21-8-2008
about hutongs and the post 8o generation.
The day after the debate we take it slow. In the morning we go to a cool Hutong.
A hutong is an old part of town, the ones you always see in Chinese movies…
1.5 million people have been moved from their houses because of the Olympics and a lot of hutongs are torn down.
Now off course they are very fashionable and very expensive. In the hutongs are the small café’s where you can get cappuccino and pizza, and the cool tshirt shops are there etc.
After coffeer shopping we go to the friendly and wonderful Ou Ning, a curater, filmmaker , magazinemaker, researcher of the Chinese rockscene 10 years ago….
He shows us the magazin 0086 and I interview him about this whole post 80s generation issue.
Now: Before I tell what Ou Ning said I want to state that all descriptions of generations fail, a generation is always divers and personally, being of the so called” lost generation” I always hated a tag on me because of age. Although thete is also some truth in it.
Having said this, here is what lots of people think about the Chinese post 80: especially in the design and creative industry( a tag is also a way to market a group, isn’t it?)
The young generation born after 1980 is very different from the geberation before.
They are happy, they make thing to make other people happy, they are not interested in politics, they search for identity in a globalized world. They love Beijing, much more than other cities, because they love old tradition. They are nostalgic to their childhood things, the games, the sneakers, music, magazines, designs, brands, and the TV shows when they were like 6 or 7.
They are the first generation who grew up with Internet and computers. They are mostly from rich parents and study abroad. For them it is easy to create subcultures through the Internet( like a “groupie-network, the groupies of Beijing bands , all beautiful and famous themselves)in the old days you had t print magazines, pay for the covers etc. they do it all online. 0086 is a printed magazine they make and like.
The older generation thinks they are superficial, spoiled and egoistic. An exeption are the Hong Kong kids, who have very deep discussions and are much more inelelctual.
Sorry guys, “dwebushi”(God, my Chinese is not improving…), if you do not agree, please react on the forum or after this blog…
Tomorrow finally the Olympics than…I’m of to bed now after a great Chinese footmassage by a woman who is also post 80 but from a completely different background, like a few million I guess;):):):)
