Last week, two days before the International Day Against Homophobia, the Beijing LGBT Centerannounced it would be closing its doors.
In a WeChat post, the organization said the closure was due to unidentified “factors beyond its control.”
“Thank you for following and supporting us over the years,” the statement reads. “Hope we’ll see each other again with pride.”
Beijing LGBT+ Center is absolutely pivotal to queer advocacy and social welfare in China and it was basically the last major, long-running organisation standing after waves of crackdowns smashed everything else.
Founded in 2008, the Center was one of China’s largest and longest-standing LGBTQ organizations, supporting the queer community with emotional, medical, and legal resources.
The news of its closure came as a shock to many, given that the organization had just celebrated its 15th anniversary and released its 2022 annual report. The opening message of the report took an optimistic tone:
“In the days of uncertainty, we should not be afraid of the dissipation of enthusiasm; enthusiasm will not die, as long as there is faith, enthusiasm will definitely return to our lives again. May we all have the faith and courage to find our will to act and rekindle our passion for life.”
The Beijing LGBT Center achieved several milestones over its years of operation. In 2014, the Center successfully helped a man win a case against a clinic that treated him with electroshock therapy. A Beijing court eventually ruled that conversion therapy to ‘cure’ gay people was false advertising, and declared it illegal (although conversion therapy still occurs in some clinics across the country).
The Center has also been a leading voice in shaping awareness and understanding around the transgender community, publishing medical care manuals and national research reports — in 2022 alone, more than 18,000 people called in via the Center’s transgender hotline.
Many suspect a government crackdown is behind the abrupt closure. A queer activist told Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle that the public space for such organizations to operate has become limited.
“[This] is definitely about the government forcing them to stop operating,” they said. “I’m not surprised about their decision.”
A lecture being held at the Center. Image via Beijing LGBT Center
In recent years, LGBTQ+ groups and events have found themselves in difficult circumstances. In August 2020, mainland China’s oldest and biggest Pride celebration ShanghaiPRIDE announced an indefinite hiatus due to “safety concerns.” One year later, on the evening of July 6, 2021, over 20 WeChat accounts run by LGBTQ+ university student groups were shut down without clear reasons.
However, other factors also played a role in the Beijing LGBT Center’s closure. A previous employee at the Center, who left the NGO last year, told RADII that the issue was not just from the top.
“There were so many problems coming from different parties, including governmental authorities, the community, and even within the team,” she says. “It was exhausting.”
On social media platform Weibo, the Center’s followers expressed frustration and sadness, as well as hope.
“[The LGBTQ community] should not feel ashamed,” one commented. “Ignorance is shameful.”
“Even though I heard that [the Center] was closing down, and even though I’ve become used to seeing organizations shut down over these past few years, it really feels like a mountain outside my home has fallen down,” writes another. “I don’t know what to say about this empty space.”
“We will remember you, we will remember the change you’ve made for us,” reads the top comment under the Center’s Weibo post. “Thanks for being there and hope to see you again if possible.”
A frog costume has gone viral in China, filling city streets with frog-based silliness. The uniform is taking off with street vendors, and unexpectedly liberating its wearers from the shackles of societal expectation.
Clips of frogs doing military salutes, having dance battles, and skateboarding have caught on via social media platform Weibo, blossoming into a wide spread of memes and stirring conversations around work culture and the notion of joy in daily life.
A typical frog GIF. Image via WeChat
On popular ecommerce site Taobao, searches for the term ‘frog’ yield plenty of variations of the costume, with one top-selling vendor recording over 2000 sales in the past month alone.
But where does this costume come from, and why has it suddenly gone viral?
A ‘Ribbiting’ Origin Story
In an interview with Chinese state-run newspaper the Yangtze Evening Post, the creator of the costume Ms. Tong revealed that she had designed the character out of frustration with the job-hunting process.
Ms. Tong wearing her frog suit while being interviewed. Image via Yangtze Evening Post
A mother of twins, Ms. Tong faced difficulties when she tried to return to the workforce. Finally she decided to put her Nanjing Art Institute degree to use – drawing up a design for the costume and taking it to the streets to market her character.
