Say It Loud

Xiang Jing x Karen Smith:

theoretical research, and was assigned to the film magazine People’s Film, which was the only magazine devoted to films then. It was later renamed Popular Cinema — I also worked at the magazine for three years after graduation. He had many friends in the film world, including directors of the fourth, fifth and sixth generation. Later, he also wrote scripts. Then there were my mother’s writer friends. Growing up, I thought that everything revolved around culture.


KS: As part of the student life in the academy at that time there was also a growing number of talks and extra-curricula events that you must have been aware of?
XJ: Yes, but many things were encountered following my own instincts, or courtesy of the moment and the location of the school. My awareness and love of music began at school. Behind the school there is a street called Longfusi. It was one of the first commercial streets in Beijing. It was one of the first places where you could find shops selling products associated with popular culture, like music cassettes. Often, when we were in class, if the windows were open we could hear the strains of popular songs from Hong Kong or Taiwan coming from the shops outside. One of my classmates had a brother who was in the United States, and who was always sending him music tapes of foreign groups, like the Beatles and Michel Jackson.

KS: Was this the general mood amongst the students?
XJ: It seemed to me that the years above, including that of Hong Hao and Liu Xiaodong worked very hard. They painted every day. In my first year, the school began holding dances, discos. That was amazing, and encouraged us to want to have fun. I was up for anything then — dancing all night, going off to attend activities organized by Wen Pulin. It made me so happy to be part of the crowd of students at these events.

KS: Was this a general response by young people to the moment?
XJ: Not exactly. I feel that my experience was unique for that era. Those of my classmates from junior high school found their studies at normal high schools very