Goal: I strive for each comic to:
– Be 1 page long
– Be drawn from personal experiences and observations
– Show an aspect of China that is not normally covered in western media or tour book. Preferably showing small differences that are part of daily life
– Show China as honestly as possible
– Challenge Chinese and American assumptions about each other and themselves
Disclaimer: These are my personal observations and experiences of China, such as they are. They are not unique to China, nor are they universal in China. I’m happy if they resonate with your own experiences, but please realize that this is the flotsam and jetsam of the China as seen by a semi-outsider.
I need help! Do you have a China Story?
Do you have a China story that makes you go “That’s so China”? Or an “Ah ha!” moment that helped explain some aspect of China? If you share it with me with enough detail/images, I’d love to draw it for an upcoming comic.
Warning: I go at my own pace. Right now I’m slowly sketching out the basic differences that will later serve as backdrop to more personal anecdotes — the streets, the food, the ideology, etc. So it might take a while before I feel your story is “audience-ready”.
My China Experiences:
– I was born in Shanghai in 1983 and lived there until the age of 6. I have since returned to Shanghai in 1992 for 1 month of elementary school, and in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, each time for 1-2 weeks to visit family.
– In 1997 I went on a trip to Inner Mongolia and the Chengde summer palace.
– In 2000 I went on a trip to Beijing, Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, and Lanzhou
– I’ve visited the rural areas of Jiangxi province in 2002, and the rural area near Ningbo in 2009
– In 2007 I attended a youth conference in Shanghai and visited Suzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, as well as a Shanghai retirement home, GM factory, etc.
– I volunteered at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and during that time lived in a city college dormitory
– I have not been in China in the winter since 4th grade. I only experience China in the summer.
– I have not lived in China on my own for more than 1 month.