A video of her dancing to attract customers blew up — since then, she’s inspired many imitators.
Ms. Tong says it was never about the money, and that she doesn’t mind the lack of copyright royalties.
“I just want to create happiness for everyone. I am very happy that it has also generated some income for people online,” said Tong.
Ms. Tong’s wish seems to be coming true: people are loving the frogs both online and in-person.
A street vendor poses for a picture with a customer. Image via Xiaohongshu
Searching for Toad-al Freedom
The appeal of the frog costumes, both for wearers and observers, is in their silliness. The anonymity of the costume allows its wearer to act in ways that are outside the norm — especially in major Chinese cities where young people face mounting social expectation.
One user on Weibo summed it up: “Some people may seem to have put on frog costumes, but in reality, they have taken off the shackles of life.”
A frog joins a group of plaza dancers. Image via Weibo
The streetgoing frog gig also provides more freedom compared to the typical 996 work culture that has permeated China in recent years. Ms. Tong mentioned that she herself has received plenty of messages from individuals who felt dissatisfied with work, and dreamed of embarking on their own frog journeys.
Even outside of viral frog trends, street vending and gig work have been on the rise in China, especially among young people seeking alternatives to a crushing office life.
Street Vendor Costumes Face Froggy Legality
Sometimes though, being a happy frog on the street isn’t as easy as it looks. As we approach summer, social media users are empathizing with the hardworking vendors inside those sweaty frog suits.
In one recent incident, a frog-clad vendor was apprehended by Shanghai officials and told to remove his costume for operating outside the designated selling area. A photo of the dejected-looking vendor went viral, and the internet was not happy about it.
Many netizens sided with the vendor who was reprimanded by officials. Image via Weibo
“People are just selling a toy frog…it doesn’t bother anyone. Are they bullying someone who is just an honest person?” reads one Weibo comment.
In spite of these challenges, it doesn’t seem like the frog will be leaving anytime soon — and for that we are thankful.
On May 15, AI art creators in China felt a burst of excitement upon reading that Midjourney, the leading AI-image generator, was launching in China, opening registration to a limited number of users.
However, the excitement didn’t last long. The announcement vanished shortly after is was published, and some users are questioning the legitimacy of the account it came from.
A now-deleted post on WeChat from the new account “Midjourney China” had invited creators to sign up on QQ, an app which is similar to Discord, the platform where Midjourney operates overseas. The channel stated it would open for signup at 6:00 PM on Mondays and Fridays, with a limited number of spaces available.
The Monday slot filled up quickly on May 15, before users started to sense something fishy. A user who goes by “Architect who loves basketball” successfully signed up on Monday, only to find that Midjourney’s QQ channel had a different subscription model compared to its internationally-available version.
The user wrote in a WeChat post of his own that, after using up their 25 free trial credits, users were asked to subscribe to the basic plan at 68 RMB (around 10 USD) to receive 200 image credits each month. Although the price tag is similar to Midjourney’s price overseas, the international version of the software doesn’t put a cap on the number of images generated, but instead limits usage time for each account.
Midjourney’s subscription plan, listed on its official site
Searching up the registration information for “Midjourney China” on WeChat revealed that the company behind the account, Pengyuhui, was founded last October in Nanjing. Little information about the company can be found online.
According to The Paper, a state-backed publication based in Shanghai, sources at Tencent revealed that QQ has not entered into any official collaboration with a “Midjourney China.” Rather, the channel had joined QQ as a third-party client.
At this point, nothing is certain. Sanyan Technology, a tech-focused online publication, pointed out that Midjourney had previously revealed plans to enter the Chinese market. Those plans included opening a service on QQ, as revealed in the company’s weekly office hour minutes on Discord.
It’s possible that the current QQ version could be the real Midjourney, doing beta testing on a small scale before an official launch in China. The team behind Midjourney is very small, so it could make sense to collaborate with a small Chinese company before rolling out their service in full. In this take, Midjourney only deleted the announcement and closed signups because they were overwhelmed by the number of registrations.
