Mosaic of China

What can anyone learn from a DJ? It turns out… a helluva lot, especially when the DJ in question is DJ BO. Based in China for the last decade, DJ BO has led a peripatetic life which has taken him on countless adventures in the pursuit of sharing his love of eclectic music, most famously becoming the first international DJ to ever play a set in North Korea. DJ BO's roots in Asia stem from his early...

We started off Season 02 of the podcast with a chat with the Chief Consumer Officer of L'Oréal China. And now that we've reached Episode 22 of the season, it's time to revisit the Chinese consumer from a different angle. Our guest today is Casey Hall, who has spent the last 14 years in China as a journalist, both as the Managing Editor of a city lifestyle magazine network, and most recently as the...

China is the world's largest vehicle market, both by manufacturing output and by annual sales. And at the heart of that business is the strategic car designer, someone who can not only plot a future design vision for the company, but can also work in collaboration with engineers and marketers to turn that vision into a reality. Ajay Jain has been designing cars since he could hold a pencil, and it...

To make friends with other people, it helps if you share the same sense of humour. So it can sometimes be a challenge to make meaningful friendships with people from other cultures, with whom you don't share the same historical background, comic sensibilities, or even speech patterns. This might be a common story for some people in China, but have no fear, because Michelle Qu is here to explain so...

The image of the foreigner teacher in China stands for two things. Firstly, it represents one of the most popular ways that someone seeking experience overseas can find their first footing, especially in a place like China. For some people it's a stepping stone into something else in that new country, and for others - like today's guest Seth Harvey - it becomes a gateway into a longer-term career...

Most of us are guilty of putting items in our shopping trolleys without giving one moment's thought as to where they came from. Jo McFarland doesn't have that luxury, because she's the one in charge of sourcing thousands of items - from around 500 factories in China - for two of the most famous high-street retail names in the United Kingdom, Sainsbury's and Argos. Sourcing manufactured goods may s...

Any speechwriter will corroborate that you can use the art of self-deprecation to engage an audience in ways that cannot be achieved through other rhetorical tricks. But if you adopt the wrong tone, it can come across as inauthentic, unfunny, and - worst of all - creepy. It takes a surprising amount of thoughtfulness, skill and intelligence to make yourself the subject of derision. Clowns are the...

We can all be guilty of making sweeping generalisations about nationalities and cultures. But not all Dutch are liberal; not all Brazilians can dance, and not all New Zealanders like rugby. So it should come as no surprise to you that not all Chinese people are into pop music. Especially when it comes to Cassandra Chen, who owns 'Inferno', the one and only bar in China that's 100% dedicated to hea...

Sometimes you don't know quite what you're doing and why you're doing it, until you sit down one day and take the time to evaluate it. And that's the day you might realise that the meaning of your work has somehow morphed into something you hadn't planned. In order to reach this realisation, it helps to be interviewed by a professional journalist! Thank you to Rebecca Kanthor for speaking with me...

Some say that young people are impatient, and are only on the look-out for short-term gratification. Not so with Douglon Tse, who spent his formative years pursuing a long-term vision for his life. This pursuit has led him and his wife to a unique island in China, which he describes very vividly in today's episode. At 30 years old, Douglon is also one of the youngest guests in Season 2 of the podc...

There is a lot being said around the world these days about racism and discrimination. Quite rightly. But pointing fingers and throwing accusations often achieves nothing. The thing that changes attitudes, at a human level, is both fundamentally simple, and embarrassingly difficult. It's casual association. Being casually associated with people from different backgrounds is what leads to a genuine...

When you live overseas, in some ways you take a leap into a new identity. You need to figure out how to fit into a new culture, while remaining true to your authentic self. Well, it's exactly the same story when your brand goes overseas. And when introducing your brand overseas, it's important to get the name right. Vladimir Djurovic is an expert in this field, since he and his team at LABBRAND cr...

