Shanghaiist: The end of the Shanghai Baby？

guest

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 07:31:13 +0800

well, too bad she didn't actually get paralyzed. I was about to pop the champagne (no pun intended)

blah

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 01:29:36 +0800

I agree with vadaga that the book would most appeal to squealing high school girls. In my opinion, it also caters to mainstream Western taste as it perpetuates the myth that Western men are more virile than their Chinese counterparts. This is in a way very imperialistic. Coco's feminism is also very confused as also her understanding of homosexuality via the portrayal of Flying Apple and the German lesbian. Overall, I found the book dull and predictable with highly cliched characters.

blah

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 01:17:10 +0800

Having purchased Shanghai Baby at full price at Phuket Airport which could have bought me + one other a whole day's worth of yummy Thai meals at decent restaurants, I felt utterly betrayed by the fancy promises on the front page for a close take of china's sexual awakening. Instead of insight into China's new rebellion generation, I found superfluous portrayals of the female protagonist whose emotional maturity rivals that of Paris Hilton. The writing, filled with cliche's, is excessive and tacky however this may be the translator's fault. Shanghai Baby was published as a novel, however its content reminds me of chronicled stories at the back of mass market teenage magazines flocking $10 lipsticks and out-of-production CK perfumes. Despite being a self-claimed intellectual, the protagonist Coco is less satiable than a second-hand bubblegum. Please avoid this horrible book not because of its hedonistic overtones and departure from traditional Chinese values but due to its goosebump-inducing writing.

vadaga

Fri, 25 May 2007 11:25:57 +0800

That book reads like it was written by a dumb high school kid. Kind of fun throwaway reading, particularly as it is basically things that actually happened, but it certainly isnt high literature. That being said, it is exactly the sort of thing that many people outside of China WANT to hear about Shanghai.

Trev

Mon, 21 May 2007 06:01:10 +0800

"Trev: what part of the book doesn't exist? Local girls throwing themselves at western men or married western men messing around with local girls?" touche

dr. fix

Mon, 21 May 2007 04:27:15 +0800

Pepper, if you've ever watched anyone die from HIV/AIDS and the physical and psychological trauma that it inflicts -- not to mention the social stigma, ostracism, and guilt of having possibly infected others -- then perhaps you would reconsider. BTW, 80% of China's new HIV infections occur among the 15 to 24 year-old age group (personally, I'd be interested to see the stats on expats). That's said, the degree of (presumably) male bitterness towards Wei Hui is also curious. Sure, she is stupidly arrogant and more sexually empowered than most women (particularly Asian women, who generally operate on the principle, "if you tag 'em, they're yours"), but she lived her life as she chose, made a sensational story out of it, and became rich and famous. So whether you liked the book or not and whether or not you approve of her lifestyle, it's tough to argue with results. I also take issue with the claim that she was "serving men for free." The "for free" part is quite baffling to me. Do you mean that she should have been compensated for services rendered? I think it's quite clear that she was totally self-serving: she is rich, she is famous, and she had a hell of a time doing it. Pity about her accident.

dr. pepper

Mon, 21 May 2007 02:43:01 +0800

dr.fix, her life is worse than HIV. After years of serving men for free, she ended up bed bound and alone. As "intelligent" as she claims herself to be, she should have known that men will fuck anything that moves for free but they will NOT take it home to mama. Prostitutes know that, that's why they charge and don't give it a damn. I won't be surprised to find out that Wei Hui's vagina is also roting away.

dr. fix

Sun, 20 May 2007 19:45:11 +0800

It would probably be a good education for China's dangerously ignorant youth if she got HIV. Then she could make a bestseller out of it.

zat

Sun, 20 May 2007 14:46:03 +0800

As much as it's awful news for a human being. I have been wondering to myself how could a book like Shanghai Baby got so much attention in the west, and Wei Hui seems became "THE" symbol of Chinese female writer. Glad to know I'm not alone here, trev and juicydownunder, cheers for that.

