Media Bellwether Chen Guanzhong's New Blog & Beijing Commentary
John Chan Koon Chung finally has started a blog in Chinese and English. He's an expert on Chinese media in that he's done everything and anything to do with Chinese media. I really love his most recent post about Beijing:
Beijing is not unfamiliar with the culture of the intruders – the Qidans, the Jurchens, the Mongols, the Manchus, the Nationalists, the Japanese, the Communists, and now the new phalanges of economic migrants, from expatriates to new rich from the provinces to peasant laborers. It would be historically correct to say that barbarians built Beijing ….
That could be said of NYC - the American Indians inhabited the land until the the Spanish & French brought their diseases, the Dutch took over, African slaves built the wall on Wall Street and cleared the land for development, the English took over, the Irish came, freed Blacks came, Puerto Ricans came, then other migrants followed. And to this day, it is still political or economic migrations that drives NYC's energy.
Perhaps that's why Beijing and NYC are two of my favorite cities. There are so many historical, political and economic contradictions, that the only way to enjoy both cities is to embrace the glossy hypocrisy, turn questions into opportunties, and become part of a community. For me, living in large cities are usually the most difficult yet rewarding parts of Me-Time Development, because it's all about finding balance between isolation and solitude; popular culture and self-identity; and bullshit and acuity.
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