The Portfolios

Spring arrived today with plenty of glorious sunshine, and we spent it on the lawn at the city’s biggest patch of green, Century Park. Way at the end of subway line 2, out in Pudong, this park is one of the few in Shanghai where people are actually allowed to walk and sit on the grass, and we took full advantage. Michael, Kadzue, Coley, Jeff, Charlie, Yoyo and I all sat on the lawn eating friend chicken and xiaolongbao and throwing the frisbee all afternoon. A perfect Sunday.

This is the cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone China (Guan Shi). The man featured is the legendary Cui Jian, the “Godfather of Chinese Rock.” All media references to Cui Jian inevitably bestow this moniker on him, to the point of ridiculousness. However, it is appropriate because he is basically, for China, a combination of Chuck Berry, Elvis, the Beatles and Dylan: he is “the man who started Rock and Roll.” The magazine itself features an interview with the man, who really hasn’t done much in the last ten years or so, but was definitely a bad ass back in the day, getting banned by the government, etc. He was eventually embraced by the Communists, and I believe he did a concert on the Great Wall. After the big story on the Godfather, the mag is mostly full of American pop culture, mostly translated from the American issue. U2, specifically Bono, feature prominently. A piece about “Renegades” has pages on Hunter S. Thompson, Mick Jagger, and Michael Moore. There are some pieces about Chinese artists, most of which I am wholly unfamiliar. And there is a piece about Rolling Stone itself, which explains the history of the magazine and shows a lot of old covers. All in all, it looks pretty cool, printed on big glossy pages like the American version. Will it sell in China? Who knows? Even though I don’t understand a word, I’ll probably buy it for the pictures. And if something looks good, I’ll ask Yoyo, “Baby, what does it say?”

Jeff and Coley throw some great parties, and this one was no exception. The picture on the left shows Jeff, who is from Orange County, CA, and recently was accepted to San Diego St for grad school. He will be leaving Shanghai, sadly, this summer to get his master’s in International Relations. To the right is Coley, his roommate, who works for Accenture on their project to reform the Shanghai stock exchange. And lastly is the famed Chairman Mao, who is a regular at these parties and always has a good time.