However, not everyone is buying it. “Architect who loves basketball” posted another article on WeChat on May 17, disputing the notion that Midjourney China could be the real deal. He claimed to have had a conversation with the real Midjourney team on Discord, where he asked about the legitimacy of Midjourney China. According to the screengrabs he provided, Midjourney employees confirmed that “Midjourney QQ is in early closed alpha testing phase,” and that users should “assume any link [they] see is untrustworthy.”
China’s tech sphere is notorious for its rigid regulation, which can make entry difficult for foreign companies. But was this a case of strict regulation, or of opportunistic deception?
RADII can’t confirm the authenticity of the screenshots shared. But these days, you can’t be too careful about handing out your credit card information – especially in the fast-moving, holographic world of AI.
China’s Digital Renaissance is a series exploring new currents in Chinese contemporary art, created in partnership with East West Bank. In this article, we meet a generation of young artists harnessing the intersection of futuristic technology and Chinese tradition.
Cyberpunk is certainly enjoying an extended moment in the pop cultural limelight.
Works like Blade Runner 2049 and Cyberpunk 2077 have reignited images of dystopian, East Asian-infused futurescapes in the public imagination (images which are often problematic, given that much of the cyberpunk genre was founded within a mindset of ‘Yellow Peril’).
Now though, a new generation of young artists is capturing a cybernetic future cast through a lens of Asian tradition.
Dabeiyuzhou, nicknamed ‘Oriental Cyborg,’ has already amassed a significant following in China. The digital artist plays with intersections of transcendental beauty and cyberpunk aesthetics. His work constitutes a fascinating, hi-tech exploration of Buddhist iconography.
Another young artist working in the space between traditional art and emerging technology is Du Kun. His series ‘Scores of Landscape’ is reminiscent of traditional Chinese shanshui style painting, while hiding a surprising secret: each element of the landscape corresponds to a sound, which when played together as a video, reveals a melody composed by the artist.
The two artists represent dramatically different aesthetics and mediums, although they share some thematic similarities.
For digital artists in China, the relationship between tradition and modernity, and questions about the role of technology in shaping culture, are driving influences in an ongoing period of exploration.
Where Past and Future Meet
The work of Dabeiyuzhou and Du Kun doesn’t come in a vacuum — futuristic takes on traditional art have been happening for years.
The trend of guochao (or ‘national wave’) saw visual elements from China’s past tapped by domestic brands like Lining, with distinctly Chinese iconography being plastered across everything from streetwear to milk tea.
A more recent iteration of the phenomenon — and one not as steeped in nationalist rhetoric — is the trend of young urbanites combining traditional Chinese clothing with subcultural fashion, yielding a new approach dubbed ‘Neo-Chinese style.’
Traditional culture remains a foundational theme, even for many of China’s most innovative artists, some of whom have mastered traditional techniques, only to extend them via modern technology.
“There are so many great artists in China who are doing contemporary art that’s based on tradition,” Du Kun tells RADII “Xu Bing, for example, who turns English words into Chinese calligraphy, or the papercut work of Lu Shenzhong, or Dou Wei who uses psychedelic music to reinterpret classical Chinese poetry!”
The younger generation’s interest in their own cultural heritage is a product of the times, born from the macroscopic reality of China’s growing importance on the global state, but also from the individual need to find one’s own unique identity in a rapidly-changing, globalist landscape, where ideas and aesthetics clash, mix, and transform at unprecedented speeds.
For Du, tradition is inseparable from the human spirit.
“We don’t normally feel that connection with traditional art and philosophy,” he says. “It’s only when you come into contact with other cultures that you become truly aware of your own.”
Even Dabeiyuzhou’s futuristic ‘Virtual Butterfly Project’ series holds a subtle connection to Daoist philosophy.
“Butterflies hold special significance in Chinese culture,” he says, referencing the famous dream of classical philosopher Zhuangzi. “They’re symbols of dreams, and of fantasy.”
