Correcting the record (and oriental gaze) on Radiolab’s China Mixtape episode

March 24, 2023 by Jason Li

A soldier with red star cap and uniform holds up a casette tape and a machine gun, drawn in the style of a Communist China propaganda poster from many decades ago. — A still from Radiolab’s trailer for its Mixtape series (from Youtube)

Many moons ago, Krish Raghav raised some serious concerns about a Radiolab episode on the emergence of the rock music scene in China. “Framing China’s musical lineage as ‘Revolutionary operas to John Denver’ is such a frustrating half-truth,” he said, “[and] positing ‘western’…

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Innovating through manufacturing, the China way

March 9, 2023 by Jason Li

Dan Wang writes in Foreign Affair about how China is gaining ground over the US in the tech space by challenging the Western model where scientific discovery reigns supreme:

Unlike the West, China has grounded its technology sector not in glamorous research and advanced science but in the less flashy task of improving manufacturing capabilities. If Washington is serious about…

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The Great China R&D Squeeze of 2021 & the US Obsession with China’s Collapse

January 28, 2022 by Jason Li

Lots of gems in this year’s edition of Dan Wang’s annual letter. It is really worth the long read, but today we’re going to hone in on two sections of his analysis on where China is today. First, on the 2021 squeeze on tech companies:

Beijing’s attitude marks a difference with capitalism as it’s practiced in the US. Over…

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Chinese Comics Review

David: a comic exploration of a hybrid identity

January 18, 2022 by Jason Li

Book cover with a pencil drawing of a man with a bird's head wearing a suit sitting on a park bench

David is a graphic novel that explores what it means to be different, a misfit caught between two worlds, and it does so through its half bird half man protagonist. The story opens with David as he goes about mundane human activities. These bird-man gags are mirthful and witty. It helps that author-illustrator Yi Li uses a delicate touch, ever…

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Book Review · Starting Up in Shenzhen

Looking at China and Seeing Ourselves: Two Ethnographies of Tech in China

September 13, 2021 by Jason Li

Two book covers. The first is for Blockchain Chicken Farm which features an agragrian landscape. The second is for Protoype Nation and features a ballerina in the middle of a factory.

Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China’s Countryside
By Xiaowei Wang
FSG Originals, 256 pp.

Prototype Nation: China and the Contested Promise of Innovation
By Silvia M. Lindtner
Princeton University Press, 288 pp.

It’s really hard to get an on-the-ground view of…

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Chinese Comics Review

This quintessential Chinese millennial is a seal, and she is adorable

May 25, 2021 by Jason Li

A cute, rotund, cartoon seal clutches things on these two book coveres

Upon first glance, Seal (海豹) looks like just another cute character dreamed up by the internet, lolling about on her futon, joyfully procrastinating with her friends. Seal embodies these positive qualities in her print debut, No Big Deal If You Like Me (喜欢我也没关系), and in the cult favorite Tumblr. But if you dig deeper into the larger…

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Manifestations of Blackness in China Pop Culture

February 11, 2021 by Jason Li

This wonderful three-part talk hosted by Poster House features:

Dr. Keisha A. Brown on the erasure of Blackness in recent advertising. For example, when an ad that John Boyega conceived and starred in for British brand Jo Malone was recreated, without permission, by the brand in China where Blackness was overwritten by Han Chinese…

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Finding Solace & Entertainment Under Quarantine: China’s Netizens Pave the Way

March 12, 2020 by Jason Li

There’s been a raft of great coverage recently about how people in China are adapting to life under quarantine, especially the ways that they’re leveraging technology to entertain themselves at this stressful situation. Below is a recap of some of what we’ve seen (with a hearty shout-out to those who first reported on it).

Livestreamed “bedroom” concerts

A Bilibili livestream concert poster by Merrie Records featuring a set list behind a small TV surrounded by snacks (and a cat) — Merrie…

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As The Coronavirus Rages On, Cartoonists Lash Out With Irony, Quiet And Candor

February 10, 2020 by Jason Li

A muscular half person, half snake has wrapped a bunch of doctors and journalists in its arms and is gesturing for them to be silent. — Created by 撒旦君 Sadan via Weibo.

Despite dramatic measures taken to stem the tide, the coronavirus is still spreading across China and the rest of the world. Confined to their homes, independent cartoonists in China continue expressing their views around the epidemic through their works. Some creators have reached a state of detached irony, while others are…

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