Laura B

Sun, 20 May 2007 01:22:05 +0800

People don't feel bad for her! Wei Hui is alive and well and hard selling her new book like mad on her blog. She's urging her fans to buy 9 books each and to tell people that the book was written by someone SPECIAL! This girl knows how to take advantage of any situation! Good news for all the guys out there, her vagina will be up and running in no time.

T.

Sat, 19 May 2007 09:22:37 +0800

@trev: he book is just another example of something being written to appeal to the western market who have incorrect ideas and fascinations about a China that does not exist. I don't think so. I'm going go out on a very short limb and guess that the book was written with zero eye towards the western market, since it's in Chinese. It was only after it became SCANDAL! that some western publisher translated and published it. Anyways, I'm sorry about the author, but on the other hand, the book is really dull.

Len

Sat, 19 May 2007 04:31:02 +0800

Bai Ling is in Cannes at the film festival promoting the movie. Who said she didn't act in the movie?

Borat Sagdiyev

Sat, 19 May 2007 02:29:57 +0800

But in Kazakhstan, such a woman would be worth many goats and liters of horse's urine. She could make me very happy by allowing me entry into her vagine and her father and brothers would also be most happy as well and she could earn many favors for her family with village strongman. But is there a chapter in the book that describes her vagine and the hole and any miscellaneous contents or offer schematic diagram and accurate dimensions? I am sure it is much better than my sister's vagine and now that she is crippled retard it is much better for make love without fighting and allow her to keep consciousness and not all the time crying. Is nice! I like!

Paris

Sat, 19 May 2007 02:02:07 +0800

Death to her vagina and America! With one more slut down and my prison sentence, I am moving to Shanghai to reign!

nanheyangrouchuan

Sat, 19 May 2007 00:41:58 +0800

Trev: what part of the book doesn't exist? Local girls throwing themselves at western men or married western men messing around with local girls?

Trev

Fri, 18 May 2007 19:58:09 +0800

'shopgirl' is someone who thinks that the US is "awesome" also, because they have starbucks and various other brands. She is a complete moron and thus should not be listened to. Back to the article - the book is just another example of something being written to appeal to the western market who have incorrect ideas and fascinations about a China that does not exist.

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 18 May 2007 15:58:49 +0800

I do add a certain Rod Serling effect when I don't bash China in a blog comment, don't I!? hdp: you are entitled to your opinion.

hdp

Fri, 18 May 2007 12:52:28 +0800

@ enough The only thing the world dislikes more than America is the Americans themselves. Correct?

hdp

Fri, 18 May 2007 12:25:49 +0800

@ juicydownunder At least Coco is an interesting and curious character, not merely a carbon copy of the people around her. @ nanheyangrouchuan I hate to be picky, but when using the word "myriad" drop the "a" and "of". It's just "I've heard myriad reasons...".

T.

Fri, 18 May 2007 10:59:08 +0800

you know it's a weird comment section when nanheyangrouchuan's is the least provactive and most sensible in it. in fact he makes a lot of sense (he usually does, but just in a really bitter and cynical way). Enough - what's a matter? Yellow man steal your job?

Bob Chippens

Fri, 18 May 2007 10:15:37 +0800

Juicydownunder, sounds like you're not getting laid or are still a virgin or have never had a good experience with sex. Dr Bob recommends you go out and find a good lover or two, that'll do the trick, as it has with half the young Shanghainese lady population :) Anyway, never nice to hear of someone getting a bad spinal injury, hope she makes a recovery.

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 18 May 2007 08:59:24 +0800

People read quite a bit into what chinese girls do with their foreign lovers. For men, they are just new territory to conquer (or think they conquered), men like to fuck, starting at age 11 and ceasing with our heartbeats. For chinese girls (and girls in other traditional cultures), I've heard a myriad of reasons they go after foreigners, and the passport actually isn't in the top five. Rebellion is one reason, against their parents, against a rigid society, even against the CCP for some. Read a book like Malcom X's autobiography and see how rebellious white girls got during their teens and 20s before the late 1960s. Running off to fuck black guys in black nightclubs, or latino men in latino clubs. Then off to some quack surgeon for an impromptu abortion. Rebellion against their fathers and society was also a big reason for those actions. I think there is a stereotype for "the preacher's daughter" in every country.