Featuring over three million unique, AI-generated butterflies, the ongoing series reflects on the changing nature of human labor in the context of artistic production.
AI Art and the Human Quest for Expression
In a relatively short period of time, China has become one of the world’s most technologically advanced nations. That rapid and wide-reaching change offers a logical context for the surge of artists exploring the tumultuous intersections of past and future.
Despite his frequent use of Buddhist iconography, Dabeiyuzhou chuckles when asked about faith over dinner.
“I believe in technology,” he says.
Coming from a background in video game design, Dabeiyuzhou has been fascinated by generative AI tools since 2013, first as a way to “free art creation from the burden of human labor,” and then as a way to transcend the boundaries of human imagination altogether.
“I think it’s the artist’s responsibility to explore all the possibilities of art, including the possibilities of the medium itself,” he says.
For Dabeiyuzhou, the process of globalization is hastening the need for some kind of shared language.
“Everything created on a computer is built on a common language of 1s and 0s,” he says. “Technology is the most effective way to tear down the ‘Tower of Babel’ that separates us.”
Du Kun expresses similar hope for technology as a way to blur the lines of cultural differences and national boundaries.
“Now there is no Chinese art, German art, or American art,” he says. “Just art that touches you and art that doesn’t.”
Chinese-language film is back on the menu at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Last year, the glitzy French festival saw a conspicuous absence of Chinese feature films, which some attributed to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Others, meanwhile, felt it was part of China’s unofficial boycott of Cannes following the festival’s last-minute screening of a Hong Kong protest documentary.
The sudden withdrawal of Art College 1994, a work by acclaimed animator Liu Jian which was originally titled Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, seemed to further substantiate the assessment.
Nonetheless, while Chinese feature-length films were missing from the scene last year, a few short films did take part in the festival, even winning several awards, including the Short Film Palme d’Or for Chen Jianying’s The Water Murmurs.
This year is different, though.
Heavy pandemic restrictions are a thing of the past, and the Chinese film industry is on track for a full recovery; at least, judging by this year’s Cannes selections.
The festival’s official selection list and sidebars include a total of nine Chinese-language titles – five features, two of which are documentaries, as well as four short films.
It’s been some time since Chinese-language cinema has enjoyed its own peak of international recognition – after all, this year is the 30th anniversary of Fifth-Generation filmmaker Chen Kaige’s historic Palme d’Or win for Farewell my Concubine, the first and only Chinese feature title to earn the festival’s highest honor.
There are, however, some strong films being featured this year. You’ll want to pay attention to these Chinese-language films at Cannes 2023.
Editor’s note: Unlike most Chinese news coverage on this year’s Cannes selection, ‘Tiger Stripes’ by Amanda Nell Eu, a Malaysian filmmaker of Chinese descent, is not included on this list as the film is in the Malay language.
Youth (Spring) — Wang Bing
Youth is a new documentary from China’s leading nonfiction filmmaker Wang Bing. The 212-minute feature was shot in a small city near Shanghai, and funded entirely by European production companies.
According to its synopsis, the film follows young migrant workers at a textile factory, whose “friendships and love affairs are made and unmade according to the seasons, bankruptcies, and family pressures.’’
Man in Black — Wang Bing
Rarely does a filmmaker have the opportunity to showcase a documentary at Cannes, let alone two in the same year.
Wang’s second film to feature in this year’s festival, premiering in the Special Screenings section, is Man in Black, a portrait of 86-year-old Wang Xilin. Wang Xilin is one of China’s most legendary classical composers, whose painful experiences during the Cultural Revolution led to a life of exile in Germany.
The documentary clocks in at just 60 minutes of runtime, marking a departure from the director’s penchant for lengthy works (Wang’s debut film Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, for instance, ran over nine hours long, and is the only Chinese mainland film to be included in the ‘2022 Greatest Films of All Time’ decennial poll conducted by British film magazine Sight and Sound.
Only the River Flows — Wei Shujun
This crime thriller is the fourth film by 32-year-old phenom filmmaker Wei Shujun to appear at Cannes.
