Style over Substance

Wall Street, 1987, Gordon Gekko: "Greed is good"

Back in the day our youth, energy and cynical irreverence powered us with the confidence, and sometimes the arrogance, of an immortal. The media encouraged us to shun convention, embrace hedonism, side-step fidelity. Gekko preached 'Greed is good', Frankie told us to Relax; sex and money are the new gods.  

Meanwhile two gorgeous pin-ups warned us of death by matrimony 3 decades before one of them checked out on a drugs binge, lost and alone in the world despite, ironically, winning the genuine love and respect of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Wham, Young Guns, 1983, Death by Matrimony

It may have taken centuries for the opium of the massess to shift from the bible to literature. However in just three generations it swiftly became radio then tv and now the internet. 

People were originally measured by what they gave back; the workhouses and hospitals they built for the poor or the missions they established in godless corners of the world. Now people are measured by the image they project with their wealth, beauty and audacity. How popular is the video of a has-been sitcom star fellating a rapper compared with the video of a never-was hotel heiress yawning while she's being ravished from behind ? 

In Korea more than ever, Image is King. 

It begins in school where pressure to conform to new trends is intense. This year's absolute must-have is the knee length 'caterpillar coat'; stuffed with pure duck-down starting at $800 for an unrecognised brand in Costco to $2,500 for a known label. Last year's waist length duck-down coats simply won't do. To try to wear one of these to school this year would be an invitation to ridicule. This year only knee length is in. 

http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171201000703

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171201000635&ACE_SEARCH=1

Caterpillar jackets, the latest spine breaker

The parents who pick up the tab for kids who refuse to go to school without one refer to the coats as the latest  'spine breaker' reflecting the burden of earning the money to meet their kids demands. When special caterpillar coats were released to commemorate the forthcoming Pyeongchang winter olympics, the demand was predictably insatiable.

http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171201000744

Sadly, identical but unbranded coats made with synthetic fibres are simply not selling at all on account of their embarrassingly affordable price tag of only US$40

Projecting the right image in the job market is similarly crucial. Prevailing Confucian values still make it very awkward for an older person to work under a younger manager. So if a graduate takes a year or two after college to find a job, travel, learn a language or gain practical experience, it soon becomes impossible to place them as a new recruit in a team with a younger boss who graduated later and started employment directly after graduation. Therefore if a graduate cannot secure a job within 5 years of graduation, then there is a very real possibility they will be unemployable forever.



http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/05/19/2017051901362.html


People go to superhuman efforts to compete for a job but analysis shows that candidates typically spend more on improving their image than improving their employee skills. 


http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/07/02/2016070200438.html


For those who do get the job, projecting the right image remains essential. Watches must be Swiss, not Japanese, golf clubs must be American while cars must be German or at least Swedish. Of course handbags must be Burberry, Coach or similar, despite the US$1,500 plus required for the real thing or US$ 500 for an indistinguishable copy. 

Meanwhile if the employer deigns to issue corporate phones, laptops or monitors which are not made by Apple, then these will be 'spontaneously re-branded' by the embarrassed employee who will immediately fix Apple stickers over all the offending equipment.

Which brand of IT equipment was this before it was re-branded 'Apple' ?

Koreans are beautiful people. Due to a very healthy diet recent generations  are strikingly tall and appealingly svelte. However this is apparently not enough based on the pre-occupation with eyelid surgery, dental re-alignment, nose enlargement, breast augmentation, etc, etc. 

The prevailing belief that an ideal face has the ovoid shape of an upturned egg spurs some to part with upwards of US$ 3,500 to have their lower jaw shaved to achieve the right curves. In 2014 one doctor in Gangnam became infamous for erecting a towering display of the jawbone shavings.

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/01/23/2014012301819.html

Jaws: towers of bone shaved from patients wanting more ovoid faces

In the fuss which ensued the display was quickly removed with the explanation that the patient's names remained visible on the bones, which breached confidentiality agreements.

Advertising authorities have at last started to question the fixation with cosmetic surgery and the ethics of promoting it avidly to largely impressionable, increasingly younger and much less affluent audiences.  

