See China

Whilst many artists seeks to make caricatures for contemporary China, He Wenjue（何汶玦,meaning water and jade）, a born-in-the-70s artist, retreats into a canvas of poetically recast dreamland of colors and shades for a reflected view on such a world, be it in water, in movies and his own memories.

An action-packed, quickly-cut, visually compelling and overtly witty film filled with metaphors that are no less layered than “Inception”, Jiang Wen’s new film “Let the Bullets Fly” perhaps can be understood only by the extremely sophiscated and jaded audiences of China and nowhere else.

Among all provinces in China, Yunnan is a blessed one. Not only because it enjoys the richest mixture of ethnicities and sceneries, but also because it has many devoted writers and poets carving out the depth and pulses of its history and people, for example, Lei Pingyang (雷平阳), a computer-defying writer who has won most of China’s top literary prizes with his verses of “narrow and paranoid love” for this province.

Fang Zhouzi (方舟子 – pen name, real name Fang Shimin 方是民）is a unique character, in fact a phenomenon by himself. Press surveys rank him among the 50 most famous persons in China, on par with say Zhang Ziyi or Yang Zhenning, and recently he was featured in a New York Times article.

Cui Yongyuan (崔永元), one of China’s (few) most “nostalgic and upright” TV gurus, shot a 32-episode documentary named “My WWII” after interviewing 3500 ordinary people in 8 years, but found it hard to sell.

Laotsu Bhodidharma I am not a follower of Tao or Zen – in fact, if I were, then by the stringent ideas of these creeds, I would not even be writing this article: according to one, you should be achieving the understanding that my article tries to pass on through your own meditative efforts, while according [...]

Zou Lan, an economist specializing in regional development and West China poverty issues, recalls his lifelong addiction to the diversified and dynamic music of West China. Exclusively on See China in 5 parts, with links to online mp3.

Wu Guanzhong (吴冠中，1919-2010)，one of the most accomplished and outspoken Chinese painters, died at the age of 90 on June 25. He is famous for combining Chinese and western painting techniques, tenaciously pursuing beauty in adversities and calling for reform of China’s artistic administrative system.

  the origin The idea of the dragon arose from snake fertility worship. The story of Eve and the serpent showed that (a) Eve, the mother figure of the Hebrew tribe, could talk to the snake, meaning that the tribe had an affinity to the snake (b) The serpent taught Eve and Adam to have [...]

Topping the list of bestsellers in May are books from Japan, Turkey and Uraguay, a refreshing revisit to the over-talked-about May 4th Movement of 1919 by historian Zhang Ming, a few historical recollections from the 20th century, and a warning book that China’s embarking on “inflation economy” by controversial economist Zhao Xiao.