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The Opposite of a Red Guard

China's youth changes from generation to generation. For the millennials, gone is the navy blue Mao Suit.

Han Han, the Literary Superstar of China’s Millennial Generation, is something new on the scene.

For one thing, he races cars. For another thing, he is a rock performer as well as a film producer. No one in China’s two thousand plus years of literary production has ever seen the likes of him.

The younger generation of Chinese is not idealistic as was the generation that protested at Tienanmen. Changing the system is not on their minds. Neither is idealism.

Han Han and his generation are not Red Guards.

They do not wear uniforms and march into schools armed with little red books, quotations of Chairman Mao, and poke fun at their elders, or worse, humiliate them publicly by parading them through the streets in dunce caps. They do not beat them.
They go around to get along.

They are the social media generation. They are too cool for school and they do things differently than their elders.



A young man of many talents, Han Han is also China’s most famous blogger. His blog has had more than 200 million hits since it launched in 2006. That is a staggering number.

He escapes censorship by the Chinese authorities, but he is not a political writer, he does not touch the taboo subjects, he has really challenged the establishment. He writes about racing and social matters.

His book "The Trouble With Me: And Other Essays About Making Trouble in China Today" is a fun read for those who follow China and want a taste of what is happening now.

It irreverent and witty. It is a best-seller and is available on Amazon.

As a reviewer in the New Statesman says: Part of China's "post-Eighties generation", he is typically less political and more focused on the goals of money and status.

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