Interpreting Chinese Youth Sub-culture as a Haughty Expat

Like many foreigners in China, I find myself spending a lot of time observing and interpreting Chinese culture, particularly its modern youth culture. A lot of the time, I find myself fighting the urge to be haughty and snobby, looking down upon whatever Western food attempt, miscued Chinglish effort, local rock band, modern art display and other examples of contemporary Chinese art and culture through my ‘oh-so-cultured’ Western eyes.

I can almost see the online video about disrespectful Overseas Chinese, where the ungrateful ABC walks around some upscale display condominium, pointing out the inauthentic, "knock-off Western" paintings or a particularly poorly matched choice in bedroom furniture. It's bi-polar in the unique way that being an expat in China so often is, because I feel like I spend a lot of time defending China from the ignorant, outsider opinions of people who write off China without having stepped a foot inside it, do not speak the language, and know nothing of the country beyond Western media coverage. My relationship with China is not so much "love/hate" as it is "defend/critique."

In coming to China, it is easy to look upon a lot of contemporary Chinese culture, particularly that of the yuppie/nouveau riche classes, as tacky, kitschy, derivative and naive, to look upon its interpretation of modernity as simply a sloppy attempt to imitate the developed West. And then, as does happen so often during conversations about this topic, expats (like myself) will bring up the Cultural Revolution, China's rocky past and how amazing it is simply for any of this to exist at all. We’ll continue that though contemporary China may be a long way from Tokyo and even further from London or Milan, it's still a whole lot closer than it was 30 years ago.

I came to Chengdu having heard of a nascent art scene, and was quite sorely disappointed to see just how undeveloped and small it really is. Newspapers frequently run articles discussing how hot Chinese art is in the market these days, yet sadly, when I visited the art warehouse district in Shanghai, I found that the art I saw there which struck me as most original was made by foreigners. Having come interested in discovering youth sub-culture and rebellion, I’ve found that too much of it appears to consist of kids in tight jeans and Chuck Taylors who listen to Panic at the Disco, the more enterprising of them perhaps starting a band that sounds almost identical.

That's not to say that this doesn't happen in the West: it does, in great amounts. But I suppose that's just the point: I'd come to China looking for something different--"Williamsburg-in-Shanghai", but unique in a Tokyo-ish way, was my naïve ideal. And where it is indeed very different, so much of what is deemed contemporary and young here seems directly imported, or bastardized in interpretation, straight from the West. Whether it's young couples eating a “romantic meal” in McDonalds on Christmas, college students imitating Kobe on the basketball court or middle-class kids at a punk show, much of it feels completely lacking in Chinese characteristics. It feels hollow, inauthentic, and lacking the sort of localized, independent adaptation that made rock and roll, punk and the Weather Underground so, well...cool.

In talking to a fellow foreigner about it, we noticed that so many of our young Chinese friends--all intelligent, open-minded and capable--were so devoted to going to America for college and fortune, that perhaps it left little opportunity to concern themselves with developing local culture and art. Most of them study hard sciences, not the humanities, and in their spare time they don't seek out "Carsick Cars" or the latest hip indie band, they practice their English through "Desperate Housewives." The most Chinese cultural activity I can point to is that some of them write Tang style poetry for themselves. Others take an interest in Tibet, minority culture and Buddhism. But even such an interest I've read comes originally from "Shangri-La chic" becoming fashionable first in the West, then being re-adopted by Chinese hipsters via Western media.

When you live in a society thrusting itself head-first towards a vision of development that is so culturally intertwined with being Western, and when so many of the best and brightest spend all their energy competing to get into MIT, it leaves little energy for subculture. My friend suggested that perhaps in a generation or two, the children of a more-established middle class will be more interested in the humanities, art and such things often considered non or less-monetary in nature. Perhaps that will be the case, though given the competitiveness of modern China, I wonder whether even future generations will be willing to take their eyes off the cash prize for long enough.

At this point, I suppose it's just too early to expect much of what the “cool kids” and their subcultures here to have developed its own characteristics. Having only recently gained access to Western media and lifestyles, many Chinese are in a ‘honeymoon’ phase in terms of their relationship with the West, possessing an idealized vision of societies of universal abundance and comfort. In reading Zachary Mexico's enlightening "China Underground," I was struck at how of all the counter-cultural youth he met, few of them seemed to be doing much that I would deem "innovative" or "unique." Whether this is partly due to Confucian, conformist education or other similar “uncreative Chinese” arguments is another argument altogether.

