Category Archives: Uncategorized

Harry Styles Reps Beijing Record Label at Ariana Grande Concert

Spotted: Harry Styles — icon of a generation of lustily devoted millennial fangirls, and former face of Western pop culture’s most adored British boyband (stop me before I get lost in describing this man’s dreamy features) — was just seen at an Ariana Grande concert… repping China’s alt music scene?

Rather than donning one of Ariana Grande’s numerous items of self-branded merchandise, Harry opted for a Spacefruity Records tee. It’s a surprising choice — Spacefruity Records is a Beijing-based independent tape and vinyl label.

Launched by one of the oldest and most respected hands in Beijing’s music scene, Zhai Ruixin, Spacefruity Records specializes in publishing vintage psychedelic rock — think of Chinese acts like Boiled Hippo and The Molds.

Beijing native Zhai also owns a number of fruit-named music endeavors in the mainland’s capital, including fRUITYSHOP, a large vinyl store with a diverse catalogue, and fRUITYSPACE, a cozy noise basement offering arguably the best selection of vinyl, CDs and cassettes in Beijing. The basement also doubles as a live venue, frequented by China’s most ardent noise makers, rappers, and indie rockers.

Related:

Photo of the day: fRUITYSPACE, Beijing
Article Apr 19, 2018

In typical fashion, ex-One Direction member Styles stirred up quite a bit of social media buzz for this choice of tee, even inspiring fRUITYSPACE to post photos of Harry’s concert outfit on their official Weibo, in documentation of the beautiful man, I mean moment.

Zhai himself seemed unbothered, even blissfully immune to the debilitating beauty of the British pop icon. “That was so weird,” he told That’s in response to the onslaught of media attention sparked by Harry. “Actually, I didn’t know this guy before. I don’t know why he has this T-shirt.”

Wǒ Men Podcast: Covering the Uncovered Female Stories

The Wǒ Men Podcast is a discussion of life in China hosted by Yajun Zhang, Jingjing Zhang and Karoline Kan. Previous episodes of the Wǒ Men Podcast can be found here, and you can subscribe to Wǒ Men on iTunes here.

Jocelyn Ford, a reporter, filmmaker and educator, has dedicated her life to covering rarely-covered female-centric stories.

She pushed the Japanese Prime Minister’s press office to build the first lady’s room in the building in 1990s. She was one of the first reporters in Japan to cover the topic of WWII comfort women and forced the Japanese government and the public to face up to this issue. She was the first bureau chief of Marketplace in China, and has shed light on rarely-discussed Tibetan gender issues by producing the documentary Nowhere to Call Home.

For this episode of Wǒ Men, we talked to Jocelyn Ford about her work and her views on how women can break the social norm of male dominance and make a difference.

“Choose the battle and win it!” as she puts it.

On the latest Wǒ Men Podcast, the team explore all these issues and more. Listen below on Mixcloud, or find Wǒ Men on iTunes here.

Cover image: Alice Carfrae

China’s Biggest Rappers Are Posting an Anti-Hong Kong Protest Meme

A meme calling the protests currently roiling Hong Kong a “shame” blew up the Chinese internet today. The image — which reads “I support Hong Kong police, you can hit me” in traditional Chinese characters, with “What a shame for Hong Kong” written in English underneath — was released this morning at 1:50 AM Beijing time by People’s Daily, China’s largest newspaper and an official paper of the country’s ruling Communist Party.

Stoking fury in response to last night’s clash between police and protestors at Hong Kong International Airport, the People’s Daily meme has blown up in part due to widespread anger among the general mainland populace, but also thanks to support from an unlikely corner: clout rappers

Rap of China champion PG One, for example, re-posted People Daily’s Weibo this afternoon with the caption: “Support Hong Kong police, resist violent atrocities!!! I hope everyone is safe and secure!”

Another Rap of China star, VaVa, posted the meme to her 253,000 Instagram followers with the English caption: “Hong Kong is part of China forever.” The hashtag #VAVA INS# is currently one of Sina Weibo’s trending topics, with more than 300 million re-posts — somewhat ironic given that Instagram is blocked in mainland China, and inaccessible without VPN software (something some commenters have pointed out on her post).

hong kong protest meme vava

Yet another famous-because-of-TV rapper, After Journey, joined the fray as well, ‘gramming the image with the caption (in Chinese): “Compatriots, remember this day, remember this moment.”

Less directly, two members of what is arguably Chinese rap’s hottest overseas export, Higher Brothers, shared images of China’s national flag on their Instagram accounts this afternoon. Melo from the Sichuan trap group shared the flag with the English caption “Once again.I’m proud i’m a Chinese.”, later responding to a commenter in Chinese (and Sichuan-dialect slang), “Hong Kong has been part of China’s territory since ancient times, you dumbasses should recognize your ancestors and origins”.

Three hours later, fellow Higher Brother DZ Know shared the same image with the Chinese caption “send me a [Chinese flag emoji],” promptly followed up with a comment (also in Chinese) reading, “China first [fire emoji]”.

hong kong protest flag post

Though such blatant — and, frankly, puerile — displays of nationalism might seem surprising coming from rappers who’ve been busy building an international following, keep in mind that some are reflecting a sentiment that has been growing on the mainland in recent weeks as State media outlets have devoted increasing attention to events in Hong Kong. Another consideration is that signalling allegiance to a pro-Communist Party meme heavily affects the domestic bottom line for rappers like Higher Brothers and VaVa, who need to remain on the right side of Chinese authorities and fans alike.

As RADII contributor Lauren Teixeira, who got to know Higher Brothers while profiling them for VICE music offshoot Noisey last year, put it:

—

Cover image: VaVa

International Brands in Hot Water for Listing China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan as Separate Countries

As heated protests continue to consume Hong Kong, mainland Chinese netizens this week have chosen to take issue with international fashion brands that list China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as separate countries.

