mud Horse been defanged?
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from ‘Created’ in China: Shenzhen is making hardware like Silicon Valley makes apps, written by An Xiao Mina and originally published on Fusion.
China is amidst a massive transition from a country primarily of manufacturers to one of makers. Lei Gao is part of this new generation…
Continue readingHow the internet is making hardware startups as fast as software in Shenzhen
Until recently, I hadn’t seen Ai Weiwei’s Gangnam Style remix, but I definitely heard about it. Everyone on my social media feeds has been talking about, and people have emailed it to me. I’ve seen hilarious-looking pictures and read the commentary. But I’ve just not been able to sit down and watch it.
Why…
Continue readingFour Thoughts on Ai Weiwei’s Gangnam Style: Meme-ing as Activism
88 Bar writer An Xiao Mina is living and working in Uganda this fall and researching the technology community and growing Chinese population in East Africa.
I was craving kimchi the other night, as did some of my colleagues. So we headed out to Arirang, a Chinese-owned Korean…
Continue readingKimchi and G-Nuts, or, a Taste of the Kampala Roll
Like pretty much anyone else paying attention to the story, I was stunned to see the images of protests in Hong Kong, with people of all ages donning black to rail against Beijing’s plan to enact national education. Hong Kongers deemed it brainwashing, a paternalistic move from Beijing to inculcate the special territory into its ways. The sheer scale of…
Continue readingHong Kong Citizens’ Online, Memetic Protest
Today we’re pleased to announce a new partnership with Tea Leaf Nation, a new web site dedicated to pulling insights from China’s lively microblogsphere. Their team, scattered around the world, have shared some amazing insights, offering translations, context and images, all with a touch of quirky humor. I had the pleasure of working with TLN’s founder,…
Continue readingChina’s “Fat Police Officer” Terrorizes Everything [TLN]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PDHyUEIqrA]
My talk at the Personal Democracy Forum at NYU’s Kimmel Center
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDDi4Dj-EQI]
My talk at ROFLCon III at MIT
Political memes have been on my mind as of late. It started with ROFLCon at MIT and moved on to more discussions, Skype chats and journal…
Continue readingIn Defense of Memes Defending Themselves