Plastic surgery ads - to be banned on the subway from 2022

Recently the subway authority decided to ban the advertising of cosmetic surgery  stations on all the major commuting lines - but only from 2022. This is a classic Korean solution, paying lip service to the advertising authority while appeasing what is clearly a very profitable client base.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/11/281_240074.html



As Frankie said, we may have made a world where sex and money are the new gods. Movie stars with divine countenances can instantly have the life we would all choose, often despite drug addiction, alcoholism or sexual excesses which would disqualify them from the jobs of mere mortals. It is arguable that fake dimples, a cleft chin, a Breitling can help us to catch the job, promotion, club membership, partner, friends we feel are beyond us.  But while the perception remains, we will undoubtedly strive less to develop the wit, charm, intellect, tolerance, compassion and understanding which are more important for the longevity of our relationships.  At the same time, being measured by the image we project makes it increasingly unlikely that anyone will ever know us or appreciate us for who we really are.

Oscar Wilde:
"He has nothing, but he looks everything.
What more can one desire ?"

Out and about in Cebu

Most Koreans will tell you that their favourite seasons, spring and autumn, are becoming noticeably shorter each year, so that the switch from hot, humid summer to cold, dry winter now occurs  too quickly to properly enjoy the trees as they gradually change the colour of the mountains across the peninsular. 

Nami Island, the perfect place to enjoy autumn, or at least your own small piece of it

And for most people the change back from bitterly cold (-17'C) winter to summer can't come quickly enough. In this case $300 buys you a 4hr direct flight to Cebu where you can warm up early.  Cebu is pretty much slap-bang in the middle of the Philippines, sitting comfortably within the tropics.

View of Cebu City from the Cebu Taoist Temple

Of course the cost of visiting Cebu has often been dearer; indeed the first Europeans paid tragically with their lives; case in point, one Portugese Snr Ferdinand Magellan. For his time Snr Magellan was a pretty savvy navigator; born in 1480, by age 33 he had already spent 8 years learning how to subdue locals in Portugese India. By late 1519 Magellan secured finances from the Spanish King Charles I and was preparing to boldly go where no European had gone before; searching for the calm strait of water between the Atlantic and the Pacific which now bears his name. How Magellan knew about the strait and who originally charted it remains a matter of much speculation.

Charles I of Spain and
also Charles V of the
Holy Roman Empire;
"I speak Spanish to God,
Italian to Women,
French to Men and
German to my horse".

By early 1521, Magellan reached Cebu with only 2 of his 5 ships and only 150 of his 270 crew. There he befriended a cunning chieftain Humabon who converted to Christianity in return for Magellan's agreement to 'convert' a local rival; chief Lapu-Lapu. Rarely has a man's pulse risen so quickly as Magellan confidently strode up the beach smiling with 48 soldiers, then promptly ran back screaming in abject terror from the murderous onslaught of Lapu-Lapu's 1,500 unhappy warriors. Magellan's death by multiple bamboo spears and lances was neither quick nor merciful, proving that bad things happen to good people, clever people make stupid mistakes and lucky people get unlucky. Today you can overlook the sorry site of the Mactan Shrine and the Lapu-Lapu monument from the luxury terraces of the Shangrila hotel, pondering the folly of it all while casually chasing an olive or two around your vodka martini.  

April 1521: death is a beach;
locals speared the unprotected legs of the visitors to prevent retreat to their ships

Europeans would not return until 1565 when Spain's Snr Legaspi attempted to convert the locals once more. In a classic example of 'shoot first, ask questions later', Legaspi first opened fire on the city with muskets and and then burned 1,500 houses to the ground, killing perhaps 500 in the process. Only afterwards, in the ashes of the houses, the soldiers found a wooden statue of the child Jesus given by Magellan to Humabon, showing that the locals now prematurely interviewing with St Peter had in fact maintained and spread their Christian faith among population for 44 years without any outside coercion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Ni%C3%B1o_de_Ceb%C3%BA

A statue of Legaspi stands outside Fort San Pedro,
quite possibly the world's only example of a military fort re-purposed as a botanical garden

The hanging gardens of Fort San Pedro;
perfect for photoshoots or snuggling on bench, under a tree with that special someone

Much as Korea is a convenient starting point to explore Asia, Cebu is the perfect place to start exploring the Philippines. Across the Cebu Strait from Magellan's miserable death at Mactan is the island of Bohol, location of the world-renown 'Chocolate Hills', so called due to the dusky brown colour of the vegetation at certain times of the year.

