Articles

  • The Art to Float in Beijing
    Introduction by Ali Fujino Throughout time, there has been, what I refer to, as “the force of great ideas…” They can be big or small in nature, but to qualify, they must evolve from the unique vision of an individual who has the ability to put them into action. FLOAT Beijing is one of these great ideas, a participatory design, mapping and open source data visualization project using air quality sensing kites. I came across this project in one of my weekly passes reviewing stories of kites on the internet.
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  • ‘Genius Beyond Genius’: Avant-Garde Taiwanese Kitemaker Is Aiming at a Global Reputation
    In a part of the world, Asia, where tradition still rules, Taiwanese kitemaker Buteo Huang is a brilliant exception. Having crafted the whole array of traditional Chinese kites as a kind of warmup, Buteo is now turning out avant-garde creations----many obvious masterpieces- ---that are winning him fame in the global kite world.
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  • Outsourcing to China
    Naish International was the first Maui water sports equipment manufacturer to outsource kite production to China. Starting in the early 1990s, Robby Naish, owner, and Don Montague, designer, sent their kite work to a factory in Chenzhen, near Guangzhou, the former Canton, to take advantage of low cost labor. Some 1,000 young women aged 20 to 24, mostly emigrants to the big city from rural farms, produce not only kites but bags, accessories, and so forth for Naish and numerous other companies.
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  • Mechanical Wizardry in Xian: Dragon Head Has Eight Moves
    Xian, China, home of the famous underground ceramic army, is also home to the three best makers of mechanical kites in the country, if not the world.
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  • Darling of Chinese Media Eve Hanney: ‘The Kiteflying Granny’
    Eve Hanney, of Weymouth, England, is a darling of Chinese kiting, often photographed, filmed, and interviewed. “The Kiteflying Granny,” she is called. After eight trips to China, she knows her way around politically. “I’m aiming for a front row seat with the top officials at the 2008 yachting Olympics in Chingdao,” she says. “That’s my goal. I’m not looking beyond ’08, when I’ll be 74.”
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  • One Man’s Creative Take on Life
    Li Ruo Xin (better known by his nickname Mo Dou Li) is a Beijing kitemaker who lives closer to the Great Wall of China than to the capital. A former technician at the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing, he and wife are now retired and living in a new three-story house in Xiang Tang village overlooking a large public park and gorgeous, very close encircling mountains.
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  • Collecting Chinese Phone Cards
    Have enough kite pins, patches, caps, and festival tee-shirts to last a lifetime? Well, China has other kite collectibles well worth considering. New Year’s woodblock prints with kite motif are inexpensive and often beautiful. They are a 300-year-old tradition. Kite postage stamps are another option as are low denomination coins with a kite theme. Mass-produced but quite elegant and inexpensive miniature kites are a fourth. Inexpensive and unusual are traditional paper cutouts of kites and people flying them.
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  • ‘Mr Rubbish’: Kite Flier, Art Collector
    Chan Fo Kwong, of Hong Kong, has organized several associations of which he is the chairman. They are devoted to chess; the lute; Bor-Yea Buddhism; antique watches and clocks; calligraphy and painting; pot plants and gardening; research on antiques; and, most charmingly, the Hong Kong International Deserving Genius Association. Not a one has a single member other than Chan. “I feel upset whenever I think about it,” he says.
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  • Mr. Ha’s Succession Problem
    Ha Yi Qi of Beijing has a peculiarly Chinese dilemma. A fourth generation kitemaker, Ha (profiled in Journal issue No. 12) by tradition is expected to pass on his flourishing gift-item factory business to a direct descendent. But because of the one-child rule in modern day China, and because his one child is a daughter, and because women by tradition don’t run big businesses like Ha’s works which employs 100 people, he has a dilemma.
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  • Distaff Side of the Sport: Fair Sex Play Key Role in China Kiting
    In a sport which in the West seems often to be largely dominated by men, kiting in China presents another face: A majority of men, yes, but lots of women too----in participant, administrative, and support roles. Here’s a look at some of the fair sex in action during a spate of kite festivals and celebrations in China in the spring of 2004. Hostesses:
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