The Chinese 43Drop-Outs and Druggies, Artists and
the Avant-Garde
As with any modern nation, China has many people living
at the fringe of mainstream society not necessarily due to
poverty (some are children from well-to-do families) but
rather due to dedication to one or another alternative lifestyle.
Given how out of character these groups seem to be relative
to traditional images of China, they have grabbed more than
their share of media coverage.
Images of Chinese transvestites, fetus-eating Chinese
‘performance artists’, artists in communal colonies, Ecstasy
parties and rockers pounding out the rhythms of China’s
ever-more furious nightlife have captured the imagination
of many writers and expatriates. Based on how some
expatriates spend their time, they may in fact believe the
nocturnal denizens of the ‘bar streets’ of Beijing, Shanghai
and Guangzhou are the truest representatives of the
modern Chinese.
Certainly, these various fringe groups do represent some
interesting trends in modern China. With the lifting of
totalitarian political controls, the seamier side of life has
returned to China along with the better access to travel, books
and global performances. There is a flourishing drug trade