Why is science fiction popular in China?

This past weekend I attended my first World Science Fiction Convention at Chicon 7. During the convention I listened in on several panels about Science Fiction in China. These panels were extremely interesting and very informative. There were discussions of many historical facts and ideas regarding the history of Chinese science fiction, which dates back to the late 1800’s with the first “modern” Sci-Fi novel in 1903. In addition to the history of the genre there were dozens of other topics, three of which really caught my interest.

The first topic (in no particular chronological order) discussed foreign Sci-Fi and Fantasy books that inspired the authors. For the most part these inspirations were the same as any Sci-Fi lover in the US; authors such as Gibson, Bradbury, Clark and others were mentioned. The only notable author specifically mentioned as not well read in China was Lovecraft. The reason given was the lack of a “horror” story tradition in China. This is true as China has many ghost stories typically used to instill moral and ethical teachings rather than frighten.
The second topic was the motivations of modern science fiction authors and readers. During this particular discussion I was struck by what one young author, pen name Xia Jia, said. From her perspective one of the things that draws readers in general, especially young readers, to Sci- Fi is the wish to look forward. She pointed out that much of Chinese literary and television looks to the past. By reading forward-looking novels Chinese readers can think about what may come rather than linger on the past. They can imagine what China will be like in the future.

This is a very powerful and true observation she made. There are so many sub-topics extending from her observation it would require a term paper to cover them all. Instead I will utilize her core point to highlight a pressing problem facing China. Many scholars and observers like to focus on rote learning as the core problem with China’s modern education system. While this is a concern that requires changes I argue it is not the sole area worthy of critique. I believe the 100% focus on past events is actually the key flaw in China’s education system.

Coupled with the fact that 95% of all books, TV shows, and movies are also centered on the past, China faces a lack of forward thinking. The focus on the past rather the future across the education and entertainment aspects of Chinese culture is creating a core component of the current growth and development issues facing China. Most Chinese and foreign observers would agree the lack of homegrown innovation is a core developmental issue in China. I would argue it is not China’s rote learning regimen, acute respect for authority, or family centered societal structure that are inhibiting innovation; it is all of these aspects combined with an educational and cultural focus on the past.

China’s current education and media environment like to focus on highlighting China’s glory days, embarrassments at the hands of foreigners, and how far China has come. Little effort is made to focus on China’s future. If there was more attention given to where China is going and the possibilities of what it can achieve, I believe the other changes required to spur innovation would be more easily attained. By constantly looking backwards, China is harming itself moving forwards.

The third topic revolved around the need to share Sci-Fi across borders. The authors on the various panels spoke of a need to translate more foreign works into Chinese. They pointed out the barely filled need to translate Chinese works into English. Their point is well taken as intercultural and literary exchanges typically lead to greater mutual understanding. I fell this is a wonderful idea and Science Fiction and Fantasy are best suited to take advantage of the opportunity. I for one will be adding my skill to this endeavor.

Overall I think it is wonderful that Sci-Fi in China is fulfilling much of the same role it does in other cultures across the Earth. This only goes to show no matter how large our differences, our similarities are even larger.

If this topic interests you please go to Emily Jiang’s blog at www.emilyjiang.com to read her posts as she shares her notes and thoughts about all four Science Fiction in China panels from Chicon 7.

Read more about China at China Daily Mail

Han Han on Typos, Race Cars, Censorship in China

Han Han is often hailed as “the world’s most popular blogger” or “the voice of China’s boom-era youth,” but remarkably, until now, none of his writing (which spans blogging as well as hugely popular, angst-ridden novels) has been published in English.

On Oct. 9, Simon & Schuster releases “This Generation: Dispatches From China’s Most Popular Literary Star (and Race Car Driver),” a collection of work that dates back to when Mr. Han started blogging in 2005. The volume presents an overview of the social and political issues, both large and small, that have preoccupied him and much of China during the past several years of constant change.

In addition to writing, Mr. Han races cars professionally, releases pop music, has launched and edited magazines, and is startlingly handsome. The 29-year-old author spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the risks of his success, the rigors of racecar driving and his hopes for greater freedom of expression in China. 

What does it feel like to know that when you publish a blog post, millions of people will be reading it moments later?
Mr. Han: It makes me conscious that I need to check for typos first.