Netizens began circulating “offending” product photos and site screenshots from several international brands — including Versace, Coach, Givenchy, Asics and Swarovski — on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, with many users calling for full-on boycotts of the brands.

versace t-shirt china

An image of a Versace T-shirt widely circulated on Chinese social media

Coach, Versace, Givenchy and Swarovski have since issued public apologies on social media, and said they would recall or amend any products in question. “Coach respects and supports China’s sovereignty,” the brand wrote in a statement on Twitter.

The statement followed a personal apology from Donatella Versace:

The snowballing controversy has also prompted at least three Chinese brand ambassadors — Chinese actress Yang Mi (pictured above at a Versace event in June), TFBoys member Jackson Yee and supermodel Liu Wen — to terminate their respective contracts with Versace (for Mi and Yee) and Coach. “Because of my carelessness in choosing the brand, it has brought harm to everyone,” wrote Liu on Weibo. “I apologize to everyone here! I love my motherland and resolutely safeguard China’s sovereignty!” The post has since gained close to one million likes.

Liu Wen Coach Weibo statement

Liu Wen’s statement on Weibo

This isn’t the first time international brands have outraged or annoyed Chinese consumers and had to issue apologies and retractions. However, we don’t expect they’ll be the last.

Update: Sure enough, Apple has become the latest brand to come under fire on Chinese social media after a Weibo account alleged that the company’s iOS 12.1 (for iPad) and 12.4 (iPhone) updates no longer treat Hong Kong as a territory of China but instead as its own entity:

apple hong kong

Screen shots posted to Weibo allegedly show Hong Kong no longer listed as part of China on Apple’s iOS update

The corresponding hashtag has quickly risen to become one of the microblogging platform’s hottest topics.

Watch: We Tried Male Makeup

We Tried is a series where RADII staff try out unique foods, experiences, and phenomena in China. Drop us a line if you have a suggestion.

The era of male beauty in China is now.

These days, you can’t even take the Shanghai metro without gazing into the pixelated smoldering looks of the handsome, fresh-faced Chinese idols who decorate every billboard or in-train advertisement with their dewy skin and tastefully drawn brows.

In today’s China, male celebrities, livestreamers and media influencers can often be found promoting and wearing male makeup, from B.B cream to guyliner to manscara. Young, trendy, and forward-facing, these men are pioneering a significant shift in China’s sociocultural definition of a desirable man.

Related:

livestreamer star make-up cosmetics androgynous china
Behind the Scenes with an Androgynous Livestream Star
Livestreamer Little Zhouzhou, who fell into beauty blogging quite by accident, exemplifies the changing face of masculinity in China
Article Jul 10, 2019

So as economic growth, shifting social norms, and really hot guys wearing foundation continue to fuel the male beauty market in China, we decided it was time to test the waters.

In this episode of We Tried, we commission a Chinese makeup artist to give 2 male RADII members their first male makeup makeovers. Thankfully, there’s an app for that — with He Li Jia we were able to order a seasoned cosmetics pro in just a few simple steps.

Watch below to see these guys’ first time tapping into China’s male makeup phenomenon:

“China’s Beyonce” is the New Face of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty

Naomi Wang Ju may have already earned the moniker of “China’s Beyonce”, but the breakout pop star actually considers herself more of a “Yangpu Rihanna” (Yangpu being a district in Shanghai) — and RiRi herself seems to have given the stamp of approval.

Wang was selected as a China ambassador and face of Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty brand, and appeared in the cosmetic line’s China-aired #NewGenerationOfBeauty ad campaign. It’s a fitting collaboration, given Wang’s long history of challenging conventional beauty standards.

Since her debut on China’s hit idol-training show, Produce 101, Wang has faced consistent controversy surrounding her appearance. With tanned skin, freckles, and an athletic build, Wang is the antithesis of the “standard” Chinese pop idol. Netizens criticized her weight and skin color, questioning if she was even “suitable” to perform in an idol girl group. One Weibo meme mocked her size and stage presence by speculating she could even overpower Marvel supervillain Thanos.

Related:

Produce 101 tencent china talent show tv
“China’s Beyoncé” Wang Ju Fails to Make “Produce 101” Cut
Article Jun 25, 2018

But the discourse quickly changed as Wang’s positivity, self-assurance and rejection of convention began to emerge on public television. Sharp-tongued and level-headed, Wang deftly handled early public backlash by embracing the memes, poking fun at the hater comments, and openly acknowledging the gap between herself and traditional concepts of beauty in China.

Although Wang did not make the final cut of Produce 101, her refusal to submit to the rigid pressures of conventional beauty standards captivated the hearts of fans across the board, even inciting vocal support from China’s gay community. Popular LGBTQ publication DanLan wrote “Everything Wang Ju has been through, we gays have been through before.”

Wang’s struggle is relatable, and her resolution in spite of it has made her a role-model for a generation of Chinese youth who are growing progressively critical of the world around them.

“I think I am beautiful. I don’t agree [that] only people with white skin, small faces and thin bodies are beautiful,” Wang said in an interview with the South China Morning Post earlier this year. Her sentiments echo the mission of Fenty Beauty, which was created for the explicit purpose of diversifying the beauty industry, both in terms of cosmetic accessibility for women of color and representation for those not considered ‘conventionally’ beautiful.

In the Fenty ad, surrounded by a diverse array of confident and unapologetic women, Wang looks like she truly fits in. After all, appearances aside, it’s Wang’s ideals that made her a face for a new generation of beauty in China.

Cover photo: Simon Song