The small but perfectly rounded 'Chocolate Hills of Bohol'

A trip to the Chocolate Hills invariably includes a stop at a nature reserve to see the world's smallest (av. 12cm/120g) primate, the painfully shy Philippine Tarsier in its natural surroundings. The female is known for its multiple sets of breasts, which may or may not explain why the male has the largest eye-to-body size ratio of all known mammals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_tarsier

From infeasibly small primates to the world's largest fish; down the coast a little from Cebu is the improbably named Oslob where visitors can swim alongside whale sharks, ie; sharks which filter-feed in the same way as whales. 

Each day a group of approx. 8 whale sharks appear voluntarily in the shallows at Oslob hoping to find food. The locals paddle out in traditional small boats to meet the whale sharks, feeding them while tourists snorkel and take photos.  Admittedly there is some controversy about the impact of taming wild animals in this way, but this is probably the best chance to swim with animals 12m-15m in length and 15 tonnes weight in their (almost) natural habitat.

Slow and graceful; whale sharks reach up to 15m long, 15t in weight

An extended family of 8 is normally present each day

The suction of water into the mouth is powerful; a safe distance of 4m is advised

http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/whale-shark-oslob/index.html

All in all a short break in Cebu provides the perfect remedy for the worst of the winter blues in Korea, leaving you warm, relaxed and energised for the start of spring.

Stairway to Heaven

Here in Korea it's 'Chuseok' again; that chaotic time of year when families everywhere criss-cross the peninsular to visit the husband's parents the wife's parents, the grand parents and the shrines of their parents to leave ritual offerings and say prayers for their ancestors through time immemorial.

This year the autumn equinox harvest festival is a little unusual; stretching over a full 10 days and set to the distant rhythm of war drums beating across the Pacific. The holiday begins innocently enough by exchanging boxes of spam, extra virgin olive oil, or possibly war survival kits, if you subscribe to the ominous portents of the conservative media. 

War survival kits, now a popular alternative to traditional spam or olive oil at Chuseok

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170925000797&ACE_SEARCH=1

Rapidly the vacation becomes fraught as record numbers jostle elbow-to-elbow through airports, tailgate for tedious hours along the highways and pack the trains to capacity. 

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20171001000143&ACE_SEARCH=1

For some the pressure is too much, with divorces in the weeks before and after Chuseok rising to twice the daily average.

http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=237244

In the western world the concept of god or divinity has undergone some major revisions over the centuries, much like we now roll out new software updates for our computers. The first humans probably huddled around camp fires, nervously asking each other how to prepare for the hereafter, desperately hoping that the answer wouldn't be more nerve-racking than preparing for a first mammoth hunt or perhaps even worse, a first date. 

Seemingly the first holy men recognised an opportunity to improve their social status and quickly launched to market Divinity 1.0, based on visible, mortal, tangible god-kings like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. The pharaohs evidently believed the afterlife to be rather empty and ill-furnished; they therefore spent a lifetime arranging to store plenty of food, luxuries and concubines to take with them when they passed over. Meanwhile the peasants could only take the rags they stood up in. All in all, this was not a very equitable belief system for the great unwashed.

Egyptian Pharaohs - leaving no creature comfort behind in their journey to the Afterlife 

The next roll-out, Divinity 2.0, featured a whole host of new, improved, more ethereal gods; this time invisible and immortal, with dominion over each aspect of earthly life. Greek, Roman and Norse priests gave us a god for everything from love to harvests and from war to volcanoes. 

Greek gods; one available for every occasion, all sacrifices gratefully received

As before, each god required devotion and sacrifices in return for delivery from evil. It all sounded wonderful but as the centuries ticked by we slowly realised that protection from war, famine, pestilence, etc could not be bought with any amount of prayer or sacrifice.

The wisest holy men foresaw their high social status being utterly ruined by unsatisfied customers and so, analysing the flaws in their model, they rushed out Divinity 3.0 even before Divinity 2.0 was abandoned. This time just one single Great Omnipotent Deity requiring devotion and sacrifice. Cleverly, our devotion this time would not earn us tangible rewards in this lifetime but virtual rewards in the next life - which we would need to take on faith, of course. Finally a bullet-proof deity concept which could survive the most intense customer scrutiny !  

