Chinese Comics Review

WeChat Cats, Romantic Blunders & Lightning Dogs: Paradise Systems Year 1

Posted on by Jason Li

“Paradise Systems publishes exemplary comics from the United States and China.” This is the story of their first year, broken up into three acts.

I.

Our story begins in Brooklyn, where long-time translator and former China resident Orion Martin sets out on his publishing adventure. Wanting to foment a a cultural exchange of comics, he tests the waters…

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Starting Up in Shenzhen

Shenzhen: A city of where heartbreak and high hopes intermingle and intertwine

Posted on by An Xiao Mina

Editor’s note: Part two of our favorite Instagram fieldnotes by An Xiao Mina from her latest trip to Shenzhen. This one focuses on the global flow of goods. You can read part one here.


Three views of a corner, Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen.

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Starting Up in Shenzhen

Shenzhen gothic not so gothic

Posted on by An Xiao Mina

Editor’s note: This post includes some of our favorite Instagram fieldnotes by An Xiao Mina from her latest trip to Shenzhen. This is part one, which focuses on the aesthetics of the city.

Shenzhen at night. The urban aesthetic of China’s major cities includes a…

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Chinese Comics Review

China King of Fighting: An action graphic memoir that ended too soon

Posted on by Jason Li

Chinese King Of Boxing Covers

China King of Fighting was created by a pro boxer-turned-cartoonist, who tells the life story of boxing living legend Zou Shiming after they befriend one another in the ring. Zou, commonly hailed as China’s most successful boxer, is famous for having won Olympic gold twice in a row, as well as winning and defending the WBO flyweight title for a…

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Ethnography of Tech

Chinese tech globalizing like the US, with drones and bikeshares leading the way

Posted on by An Xiao Mina

Photo of bike share in front of the Eiffel Tower

Dockless bikeshares in Europe predated the arrival of Chinese companies like Ofo and Mobike, at least in Berlin, but it was a recent trip in Shenzhen and Beijing that I saw their potential at scale. I am used to seeing Chinese tech phenomena remain just that, ie, limited to China. But the near omnipresence of these bikes in major cities — I…

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China Meme Report

From rice bunnies to grass mud horses, an interview with An Xiao Mina

Posted on by An Xiao Mina

In this Refinery 29 podcast, host Elisa Kreisinger speaks with An Xiao Mina about how internet memes and social movements are intertwined in China.

Topics cover include:

  • How the #MeToo movement tripped up trying to cross the Great Firewall only to emerge as a series of cute homonymic emojis: 🍚🐰 (rice bunny)
  • How An’s…

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Design Society Shenzhen: conservative curatorial at a cutting-edge institution

Posted on by Jason Li

After much fanfare, I had a chance to visit the two opening exhibitions at the new Design Society 设计互联 in Shenzhen – “China’s first design museum.” Freshly unveiled last December, Design Society is located at the newly-constructed Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shekou, one of the most historically-progressive areas in Shenzhen. That it is…

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Melon Festival Year 2: emphasizing the science in science fiction

Posted on by Jason Li

The second Melon festival about “science fiction, innovation and the future” took place in Hong Kong on March 17 and was markedly more packed, slick and diverse than its predecessor. Festival organizers added a third set of speakers – scientists – to their roster this year on top of the previously-featured science fiction authors and…

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