Xu Li’s Mysterious Modern Ink Paintings

Xu Li - Art Bridge Gallery 1
Using simple lines and traditional ink, Xu Li brings ancient ghosts and ladies to life on xuan paper. Xu is a representative of China’s “grassroots” artist movement, a group of classically educated artists who have given up on academics to focus on creating art that is closer to everyday life. Read more »

Guangdong Farmer Builds Brilliant Model Space Shuttle On Rooftop

Model rocket on top of building
Via Ecns.cn, here's a photo of a model space shuttle and rocket on a rooftop in Jiexi, Guangdong province, reportedly built by a 60-year-old farmer named Huang Yuzhan. We love everything about this: as a celebration of the can-do spirit, the very human tendency to detach from our worldly fetters and drift and spin alongside imagination as boundless as the pale blue sky, and as a simple expression of craftsmanship, patience, and (dare I say?) innovation. This photo deserves a song. Read more »

Dispatches From Xinjiang: Shiralijan’s Fist And The Xinjiang Spirit

Shiralijan's fist CBA finals
The Xinjiang Flying Tigers may have lost the CBA championship to the Beijing Ducks, but Xinjiangers around the world came away from the games with a powerful meme. It came at the end of Game 5, after the Tigers rallied and pulled off an improbable win in front of a hostile Beijing crowd of 18,000. Shiralijan, the star Uyghur point guard for the Tigers who had been tasked with defending Stephan Marbury -- the star of the Ducks (and best player in the league, according to Anthony Tao!) --threw the ball in the air and raised a twirling, emphatic fist: Read more »

Games And Death: A Rehearsal With Plus One Before The Beijing Improv Festival

Beijing Improv Festival - Plus One 4
Spring switches us from latent to active, and spring being the season of festivals in Beijing, it's one more reason to get up and busy (and stop marathoning shows on Sohu). Beginning next Tuesday, April 8, the six-day Beijing Improv Festival returns with shows and workshops featuring greater China's finest improv crews. Knowing almost nothing about the art, I spent time with the local bilingual group Plus One during one of their weekly Sunday rehearsals to get the scoop. Read more »