A group blog about Chinese tech, media and design
As we say in The Hanmoji Handbook, “Here’s the thing about spoken Chinese: it refers to many different languages — dozens, in fact — used by people in various parts of China, today and throughout history.” So when we discovered that the United Nations created an official, singular Chinese Language Day (celebrated annually on 4/20…
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’…
Continue readingCorrecting the record (and oriental gaze) on Radiolab’s China Mixtape episode
It’s just been two months since The Hanmoji Handbook: Your Guide to the Chinese Language Through Emoji was launched! The handbook is published by MITeen Press and authored by fellow 88 Bar contributors Jason Li and An Xiao Mina, alongside ⭐️ author Jennifer 8. Lee. What’s more, the book draws on their decade of experience writing about technology,…
Continue readingLearning Chinese through emoji, and emoji through Chinese
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).
Continue readingFinding Solace & Entertainment Under Quarantine: China’s Netizens Pave the Way
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…
Continue readingAs The Coronavirus Rages On, Cartoonists Lash Out With Irony, Quiet And Candor