The Twain Shall Meet

February 28, 2010 1:21 AM

Asia Snapshots "is a blog that examines topics in Asia through the perspectives of interesting people interviewed by a group of bloggers in Mainland China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and more." Meet Gao Qingrong and family, who along with seven other households are part of an organic farm co-op in Anlong Village, Sichuan. Or there's the tale of how one of the bloggers met Jun Jun, a male prostitute in Beijing; an encounter with Silang Laji, a road maintenance worker in Kham, a Tibetan region of China; and Gege, an enterprising journalist in Chengdu.Via
posted by Abiezer (4 comments total)

It's not all China, even though the posts I've highlighted are.
posted by Abiezer at 1:21 AM on February 28, 2010

The first time I ever went to a Chinese gay club (in Nanjing), I was thinking I'd see a fun campy drag show, a bunch of extremely drunk old aunties lurching through the cigarette haze, and a higher-than-normal proportion of twinks.

Instead there was a "fashion show" that turned out to be an auction of underaged migrant rent boys looking extremely awkward and unhappy onstage in their g-strings. One was visibly fighting back tears while a drunken middle aged man massaged his chest and groin, then handed a wad of kuai to the announcer and dragged his purchase offstage.

The audience laughed uproariously.

That was probably the only moment of true alienation I've ever had in all my trips to China.

the drag show was pretty awesome though
posted by xthlc at 6:14 AM on February 28, 2010

Not to be all Mr. Skeptical, but does David Borenstein's story about Jun Jun seem kind of suspicious? He and his friends went to a sketchy bar, saw that it was full of "private rooms", haggled with the owner on the price of one of them so they could read their Lonely Planet, and then were completely gobsmacked when it turned out the rooms served an unsavory purpose?

That aside, seems like a pretty interesting blog, though I don't get why it has to go for the "Asia" angle when it covers a whole three Asian countries. I know "China, Vietnam, and Taiwan Snapshots" doesn't have the same ring, but come now.
posted by threeants at 8:07 PM on February 28, 2010

Nice blog to show that some sort of change might be possible in China.....Is the government capable of banning or sensoring it locally? I know savvy Chinese can work around it, but curious if blogs like this one get on their radar.
posted by skepticallypleased at 8:15 PM on February 28, 2010