Peking Hotel with Liu He

What’s it like for a foreigner to perform Xiangsheng—China’s traditional crosstalk comedy—on the biggest stage in the Sinophone world, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala? In 1999, David Moser did just that. Now an Associate Professor at Beijing Capital Normal University, David had already spent a decade in China by then, studying Xiangsheng under Master Ding Guangquan, translating books, and helping seed China’s underground jazz scene.Yet, despite his intimidating list of talents, when you meet him, you can’t help but call him ‘Lao Mo’ (老莫). He’s a jolly, funny, dynamic friend to spend time with. I will say no more than that this is the most entertaining chat I’ve done for Peking Hotel [http://pekinghotel.substack.com]. I hope you feel the same too. For quick navigation to the specific sections: * What is it like to perform Xiangsheng in front of a billion Chinese people? [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/i/166735189/what-is-it-like-to-perform-xiangsheng-in-front-of-a-billion-chinese-people] * A musician wanders into the Sinophone world through tongue-twisters and translation [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/i/166735189/a-musician-wanders-into-the-sinophone-world-through-tongue-twisters-and-translation] * Translating one of the first books on AI in China with half-baked Chinese [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/i/166735189/translating-one-of-the-first-books-on-ai-in-china-with-half-baked-chinese] * When Ancient Greek meets Ancient Chinese [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/i/166735189/when-ancient-greek-meets-ancient-chinese] * Apprenticing under Ding Guangquan, a Xinagsheng Master [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/i/166735189/apprenticing-under-ding-guangquan-a-xinagsheng-master] Music: High Rollin, Stefano Mastronardi, Artlist Original Music Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at pekinghotel.substack.com [http://pekinghotel.substack.com] About Peking Hotel The Peking Hotel podcast and newsletter are digital publications in which Liu He interviews China specialists about their first-hand experiences and observations from decades past. The project grew out of Liu’s research at Hoover Institution collecting oral history of China experts living in the U.S. Their stories are a reminder of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [http://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe] Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Prof. Judith Shapiro reflects on how the environment used to be a cause for which Chinese civil society was allowed to fight, until that too became sensitive.Host: Liu He Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at pekinghotel.substack.com [http://pekinghotel.substack.com] About Peking Hotel The Peking Hotel podcast and newsletter are digital publications in which Liu He interviews China specialists about their first-hand experiences and observations from decades past. The project grew out of Liu’s research at Hoover Institution collecting oral history of China experts living in the U.S. Their stories are a reminder of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Before her career switch to researching environmental politics, Prof. Judith Shapiro spent a whirlwind decade teaching, writing, and living in and about China as it awakened from the Mao era. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Democracy scholar Larry Diamond discusses why democratisation in China and Hong Kong failed, and how activists can keep the global movement against autocracy going as the U.S. turns isolationist. Follow our Substack at Peking Hotel [https://pekinghotel.substack.com] About us The Peking Hotel podcast and newsletter are digital publications in which Liu He interviews China specialists about their first-hand experiences and observations from decades past. The project grew out of Liu’s research at Hoover Institution collecting oral history of China experts living in the U.S. Their stories are a reminder of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

For quick navigation: China’s qiqong fever Chasing the Falun Gong beat in Beijing and around China Winning the Pulitzer Recommended Readings: David Ownby, 1996, Brotherhoods and Secret Societies in Early and Mid-Qing China, Standford Universit Ian Johnson, 2004, Wild Grass, Pantheon David A. Palmer, 2007, Qigong Fever, Columbia University Press David Ownby, 2008, Falun Gong and the Future of China, Oxford University Press Ian Johnson, 2017, Souls of China, Knopf Doubleday Ian Johnson, 2023, Sparks, Oxford University Press About us The Peking Hotel podcast and newsletter are digital publications in which Liu He interviews China specialists about their first-hand experiences and observations from decades past. The project grew out of Liu’s research at Hoover Institution collecting oral history of China experts living in the U.S. Their stories are a reminder of what China used to be and what it is capable of becoming. We also have a Chinese-language Substack [https://www.the-mayfly.com/s/227]. We hope to publish more conversations like this one, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading Peking Hotel! This post is public so feel free to share it. Get full access to Peking Hotel at pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe [https://pekinghotel.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]