A long, intense, strange trip, which, in classic fashion, ended before our hero could properly blog about it. Alas…
You were last left in the Shanghai region, where, many time zones ago, I spoke to Lit Fest audiences and university students alike. Then it was on to Beijing, where awaited the Bookworm International Literary Festival. First, though, two audiences, one of grades 6-8, another of 9-12, at the Canadian International School of Beijing seemed to be more taken by yaogun than I’d given them credit for. At the Bookworm, I participated in the Pop-Up Magazine event, in which I provided the gathered readers of the Beijinger magazine a bit of a quick look at whence the yaogun of the magazine’s pages came. The blooze-rock outfit I left behind, Black Cat Bone, reunited for one last gig, as did, in a new form, my other former band, RandomK(e), with a late-nite/early-morning fiesta at the best little rock club in the world, 2 Kolegas…
I was then privileged to find myself seated alongside legendary yaogun critic Hao Fang for a couple of talks, one, at the Bookworm, moderated by Spli-t Worker, Nathaniel Davis, which drew a large number of wait-listed and eager audience members, and another at the great little bookstore One Way Street. Hao Fang also took advantage of my visit by bringing me into the studios of Le TV, a Chinese internet TV station a-la Hulu/Netflix for an interview. What was the most touching, awesome and humbling thing about the whole Hao Fang experience was hearing him refer to me as “The Norman Bethune of Yaogun”. There is no higher compliment, I think, anyone in China could have paid me.
Hong Kong was next after Beijing, where the newly-opened and awe-inspiring Asia Society Hong Kong headquarters was the site of my last talk of the tour. An amazing end to an amazingly jam-packed twelve days. Check this interview, which came out in advance of my Asia Society talk, with Asia Society web editor and former China resident, Dan Washburn.
China: I’ll be back. But while I’m gone, keep ‘gunning…