First stop: Waipo Jia! If you end up in Hangzhou, DO NOT MISS this delectable culinary experience! Great food, great price, great, great, great. Tell them enovate sent you…

Satiated, we strolled alongside hordes of tourists and locals by the Westlake. Musicians lined the roads. Old men bowed their er hu’s while women belted into low-fi mics, with other brightly dressed women dancing rhythmic interpretations of traditional-Chinese-dance-meets-1920s-swing. Truly a site to behold.

A bit more walking, and we ended up at the day’s main event: The Xihu Music Festival. Blessed with perfect weather, we spent the day laying in grass, hopping in on drum circles, chatting to locals about Hangzhou’s hidden secrets, and of course, listening to music. The highlight for many was Taiwanese headliner, Soda Green, with other acts including 声音碎片 (Sheng Yin Sui Pian), Pitch Tuner, and Angie Hart.

The following day, our former intern / Hangzhou-extraordinaire, George, showed us around and introduced us to some friends, including the guys responsible for Charm Cafe. Read more about their efforts in promoting Hangzhou’s creative culture in today’s earlier post.

But rather than take you through a step-by-step narrative, I asked a couple people around the office to offer an anecdote, an observation, or something memorable. This has been our cooler-talk these past 3 days:

John

During our recent weekend visit to Hangzhou, there was one thing that really blew me away–the apparent level of government involvement in building the creative scene in Hangzhou. Speaking to Shu Chang, he indicated that it was the government who encouraged them to open up the cafe and creative space as the local government was interested in providing a space to support the various artists. Although funding and investment in the arts happens throughout China and also in the US, I was surprised that it was happening more at the grassroots level. I can see more of this happening in cities throughout China in the near future.

Joey

“Hangzhou is a place to live, Shanghai is a place for opportunities.” This was a statement from enovate’s Hangzhou street team leader, George, who is entering his senior year, majoring in Fashion Marketing and Engineering. “I will definitely be looking for work in Shanghai after I graduate,” George continued.

I love Shanghai. I live here, work here and the city’s energy keeps me focused and motivated like a higher power. However, I could not help but imagine living in Hangzhou, a wide-side-walked relaxing, creative hub where tourists come to frolic and over 7 million people reside. For George, Shanghai represents a city of opportunity, future possibilities and an escape for work. For me, Hangzhou also represents a city of opportunities and future possibilities, yet more of an escape from work. A world of difference.

Simon

One experience especially sticks out. I met a guy from Beijing at the festival who had just relocated to Hangzhou to work in the “Chinese culture business,” i.e. selling tea and Taichi to foreigners. I thought this is ironic since Beijing is widely considered as China’s cultural centre.

He said that he could enjoy his life much more in Hangzhou as he didn’t feel like he was working and spending all his time on public transport. He liked the weather and the more manageable size of the city. I wouldn’t exactly call this reverse migration, but maybe smart migration. I am not insinuating that Hangzhou will surpass Beijing in terms of culture. Rather, Hangzhou is a bit of an anomaly in China’s tiered ranking system. It does not qualify as a first tier city, but it stands apart from any other second tier city. Let’s call it a Tier 1.5.

Jermaine

I have found that Hangzhou is a city that cares for its travelers and citizens. For instance, during one of our taxi rides, Cola pointed out large awnings installed on intersections that were intended to keep cyclists protected from the elements while waiting for their lights to change. No more burning under the sun — no more getting drenched by torrential rain. It turns out these awnings were installed as advertising space. The local government cover their expenses by selling advertisement space. It is an action that benefits both the society and commerce. Hangzhou’s emphasis on environmental protection and a sustainable lifestyle has fueled a noteworthy biking culture. It’s great place to live, and a shinning example for other cities!

Leon

Hangzhou is defining itself as a main hub for China’s creative culture. Its relaxed, almost Bohemian, disposition makes it a perfect hotbed for the creatives. The yearly festivals like Xihu Music Festival, now have a nationwide reputation as a good event. More and more people are making the trip to see it for themselves. The city’s population is also becoming increasingly stylish. People everywhere were well dressed. Plus, as we learned from the guys over at Charm Cafe, the local government is taking bold steps to promote creativity in Hangzhou. The city surely holds a bright future.

