China
Journal Entries From Rural China, Including Former Tibet
Jul 22nd
This post publishes the hand-written journal from the study tour my Oregon University System group took while I was studying in China during the Fall of 2005. I didn’t write in it every day during the two-week tour, but I think it provides insight into what it’s like for an American to travel to rural China, especially the regions where ethnic Tibetans live.
I’m publishing these almost entirely unedited – including grammar errors – with the exception of a tiny bit of content that I feel attacks specific people or would not make my mother proud. Looking back, some of my comments generalize and likely will offend some. Please realize that this is only my viewpoint, and I’m naive about the cultures I’m describing. I feel that making these viewpoints public to those who have never visited this region of the world is more valuable than censoring to be as politically correct or stereotype-free as I normally strive to be. Please also know that I have absolutely no political motivation for publishing this.
Your comments are extremely welcome. Feel free to ask questions about the content as I know I provide no background for most of the characters or terms.
1st full day of the study tour:
Yesterday we flew in around midnight. I was pretty stressed about packing and buying a coat in time, but it seemed to work itself out in the end. I think I will probably be pretty cold in the village because it already is a dry cold of about 40-50 degrees F here. The airport was so cute and tiny. I took a picture and all the Chinese people thought it was really weird.
I’m rooming with Brie for two nights. It’s so fun. We click so well. I think I am going to ask Mischa to live with me in the village. This is so exciting.
This morning we all went to the largest mosque in China. On Fridays 40,000 – 50,000 men from Xining alone come to pray between 12-2 pm and after Ramadan about 150,000 people come and the cops have to block off the streets and everything. This important teacher gave us a sermon where he tried to convert us but it was very informative. He stressed the worldliness of Islam. He also mentioned something insightful about fasting. Apparently the most basic human desires are eat and drink. When you have enough of those, you get desires for unnecessary materialism, but if you can’t eat or drink then you only desire those two things.
Pat asked if we could come back during worship but the guy said that women couldn’t come but Pat could take pictures by himself. I don’t think he did though.
After that, we went to this Hui home in a “village” of 3,000 人 up the hill for lunch and it was SO GOOD! There was tons of bread then some meat and really good potatoes. Also, someone especially made totally veggie noodles for Ashley, Brie and me. I gave them Oregon pencils, Tristan gave them imported cookies, and Chris gave them an Oregon magnet.
Evening:
Brie and I went window shopping today. Some of the stores were cool but the prices were high and the salespeople weren’t used to foreigners. Brie tried on a pair of hoochie boots at an outdoor market and the guy insisted that they weren’t too small even though they wouldn’t zip. I can’t decide if it was hilarious or scary.
We met the Tibetans today for a couple of hours and that was fun but a little awkward. Most people chatted with one person but I had three guys named Georgy, Chester, and some name I can’t pronounce. They all were really smart and really good at English. Apparently to get into the program, they are recruited from their hometowns to take a test and if they pass the test, then they can take the classes.
Day 2
Today was our first day in the Tibetan village. We picked up the Qinghai University students at 9:30 am and eventually got here at around 5:30 pm.
On the bus I sat next to a woman named Jessica who is awesome. She is currently volunteering on a development project to improve the standard of living for Tibetans with only 8 other women. She sounds very kindhearted and very hard working. I invited her to live with Mischa and me but in the end we ended up living with Andrea, Norah, and Tina (our tour guide).
Most of the students chose to take the 1-hour hike up the mountain into the village. We left our stuff in those van things. It was quite a workout. I got down to my long john top.
I was kind of nervous when I first arrived because the people looked very dirty. I felt really bad for thinking that. They are very far from anywhere where they can purchase anything and appear to be monetarily very poor.
We ate for hours after we arrived. Our appetizer was a ginormous thing of bread and candy and Sprite they bought especially for us. They also bought convenient noodles for us but we didn’t eat them. Our entrée was vegetables (Pat said they wouldn’t have them) and plain noodles with seasoning. They apologized for not having meat because they didn’t know we were coming today, but I couldn’t tell because they are hosting us so well. It is only 9:45 but we are about to go to bed because Norah and I are very tired.
