Chun Yun: the Mass Spring Migration of China

Whilst most of my readers will be struggling to get themselves back into physical and financial shape after Christmas and new year blow outs, China is getting ready to let its belt out, stuff the Hong Bao, and generally indulge in the biggest annual festival.


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Queer China at CVF 2015

The Chinese Visual Festival is a mixed bag, documentaries, art films, first time projects and a few gems. It’s difficult for me to cover the whole festival, but I try and cover a couple of screenings each year. This year’s LGBT programme was most inviting, and having missed last year’s, it was one I was determined to attend.


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GZ Nights

The hot weather and long days are really reminding me of Guangzhou. And after a journey into the West End was completed by a rare scoop of green tea ice cream, I thought about Guangzhou’s nocturnal street life.


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Hidden Guangzhou – the Hong

When people think about Guangzhou, people think of factories, shops and a place where money can be made. But when you turn away from the over crowded main roads into the alleys, you’ll find a world utterly different from the commercial side of this age old city. Like the Hutongs of Beijing and the Long Dangs of Shanghai, the 巷 (“Hong” in Cantonese dialect) of Guangzhou has its own regional cultural uniqueness.


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China Underground – A Translated Sample

An interview with the band Vagabond Street, by John YingLing, for his upcoming documentary, China Underground.
I’ve translated about 3 hours of interviews for this project, which is now heavily into post production (but could still do with more funding). This will be one of the video programe available to accompany my talk “Peking Into Punk”.


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Sweet & Sour

Frequently, conversing with my Western friends about Chinese food, I hear the old line that “the Chinese don’t eat desserts” wheeled out. The only thing they can really point to is the toffee apples and toffee bananas, which a lot of restaurants over here offer. This is a misconception worth correcting.


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Flower Markets – a Cantonese Spring Festival Tradition

Chinese New Year holds certain traditions, the preparation and cleaning, preparing food and visiting friends, and for myself, and anybody who grew up in Guangdong, no Spring Festival would be complete without a visit to the 花市 (“hua shi”), or flower market.


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All Hail Starscream

We’re half way through a very busy month, of conventions, appearances and traveling. A month that started off with a fantastic weekend at Auto Assembly. Europe’s largest Transformers convention. We were made to feel so welcome, that I had to write something for my new friends and followers.

Let me tell you a bit about Transformers in China.


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Fangcun Tea Markets: The Tea Ware

Previously on Tea Brewers: Prime…or last time I wrote about the Fancun Tea market, I talked about buying a variety of quality tea from Messieurs Tian Bao Xiang, but the place is about so much more than just tea itself, and I was about to delve into the labyrinthine depths of the market.


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Fangcun Tea Markets: The Leaves

When I was a little girl, I was told that if I misbehaved, I’d be sent to Fangcun, the then still largely rural area on the edge of Guangzhou, synonymous with its mental institute. Despite its charming name, 芳村, meaning fragrant village, it was seen as a remote and rather forbidding place. In the past few decades however, economic growth and urban development have made good use of the space on this islet, and the extended metro system has made it a perfect site for furniture and decoration hypermarkets, whilst the greenery and calm of the area has attracted those whose pleasure boats line the canals.


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