Local variations of Divinity 3.0 were rolled out around the Mediterranean in quick succession including Judaism, Christianity and Islam - although in some parts of the world the latter is still arguably considered even less user friendly than Windows Vista ever was.

Meanwhile Korea was surviving happily on a simple diet of shamanism, or the worship of nature spirits, until Buddhism was introduced in the late 4th century. Since Buddhist and shamanistic teachings were not contradictory and since Buddhism tended more towards philosophy than deity worship, Koreans found it possible to integrate the two and follow both doctrines together. 

The spirits of the trees, mountains and animals are highly revered in shamanism

Korean Buddhism largely went unchallenged for a full millennium until the late 14th century when neo-Confucians supported a military coup, winning themselves the opportunity to try to displace Buddhist mysticism with a traditional and deeply hierarchical Confucian rationalism which included ancestor worship.  Therefore the modern Chuseok vacation reflects an ancient fusion of  Buddhist and Shamanistic concepts overlaid by more recent Confucian reverence for one's ancestors.

Although Korea undoubtedly had its own versions of Divinity 1.0 and 2.0, little was known about western divinity until books by Portuguese Jesuit Matteo Ricci were brought over from Beijing in the early 1600s. However even then the Chinese translations  limited the Christian doctrine to a relatively small, wealthy, educated overclass. It was not until the 1780s, when the literature was re-printed in simplified Korean Hangul script, that Christianity became accessible to the masses.

After centuries of Buddhism and Confucianism which both reinforce rigid social hierarchies, with little upward mobility within the system, Christianity eventually started to win followers through its message that all men are equal under god and reward is ultimately based on effort and merit not birthright. Current figures suggest that among Koreans, 20% identify as Protestant, 8% as Catholic and 15% as Buddhist, leaving about 55% following  non-organised worship including shamanistic or Confucian rituals.

For those with faith, the stairway to heaven is, somewhat predictably, earned by putting in long and regular hours. Gentle inquiries show it is not unusual for a family to dedicate their entire Sunday to promoting church business. Given the lack of family time available during the week, this means that a devoted Christian family can regularly spend half the weekend (or half of its entire weekly family time) serving the church. This ardent presenteeism suggests that entry to the Afterlife may be controlled by a celestial Human Resources Dept. which values time-keeping over productivity in the same way that we see here in this life every day.

Robert De Niro as Louis Cyphre in Angel Heart:
"They say there's enough religion in the world to make men hate each other,
but not enough to make them love.
The future isn't what it used to be, Mr Angel."

   

War of the Words

Relations between North Korea and the rest of the world are clearly sinking to a new low this year. Against a background of unprecedented military escalation and doubtful new sanctions the world's greatest egos have recently resumed trading personal insults to scorch each other via global headlines and soundbites.

Things became briefly personal in 2014 as western media led unflattering criticism of an iconic new hairstyle sported by Kim Jong-Un; the young Super Supreme Leader of the world's last best hope for totalitarianism-on-a-shoestring.

The Brits, normally a pillar of discretion, freely joined the melee offering corrective hair styling for anyone possessed enough to emulate the young dictator.

Poster in the window of a west London barber-shop offering to correct experimental errors.
Officials from the North Korean embassy were not amused.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/north-korea-calls-on-foreign-office-to-act-over-kim-jong-un-bad-hair-day-poster-9265144.html

Underlining its 'special relationship' with the US, the UK's Foreign Minister blathered effusely:

"Mr Kim's closely cropped, military style is totally unsuited for leadership.  Aspiring leaders of today's great nations are currently sporting the orange-blond flyaway look. It's totally impenetrable to all forms of common sense, tact or diplomacy, which is just perfect for a weekend's warmongering from the golf course or indeed for Brexit negotiations with Johnny Foreigner, Fwaaaahhh !"

Mr Trump and Mr Johnson - more often dazed than dazzling

A cabinet colleague of Mr Johnson wearing leopard print stilettos commented only on conditions of total anonymity:
"We have understood for a long time the vulgar meaning of the word 'Johnson' in the US.  Sadly in recent times this word has come to mean exactly the same thing here in the UK also.
I shall not be removed".