As if that weren’t enough expectation-building context, the film is an adaptation of a 2018 novella by Yu Hua, one of China’s most highly acclaimed contemporary authors.
Set in a rural town in the 1990s, the story follows police chief Ma Zhe, as he delves deep into what was seemingly an open-and-shut murder case.
Only the River Flows will compete in the Un Certain Regard section, which is dedicated to “more experimental up-and-coming arthouse directors.”
The Breaking Ice — Anthony Chen
Also premiering in the Un Certain Regard section is Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice, which stars two of China’s most popular young actors, Zhou Dongyu (known for her role in Better Days) and Liu Haoran (previously starring in the Detective Chinatown franchise).
According to Deadline, the movie portrays “the blossoming relationship among three young adults in their twenties over a short few days of heavy winter snowfall.”
Though the film is the Singaporean filmmaker’s first production in the Chinese mainland, Chen is no stranger to Cannes. He won the Camera d’Or, the festival’s award for best debut feature, with his 2013 family drama IloIlo.
A Song Sung Blue — Geng Zihan
27-year-old Geng Zihan’s feature debut is a coming-of-age drama, backed by one of the producers behind the award-winning The Farewell.
Described as a chronicle that “marks the end of childhood innocence,” A Song Sung Blue tells the story of 15-year-old Xian’s relationship with Mingmei, her father’s stepdaughter, over the course of one restless summer.
Geng’s film is selected in the Directors’ Fortnight independent sidebar, which “highlights the most singular and visionary practices in contemporary cinema.” It’s also eligible for the Queer Palm Prize.
Talking to the River — Pan Yue
Another Chinese title appearing in the Directors’ Fortnight is Talking to the River, a short film by young director Pan Yue, a graduate of the London Film School.
The synopsis for the 29-minute film is brief but intriguing: Kai is a left-behind child in a remote village, who begins to sleepwalk after finding out that his mother is pregnant with a second child. When his grandparents find out, they turn to mysterious folk methods to treat him.
Walking with Her into the Night — Shu Hui
Shu Hui’s first short film, sci-fi comedy The Spring Breeze Kisses Me, competed last year’s FIRST International Film Festival, a major event for China’s indie film buffs.
This year, his new short Walking with Her into the Night has secured a prestigious slot as the only Chinese work to be selected in the Critics’ Week section, which runs parallel to the festival’s official selection, and focuses on discovering new talent.
Little is revealed in the film’s description: “Late at night, somewhere in the city, a man and a woman meet on the street, they chat and talk, it seems like the beginning of an intimate relationship, but both are aware that it is more like a final trip.”
A Bright Sunny Day — He Yupeng
The description for He Yupeng’s short film A Bright Sunny Day is even more succinct: “The appearance of a girl on a bright sunny day gently changes the life of a young man.”
A Bright Sunny Day is one of two Chinese-language short films in this year’s La Cinef selection, featuring works submitted by film schools around the world. The 27-year-old director is currently enrolled at the Columbia University School of the Arts.
Uhrmenschen (Primitive Times) — Yu Hao
The other Chinese-language selection to feature in the La Cinef section comes from Yu Hao, studying animation at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg.
The 6-minute long animation featured ‘interviews’ with five primitive people discussing their takes on labor, examining the problem of work culture through an ancient lens.
For a taste of Yu’s previous work, check out his animated adaptation of Chinese-American author Ha Jin’s short story ‘Winds and Clouds Over a Funeral.’
The 2023 Cannes Film Festival will run from May 16 – May 27.
With pandemic-era restrictions out of the way, the BEYOND Expo officially returned to its full glory this year in Macau. The long-awaited emerging tech expo is the latest occurrence in a movement that sees the city expanding its identity beyond gambling.
Macau’s world-class casinos and luxury hotels earned it the nickname the ‘Las Vegas of Asia’ – but a huge slump in tourism during the pandemic catalyzed a period of soul-searching for the Chinese special administrative region. A series of governmental crackdowns on the gaming industry solidified the city’s resolve to diversify its identity and economy.