We also went to see the Yellow River on the way but that wasn’t very exciting.
Day 4
I can’t find my pen. My backpack is very disorganized. Now I understand how the Tibetan students packed so light. I think I won’t have any use for my shampoo or facewash.
I didn’t do too much today. Tina and I woke up very late, around 10 am. Tibetans wake up around 7:30 am. We had breakfast then went to go dig a reservoir for about 2.5 hours. It wasn’t so much hard physical labor as kind of monotonous. I carried a basket of dirt several times and the locals told Andrea that Mischa and I work like Tibetans. I was very flattered.
After that we had a very good lunch of mostly bread. I went to sleep after that and missed a singing and dancing celebration. Apparently all the Americans were tossed, I’m a little sad to have missed it, but I have a small cold so I probably could have used the extra sleep.
After I woke up I showed my iPod to Tina, Andrea, and Norah said they liked it. I also told them about the CDs. Then we had dinner and I ate too much for the first time. They made me vegetarian noodles and bought grapes from another province for us. They tasted kind of rotten but because they are a delicacy I ate some.
After that we just got ready for bed but maybe I won’t be able to sleep because I have slept so much today.
My host family is very generous. As I was falling asleep my host father put a warmer blanket over me. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to host someone you can’t communicate with.
Day 7
Okay, I didn’t write for the last 3 days! The last day in the village we climbed part way up the mountain.
1 group climbed all the way up 2 mountains and apparently got in trouble because they climbed too late in the day. The group I was with only climbed up a little way and played this fun drinking game in Mongolian:
Rock a tong
Rock a tong
Rock a tong de rock a tong
Zong zong de rock a ton
I gave my family a Minzu Daxue T-shirt, Oregon pencils, a postcard & 2 pictures of myself, and a thing of m&m minis for the children. Among other things, Mischa gave Jelly Bellies, which I thought was a great idea.
At around 11 pm, we went to a supposed singing party. It didn’t’ really get started until midnight or so. I only had a little to drink. We sat in 4 groups. It started as us rotating singers between groups. Almost all the Americans had to sing and everyone except Nick in our group sang. Nikki and Judy danced. I sang “One of a Kind” by Brodie.
I left around 1 am with my roommates because we were tired and they no longer were inviting Americans to sing. I woke up at 4 am and heard singing so I thought I was crazy. But apparently 5 guys stayed until 5 am and the got up at 7.
The next day we got up at 7 to clean up our room and pack. We took pictures with the whole family minus the mom, who wasn’t there. Then the village saw us off by giving our leaders white scarfs. The mayor gave a touching speech. We took a gynormous group picture, then all the Americans sang “You are my sunshine” but me. I sat out because I was feeling crappy.
At lunch 3 Tibetan guys were being total popular guys, picking on Britany and hitting on two girls in our group. It really was a classic example of how men determine women’s status.
We ended up getting to Tongren pretty late. Our room was really big. I stayed w/Nikki, Daisy, Marianne, and Whitney. Ashley lived with Mischa but everyone else stayed the same. People drank that night but I left very near the beginning of the party cuz I felt like crud.
Oh, and also earlier in the day we walked way too far to a monastery. I felt weird visiting such a holy temple without being Buddhist.
Also, around 8:30 pm, we all went to a bathhouse. I shared a shower with Nikki. We shared 1 towel and that was funny.
Day 8
The next day we woke up @ 10 am but the house was so quiet I thought it was 6:30 before I looked @ my watch. We had breakfast right before we met with the other students for lunch in the city. We all ate in the city then went to 2 monasteries. I was pretty bored and felt out of place again cuz I’m not Buddhist. Sometimes I wonder if we mostly went to the monasteries for the Tibetans’ sakes.
The first monastery we went to was very big. The second one had beautiful Buddhist art and a temple that opened the day before we went. The temple had a really beautiful statue of a diety with a thousand hands. Each hand had an eye painted on it. It really looked like 1000.