In this early round of personal mockery, public opinion tended to favour Mr Kim. Fashionistas agreed that the adventurous new hair style was very practical, keeps its shape well in strong wind, heavy rain and military exercises.  It also fits easily under a peaked cap while still allowing space to stash snacks or contraband for an emergency.  

John Travolta : Scientology never looked so "Phwoooor !"

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/02/20/kim-jong-un-hair_n_6719792.html


By comparison the orange-blond flyaway, much like the wearer, responds erratically to all external influences, requires constant resetting, is notoriously difficult to contain and looks about as statesmanlike as a ginger tom in free fall.

Ginger tom in actual free-fall, novice politician in popularity free-all

2017 started predictably with the regular round of US-South Korea co-ordinated military defence drills in March. NK responded with the usual large military parades in Pyongyang. In April came an unusual announcement that the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson would be diverted to monitor the NK regime and 'show resolve', but by June this was revealed as something of a 'strategic misdirection' (or 'fake news') by the Whitehouse when the Vinson was reported safely back in San Diego.

What few people saw coming next were;

• NK's September detonation of the world's largest explosion since China in 1992; ostensibly a hydrogen bomb of 250 kT
• a new sport of brazenly launching rockets over northern Japan rudely early in the morning at the weekends. 

Somehow these were the trigger for things to become personal again, with a speech at the UN labeling Kim Jong-Un 'Rocket Man' and 'suicidal'. While the name 'Rocket Man' speaks only to the author's limited wit and pre-school vocabulary, the term 'suicidal' carries much more ominous overtones. 

Put simply; if a leader is rational, he values self-preservation and can therefore be contained by negotiation, threats or deterrents. To call Kim suicidal is to suggest that he is not rational, cares not for his survival and therefore cannot be contained. Such an assessment would be the most convincing justification for a preemptive US strike to decapitate Kim's regime. In turn, this provides Kim with the most convincing (and rational) justification for a preemptive strike of his own. Therefore if the US actually have assessed Kim to be unstable (as opposed to just brutal with delusions of deity), then it is monumentally reckless to reveal this assessment, since once Kim knows this, it will be the surest path to inviting a preemptive strike by NK. 


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/09/20/would-trump-attack-north-korea-heres-what-we-learned-from-his-rocket-man-speech-at-the-u-n/?tid=pm_pop&utm_term=.124f687a54ff

Mr T's 'suicidal' comment suggests that in terms of strategic thinking, he still has not found time to read Sun Tzu's classic Art of War, despite misappropriating the title for his own Art of the Deal some 30 years ago.

Reckless reveals aside, Kim may well have got the upper hand  again; at least for upping the sophistication of the language used for trading insults. In response to the 'Rocket Man' quip, Kim referred to Mr T as a 'dotard', sending everyone scrambling for a dictionary, upon which most of us learned 4 new things; 

1. NK's dictionaries probably pre-date World War 1
2. 'dotard' originally meant 'imbecile' but later 'an old person who became weak and senile'
3. most of the Twittersphere shares Kim's opinion since the early days of the new administration - they just didn't have the same word for it
4. we are slowly slipping back into the cold war
   - does anyone want to revisit the 1980's ?

 

1986: Sting: Every Bomb You Make - courtesy Spitting Image

Out and about in Beijing

One dry observation repeated by nerdy cynics is that the proof of intelligent life in the cosmos lies in the simple fact that none of it has yet stopped by to introduce itself. The nearest any aliens have probably ventured is a quick flyby of Jupiter to snap the famous red spot for their bucket list. A brief interception of our daytime TV programming would quickly convince potential visitors that the Humans of Earth need several more centuries of evolution (and possibly then some !) before we are mature enough for First Contact. Of course we like to reassure ourselves that in a scrap, a couple of 'Independence Day' heroes like Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum would step up to the plate, but the harsh reality is that we would fail miserably if we needed to field a global leader anywhere near the calibre of Bill Pullman. 