Located in China’s Greater Bay Area, Macau is leaning into an identity around technology and innovation. Collaborating with established, tech-focused cities like Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Macau is looking to utilize its international free zone and visa-free status to attract more talent and investment in tech.
The BEYOND Expo is part of that effort, with this year’s conference focusing on innovation across healthcare, sustainability, and consumer tech. Here are four handpicked highlights.
1. Autonomous Vehicles
China is no stranger to the autonomous vehicle game, and domestic tech giants like Baidu and Didi are already piloting robotaxi fleets in multiple cities.
This year, Xpeng Aeroht, Qcraft, and Cowarobot were among the companies showcasing their latest autonomous vehicle products, from boats and buses, to street cleaning robots, to intelligent all-electric flying machines.
Additionally, experts from the Shenzhen Autonomous Driving Intelligence Research Centre moderated a discussion on the future of mobility.
Xpeng Aeroht’s Traveler X2, a two-person intelligent electric flying machine
Mogo’s autonomous bus prototype
Cowarobot’s new cleaning robot design. Features include intelligent waste identification, fully autonomous path planning, adaptive sweeping and automatic parking
2. Sports
Attendees might be interested to know that the Venetian Hotel is not only the host of this year’s Expo, but also the host of the 2007 NBA China Game, as well as the first-ever UFC event to be held in greater China, back in 2014. Now, Macau is looking to boost its reputation as a major hub for sports.
The NBA booth was a fan favorite at this year’s conference, showcasing the NBA’s history in China and inviting guests to test their shooting skills. Its noticeable presence at BEYOND suggests that sports may play a significant role in the ongoing diversification of Macau’s entertainment sector.
The NBA booth at BEYOND
Memorabilia displayed at the NBA booth
3. Macau As Pan-Asian Center
This year, over 40% of expo exhibitors are international companies. Speakers, entrepreneurs, and representatives from across the Pan-Asian area made appearances at the conference. Seminars were held in Japanese, Bahasa, English, and Mandarin.
BEYOND’s co-organizer Lu Gang hopes the conference will eventually become the largest of its kind in Asia, putting Macau on the map as a pan-Asian technology hub.
CEO of TechNode and co-organizer of BEYOND Lu Gang speaking at the conference
Kishore Mahbubani, Former President of the United Nations Security Council, said that the 21st century will be the Asian century. He also offered a new meaning for the acronym CIA – China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The scope of technology is advancing quickly, says Mabhubani, and with around 3.5 billion people living in the CIA area, collaboration will be a crucial theme.
Kishore Mahbubani giving a keynote speech on the rise of Asia
4. Gateway for Startups
The expo isn’t just for current industry leaders – it’s also a platform for startups to find investors and financing opportunities. This year featured international investment summits, as well as startup roadshows (including the first-ever roadshow from the Brazil-Portugal Innovation Company ).
The expo presents the perfect opportunity for eager young startups to network, learn, and show off what they’re working on.
5. Healthcare and Sustainability
Healthcare and sustainability took center stage at this year’s Expo, sparking dynamic discussions among experts from both fields. Collaboratively, they explored the transformative potential of technology, particularly AI, and its impact on reshaping the industry’s landscape.
Although the integration of AI in healthcare and drug development is currently in its early stages, Zhang Wenze , CFO of Chinese pharmaceutical company Livzon, emphasized during the conference that AI is poised to become a formidable force in disrupting the healthcare system. He predicted that AI will significantly influence the development of biopharmaceuticals over the next decade, solidifying its heavyweight status in the industry.
Zhang Wenze discussing the application of AI in the healthcare industry
The field of sustainability , on the other hand, has already experienced notable transformations as a result of technological advancements but more remains to be done. The Chinese government has been pushing for the application of renewable energy in recent years but replacing all coal plants is not an overnight job. This is when technology came into play, as Saifur Rahman , president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, highlighted the need to construct highly efficient coal plants equipped with carbon capture technologies.
While the past three years have been shaky ones for Macau, the future looks to be coming quickly, if the BEYOND Expo is any indicator.
All image courtesy of BEYOND Expo
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