Buildings, buildings, buildings. There has been a decades-long construction boom in China, and behind every building is an architect. Wendy Saunders has witnessed this boom, and as Co-Owner and Principal Architect of AIM Architecture, has created a niche in boutique design projects. In today's episode, we hear how Wendy has teamed up with Chinese clients such as the cosmetics brand HARMAY to bring...

Personally coming from a business background where my main tools of trade have just been a laptop and a phone, I’m always impressed with people with complex and audacious business ideas. And Alex Shoer is one of those people. In today's episode, Alex tells the story of the 'Solarcoaster' - the dramatic ups and downs of the solar industry in China over the last decade. And in this open and honest d...

If there's one animal that is synonymous with the Tibetan Plateau, it's the yak. It has historically played a huge role in the diet, culture, and livelihood of the nomadic people of Tibet, and this symbiotic relationship endures until today. My guest today is Danmajyid, who represents a new generation of Tibetans that are worldly, tech-savvy, and yet also know how to honour past traditions. Danma...

China is the largest market in the world for beer in terms of volume. And Belgium is a country with a long history of brewing, dating back to the 12th Century. So what better guest to have on the podcast than Sean Harmon, the China head of the premium Belgian beer company Duvel Moortgat, probably best known in China for its brand Vedett. Despite its proud status in Belgium, Duvel Moortgat started...

In China, craftsmen are not always venerated as artisans. Instead, they are often denigrated as low-status workers. But there is a design team based in the Zhejiang countryside that is doing its best to turn this around, curating the myriad ancient crafts that can be found across China before they disappear, and repurposing them for modern usage. This week's episode is with Jovana Zhang, one of th...

We all know what to expect in a theatre. We all know what to expect in an art gallery. But in which of these worlds does Performance Art belong? One answer is the Ming Contemporary Art Museum (McaM) in Shanghai, and one person who can explain this world is the artist and curator, Zhang Yuan. Yuan's story also helps to paint a picture of the independent art scene in China, and the way in which perf...

Pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding should be things that are universally understood around the world. But guess what... they're not. Societal conventions and traditions have created a disassociation between what is 'natural' and what is 'expected', leading to both cultural confusion and generational conflict.   In today's fascinating and eye-opening episode, we discuss these issues with Louis...

The art of drag, with its emphasis on exaggerated costumes and makeup, has gained mainstream popularity around the world, particularly over the last decade. And China is no exception. While drag in the West can trace its roots from Elizabethan England up to the underground queer scene of New York, drag in East Asia draws its own lineage from the Beijing Opera.   As one of the more prominent member...

Shanghai is one of those magical places where people can somehow become who they were always supposed to be. This is what happened to Katherine Wong, who decided one day to quit her corporate job, and start earning a living by sharing her knowledge of traditional Peruvian remedies with customers in China. Growing up in Peru with a Taiwanese father, a Bolivian mother, and a nanny from the Amazonian...

There are some professors who can justifiably be accused of living in their own little academic bubbles, but Professor Chang Chihyun is not one of them.   In today's episode, Chihyun talks about his experiences in the world of unversity education in China, and shares a few morsels of his knowledge of history and sinology along the way.   The episode also includes a catch-up interview with Tom BARK...

Food can be a window into a culture. But it can also be a barrier, especially when it comes to street food. Many can be intimidated to communicate with hawkers who often speak with strong dialects. And many can be turned off by hole-in-the-wall establishments, where there's no fancy décor, and definitely no English menu.   Jamie Barys has made it her mission to remove these barriers, by offering t...

With thirty years at L'Oréal, and fifteen of those in leadership roles in mainland China, Stéphane has made a career of anticipating trends in China, and catering to the needs of the powerful and illusive 'Chinese consumer'.   In this episode, we discuss the art and science of consumer insight analysis, through the prism of the beauty industry. We talk about the correlation between beauty and tech...

Hello, I’m Oscar. In this trailer, I introduce the new features of Season 2 of the Mosaic of China podcast, including the PREMIUM version of the show that is now available on Patreon (https://patreon.com/mosaicofchina), and the new transcripts of the show (https://mosaicofchina.com/transcripts). The transcripts have been designed for anyone whose first language isn’t English, or for listeners with...