Last week I got an email from a reporter named Jonny at the Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper that produces an English daily for distribution in Beijing. Jonny was interested in producing a feature about me in the Metro section of the paper, and he insisted that in the English language publications, there wasn’t anything to fear from speaking to a state media source.
Taking his word for it, I invited Jonny over to my apartment, which gave me reason to clean up the common room I share with my two roommates. The result was a clear living room table, although I think the room itself didn’t quite pass for clean.
Jonny was a nice guy and our talk about Chinese comedy ran over all sorts of topics, from Xiangsheng, to Laowai style, to Mike Sui. It was a great conversation; afterwards, we needed a picture for the final piece. But where was there an uncluttered square inch in the apartment to take the picture?
“We can shoot in my room, although I have stuff all over my bed,” I said.
“That’s not a problem,” Jonny said, “actually, the biggest problem is these white hospital lights.”
Sure enough, the flurorescent lights in my room made everything look terrible. So, we turned off those lights and turned on the fortuitously placed orange hanging lamp near by desk. The desk and lamp are both contained in a small semi-circle outcropping with a large window, and so we took the cover photo there. It looks a bit strange, but hopefully, better than standing against a white wall!
In any case, I hope you enjoy the article, many thanks to the Global Times!