Jing Daily’s Top Posts For The Week#
In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of March 15-19:
Jing Daily Exclusive Interview With Filmmaker Jia Zhangke (Part 1)
Last week, the Jing Daily team had the opportunity to interview Jia Zhangke (Platform, Still Life, 24 City), one of China’s top contemporary filmmakers, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York during its retrospective of Jia’s work. (The event continues through March 20.) Conducted in Mandarin, our 30-minute interview covered a range of important topics in the world of Chinese cinema, and shed light on Jia Zhangke’s opinions about everything from the current state of the official Chinese film system to the importance of nurturing young talent to the key developments in today’s China that inspire him as a filmmaker.
In
Part One#
of our two-part interview, Jia discusses the key developments in film production in China, his personal experiences as a young director in Beijing in the mid-’90s and support of young directors there today, and the difference between being an “underground” director and one who operates within China’s state film system.
Ai Weiwei, Jack Dorsey, Richard MacManus Hold Historic Conversation In New York#
Last night, the Paley Center for Media in New York City held a historic conversation between the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Twitterco-founder Jack Dorsey, andRichard MacManus, founder and editor in chief of the influential technology blog ReadWriteWeb. The Jing Daily team attended the sold-out event, live-tweeting the entirety of the discussion (viewable at@JingDaily) along with a number of other attendees and participants around the world. Fitting with the night’s theme of the growing ubiquity of social media, tweets about the event — comments, observations and questions for participants — were displayed real-time on a large screen behind the stage.
The conversation between Ai, Dorsey and MacManus, moderated by journalist and author Emily Parker, the Arthur Ross Fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on US-China Relations, touched on many subjects that are of critical importance not only in China or the US but around the world, from the development of “read/write” social media tools like Twitter and Facebook (as well as their domestic counterparts or clones in China) to the role of social media in increasing political transparency and seamlessly connecting individuals from around the world.
Luxury Brands Fail Chinese Quality Control Tests: What Fallout Could We See?#
As Jing Daily and others often note, one of the greatest strengths that major imported luxury brands have over their domestic or domestically produced counterparts is a perception of superior quality among Chinese consumers. This week, some of the world’s top luxury brands are undoubtedly in damage control mode in China, following the release of a study that indicates the majority of garment samples tested from brands like Hermes, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana failed to meet quality control standards. These samples, which consisted of “a range of attire,” according to China Daily, included t-shirts, sweaters, suits and skirts from a number of department stores and boutiques in Hangzhou, Ningbo and Taizhou.
One Of China’s First Museums To Reopen With Cai Guo-Qiang Exhibition#
Although Beijing gets most of the attention, with most of China’s blue-chip contemporary artists and the country’s top museums, as well as some of the most well-known arts districts (798, Caochangdi) based there, year by year Shanghai is shaking off its reputation as a business — rather than a cultural — center.
Capitalizing on its Jazz Age distinction as the “Paris of the East,” Shanghai’s creative community has made the city a vibrant destination for artists and art lovers alike in recent years. Though Beijing may have the top arts institutions, Shanghai has a more youthful energy (spotlighted on sites like NeoCha and its English-language counterpart NeoCha EDGE) that lends itself well to experimental art and unorthodox venues.
White Collar Workers Mad For Luxury; But Will They Squeeze LV, Gucci Out Of Top-Tier Markets?
A new survey on MSN’s China portal (Chinese), conducted in cooperation with the Chinese online research and consulting firm iResearch, has found that a growing number of white collar workers in top-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou regularly buy luxury products, reflecting the increased buying power and changing consumption patterns of younger consumers. According to the survey, around a third of consumers in top-tier cities purchase luxury goods on a “regular basis,” with Beijingers leading the pack.