Results tagged “mao”

       

What's lurking underneath Tiananmen Square? It ain't just rats. In 1969, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, Mao commissioned the construction of an underground city, built right under Beijing. Fearing an imminent nuclear attack from the U.S.S.R, Dixia Cheng (地下城 the underground city) was meant to be a safeguard, designed to house 40% of the city's 7.5 million in case of catastrophe. It was meant to have apartments, stores, and even a skating rink: all the comforts of above-ground home.

We've worked at art auction houses before, and we've come to understand that the Chinese Art world has pretty much entirely passed over the years under Mao. Besides, when we think of the soviet realist artwork that was produced during that time, we struggle to see anything beyond the cheap souvenirs sold on Dongtai Lu. Interestingly, Bloomsbury Auctions is holding the first ever revolutionary Chinese art auction, with memorabilia (Maomorabilia?) that ranges from porcelain works to little red books. The 170 lots are expected to fetch around £130,000: we wonder what Mao would think of that? photo by Transpacifica

In case you haven't seen them, ObaMao schwag- shirts, bags, journals, you name it- is all the rage in Beijing. China Daily reported a while back on the entrepreneur whose political mash-up memorabilia (is it still Maomorabilia?) is making splashes on both sides of the pacific. Is it funny, insensitive, confusing, or just good old fashioned marketing? Salon.com draws some pretty funny insights from the shirts:

We were sad to see National Day celebrations come and go in the blink of an eye, after months of ridiculous and awesome preparation. But now we've found an outlet for our grief - The Leo Gallery is in the process of showing a new exhibit, "1949-2009: 60 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art."

Everyone's excited about the upcoming 60th Anniversary: after all, it marks a significant milestone in the country's history. A lot has changed over the years, to say the least. To commemorate the many stages and changes of the PRC, in2marcom has a wonderful collection of China Pictorial covers.

Two months on from Soma's controversial deal with the Dream Factory, it seems the local record label are preparing to pull the plug on their arrangements with Zhijiang and instead combine with one of Beijing's premier livehouses to create MAO Shanghai.

The Germans and their notoriously risque advertisements may have bitten off more than they can chew with Doc Morris Pharmaceuticals' most recent condom ads.

The second career of Chinese diver-turned-actor Tian Liang has so far been received tepidly, but his latest role has sparked a big debate in China. Tian, a gold medalist in platform diving at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and a bronze medalist in Athens, has been chosen to play Lei Feng, a soldier held up by Mao as an example of selflessness for all of China to follow. The choice of Tian for the role has angered a host of Chinese netizens, who basically argue that Tian is too self-centered, materialistic and publicity-loving to play Lei Feng. Tian was kicked off the Chinese diving team ahead of the 2008 Olympics for too enthusiastically pursuing commercial activities.

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Shanghai’s #1 Fag Hag has a busy couple of weeks planned ahead. Maybe Shanghai really does deserve the title of 2008’s most improved gay life city…

Photo from indrasensi

Shanghaiist spotted John Cusack at Bar Rouge on Friday. Ensconced in the bathroom-sized VIP room on the club's terrace and guarded by a bevy of beefy bodyguards, Cusack was playing with his phone and appeared both tired and bored (who recommended BR anyway?). Doing the rounds of Shanghai nightspots, he was spotted at MAO the night before until the wee hours.

So the story goes: When Chairman Mao visited Shanghai he asked, 'I know there is a Shanghai (上海：on the sea), but is there a Xiahai (下海：under the sea)?' We assume that this was followed by uncomfortable forced laughter as none present (save possibly Zhou Enlai) had the heart (read: cojones) to tell him that the joke stunk.

We got a last minute heads up on a electronica duo playing at Mao tonight that should get early evening blog readers off the computers and into the club. Hailing from Japan, and named Miami, they are bringing an interesting 8-bit electro/violin mix to Shanghai. Tickets are 50rmb and include a free drink....doors at 9pm. Mao - 46 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, 岳阳路46号，近东平路 Abe Deyo is Shanghaiist's Music Editor. Email tips, recommendations, news and...