Ongoing till Feb 16 is a large-scale retrospective by Belgian artist Luc Tuymans, known for his thought-provoking paintings. I linger over Big Brother, a painting of the dormitory in the reality show that filmed contestants 24 hours a day. The in-house guide tells me this reality show has recently surged in popularity on Douyin, China’s equivalent to TikTok, with many commenting on the banality of being filmed constantly. How ironic, I thought, considering how many of us are now doing the same, willingly, through our own social media posts.
Afterwards, it was back to the hutongs to uncover a hidden side to Beijing culture. I followed my guide Fred closely through a maze of alleyways until suddenly, a red door opened and an ah yi (aunty) smilingly beckoned us into the courtyard of a siheyuan – a classic Beijing welcome.
We had arrived at the home of Liu Yunjiang, better known as Cricket Liu. The 75-year-old has spent his life breeding and training fighting crickets – essentially the local version of a bloodsport that is surprisingly relatively bloodless. (Fred, a Bejing native who grew up in the hutongs, explained that the losing insect will scamper away from its aggressor when they grapple, so they are rarely grievously injured. It is usually released to live out the rest of its life.)
Instead, the appeal of this sport is about the skill that goes into caring for and training the crickets.
