Han Han: Come Quickly, Leave Quickly

chinaSMACK translates a post by Han Han, in which he responds in his typically sardonic way to frequently asked questions about the upcoming Shanghai Expo:

7: What do you think of the city of Shanghai?

Answer: I was born here and have always loved this place, and I hope the city is happy and beautiful even if my old home has already been taken over by pollution. Speaking fairly, if you have money, Shanghai is a good place to be, whether it is shopping, scale, consumption, entertainment, Shanghai is pretty good. In terms of the economy, on the whole, this is an adventurer’s playground, this is the ordinary common people’s turf.

But there is no culture in Shanghai. Speaking of other countries’ big cities, you can say, “here we have architecture, hotels, famous streets and mansions.” Shanghai’s leaders pride themselves on being able to say we have that stuff in Shanghai, too, but if the people from other countries say, “Here we have authors, directors, artists, exhibits, film festivals, etc.” Shanghai’s leaders have nothing to say in response.

8: Why is that [in reference to Han Han’s answer above]?

Answer: Developing true culture requires relaxing standards [for censorship, etc.], relaxing standards means that “a hundred schools of thought will contend”. “A hundred schools of thought contending” will enlighten the people, and what a terrible mess that would be!

9: The government has said there’s nothing wrong with eating genetically altered food, and also said that we must avoid having it in the area of the Expo lest foreigners eat it by accident, is this a kind of prejudice against ourselves?

Answer: Nonsense, it’s obviously self-confidence, confidence in the strength of our Chinese bodies. We breath this kind of air every day, drink this kind of water every day, we’ve come up struggling [and become accustomed to it]. Foreigners drink one mouthful of pesticide and fall over dead, but we can drink three before dying. So your question is wrong.

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