Fabio

First, some thoughts about the independent brand “odi et amo.” Seeing Chinese kids be proud of the ancient quote of Catullo, a major Latin poet, made me quite nostalgic. I’ve studied Latin literature and language for five years, and as I delve deeper into China, I’m finding many similarities between the two cultures. Yet I still believe there is a lot of room in China to import more Italian and Greek culture. For now, it’s limited to Sinicized Italian restaurants with an inauthentic feel (i.e. Saizeriya). Speaking of food, I loved the Xihu Music Festival, but found the total lack of food and beverages unfortunate. People were getting McDonalds delivered to the entrance and sneaking in beers!

Mike

For one shining weekend it seemed like Hangzhou was the place to be in all of China. The weather was perfect, the tunes were rocking, libations were plentiful… Finally I understood at least half the statement of old: “The sky has heaven, earth has Suzhou and Hangzhou.” I’m still not completely sold on Suzhou (although I am a fan of at least of I. M. Pei’s New Suzhou Museum). But Hangzhou? More than once our band of enovators wistfully pined: “can we move here?”, “what if our new office was in HZ?”, and “this is the LIFE”. The lake, the festival, the bicycle friendly city planning, and most of all the food conspired to trap us all in its net like Oz’s poppy fields…

His artillary consists of a Nikon FM3A, an Olympus Miu 2, a Yashica Electro35GT, a Canon 1Ds MarkIII, and his favorite camera, the Mamiya RB67. We’ve certainly picked up on his nostalgia for traditional photographic practices now considered vintage. In the local Chinese photography scene, he cites Chen Man (陈曼) and Li Qi (李奇) as sources of inspiration, but also refers to works of international figures like Tim Walker, and the black sheep of photography: Terry Richardson.

His impassioned involvement with local underground cultures — especially Shanghai’s indie music scence — is spawning a body of work, sure to one day be called iconic.

Be sure to check out the rest of Chihmin’s work here.

On Friday, January 29^th, 360quan.com hosted their 90后潮流先锋榜 (post-90’s generation pioneering trends list) awards ceremony in Beijing. Actor Li Chen emceed the event featuring stars such as Jade Liu Li Yang and Yico Zeng, who came to receive their award and perform for the cheering crowd of Chinese teenage fans from all over China.

These same cheering teenagers and their peers voted on actresses, actors, artists, bands, brands, musicians, and works of art of various types for their influence and pioneering abilities in their respective industries. In collaboration with Mogo, 1626.com and YOHO!, 360quan.com invited their post-90’s generation members to vote within two categories, one for most ‘pioneering spirit’ and the other for ‘must have’ product or brand.

eno won the award for ‘must have independent brand.’ Among the list of ‘must have’ were: HP (notebook), Samsung (mobile phone), ONLY (women’s apparel), Adidas (sports apparel), New Fei Fei 新飞飞 (Netease’s 3-D online game), YOHO! (e-commerce site), Twice (jewelry accessories) and Mito Xiu Xi 美图秀秀 (image processing software).

Here’s who they voted for pioneering spirit: Jade Liu Li Yang 刘力扬 (singer), Xiao Song Jia 小宋佳 (actress), Lucky Monkey 跳猴乐队(fusion punk band), Shi Yan Fei 施艳飞 (up & coming actress), Chang Si Si 常思思 (up & coming folk singer), Zhang Xiao He 张小盒 (online character), Chen Chen 陈晨 (written work). And here’s who they voted for the pioneering spirits of the post-90’s generation (meaning they were actually born in the 1990’s): Yico Zeng 曾轶可 (singer), Li Chen 李晨(TV host), 杨紫 Yang Zi (pop star), BY2 (Singaporean music duo), Caffiene (band), Ai Shui Shui 艾水水 (TV & Film work).

360quan.com is China’s fastest growing social media network for post-90’s generation youth. With close to 25 million registered users, 360quan.com is devoted to providing an online home for people with similar interests, online clans, and super-connectors. The platform provides all the basics of an SNS, including personal space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services and content. Their users have a distinct urban youth culture; they are the hip-hop artists, the make-up stylists, the snowboarders and the parkour clubs that  are leading China’s youth revolution.

Once again thank you 360quan.com and special thanks to our post-90’s generation fans!

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/post-90%e2%80%99s-chinese-youth-vote-eno-as-a-%e2%80%98must-have%e2%80%99-brand/feed/ 1 http://enovatechina.com/blog/creative-city-2009/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/creative-city-2009/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:04:11 +0000 Simon http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=1196

Art! Mart! Music! Creative! Fun!