Marrianne and Whitney spent the night in the city so Nikki, Daisy, and I lived alone after that. We had a long talk about gender inequality. Daisy took the first gender class in China. The students in the class published a magazine on Tibetan women’s education where they did field interviews.
I also found out the Tibetan guys are assholes because they are constantly insulting the figures of their female classmates. They were very critical of the gender class as well.
We ate dinner then went to a big, eventful party at Enriquo’s house. I played a Xigua drinking game and the Rock a tong game with Enriqo’s uncle. I was only going to drink 1 bottle of 32 oz beer cuz I still wasn’t feeling good, but I ended up drinking 2 due to peer pressure. I still didn’t get drunk.
Nick then taught Brie, Gieselle, and I a really confusing variation of 13. It didn’t help that he kept making up rules. Meanwhile another table was playing truth or dare and Gavin was dared to say he loved me. I joined in and felt like I was 10 again.
Yesterday we traveled from 9:30 – 4:30 back to Xinning and said goodbye to the Tibetans. I roomed with Ashley. A group of 8 Americans went to dinner with 10 Tibetans and paid for them. Apparently the Tibetans usually only dine in a restaurant that nice once a year. We went to the first restaurant we saw that wasn’t qingzhen because they don’t like Muslims. We had no trouble paying.
After that we went to KTV with most people. We had to pay for beer but instead of renting a room it was one big room at 1 kuai per song.
Pretty soon everyone buy Enriqo, Altan, Judy, Chris, Nikki, Melissa, and I left. There was only 1 other group then, a group of 3 35+ men showed up and danced with Nikki and me. The second time I felt really violated cuz our chests were rubbing and the guy slapped my thigh.
Chris and I left at 1:30 after the creepy guys because we were bored. Supposedly the others left at 2 and Enriquo paid w/his dad’s money.
Day 8 (today)
Today I got out of bed at around noon even though I was awake for a while before.
Ashley and I went to buy snacks and I got a lot. We then went to an early dinner (Ashley’s and my first meal) which was pretty good.
We’re now on the train. Mr. Wen, Tai, and Ashley have to stay in another car from us but we’re pretty close together on a sleeper train. It sort of reminds me of dorm rooms.
I played a card game with Pat, Nikki, Sielle, and Mischa.
Mikey’s been doing card tricks for a while. He also taught Brie how to do a bridge. Tonight should be interesting because I’m on a bottom bunk next to Chandra.
1st day in Golmud
I was somewhat forcefully woken up on the train at about 6:30. I was confused as to why I was being woken up when we weren’t arriving until 8-8:30. The fuyuyuan kept hitting Nikki’s foot above me.
We got off the train and had an uneventful breakfast. We didn’t end up leaving for the mountain until around 10. I packed really crazily cuz I was hoping to stay the night and it was kind of cold. The cars we took were really nice SUVs. I rode with Mr. Wen, Chris, and Gieselle. Our driver was a badass; I’ve decided he is one of my role models now. He looked like he was out of The Matrix with his leather jacket, Neo-like sunglasses, and expressionless face as we went 120 km/h on dirt roads. He also led the train of cars.
We drove for 8 hours total that day and most of it was off road. The coolest part is when we drove through a creek! It was like what SUVs are actually made for and advertised as doing.
About 4 hours in, we stopped at our “final” destination. As Chris described it, it was “pretty anti-climactic”. We never even climbed a mountain; we ended in a valley (I have pictures).
He announced to the group that the new plan was for everyone to drive to another scenic place because if we went to the famous Daoist lake it would take forever.
I have some pictures of the pretty place, too. Oh, and I forgot, we had lunch at this really ghetto diner. I got a pic of the waitress writing down our order on a piece of cardboard. She also bitched Pat out just for asking if she had tofu. Then most of the rolls were at least a week old and rotten.