Of your many activities, which is most important to you?
Racing cars, because the schedule is set in stone. I have to be in my car at a specific time, and be ready to drive it. Just when I do the other things is a matter I can decide for myself.

Are there any other creative avenues you’re hoping to pursue? It would be easy to picture you involved in movies, for example.
Possibly. But you know, it’s not that easy in China. We run into trouble when we try to do things, not because the things themselves are so difficult, but because there are any number of people who will raise objections to whatever it is you’re trying to do.

“This Generation” is your first book to be translated into English. How do you think your writing will be received?
I have no great expectations on this score. Once an author has finished writing a work in his own language, the deed is done, and it doesn’t make sense to get either too worried or too excited about it.

One of the most talked about current policy goals of the Chinese government is to boost “soft power” and cultural influence abroad. The publication of your book in English is, in some ways, a rare example of a piece of authentic, contemporary Chinese culture making its way into the Western world, where it will be discussed and might have a chance to exert some influence on people’s understanding of the country. How do you feel about playing that role? And what will it take for more Chinese creators to have this opportunity?
I’d be surprised if the book had much impact at all. Maybe they think that they can throw money around to promote our culture, that if they just spend enough billions they’ll be able to create an international market for contemporary Chinese cultural products, but things don’t work that way. If you’ve got one hand clamped around somebody’s throat, you can’t toss money about with the other hand and expect the poor guy to suddenly sing a song of timeless beauty for you. The same rule applies to my own books: They reflect only parochial concerns and won’t strike a chord with the world at large. If you really want to export great masterworks of literature and art, it’s actually very simple: Don’t keep sticking your finger into every pie.

What do you think the West most misunderstands about contemporary China?
Westerners’ greatest misconception is that China misunderstands the West. Most of us have a perfectly good understanding of it.

 If you are interested in the whole interview, please go to WSJ.

This Man Wants to Clothe the Planet

TADASHI YANAI, FOUNDER OF THE GLOBAL clothing retailer Uniqlo, is on the other end of a videoconference screen. From his Tokyo office, Yanai-san speaks enthusiastically about Uniqlo's innovative fabrics. "Americans believe cotton is best," he says, "but we've invented new fabrics that will change your lifestyle." First, Yanai marvels over Heattech, a proprietary warmth-generating Uniqlo cloth developed in partnership with the Japanese company that provides carbon-fiber for Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Next, he boasts that Airism, Uniqlo's cooling fabric, is "so light you don't even know you're wearing it. It is the number-one must-buy product for summer."

I ask if he wears it on steamy Tokyo workdays. He smiles broadly and, at that moment, the richest man in Japan unbuttons his shirt to show me his Uniqlo underwear.

Yanai is refreshingly open about his goals these days: making Uniqlo the number-one apparel retailer in the world. His target—$50 billion in yearly revenue by 2020—will require whiplash gains above Uniqlo's current revenue of $12 billion, driving the company ahead of front-runners Inditex (which owns Zara), H&M and Gap. This swaggering ambition might ring hollow if Yanai hadn't already turned heads among apparel-industry cognoscenti. He established a beachhead in the American market, opening three attention-getting stores in New York City—including a gargantuan flagship on Fifth Avenue, the second-biggest store in the Uniqlo empire. He lured designer Jil Sander out of retirement for a wildly successful multi-season collaboration. And then there's the retail environment: Yanai's scripted sales techniques and sleek spaces are studied by Uniqlo managers in Japan before being spread to markets around the globe.

Uniqlo will open two new U.S. stores this fall—in San Francisco and New Jersey—while also launching an e-commerce site. The company hopes to add "hundreds and hundreds" of stores here, from coast to coast, at a rate of 20 to 30 a year. In short, Uniqlo is vowing to beat Gap at its own game, clothing all of America in basics at affordable prices. Can a brand rooted in Japan—one employing a distinctly minimalist aesthetic—become a mainstream U.S. retail force, invading malls in the Midwest and in Sunbelt suburbs?