Eventually, when I go out seeking culture that feels sufficiently "Chinese," I find it amongst the elderly, and often enough, in parks: writing calligraphy with water brushes, singing local opera and playing Chinese chess or mahjong. I study kung fu at the local sports university, and though I occasionally do see some kung fu majors practicing, it's more likely that I will see track and field athletes taking a recreational tae kwon doe class. Chinese youth culture, to caricaturize, is more about Warcraft, NBA and KTV than anything uniquely local or particularly different, at least to Western eyes. That's not Chinese youth’s loss at all—rather, it's mine, as a foreign observer seeking out something that this country’s young people are not at all obliged to provide.

One China blogger at the site Lost Laowai has pointed out that more Chinese youth appear to be rebelling through fashion, a sort of baby step towards deeper forms of rebellion, borne of critical thought, dissent and creative communities. I can only hope this is true, but would imagine that such youth fashion circles are, in their own way, as conformist and imitative as mass culture, though admittedly within a much smaller community.

That's not to say there isn't creative, interesting stuff going on here, nor that I'm even aware of all of it. This is, naturally, just one non-expert perspective by a foreigner. Wonderful online platforms like neocha.com expose us to non-mainstream music and creativity that were previously unknown, and I occasionally do meet or hear about locals doing exciting work. But my point is that largely, in my (albeit limited) time here, I haven't seen much noteworthy "contemporary Chinese culture" to date.

Links:

Idealized images of Westerners:
http://www.chinasmack.com/stories/china-does-not-have-any-men-suitable-for-me/

One of the best Chinese bands I’ve heard: http://www.myspace.com/rebuildingtherightsofstatues

Zebra Music Fetival review (Day 3)

If Day 2 was Zebra fest’s endless party, Day 3 was the comedown, all mellowed out and tranquil. That is, at least, from a crowd perspective, where compared to the previous day, the festival’s finale had significantly less people, and only really started to fill out by evening. On stage, however, things were far from calm. For where the prior day was filled with more poppy, flamboyant groups, the last day’s line-up of buzzworthy bands were generally more angsty and indie in sound: think Queen versus Sonic Youth. 

The first set we caught at the main stage was Hedgehog, a highly-regarded garage-punk trio from Beijing with a pint-sized but surprisingly powerful female drummer named Atom. Their tightly-wound fury and knack for writing catchy songs could easily lend them lazy Nirvana comparisons, but seeing as they closed their set with a tidy cover of “Territorial Pissings”, I think it’s only fair. Similarly, at the end of their righteously well-received set, the lead singer somewhat awkwardly pushed over his Marshall with his guitar, and the drummer threw her sticks against the floor, which bounced like a tennis ball. It was by far the most (perhaps only) self-destructive ‘rock-and-roll’ moment of the entire festival.

Following Hedgehog was Carsick Cars, one of the only bands I had heard of prior to the festival. The China blogosphere hypes this group like the NME upon hearing the Strokes, and opening for indie royalty like Sonic Youth can only further such gusts of hot air. But, to their credit, they played a very impressive set, utilizing plenty of white noise and demonstrating the most learned and tasteful influences (they reference Velvet Underground and Yo La Tengo) of all the performers. It sounds quite absurd to talk of bands needing to be “learned” in rock and roll, but, after you’ve heard enough local screamo acts, you too will appreciate such ‘high-brow’ sounds. Carsick’s mood, aided by the dark abstract imagery on-screen during their set, is both nihilistic and hopeful, delivered partly as a sneer and filled with youthful exuberance and potential. If I was to postulate: they seem to embody the designer brand-rock subculture of current China’s rising youth urban middle-class, as the fashionable teens in the pit, screaming along to each lyric by heart, would suggest. 

In between Carsick Cars and yet another Beijing noise-rock group, Subs, came Ashura, one of Chengdu’s oldest (10 + years) and most established bands. Whereas the previous two trios sound seemed better suited to dark clubs, Ashura’s brand of Red Hot Chili Peppers-inspired, arena-size rap-rock was perfectly suited to the event. The four piece looked immediately at home, and almost upon taking the stage had the packed audience bouncing along to their soaring guitar riffs, fluid rap verses and ubiquitous hooks.

Subs also had the crowd moving, but in a different way. Their sound is far more raw and dissonant, all primal punk energy, and their amps were turned up so loud that they practically blew a path through the park, a la Mogwai. Their vocalist Kang Mao is China's answer to Karen O, leaping and screaming about in slightly deranged-looking make-up and bowl cut. We left early however to catch our friends in Proximity Butterfly at the Deputy stage.