That night after dinner Tristan, Kevin, and I went on a quest for ice cream. After an hour and a half including a taxi ride back, we still didn’t get the right ice cream. We were told in the beginning that we could get ice cream in the city center, so Kevin kept asking where the city center was, and once we were in the city center he asked where the supermarket was. We never found a supermarket, but discovered that Golmud is actually a very beautifully designed city with lots of greenery and decorative lights. Whatev. I think that night I ended up just chillin w/Brie.
The Place to Work – H!TANG & China Creative Connections
Jul 15th
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to join the employees of the consulting firm H!TANG & China Creative Connections for lunch. It’s a cool company with a great work culture. H!TANG & CCC is an arts management firm of about a dozen employees. Employees work on projects such as planning fundraising trainings for clients’ employees and managing client events. Its workforce is about half Chinese employees and half employees from a variety of European countries. Most of the Chinese employees have formal training in arts management.
Something surprising – and fabulous – is about half the staff is interns. What a great place to intern! I grilled founder Felicia Schwartz on the internship program so I could share it with others. Interns work full-time for a minimum of four months, and get paid commission per project. Most interns take Chinese classes for part of the day and form their schedules accordingly. Language skills vary per project, but generally Hitang and CCC prefers interns who are good enough at Chinese and another language to use both on the job.
Want more info?
Visit http://www.hitangandccc.com
or e-mail info(at)hitangandccc.com
“Unmoved” Unexpectedly Moves, Literally and Figuratively
Jul 13th
Yesterday, my supervisor, our gallery curator and I visited four exhibition openings in or near the art district I work in. They were all fabulous, but by far the best was “Unmoved” at Galleria Continua. This is a shining example of the unexpected aspect of what makes ideas stick in the book “Made to Stick.”
A sign displayed in the front window of the gallery read, “Enter gallery at your own risk.” I thought, “What the heck is going on? Since when is it risky to enter a gallery?”
Shortly upon entering the building, we saw two perpendicular white walls about 20 feet tall joined at a banged up corner. Small pieces of drywall lingered below. Other parts of the two walls showed damage, but not as much as the corner. I thought, “Did they damage the wall during the exhibition construction and not have time to fix it?” Then I realized this must be deliberate; maybe it was an installation meant to comment on the rapid combination of destruction and construction in China’s cities, a common motif in Chinese contemporary art.
After obtaining a glass of delicious, chilled champagne – alas, the gallery had run out of the Italian food I’d heard would be there – I returned to the same area to notice a metal sculpture of a dumpster about twice the size of the ones outside my apartment complex this past school year sitting in the middle of the gallery. The dumpster wheeled about 20 feet to crash into the damaged corner then returned to approximately its original position. I then noticed the light track marks on the floor from the dumpster’s many trips, and noticed that the wall had been painted several layers of different colors of paint to systematically show the wear. Sun Yuan and Peng Yu created this installation called “Barbarossa.”
The walls were part of a box that had been built specifically for this exhibition. I waited in a long line to see what was inside the box, ten to fifteen hyper-realistic sculptures of elderly men in automatically moving wheelchairs. Tourists took pictures with the sculptures. I examined each one carefully. I could see why the line was so long; this installation was nothing short of brilliant. I checked the catalogue to discover that it was “Retirement home” by the same artists as “Barbarossa.”
The gallery’s architecture was fabulous; most of it was a three-story, one floor room, but one side contained a three-floor section of the same height. I ventured up the stairs to discover some art that was still great, including a video that made me dizzy due to its rapid movement, but nowhere near as breathtaking as “Retirement home” or “Barbossa.” The third floor revealed a new perspective on the two works, the top angle. I could look down into “Retirement home,” which made it seem much more like a performance piece with the visitors inside as integral elements.
This exhibition proves Galleria Continua’s understanding of sculpture as a three-dimensional form; I’ve visited too many galleries with sculptures in corners. “Retirement home” and “Barbossa” also blur the line between sculpture and performance art, which fascinates me.
