China is the worlds fastest-growing economic powerhouse; everybody knows this. But behind the headlines a once-in-a-generation cultural and sexual revolution is taking place all in the bars, cafs and streets of Chinas growing mega-cities.
Welcome to this new China. Writer and journalist Jemimah Steinfeld meets the young people behind the worlds fastest-moving nation to unveil their attitudes towards love, life and sexuality.
Little Emperors and Material Girls introduces the people at the heart of this world, from the man training students in the arts of love to the women who work the red-light districts; from the company trying to sell sex toys to Chinas middle classes to the Sino-punks of Beijings bar scene. Prepare to see China in a whole new light...
This is a radical, enlivening cherry-bomb of a book. It brings something completely new to the current glut of publications about contemporary China. Steinfeld has spoken to hundreds of young, ambitious, hungry, confused, rebellious Chinese girls and boys, breaking taboos, getting personal and political. In doing so she reflects China as it really is, from the inside out, free of foreigners speculation and rooted in the dynamic and contradictory social, economic and personal forces which are driving the hungriest and most rapidly transforming society in the world. This is a must-read for everyone from Sinophiles to sexophiles.
Bidisha, journalist and broadcaster
Jemimah Steinfelds fresh and original book is outstanding. It shows us the hidden corners of Chinese society, where todays young Chinese are fighting for independence torn between tradition and a fast-changing society, and confused by what they should want and who they should be.
Xinran, author of The Good Women of China
Chinas new generation will shape the global future. With insight and empathy, Jemimah Steinfeld portrays a generation caught between worlds, but striving to make their own.
James Palmer, journalist at the Global Times and author of The Death of Mao
LITTLE EMPERORS
and
MATERIAL GIRLS
Sex and Youth in Modern China
Jemimah Steinfeld
Published in 2015 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London New York
www.ibtauris.com
Copyright 2015 Jemimah Steinfeld
The right of Jemimah Steinfeld to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
References to websites were correct at the time of writing.
ISBN: 978 1 78076 984 4
eISBN: 978 0 85773 662 8
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Typeset in Palatino by JCS Publishing Services Ltd, www.jcs-publishing.co.uk
For the women of China,
who continue to triumph despite the obstacles.
May you soon hold up half the sky.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Chinese Dream
Love and Dating
1 Leftover in Beijing
2 Reality Bytes: The Emergence of the Internet in China
3 Diamond Love: Chinas Rich Kids and who they Date
4 Red Wedding: Capitalism Meets Communism in Chinese Marriage
5 The Other Woman: Mistress Culture
Sex and Sexuality
6 Lets Talk about Sex
7 Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll
8 Half out of the Closet: Being Gay in Twenty-First-Century China
9 Chinas Pussy Riot
Chinas Now Generation
10 Leaning In: Women and Chinas New Power
11 Model Comrades: Youth, the Party and the Country
12 In Love with God: Chinas New Young Christians
Epilogue: London
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
I would first like to thank everyone I interviewed and all those who make up the voices in this book. They were all incredibly kind in giving me their time and attention and, in most cases, opening up to a complete stranger. Without them Little Emperors and Material Girls would not exist.
In the same vein I would like to thank the team at I.B.Tauris and specifically my editor, Tomasz Hoskins. He saw a book in me before I did and his continued enthusiasm and support have been invaluable.
Special thanks go to my friend, teacher and translator Jean. Her kindness and patience knows no bounds.
Then there is my family. Theyve all encouraged me in their own way, both in writing the book and in exploring my continued fascination with China. My mother has been especially generous with her time and her editorial judgement.
Finally, there are my friends from inside and outside China. Theyve listened and given advice in equal measure. Particular mentions go to my housemate Laura, who allowed me to turn our living room into a writing enclave, and my partner, Simon, who helped me in the later stages.
Introduction
The Chinese Dream
The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigour and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you. [] The world belongs to you. Chinas future belongs to you.
Chairman Mao (1957)
D uring the summer of 2013, millions of people throughout China filed into their local cinemas to watch Chinese chick flick Tiny Times . It was planned perfectly to coincide with school and university holidays and the crowd was predominantly young, lively and female. Hailed as Chinas version of Gossip Girl and Sex and the City , Tiny Times had taken the nation by storm. Immediately after its release, it set a new box-office record and quickly knocked aside American blockbuster Man of Steel . It became the most talked-about film of the summer, turning it into a cultural and multimillion-dollar phenomenon.
Based on a trio of popular young adult novels by Guo Jingming, a 30-year-old celebrity author, Tiny Times narrates the fortunes of four fashion-conscious Shanghai graduates and their struggle for success, love and friendship. The movie revolves around Lin Xiao, who lands her dream job as a personal assistant at ME , a luxury fashion magazine. The publications title is no coincidence: the film is really a story about Chinas me generation. These are the 1980s kids, the only children born after Chinas reform and opening up, who care less about politics and collectivism and more about individualism and conspicuous consumption.
Throughout the film, the characters trot around Shanghai in Christian Louboutins, drinking champagne like water. Outfit changes are frequent. No character appears wearing the same clothes twice, which, according to the production designer, resulted in more than 3,000 costumes. Its opulence on acid. Love without materialism is just a pile of sand, proclaims one of the girls in the film as she admonishes her wealthy yet anti-consumerist onscreen boyfriend. In this world of commodities, a man is the ultimate accessory. The men in the film, as airbrushed as the women, are coveted and spoiled throughout. Their characters are reduced to little emperors, adored by the equally reductive material girls.