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 18 May 2007 08:52:29 +0800

Dan

Fri, 18 May 2007 08:24:49 +0800

FYI. All but two of the comments on this thread ("enough" and "Shopgirl") are from the same IP address in Los Altos, California. No one likes a troll, people. Speaking of which, Shopgirl: You have read her book five times and think it is "awesome!" that she had a life threatening injury and may give up writing? Am I missing something?

uwfskd

Fri, 18 May 2007 05:49:38 +0800

She was good for the Chinese tourism. I wonder how many men swarming into China to have their Asian fetish fulfilled after reading her "Shanghai Baby." Somebody please save her!

enough

Fri, 18 May 2007 03:04:44 +0800

The only thing the world dislikes more than China is the Chinese themselves. Correct? Such a pitiful, ugly, unattractive, un-evolve dand foul race of animals. Fuck them all.

MC

Fri, 18 May 2007 02:34:57 +0800

I've read the book and what a slut! Here's my take on the book if you're interested but you have to type in the 3Ws and the dotCom since they don't allow links. ShanghaiTrash.blogspot

iutow

Fri, 18 May 2007 02:21:09 +0800

Evidently her vagina finally gave up after years of relentless abuse. God certainly had the most clever way to put her slutiness to rest.

Shopgirl's Shanghai

Fri, 18 May 2007 01:54:58 +0800

that's awesome! I have read the book like 5 times /Shopgirl www.siyansblog.blogspot.com

juicydownunder

Fri, 18 May 2007 01:54:40 +0800

I’ve been out of China for over ten years now. Being of the same gender and similar age as the leading character Coco is in the book, I purchased an used copy of “Shanghai Baby” out of curiosity. I wept after reading the book - for the $1.75 and several hours of my life wasted on it. Coco is an air headed, pretentious, self claimed intellectual elite in a city (Shanghai) that’s the elite of all cities in China. She represents the generation X of the independent, rebellious, uninhibited, and on the cutting edge. Having being educated at Hu Dan University, one of the tops in China, she repeatedly reminds the readers that she’s NOT ordinary like the rest of her fellow nationals, she’s got a good transfusion of Western feminism blood racing through her gorgeous body. Coco possesses incredibly high self-esteem. She makes it obvious that she’s one hot siren with tantalizing beauty, the ability to climax easily, and a black waterfall of waist-length hair to add to her oriental sex appeal. She indifferently takes pleasure from courtships by everyone - straight men, lesbians, and bisexuals – both domestic and foreign. Living on a cloud beyond a mundane world, Coco makes her own rules. To add more substance and fill the blanks between chapters, she quotes words of various writers, entertainers, artists, or whoever of the Western world. To make the rest of her peers green with envy of her lifestyle filled with glamour and excitement, she mingles with only the top few and throws orgiastic parties. Coco will not keep secrets about the privileges and glories of being taking advantage of by a married German businessman. She takes great pride in describing, in great detail, being first seduced, then raped in a public restroom, and ultimately fucked bloody by her HUGE German lover before life pulls them apart. Alas, she does it for love but it’s called whoring when the other girls dare to compete. A slap on her feminist cheek. Coco is a faithful sufferer of China syndrome, a disease one often acquires when shifting from one culture to another where he/she undergoes a period of confusion and mistakes the garbage of the other culture for treasure. Without a worldly experience, Coco makes belief that she’s living a fabulous Western lifestyle full of promiscuous sex, drugs, and designer labels. Coco is a bustard of a tobacco-chewing white sailor and a slaved oriental whore in her endeavor to be liberated, cool, and successful. Wei Hui (the author) is Coco. Her “Shanghai Baby” is merely a whore’s moaning during a faked orgasm to any discerning ear. The Chinese burned the book for a good reason. However, they couldn’t stop the chauvinist West drooping over this piece of forbidden oriental fruit. (SF Chronicle’s bestseller???) One man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure.