OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK One of the Youngest Publishers of an International Magazine in China Explains Why His Group Sees So Much Potential in the Chinese Market
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
20 LIFE Friday, January 5, 2018 CHINA DAILY OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK One of the youngest publishers of an international magazine in China explains why his group sees so much potential in the Chinese market. Yang Yang reports. hen the presi- a manicure at your office via an dent and chief app on your phone,” he says. digital officer of “It (the providing of the ser- The Alexandrov Ensemble brings songs, dances and instru- Conde Nast vices) is not possible in many mental performances to Beijing. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY International,W Wolfgang Blau, markets. But labor costs in visited China in late 2017, Paco China are comparatively low,” Tang, the 33-year-old publish- he says. er of GQ China, took him to a Chinese brands have fresh food supermarket in Bei- already started influencing Russian army’s jing for dinner. other markets. There, customers can “What you do (in China) is choose fresh vegetables, meat also attracting other people’s troupe to return and seafood from all over the attention, and is thus having a world, take them away, or ask big influence,” says Tang. for them to be cooked and eat Since he took the job on the food in the dining area. Aug 1, Tang has reorganized after restart This is a new trend in China. the administrative and edit- “And there’s no need to pay ing systems, so that interac- using cash. Just use your tions among the different By CHEN NAN Soldier and My Country, My phone to scan the QR code to departments — marketing, [email protected] Mother. pay. After you order a crab or planning and editing — are Speaking about the shrimp, the suppliers in, for smoother. The Russian army’s offi- shows, the new chief con- instance, Canada get the infor- Now, the editorial team cial dance and choir troupe, ductor and artistic director, mation. It’s a business model takes more interest in produc- the Alexandrov Ensemble, Gennady Sachenyuk, says: that makes the most of the ing quality content for brand- is staging five shows at the “The friendship between internet,” says Tang. ing and marketing. National Center for the Per- China and Russia has a long “Foreigners may feel For instance, for the annual forming Arts in Beijing history. So, we are glad to strange about how common celebration on Dec 15, fashion from Jan 4 to 7, with a varie- return to China in 2018, the cashless mobile-payment editors at GQ China helped ty of songs, dances and which is the year marking system is.” the 10 men of the year with instrumental performan- the 90th anniversary of the But Tang and the magazine’s their hair, makeup and out- ces. ensemble. leaders in London realize that fits. And they filmed the proc- This is the first time for “The year 2017 was very China is very different from ess and shared the videos on the ensemble to perform in important and special to us. any other country due to the WeChat. China after 64 members of It was a very tough time for rapidly developing internet They also built an on-site the group were killed in a the ensemble after the trage- industry. studio to collect videos of the plane crash, including its dy.” The market is dominated by men of the year, besides taking former artistic director, Val- Mikhail Marushevskii, the internet and young people photos of them. ery Khalilov, on Dec 25, the vice-president of the — and consequently is fickle “It is more interesting for 2016. ensemble, says: “We started and challenging and yet full of both the stars and netizens,” The tragedy occurred preparing and rehearsing possibilities and potential. Tang says. when a Tu-154 aircraft for the shows in January That may be why one of the Before GQ China, Tang crashed into the Black Sea 2017 and gave our first show key words for GQ China under worked in marketing and two minutes after departing after the accident in April in Conde Nast International, a branding for magazines for from the city of Sochi. Moscow, which was fol- brand with over a century of seven years, with stints at The members of the lowed by a tour of Europe, history, in 2017 was “young”. Bloomberg Businessweek and ensemble were flying to a with performances in the For instance, its annual cele- Esquire. Russian military base in Syr- Czech Republic, Israel and bration on Dec 15 saw GQ Chi- Tang, who is a Libra, advo- ia to perform at a New Year’s Poland, among other coun- na’s editorial team choose 10 cates the idea that men should concert. tries.” people who have contributed not only have a stylish look Chen Ping, president of He adds that the ensemble to China’s social progress in dif- and an interesting soul, but the NCPA, sent a message of made its China debut in ferent areas, such as moive and also a profound understand- condolence to the ensem- 1952, and the current per- music, with the theme of “the ing of the world. ble. formance marks their 10th possibility of being young”. He loves the in-depth fea- Zhu Jing, vice-president of visit. “Being young doesn’t sim- tures in GQ magazines, the NCPA, says: “The ensem- As for the new performers, ply mean it is about age, but besides jogging, swimming ble has performed regularly Baritone Maksim Maklakov, about one’s attitude toward and tennis to keep fit. at the NCPA since 2009. And who now is a soloist, says, life,” says Tang. Describing GQ, he says: we are honored to have them “It’s a great honor and a One of GQ’s most popular “Despite being a fashion mag- back. great responsibility to join digital products — the azine, we have an editorial “When we learned that the famous choir and to car- WeChat account GQ Lab — team to do in-depth reporting the ensemble had started ry on its legacy.” has been created by a group of because we want to provide touring again, we invited Maklakov, who joined people under 27 years old. Chinese men with something them to perform at the the choir in January 2017, And Tang, its new publisher, interesting and profound NCPA.” stood out among 60 male is the youngest publisher of about our society.” The ensemble, which is singers when the ensemble this international magazine Explaining how the process also known as the Red Army held auditions across Rus- family across the world. works, he says that in one Choir, was founded in 1928 sia. Explaining why he was pos- instance six GQ editors spent and is named after its Among the senior artists is sibly chosen as the publisher, six months collecting 800,000 founder, composer Alexan- Russian actor and singer Tang says: “The Chinese mar- characters of material on rhini- der Vasilyevich Alexandrov Vadim Ananyev, who has ket is big and important. So a tis in China’s big cities, but in (1883–1946). been with the ensemble brand with a long history the final version, readers got It has toured the globe since 1987. needs a team that can keep only 10,000 characters. performing Russian folk He says: “I’ve been with proposing creative ideas to “We invest a lot in such tunes and patriotic songs the ensemble for over 30 meet the demands of a market reports, but they give us a using Western classical-mu- years. We sing and dance to dominated by young people.” unique quality,” says Tang. sic and traditional Russian serve the country. By young people, Tang Finally, he says he hopes instruments. “The ensemble has a long means those under 30 years Chinese men, especially those Now, the ensemble com- legacy, and the military old. who tend to stay indoors, such prises a choir, a dance troupe musicians take it to a new “China is changing fast, as those in the IT industry, pay and an orchestra. level with their creativity.” especially in the recent two more attention to their The repertoire at the years. And each month we appearances. NCPA comprises 24 songs talked about different topics “They are very interesting and dance pieces, including If you go when my boss visited China. people, but appearance, which Song of the Soviet Army, The “One month, it’s shared reflects one’s inner character, Sacred War, Escamillo from 7:30 pm, Jan 4-7, 2:30 bikes. Then it was apps for is also very important.” the French opera Carmen, pm, Jan 6. NCPA, 2 West laundry. From top: The cover of GQ China’s September issue shows the 10 GQ 2017 Men of the Year. Paco Moscow Nights and Festival Chang’an Avenue, “With the apps, people will Tang, publisher of GQ China, believes that men should also have a profound understanding of the Contact the writer at March. Xicheng district, Beijing. appear at your door to collect world. Tang with Duan Yihong (middle) and Wu Xiubo, two actors who won Men of the Year, at the yangyangs@ It will also perform Chi- 010-6655-0000. your laundry. Or you can enjoy awards ceremony. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY chinadaily.com.cn nese songs including I Am A She led villagers to bore through a mountain to reach the world By LI YINGXUE road on a cold winter day in cially when she used her own latest series of speeches in her her draft. According to Deng, the road [email protected] 2011, every villager was too story to explain the spirit of village, and then visited more Due to cold weather, Deng will be broadened from 4.5 excited to sleep,” says Deng.