Yanai thinks it can, largely because he sees zero difference between shoppers in Manhattan and in Milwaukee. In this sense, he draws inspiration from a noted American minimalist: Steve Jobs, another retail entrepreneur who had boundless confidence and a knack for turning simplicity into chic. It's become almost cliché to compare successful emerging brands to Apple, or to equate an iconoclastic business leader to Jobs. But this is precisely how Yanai views his mission and himself. To him, Uniqlo is less like other clothing companies and more like Jobs's high-tech corporate temple: on a constant quest for innovation, guided by a holistic vision that aims to do much more than simply move merchandise. Read the whole story at WSJ

Understanding How the Internet Is Transforming Personal Connections in China

Photo Credit: Patrick Butler

The internet has transformed China's closed inner circle of personal connections, referred to as guanxi, into a more open chain of relationships, said social-media giant S Y Lau of Tencent.

S Y Lau delivers a presentation at the Ad Age Digital Conference Tuesday afternoon in New York. 

Speaking at Ad Age's Digital Conference on Tuesday, Mr. Lau described the opportunities for marketers that understand the values of Chinese consumers -- from lack of brand loyalty to a hunger for respect. Mr. Lau is senior exec VP-president of online-media business at Tencent, which includes the QQ messaging service, with 721 million active accounts. Just 14 months ago, Tencent developed a smartphone-messaging app, Weixin, that now has 100 million users, Mr. Lau said.

The numbers are staggering in a country with 513 million internet users: Every day, more than 164,031 Chinese go online for the first time and 17 million new smartphones are activated. Jeremy Lin has 5.4 million fans on Tencent's social networks in China, and 370,000 people play mahjong on the networks at the same time, according to Mr. Lau.

Mr. Lau said that the Chinese are impressionable and intrigued by imagery but unlikely to remain loyal to brands. Creating content -- such as a campaign Tencent did with Nike that led to the formation of 62,000 virtual basketball teams -- helps build brand intimacy.

Consumers' skepticism is often a challenge for marketers participating in big events, Mr. Lau said. In a move to counter that, two years ago Tencent and BMW aimed to create a huge volunteer network by mobilizing consumers in a viral campaign to spread the spirit of the World Expo held in Shanghai.

Chinese also seek respect, or "face," meaning a good reputation in front of one's peers. One expression of that is a huge market for virtual products. "Personal image is vital here," Mr. Lau said. "[People] spend billions of yuan on virtual goods to maintain their online image."

In a Q&A session at the conference, John Quelch, professor of international management and dean at the China Europe International Business School, said that the government does block search results on a few topics and that Chinese web companies understand these limitations.

"But if you look at the upside of having 500 million to 600 million internet users, and the information being exchanged, no central authority can control all that," Mr. Quelch said. "There are restrictions on sensitive issues. There was a temporary shutdown for three days of the comments feature of microblogging sites. The government didn't attempt to shut down the posting or forwarding features, just comments. ... Reason prevailed, and after three days the restrictions were lifted. Maybe because they were ineffective, maybe because there was such a popular outcry."

Mr. Quelch said Chinese society was built around fear, with citizens close to only "six people around my banquet table." But that's changing, he added. "Chinese are learning to be social in a much broader societal sense."

That's an important message for marketers. When one blogger posted a bad review of a Siemens refrigerator, the negative message was retweeted 170 million times in China, he said....

By: Laurel Wentz | Published: April 18, 2012. Please go to Ad Age to read the whole story and comments.

The End of Cheap China

The End of Cheap China is a fun, riveting, must-read book not only for people doing business in China but for anyone interested in understanding the forces that are changing the world.

Many Americans know China for manufacturing cheap products, thanks largely to the country's vast supply of low-cost workers. But China is changing, and the glut of cheap labor that has made everyday low prices possible is drying up as the Chinese people seek not to make iPhones, but to buy them. Shaun Rein, Founder of the China Market Research Group, puts China's continuing transformation from producer to large-scale consumer - a process that is farther along than most economists think - under the microscope, examining eight megatrends that are catalyzing change in China and posing threats to Americans' consumption-driven way of life.

Rein takes an engaging and informative approach to examining the extraordinary changes taking place across all levels of Chinese society, talking to everyone from Chinese billionaires and senior government officials to poor migrant workers and even prostitutes. He draws on personal stories and experiences from living in China since the 1990s as well as hard economic data. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of China's transformation, from fast-improving Chinese companies to confident, optimistic Chinese women to the role of China's government, and at the end breaks down key lessons for readers to take away.