Sunday, January 22, 2006

Grandson of the Revolution

Fellow blogger China Fool (and I highly recommend you pay this blog a visit - the Fool offers a unique perspective on today's China, from a Chinese who lived in the US for many years and recently returned to Beijing) alerted me to this website - which just about made my head explode. It's a "my space" blog from a young Chinese man living in the UK who is pursuing a career in fashion design. The site features photos of him looking quite fetching and stylish, and well, sticking his hand in his fly in one snap, along with a photo tribute to one of his obsessions, the Carpenters (yep, Karen Carpenter and brother Richard).

Why the exploding synapses, you might ask? Because the blogger in question is Lin Biao's grandson.

Yes, Lin Biao, revolutionary general, briefly Chairman Mao's "Closest Comrade in Arms," whose calligraphy introduces the Cultural Revolution edition of Mao's Little Red Book. Yep, the same Lin Biao featured in my favorite Chinese souvenir, a pink plastic TV framed 3-d photo of Mao with Lin following a few steps behind his Chairman, in an appropriate display of deference.

"Surreal" very nearly doesn't cover it.

UPDATE: China Fool expresses some skepticism that this fellow really is who he claims to be - and of course, that's the beauty of those internets...people make all kinds of claims that are difficult to substantiate and shouldn't be taken at face value...

Now, it's a whole 'nother interesting question - what would inspire someone to pose as Lin Biao's grandson? I can't say it's an obvious choice...

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