So why all this moving art in an exhibition titled “Unmoved”? An excerpt from the exhibition description answers my question:
“Nowadays, it rarely occurs to us to slow down, to stop to extrapolate ourselves from our frenetic lives and observe the world from the privileged position of tranquility and immobility. 21st century humanity is characterised by a deceptive immobility, a stasis hiding behind a veneer of indifference and carelessness.
In the current exhibition, the selected artworks generate an almost uncomfortable situation where time has atypically slowed its rhythm, to the point of almost standing still. All the artworks are either in semi-statis, in some cases quite still, and in others in constant slow movement, inviting the viewer to stop longer in their contemplation, both on a rational and emotional level. In a way, the viewer is unconsciously waiting for something to happen or to be revealed.”
My Friday Afternoon Thoughts
Jul 6th
Okay, so it’s not actually Friday, but Monday is my only day off, so it might as well be for me. These are my current thoughts of note:
1. 798 is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s truly an artistic community. Also, China’s large population and the district’s inherent tourist appeal – 300+ free galleries within a tiny, trendy geographic area – mean that most galleries are constantly full of visitors.
2. Viewing art in person is so much better than viewing it online. China has a lot of great art Web sites, but my visits to galleries in 798 both yesterday and today were such an emotional relief.
3. My visual art pet peeve is sculptures up against walls, or even worse in corners; it’s a three-dimensional art form! In a close second is visitors who touch the art, which I saw too much of today.
4. I can’t decide if I want my second job to be as an English tutor or a bar tender. I know a tutoring gig would pay better per hour and have a better schedule. However, after nine months of English tutoring, bar tending sounds more fun, and I would likely get free food out of the deal.
5. I’m going to name my master indie screenplay I’ve been fantasizing about “798.” Good title, huh? Short, accurate, and doesn’t require a translation.
A funny story related to thought #1. My roommate told me that seven years ago, a Motorola executive visited the area of Beijing that houses 798 and loved it so much that when he returned to the United States, he quit his job and moved to this neighborhood to start a coffee shop. His coffee shop is quite successful; it’s always full of people. I have yet to visit and meet him, but I look forward to it.
Chinese Art Organization’s Press Release
Jul 6th
I’ve become someone fascinated with Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, located about a five-minute walk from my work and known as the first non-profit art organization in China. Here’s a copy of its press release on changing chief curators, followed by the English version from Google Translate. The translation’s definitely not perfect, but you get the idea.
新闻稿敬请发布20080513
尤伦斯当代艺术中心首席策展人、副馆长秦思源将离职并开展他的独立策展人生涯，郭晓彦继任为中心的首席策展人
尤伦斯当代艺术中心馆长杰罗姆·桑斯宣布原UCCA副馆长兼首席策展人秦思源将离开艺术中心。从开馆至今，秦思源为这一座非营利机构提供了关键性的贡献以及努力，并且建设了完备且具高度专业的艺术团队，为艺术中心在中国的发展成功地规划了一系列的展览、艺术教育课程，以及相关的推广工作。
关于离开尤伦斯当代艺术中心的决定，秦思源表示是源于他自我个人职业规划的考虑。秦思源表示：“我希望下一步能以一个独立策展人以及艺术家的身份，与其他艺术家与艺术机构更紧密地合作……，我在UCCA的工作经验，对我是弥足珍贵的。”
新任首席策展人郭晓彦，早在尤伦斯当代艺术中心开幕之前（2007年9月），便以策展人的身份加入其中。她将为艺术中心发展成为中国当代创作发声场，发挥重要的作用。郭晓彦曾参与中国首家民间美术馆“上河美术馆”（成都）的组建和管理工作。2002年任广东美术馆“广州三年展”办公室副主任，策划人，策划、组织很多重要当代艺术展览和活动，2005年11月任第二届“广州三年展”策划人之一。2004年，郭晓彦作为助理策展人在法国里昂当代艺术馆策划 “中国年”展览。
杰罗姆·桑斯表示，尤伦斯当代艺术中心感激秦思源的卓越贡献。在他所完成工作的基础上，郭晓彦将继续大力发展艺术中心的各项艺术项目，深入进行与国际艺术领域的对话。
作为一个国际化的平台，尤伦斯当代艺术中心展示来自中国当代艺术最新创作的初衷将一直延续。在未来数月，中心的艺术计划将增加一系列与中国艺术家合作的全新项目。
尤伦斯当代艺术中心是一座非盈利的综合艺术中心，由收藏家尤伦斯夫妇出资建造，2007年11月正式开幕。艺术中心推出包括知名和年轻艺术家的展览，致力于打造一个通过教育、研究项目分享当代艺术体验的平台。
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Please press release issued 20080513
