(Obligatory meat suit "My New York" picture. In the age of AI I feel compelled to add that yes, this really happened.)

Zhang Huan 張洹 | When Chinese Art arrived in New York City Episode Updates and Behind the Scenes musings for the Living History series

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New York meanwhile had its own perils: Zhang Huan had broken through with work like “My New York,” where he wore essentially a meat suit. He lost the money he made in one of Donald Trump’s Casinos. “Suddenly I had everything, then I had nothing. I had to start all over again.”

Creating provocative art in 90s Beijing, he recalled, felt like committing crimes: “Everything was done in secret. You’d finish and run away.” But the artists were hungry: “They left their hometowns with the same dreams: to change themselves, to make their mark. Nothing else mattered.”

In “12 Square Meters,” he sat naked in a filthy public restroom, his skin slowly overtaken by flies.

The photographs that remain are difficult to look at, and harder to forget.

In New York, his work would become only more physically extreme and existential in its stakes.

Zhang Huan became famous for work as uncompromising as the post-Tiananmen conditions under which it was made.

In his seminal piece “65kg,” he suspended himself from the ceiling, his blood dripping onto a hot plate below.

Zhang Huan 張洹 | When Chinese Art arrived in New York City YouTube video by Living History: Stories from the Opening of China

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRQt...

In the early 1990s a wave of Chinese artists arrived in New York City, hoping to make their name. One of its leading names was Zhang Huan 張洹. We spoke with him for our latest episode of Living History, out now.

Someone managed to flip their car at PVG.

In spite of strict speed limits, traffic cameras and a phalanx of traffic cops.

I'm impressed.

Monday.

One of the most exciting episodes we have done to date.

Terrible move.

Beijing revokes accreditation of NY Times correspondent Vivian Wang @vwang3

open.substack.com/pub/formosar...

China’s state airlines are aviation’s unlikely losers from war Despite providing flights to Europe bypassing the Middle East, carriers' shares have tumbled since the conflict began.

Chinese Airlines are struggling because they did not hedge fuel costs, reports the Japan Times. I did not have this on my bingo card today but it explains why so many lesser routes to SE Asia were reduced or cut this month.

www.japantimes.co.jp/business/202...

Hello Shanghai.

Lovely paint scheme on this A318 private jet.

On to the next leg.

Both Hong Kong aircraft today have rather worn interiors but very friendly crews. To me, that counts more.

Hong Kong airlines is one of those carriers that happily refuels with passengers on board. I realize this is a daily occurrence but it still makes me queasy.

Wonder how you all feel about this?

My ride to Hong Kong is here.

Ticket prices are insanely expensive now, thus the detour. I need to buy fourteen tickets from China and Japan to/within/from Australia and New Zealand and then more to Europe soon, forcing me to penny-pinch now.

Another day, another flight.
TAO-HKG-SHA.

Taipei Taoyuan airport has a few free massage chairs but you have to get special coins at a shop and they limit you to one. Frustrating when you have time to spare.

国航将新开独飞这条国际航线

Air China is extending their Beijing Capital-Copenhagen route by one stop to Reykjavik, Iceland using their A350.

The route will add 3 flights per week to the existing daily schedule during the summer travel season, bringing the total to 10x per week.

mp.weixin.qq.com/s/bkqUOUUuSD...

But I know a reseller who bought at least ten tickets in response and required the people to line up with everyone else who wanted autographs. This was for an elderly Jazz legend, a rare chance to get albums signed.

You gotta admire the hustle.

These situations call for diplomacy: of course you want the most hardcore of fans especially happy (and some are, not everyone is a reseller!) but you also don't want other fans to wait longer and then complain online. My solution is to limit autographs to two albums per person.

Ever seen audience members buy expensive tickets and then sit in the back on their phone instead of watching the show?

Those are likely resellers. They are here for an autographed album that will land on Taobao. Some try to get many, many albums signed.

Showtime.

For me as the concert organizer this means a few minutes to relax.

I slept two hours last night.

Full House.

The VIP crowd is already in, now regular ticket holders are coming in.

Doors are open.

There are two kinds of tickets tonight, regular and VIP, who get early entry, a special area at the front of the stage and a selfie with the artist. We also offer LP's, which can be signed. There are 80 of them tonight and it's pretty certain they'll be gone quickly.

We're expecting around 500 people today. At this level you can still do concerts in Asia without spending serious money on security. The same is not true once you hit 1,500 or so. Fans whipping each other up into a frenzy is a thing.

Eight or so fans actually found out which flight she was on and met her at the airport. It wasn't a problem, her fans are kind and well-behaved, but it does make you wonder...

Today we are organizing the 和田加奈子 Maki Kanako concert in Taipei. Riverside Livehouse sold out almost immediately when we announced the show. An hour before showtime there are already hundreds of people waiting outside.

Negative. You select the return leg on the following screen. If the same fare class is still available the price stays the same. If it's sold out you have to choose another return flight and it will display the additional cost.