The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
Posts: 360

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: Writers/Creative Types: Has China proved inspirational or detrimental to your creativity?

I mean the amount of weird, horrendous stuff that goes on in this country on a daily basis - do you find this inspiring or is the general creativity killing that goes on in the education system rubbing off on you as well?

10 years 51 weeks ago in  Culture - China

 
Answers (7)
Comments (2)
Posts: 856

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I find it detrimental. I don't know when the last time was that I picked up a sketch pad or paint brush. I'm so tired after a long day's work and hour+ commute home that now all I want to do each night is watch a dvd or tv show. Even my passion for SLR photography has been nuked by the fact that there are no public dark rooms in this country and too much smog outside which makes me want to stay at home instead.

Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4397

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

  As a sax player I guess i'm inspired by the amount of talented musicians I hear around me. Every day there are flautists, pianists and a female opera singer (heard a cock crow a few weeks back and for the briefest of moments I found myself thinking "Good Lord, that woman sounds drunk as Hell") and they all play to a very high standard indeed. It does make me want to practise more. Unfortunately there are some 'really' good X-Box games out at the moment and I just don't have the time. You know how it is.

Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 7204

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I try to make light of day to day things

Sometimes they are even funny.

Most things I have written about are things most of us have come across during our time in China or being married to a Chinese girl.

if you did not laugh about it you would cry

trouble is anybody that has not experienced it would not believe itsurprise

Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 879

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Hugely detrimental.

 

Great question, by the way, and I think this is one of the main drawbacks of living in China.

 

I rarely feel excited or inspired by conversation any more. One of the first things you have to give up is that chemistry created between like-minded people (whose conversations and ideas have reached a certain complexity and depth).

 

Now I find myself getting excited if a Chinese person actually makes a rational or insightful observation, because it is so rare. Having peers who stimulate your intellectual juices is essential for creative output.

 

My friends in Australia were boundlessly original. Even talking about writing tends to send me on an hours long writing spree. But most Chinese people have no concept that a normal person can create something or do anything original with their mind.

 

I also think the dreary environment is part of the problem. I find the air pollution and dismal urban setting quite oppressive, creatively. I think being able to breathe clean air and see blue skies and lie on the grass is as important to inspiration as mental stimulation is.

 

I was a productive if utterly disorganised writer before coming to China. Now I'm marginally more organised, but my creativity has been almost completely subdued.

albani771:

This is exactly how i feel

10 years 51 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 791

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Boundless subject matter for creative and humorous writing. I can't stop. I am not critical of the things I see and experience but try to present them in a funny way to my readers. I write an article every week titled Chinese Whispers and send out with my football previews. The feedback has been positive with people enjoying the observations. To say that the pollution and dreary scenery blocks creative thinking may be true at times but just seeing some of the things being done on a daily basis, hospitals, doctors, dentists, rubbish collection, selling watermelons, cleaning up snowfalls, redirecting water from rainfall into drains, taxi drivers, well, the list is endless, gets my creative juices flowing like water over a dam wall.

I think darkstar1 might feel the same going by his blog.

philbravery - spot on! If you didn't experience it you wouldn't believe it and sometimes I am almost reduced to tears. I am not married to a Chinese woman but I have had a couple of GF's and.......well, all I can say is they can provide some great material albeit unknowingly at times.

Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3292

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

The few stories I wrote for eChinacities were the most fun of any I have written. (Admin: I expect extra points wink ... Shift+R improves the quality of this image. Shift+A improves the quality of all images on this page. )

 

And if you believe that Chinese people have no creativity, you are wrong. I would urge you to read this story, and watch these Chinese teenagers performing in a play that they helped me to write and direct. It is in two parts on YouTube.

 

chinadailymail.com/2011/11/23/hangzhou-china-nafle-drama-competition/

 

 

darkstar1:

Dearest Traveler I am in complete agreement with you - the current influx of creativity here astounds me on a daily basis; there's so much art, music, ideas...even mocking Weibo posts are bursting with creativity (that the media/censors fail to pick up). For me on the whole I get bursts of creative flows though the general grind of things in Beijing does rub up against that from time to time. I was just wondering how others felt, I never doubted Chinese creativity (which is astonishing given all the brainwashing they go through) for a minute.

10 years 51 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Posts: 11

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Yea, I totally agree with darkstar1 and Traveler and DaqingDevil. This country is amazing for my creativity! So far I finally finished my poetry book, took some amazing digital photos, have written many blog entries and am now off to design a product for people. China is a huge inspiration. and I hang out with Chinese artists and thinkers. some of the greatest minds of future China! it's about who you pick to exchange your thoughts, and what things you want to see that will inspire you. I was taken on a date by a Chinese man, the first date was in a rabbit head restaurant! that gave a great story! I think because China is so fast paced and up coming the smog is just part of it, deal with it. It's all just perspective, but creativity comes from within and some of the Chinese certainly have it! On top of that, I am picking up Chinese work ethics, sleeping only on the subway or in the taxi, the other times, I am bursting with creativity and always doing something creative even during my teaching lessons. Good Luck.  

Report Abuse
10 years 51 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change from student to labourer visa is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77