You Lunsi Chief Curator of Contemporary Art Center, Qin, deputy director of the source will carry out his resignation and an independent curator career, Guo Xiaoyan successor as the center’s chief curator
You Lunsi Contemporary Art Center curator of the UCCA杰罗姆桑斯announced that Deputy Director and Chief Curator Qin source will leave the Arts Centre. From the opening date, Qin source for a non-profit organizations that provide a crucial contribution and efforts, and building a comprehensive Juju highly professional team of art for art center in China’s development and success of planning a series of exhibitions, Arts education courses, and the related promotional efforts.
You Lunsi left on Contemporary Arts Centre’s decision, Qin said the source of self-originated from his personal career planning considerations. Qin source said: “I hope that the next step can be an independent curator and artist’s identity, with other artists and art institutions work more closely……, I UCCA of work experience, I was invaluable.”
The newly appointed Chief Curator Guo Xiaoyan, as early as You Lunsi before the opening of Contemporary Art Centre (September 2007), then to join the identity of the curator. She Arts Centre will develop into China’s contemporary creative voice market, an important role to play. Guo Xiaoyan have been involved in China’s first folk art museums “on the River Art Gallery” (Chengdu) the establishment and management. In 2002 the Guangdong Museum of Art, “the Guangzhou Triennial” deputy director of the office, planning, planning, organizing many important contemporary art exhibitions and activities, in November 2005 of the second session, “the Guangzhou Triennial” planning one. In 2004, Guo Xiaoyan as Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art in Lyon, France planning “China Year” exhibition.
杰罗姆桑斯 said, You Lunsi Contemporary Arts Centre grateful Qin’s outstanding contribution to the source. In his work done on the basis of Guo Xiaoyan will continue to vigorously develop the arts centre of the arts projects, in-depth and international artistic dialogue.
As an international platform You Lunsi Contemporary Art Center display contemporary art from China as the creative mind would have been extended. In the next few months, the center of a series of art projects will increase cooperation with the Chinese artists of the new project.
You Lunsi Contemporary Art Center is a non-profit integrated arts centre, funded by collectors You Lunsi couples construction, in November 2007 was officially opened. Arts Centre launched, including well-known young artists and the exhibitions, to create a through education, research projects to share the experience of contemporary art platform.
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Chinese Contemporary Art Links
Jul 3rd
Most of what I’ve been doing since I started my job in 798 a little over a week ago is making my way through a 12-page, single-spaced list of Web sites related to Chinese contemporary art that my boss provided me with. I’d like to share some of my favorite artists and art organizations. This likely will become a regular post topic, and maybe I’ll come up with themes, such as favorite photography. Contemporary art mavens likely are already familiar with these links.
In this post: artists Cao Fei 曹斐, Zhang Huan 張洹, Hong Hao 洪浩, Feng Jincao, and Qian Gang; art gallery 1918 ArtSpace; and the consulting business China Creative Connections.
Cao Fei 曹斐 specializes in new media, and works in a variety of visual art genres. A lot of her work is colorful and reminds me of high-fashion advertisements.
Zhang Huan 張洹 is an accomplished artist born in Beijing who lives in New York. He works in variety of media but I’m pretty sure he’s most famous for his nude performance art made during the 1990s. I saw a photograph of his performance To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain at the Seattle Art Museum last summer. His work is depressing but ingenious.