Bill Pullman - a presidential Thomas Whitmore, delivers bad news in Independence Day

If there really is any doubt then just try this brief thought experiment; a peaceful species of sentient mushrooms lumbers into our solar system in a faulty space-craft the size of Tasmania. They assume a discrete orbit, explain that their primary engine has blown a gasket and they'll be on their way as soon as they can fix it. They just need to open a quarry the size of Wales somewhere on Earth to mine the rare earth elements needed for the repairs. They then ask innocently; "Please take us to your leader". Now the $64,000 question is; if this happened tomorrow, who would we really want to step into the spotlight to speak for all humanity at this critical juncture in Earth history ?

"Take us to your leader !"

Of course, if the sentient mushrooms study our Earth history, they might easily suppose that our Global Leader is somewhere in China and most probably in Beijing. After all, China's population is 4 times larger than the USA and 8 times larger than Russia. No surprise then that Beijing and Shanghai are now the world's two largest urban populations, featuring the world's most modern infrastructure and global concentrations of trade and finance. This development is not merely a recent achievement. A quick peek through history shows that 6 of the world's 15 largest empires were based in China and that Beijing especially was the world's most populous city for much of the last millenium. Accounts of early 15th century Chinese trade and diplomatic missions westwards to India, Arabia, East Africa and eastwards to Asia Pacific (and quite possibly Australasia and the eastern Pacific) offer a definitive guide on what it meant to be a global superpower, in an era before the same term eventually became synonymous with a nuclear arms race. 

The westward voyages of the voyager eunuch Zheng He

Today's Beijing proudly displays a rich history of ancient dynasties, grand military and engineering projects and cultural revolutions in the forms of squares, parks, palaces, temples, walls and canals which can be easily enjoyed by anyone - who has the right documents.  

Oldies playing board games in the shade around the Temple of The Sun in Ritan Park

Whether it's a wasteful communist trait to employ as many unproductive minions as possible or whether there is a real need to prevent western ideas contaminating the population, the Chinese authorities still follow the old adage "Trust is good but control is better".  Hence a tourist visa application requires a daily itinerary of everything you plan to do and everywhere you plan to go.  A foreigner wanting to leave a city hotel to visit the country must list the people he will visit and the addresses he will stay at and must register his arrival with local police during the excursion. Meanwhile the internet is widely available but external news and social media are blocked and therefore inaccessible without Virtual Private Networks. Curiously a visit to the Forbidden City requires proof of ID such as passport or driving licence simply to buy a ticket. Basically it's a pretty good reflection of Poland in the early 1980's.

The Forbidden City
- where entry is forbidden without formal ID, but cycling is permitted, evidently

Paperwork aside, the sights are indeed amazing. The unique size and richness of of the Forbidden City seems special enough to have survived the heavy boot of the state, which seems to have made no effort to eradicate the ethereal names of the buildings, such as; the Palace of Peace and Longevity, the Palace of Heavenly Purity, The Palace of Earthly Tranquility, etc, etc.  

Temple of Heaven

Likewise the majestic Temple of Heaven set in huge leafy cherry orchards is surrounded by the spiritually uplifting Garden of 100 Flowers, the Palace of Abstinence and the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

SuZhou Street at the Summer Palace
- complete with weeping willows, arched bridges, lilly ponds and traditional stores
as featured on all blue and white Chinese-themed crockery since time began 

Traditional Spode pottery from Staffordshire featuring all the same signature themes

It is perhaps at The Summer Palace, a collection of temples and gardens around a huge lake system, overlooked by the Temple of the Fragrance of the Buddha where you start to wonder if the designer was trying just a little too hard to impress his royal patrons. 

The Summer Palace - a quiet little palace outside the city for an emperor to get away from it all

As you walk through the gardens up the hill you pass through the Valley of Fumbling Discovery, along the Path of Breathless Anticipation which leads up onto the Peak of Heavenly Euphoria. 

And finally; depending on how touchy-feely you are, for decades China's greatest treasure has been either their irresistible pandas or the famous Great Wall. It long since passed into common consensus that the Great Wall is visible from space, some said from the moon and others even suggested it is visible from Mars.  Sadly nothing of the sort seems to be true, as confirmed by astronauts who squinted in vain from many space vehicles, including the International Space Station.  

https://m.thevintagenews.com/2017/02/12/the-myth-that-the-great-wall-of-china-is-visible-from-space-originated-before-anyone-had-ever-been-into-space/


https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html

This sad realiasation proved to be very upsetting, not least to Chinese astronauts who, it was suggested, needed more training to learn how to identify the Great Wall.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-chinas-great-wall-visible-from-space/

The Great Wall - easily visible at Mutianyu, 75km north of Beijing.
Started in the 6th century, then rebuilt in the 15th and 16th century.
It is up to 8.5m high and 5m wide, the best preserved part of the Great Wall today. 