Proximity are mainstays on the Chengdu foreigner nightlife calendar; their shows are like community meet-ups, something that Joshua (originally from the US) and Heather’s (Canada) inclusive personalities help to foster. Compared to the other groups at Zebra, I was struck at how much more ambitious their musical vision is: think Jane’s Addiction and RATM singing of a post-apocalyptic world, they mix Joshua’s philosophical/mystical subject matter with muscular, funky riff workouts. Where it feels like other groups are either in the process of finding their sound or describing more primal states of being such as rebellion and relationship angst, Proximity have already created their own entirely unique musical world.

They were followed by the Trouble, a good-natured ska band, decked out in matching suspender and bow tie black-and-white outfits. And while such music for me will forever be associated with high-school Reel Big Fish covers, it seemed the audience was enjoying the six piece’s cheerful, lighter vibe. Over by the Xiongmao stage, DJ Charlie, originally from Washington DC, was keeping a sizable crowd grooving with his signature mix of 90s hip hop and classics, jumping from Michael Jackson to James Brown to Chemical Brothers with enthusiasm. We left while headliners High Tone, a French dub group, mixed their dated sounding instrumentals before what was left of the slightly bemused crowd.

In talking to a friend about the show, we both agreed that little that we’d seen at the festival would be considered particularly new or ‘hip’ back in the West. But of course, we’re not at Glastonbury…we’re at Chengdu’s first ever serious music festival and so, for most of the thousands of locals who passed through over the past three days, seeing these bands must have been a significant, or at least eye-opening experience. It’s great enough that something like this is taking place here: let’s hope that they’ll make it an annual event!

Zebra Music Fetival review (Day 2)

Baoli Park, Chengdu

May 1-3rd, 2009

Zebra is the first music festival I’ve attended in China, and apparently, the first music festival in general for many of the attendees who made the trek out to Tulip Park, located next to the Panda Breeding Center in Chengdu’s northeastern suburbs. As it turns out, like everybody else I talked to, I was very impressed with the organization and crowd turn-out and participation.

The festival organizers have clearly done this sort of thing before: the park was well-signed, with ample distribution of port-a-loo and waste/recycling bin facilities. The main stage is truly impressive, with a powerful lighting and sound system, and carried the big-name pop and rock acts. The two smaller stages cater to specific genres—Panda (Xiongmao)—just like its Chengdu club namesake--hosts DJs playing electronic music ranging from drum-n-bass to hip hop, and the Deputy stage, organized by local indie hub Little Bar, hosts alternative guitar bands. Curiously, the festival’s Chinese name is “Robot,” and images of cute round robots abounded on signs and screens. 

The crowd, while a good mixture of families and backgrounds, was still predominantly young students and 20-somethings out for a good time. Beyond the music, one of the most interesting ways to pass the time was to scout out the fashion scene. On the whole, classic rocker apparel, including dark drainpipe jeans, and high and low-top Chuck Taylor’s were well-represented. Apparently, pork pie hats are all the rage, for both genders, and for girls, super-teased hair was making a huge comeback, alongside panda eye/Robert Smith make-up. I spotted one guy with a classic Moz-style coiffe and plenty of prerequisite takes on the traditional Johnny Rotten spikes, mohawks and emo fringes.

The best, and most puzzling outfit was undoubtedly a young bloke wearing a full-length Jesus-style muumuu. He’d also gone to the trouble of getting a silver hand printed on to the top of his shaven skull. It made exactly zero sense to me until a friend mentioned that some Cosplayers—in which one dresses up as Anime characters (this is Asia, after all)—were out in costume. Behind the main stage, a hippie-Africana drum troupe was banging away merrily, surrounded by a disproportionately large crowd of people. I figured this was because some of the drummers must have been foreigners, and given the sort of dread-rocking, free-spirited types who often make up such drum circles, they would prove the perfect spectacle to curious Sichuanese kids, a little more insulated than their east-coast brethren, busy forming impressions of these strange, wild-looking laowai all the while. It turns out though that a high-profile Chinese movie star was shooting a scene there, and folks had just swamped the place for a gander.

