Most of Ian Johnson's feature on Yu Hua is paywalled, but how's this for a writers and artists colony:
We stayed in a villa in a secluded development built on part of a wetlands park. The string of houses, bridges, and canals was surrounded by high walls and walkie-talkie-wielding guards. Yu’s neighbors were film producers, directors, artists, writers, and government officials—all beneficiaries of a city-run company that owned the properties and lent them out to anyone it figured might lend luster to Hangzhou, do something artistic, or simply had the pull to live in a luxury development. Yu is one of China’s most famous writers and even though his relationship to the city is tenuous—he was born in Hangzhou but left as an infant for a small town and now lives in Beijing—officials hoped he’d give their city some cachet.
Over the next few days, the villa was the setting for a series of meals, one raunchier than the next. The high point was a boozy lunch where the head of the local writer’s association ogled the legs of the deputy head of propaganda, while a paunchy singer for the People’s Liberation Army showed off a “talented young lady” he had taken under his wing. Later, a Party secretary arrived with a suitcase full of French wine and an enormous celadon vase from the onetime imperial kilns of Jingdezhen—the sort of trophy that governments in China fob off on famous visitors and hotel lobbies.
He then proceeds to wind them up about the Party while they all chuckle and go 'oh, you cheeky monkey'. You can read more on Yu Hua over here.
Interesting how Huangzhou seems to have cracked the 'attratcing cultural capital' issue without any pop psychology, conferences or strategy papers. Just throw up a luxury compound and switch the booze tap on.
Interesting how Huangzhou seems to have cracked the 'attratcing cultural capital' issue without any pop psychology, conferences or strategy papers. Just throw up a luxury compound and switch the booze tap on.
Your mother could have told them that.
Posted by: Barry Freed | September 23, 2012 at 07:07 PM
I like the thought of 50s Fitzrovia as a "luxury compound".
Posted by: Strategist | September 23, 2012 at 11:14 PM