However the amazing good news for the touchy-feely types is that pandas are indeed finally visible from space.  

The 100 MW Datong Solar Power Plant in Shanxi Province
- designed to raise awareness and be visible from space - finally.

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Chinese_Solar_Farm_in_the_Shape_of_a_Giant_Panda_Can_Be_Seen_From_Space_999.html

If you go down in the woods today ... you'd better go in disguise

There are many things you might reasonably expect to see while walking a small dog around a modest park in the middle of a huge city. Definitely other small dogs and large dogs even - with civic-minded owners bagging up generous handfuls of poop.  Noisy toddlers, hi-tech prams, the occasional roller-blader or powered skateboarder. However a forest populated by small groups of elfin anime characters would almost certainly make you look twice ... and then some. Indeed, to the uninitiated, a visit to Yangjae Citizen's Forest might leave you thinking you have just entered The Twilight Zone...

Beware of the forest, don't stray from the path

Yangjae Citizen's Forest is a small parcel of land in the south of Seoul hemmed in by a major trunk road, a large flower market and two looming high-rise offices of Hyundai and Kia. Frankly it is very easy to overlook, the forest being altogether too small to attract significant numbers of people. 

A girl in elaborate anime costume poses for photographs on a bridge into Yangjae Citizen's Forest

However with a few grassy areas, some curious looking monuments, lots of leafy tree cover and a stream with bridges, it serves perfectly as an unlikely outdoor photographic studio where cosplayers can pay homage to their favourite comic hero, or perhaps their partner's favourite comic crush. For uninformed dog-walkers a cosplayer is a person who dresses up as a character from an comic series, movie, cartoon or video game. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-cosplay-2013-10

As always, Korean cosplayers take their obsessions very seriously.
For anime characters there is an ill-defined grey zone between
fandom, fetish and role-play

The background to all of this is Korea's insatiable fascination with anime comics and movies. A quick glimpse around the subway carriage in the morning shows an approx equal split between commuters playing video games, watching TV and those reading a (sometimes too) graphic novel of one genre or another. 

A model waits patiently while photographers assemble cameras, lights, reflectors

While some suggest that anime is helping to support Japan through a time of declining economic influence ...

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2010/09/07/reference/anime-makes-japan-superpower/#.WaJmkigjGUk

... others claim that the home-grown Korean animation is finally ready to step into the limelight and define its own place in the market after many years of producing work outsourced from the Japanese animation studios;

https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jan/22/south-korean-animation-king-pigs

http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=112698

Either way, the market for anime is reportedly worth US$ 14bn in Japan and more than twice that in China, so competition is fierce.

http://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/buzz-about-multibillion-dollar-anime-biz

Consumer interest in Korea is such that Seoul and the southern port city of Busan take it in turns to alternately hold anime comic conventions at least every two months - usually every month during the summer.  

Busan Comic World

These conventions give fans a chance to show show off new costumes and pose as their alter ego in a highly charged, media intense, bustling setting.  By comparison the Citizen's Forest at Yangjae allows them to quietly mellow out and enjoy the fun in a quiet, relaxing, semi-secluded environment.

Say "Kimchi"

Note the axes - as much work goes into the props as the costumes

It's not unusual to see a group of 3 or more brightly wigged and costumed cosplayers surrounded by a crew of 5 or more taking photos or video, holding lights, reflectors or flash umbrellas, fixing props such as swords and axes and making fine adjustments to make-up, headgear and capes. All in all you could be forgiven for thinking you and your mutt had blindly wandered onto a film rehearsal studio.

Just a final note of interest; while the western fan base of animated material and comic conventions is (stereo-typically at least) nerdy young men - exemplified by Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory: Flash, Flash, Flash and Flash

By comparison the Asian fan base is, if anything, overwhelmingly female.



 PS: Inspirational leaders through the ages

47BC: I came, I saw, I conquered

2017 AD: I came, I scored, I squandered, bigly