Hong Hao 洪浩 created several installations with “my things” in their titles. The image above, “My Things About Circle No. 2,” is currently my computer’s wallpaper.
Feng Jincao created a series of paintings titled “Scenery in a Chinese Dress.” I really like these, as all of them are purposefully not-quite-mirror images. Many of them look like modified Rorschach test cards.
Among other works, Qian Gang creates two-tone black-and-white silkscreens that contain cartoon-like illustration.
Organizational links:
1918 ArtSpace in Shanghai has a great Web site; you can spend hours looking at the art on there. The gallery mostly exhibits Chinese artists with a few exceptions.
China Creative Connections in Beijing, founded by an advertising executive, is a consulting firm to connect art and business through opportunities such as exhibit sponsorship and visual art buying for offices.
What are your favorite Chinese contemporary art links? Which is your favorite out of the ones in this post? Feel free to comment.
China likes PR graduates
Jul 2nd
I’ve been in Beijing for about six days and 22 hours so far. The reason I haven’t blogged yet is partially due to technical difficulties, but also because I think it’s wise for me to allow time for me to collect my thoughts before jumping on particular topics because I experience about as much in a day here as I do in a week in the United States.
One topic that is particularly relevant to both my Ning networks, PROpenMic and Considerations: The Art in Marketing is how locals view my major. I was worried that I might face a little workplace discrimination because I majored in neither art nor Chinese. However, I’ve found the opposite is true. Everyone I’ve met has said that public relations is a very good major. My employer’s president remarked that he’s working on a project to open a huge building that will require a lot of public relations work.
My supervisors seem to think my most valuable human capital is in my native English speaking ability, public relations education and internship experience. I’ll eventually become fluent in Chinese by living here, and I can learn about Chinese contemporary art by working here and visiting Web sites my direct supervisor suggests.
Of course, all my friends and colleagues either study at the Central University for Nationalities or work in the fabulous 798 Art Zone, so I can’t speak for the entire Chinese population. However, this country does appear to be undergoing essentially an industrial revolution, which creates an exponential demand for public relations. I learned in my college classes that the public relations major began in the U.S. and is much rarer in other countries.
Do you want to get a job in China? I’d say it’s hard to find a public relations job here unless you have a strong network related to China in your home country. I got mine because my randomly assigned roommate was from Beijing and knew someone who was prestigious within this art community. (So much for all my active networking in college, right?) My friend and former classmate Jessica Lomelin found in her job search that many worldwide firms’ offices prefer to hire locals so they won’t have to deal with immigration processes.
I suggest that you either get involved with your college’s Chinese student group or move here to teach English. One of my friends gets paid 200 Chinese dollars (30 USD) an hour to teach Korean children here full-time. Through these tactics, you’ll develop the necessary network to break into the public relations market. Lastly, make sure people know you want to work here! The day I graduated, I received a job offer out of the blue for an excellent job in China from a student looking to replace himself, which I had to decline because I already had this one. The reason? Pat Curtin, Ph.D., knew I had a strong interest in working in China and referred me to the e-mailer.
Your comments are welcome. What are your experiences looking for and working in jobs outside your home country?
*Note: This is the same post that appeared on my PROpenMic profile’s blog on July 1, 2008.
My First Post as a Beijing Duck
Jul 2nd
Welcome to my new blog, Beijing Duck. Most of you either recognize what a terrible pun this name is or are totally clueless as to my logic. All universities in the United States have mascots, and mine is the University of Oregon Ducks. All University of Oregon students and graduates are Ducks, including me.
This blog will likely be more personal than the blog I kept in college, PR Ninja. The reason for this is not because I’m extremely self-centered but because I know:
1. Some people will like reading about my experiences.
2. You can’t read my perspectives on living and working in the Chinese contemporary art world anywhere else, and uniqueness is my number one news value in deciding what to blog about.
If you want a little more information on where I work, check out 798 Art, the district in which I work’s official Web site.
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