Music festivals in general tend to attract a diverse brand of folks, and I’m used to seeing plenty of spacey, tripped-out ravers and “permanent festival-goers” at Coachellas and other similar gatherings. But it was a trip seeing the reactions of locals to my fellow foreign friends. I spent most of the afternoon hanging out with friends’ Josh and Heather, who had set up a tent and camped the previous night. Josh and Heather—of the local rock band Proximity Butterfly—both sport spectacular dreadlocks, and locals come up often to have their picture taken with them. An Australian friend, Cam, also happens to have locks. While hanging out by their tent, he would also have locals come up asking for pictures.

“You know I’m not in the band, right?” he would ask.

“That’s OK. Can I still get a picture with you?” they would ask.

And because seemingly every Australian but me has dreadlocks in this city, our friend Jessie, would get the most wide-eyed looks of all. Blessed with fabulously artistic taste, Jessie has pink/blonde dreads, a number of tattoos and piercings, and was wearing a leopard-print dress and pink Docs…in short, she looks about as un-Chinese as you can get. While leaving the park that night, we passed a row of security guards in formation. One by one, as they turned to see her, their jaws would literally drop, eyes wide as a baby visiting his first zoo, in utterly confused, fascinated wonder.

As for the music: overall, it was quite good, without being some display of breakthrough artistic innovation. We came just in time to catch Reflector on the main stage, an energetic pop-punk trio who—from the bass player’s theatrical strumming to the lead singer’s snarling vocals—screamed Green Day. Such music is a good fit for these sorts of events—it requires little prior knowledge of the band or music to nod along, and the band’s fierce attack and tuneful songs carried the audience stylishly. The kids close to the stage were having a blast, bouncing along with double rock-sign fist pumps, and there was the occasional crowd surfer.

The band which followed, Underground Baby, sounded similarly Green Day-esque, if with a slightly more expanded pop-rock sound. It may have been simply that I was standing further away from the stage, but they lacked the intensity and magnetism of Reflector. The slide continued with VC Super VC, decked out in all-white, exposed-chest Bowie-era t-shirts, with hats and boas to match. Their songs moved even further into bland pop-rock territory, including a couple of contrived solo ballads.

All of the bands, however, lacked nothing by way of on-stage theatrics—from extended windmills to timed leaps and back-against-back 80s guitarist camera close-ups—it seems every band that played has earnestly studied footage of Woodstock and Live Aid. Watching these boys with their long hair, matching suits and skinny pants strut about, it felt like what I imagine it might be like attending a Chinese theatrical production of “Romeo and Juliet”: all the moves and lines are perfectly orchestrated, but it feels somewhat second-hand and inauthentic. But, rock and roll has always been about miscegenation and cultural borrowing (some might say theft), so in the end, who cares? The crowd certainly didn’t mind the moves one bit.

The best act on the main stage that night was surely the New Cools, who drew further back for inspiration to the sort of synth-driven quirky new wave of XTC and the Cars. Their lead singer had charisma to spare: wearing a neon multi-colored white tracksuit, he robot-danced and squealed bi-lingual hooks like “Everybody is here now!” (In English) and “I want to be a famous director!” (In Mandarin) As always, it was fascinating seeing how bands, as well as the jumbo-screens before them, split between Chinese and English. At one point, the screens flashed: “Make some noise!” and “Clap your hands!” sans Chinese. There was a delay of a few seconds before enough people caught wind and the crowd kicked into action. Also interesting were the public service announcements, which varied from: “You’re here to cheer on the bands, not to pick a fight!” and “Sing along, but don’t spit!” right through to the rather Chinese: “You follow orders…because you are Zebra music fans!” 

My favorite act of the day was Chengdu locals Mr. Chelonian (though I was informed that their name should in fact be “Mr. Turtle”). Either way, as last band on the Deputy Stage, they rocked with a sort of Guns ‘N Roses-meets-Peter Tosh swagger, jumping from bouncy reggae and ska rhythms to Little Richard “four to the floor” and Black Crowes-evoking blues jams. Such a rich mixture of styles displayed a kind of rock literacy and technical fluidity rare among other local acts. The singer in particular, has a smooth verbal dexterity unusual to Chinese singers, sounding like Brad Nowell if the late Sublime singer had grown up in Guangxi rather than Long Beach. I would also have to give their fashion style a thumbs up: the singer, in a loose polka-dot shirt, bandana and long curls, evokes Axl’s glory days, the bass player is all Slash, while both were off-set by the (excellent) guitarists Dali-hippie vibe. In such a way, they seem to neatly summarize the wonderfully eclectic hodge-podge of rock history that comprises China’s contemporary indie scene.