Get ready for some creative fun coming your way this month courtesy of our friends, neocha. As well as housing a sizeable flea market, the Creative City event will play host to a wide range of design groups, artists, musicians both performing and interacting with guests. Naturally, eno will be there with cool new products and activities, so make sure you get down for what promises to be a great event.

Creative City gets under way on Oct 16th and will be open every weekend until Nov 8th at the KIC event centre.

Shanghai electronic collective Antidote, mirrored their hipster image by choosing an offbeat location in small water town Zhu Jia Jiao, for their one day music festival.
However, the prize for most far flung and obtuse location for a music festival goes to newcomer Inmusic. While the musical line up itself follows a similar format to Midi:

• a handful of current Chinese indie/punk favourites (RE-tros, SUBS, etc)
• a smattering of older established Chinese rock heavyweights (Zuoxiaozuzhou)
• a few unknown European bands (Little Dragon, Snake & Jet)
• as well as a DJ tent

Headlining the festival was British trip-hop originator, Tricky, whom one imagines was tempted less by the cash, (tickets ran at 220rmb for the three day event, including bus travel to and from Beijing) and more by  Inmusic’s unique locatiohn: the Northern Chinese grasslands of Zhangbei, over 200km away from Beijing!

As one of the partners of the festival, www.go2eu.com used their community of young travel enthusiasts to offer discounted group travel to the far flung festival. The festival has received mixed reactions. The promise of idyllic green grass and blue sky didn’t transpire as some had imagined but overall people whom attended enjoyed the atmosphere and music, despite some organisational and transport issues.

This type of activity is bound to become more and more popular. The opportunity to meet others, travel together and bond over a mutual interest like music is definitely an appealing opportunity for an adventurous and socially hungry Chinese youth. Our insights have shown that young Chinese are keen to turn online acquaintances into real life friends, and as music festivals increase in number, travel operators and online communities should be keen to work together to cater to the needs of young Chinese.

For more information, photos and footage from the festival please visit:

http://ent.sina.com.cn/f/y/infestival/index.shtm

http://mogo.com.cn

Laofoye – With No Regret

Laofoye and Autopuzzle are two young bands from Southern China whom have bucked this trend and embarked on a two week, eight city tour of China.

Autopuzzle – Tending Absolution

With no record label backing and relying on sales of their own local t-shirt brands, this definitely shows determination and resourcefulness not driven by monetary gain.

The DIY spirit is definetly alive amongst Chinese youth.  Go Support.

http://www.douban.com/artist/laofoye/

http://www.douban.com/artist/autopuzzle/

A direct contrast from heavily branded and sponsored festivals I have attended in the States, Antidote parlays it’s exclusivity and organic nature into an extremely fulfilling experience (the one major brand sponser I noticed, Vedett, sells beer. Beer sponsors are of course exempted from criticism). For example, examining my ticket, I noticed they were individually numbered by hand and only 450 were dished out. This made me feel exclusive and and entitled to be attending such an event. Companies looking to tap into a successful “experience” and “environment” should keep in mind this level of exclusivity. It’s an overall mindset of witnessing something amazing and knowing there are only 449 other people sharing the same experience. It’s impossible to feel this way in the midst of hundreds of thousands.

Antidote’s locale was set in a four-walled traditional Chinese courtyard. In order to find the venue, one had to first traverse through Zhujiajiao’s picturesque bridges and waterways. There was definitely an “adventure” type feeling to finally getting there. And the setting also provided a great way to gain a more rounded perspective of Chinese culture and music. The interconnectedness was both natural and stimulating.

The mix of hipster laowai’s from all over the world, local Chinese youth, curious older Chinese people, and the gazing eyes of bewildered Chinese cops is an astute example of globalization and international influence among China’s youth. Music has long acted as a cultural bridge and Antidote continued much in this tradition. Foreigners danced to Chinese DJ’s such as Ben Huang and B6, and old Chinese people were cutting rugs to foreign acts, such as Reptile and Retard and Ben Houge. It was also great to watch the artists finish their sets and then mingle in the crowd, enjoying the other shows, having a blast. Music is superb at bringing together diverse and eclectic people, and musical events in China such as Antidote, and other future events will continue to be a way for China’s music scene to grow. I hope to continue to see a cross transfer of musical ideas and cultural influences between China’s youth and international youth. It makes the world flatter, the music better, and party-goers drunker.