Why There Are No Hipsters in China | 为什么中国没有湖人
Written by (作者): Frazer Worboys
Photos by (图片来源): portlandhipster.com
With VICE and various other pop culture news sources calling the end of the hipster, at a point in time where everyone a) doesn’t care and b) is basically a hipster, I thought it’d be worth writing about Chinese hipsters. I am well placed to do so considering I fit the bill of a hipster: eclectic music taste, writer, coffee drinker, smoker. It’s all there. So, coming from this point of view, I’d like to offer some insight into how hipster the Chinese really are, and if hipsters in China are indeed a pandemic like a box park in Brixton, just a tribal tattoo away from a cereal bar, chocolate milk bar, or some other childish endeavor.
Coming to UNNC, which has a fair few students from the UK, I was expecting to see a lot more hipsters on campus. When I showed up though, I didn’t see as many on campus as I would like. I’ve seen the odd outfit that seemed better suited in the south side of Manhattan than the Trent Building, but overall the impression I have is that there aren’t a whole load.
To be honest, I haven’t seen a whole load of hipsters in China at all, primarily because to be a hipster here, you don’t only have to get a tattoo and do your top button up and have some sort of weird hat covering that god awful shaved head. You really need to go all out. You have to be borderline mental. The norm in China is brands like Palace and Supreme, unlike the U.K. with your Ralph clad rugby lad.
Everyone has crazy hair, or at least a basic understanding of fashion. To be a hipster here you truly have to be something different. You have to have died hair, and the top knot cannot just be tied up, it has to be hanging off the back of your shaved head. You have to wear doc martens too big to approach any task with a basic level of efficiency. You have to spend more money on Starbucks than actually food. The level of being a hipster here in China is like being the guy who runs the childish endeavors in London. The level is higher, the standards included in the hipster bracket are extremely high. Although from general observation, some sort of skateboard is needed for entry into this club.
Its different in the UK, where we all have amalgamated some sort of hipster into our lives. Whether you take ecstasy or dabble with some horse tranquilizer dressed in the most obnoxious color Adidas has to offer, or just listen to King Krule and have a slightly different taste in music and the Instagram account to match, there’s a piece of hipster in all of us. This little bit of hipster is from outside influence, the opportunity to listen to that music given to us by the overrunning of hipsters.
In China, however, I don’t feel like hipsters are actually hipsters, I just feel like they are who they are, there’s no pretending. They don’t give a damn. They don’t care about what their friends think. There isn’t a defined hipster here. You won’t get banter for dressing like you’re from Norway or like a lumberjack, because everyone thinks you’re a normal bloke. There will always be people who strive to be different, but in China there isn’t such a drive to be different for the sake of attention, it is merely just people who do whatever they like and don’t care what others think.
To sum it up neatly, I was getting a haircut the other day and was thinking might as well do something different. My friend turned to me and said “Yeah why not? It’s China, it’s not like anyone cares here.” To drive the nail in the coffin, a kid on his skateboard went past, spikes on his bag, and of course that infamous top knot.
随着VICE和许多其他消息来源宣称潮人风的结束，所有人只有两种态度：第一种，不关我事；第二种，也就我们潮了。我觉得聊一聊中国潮人挺有意思的。我觉得自己特有资格说这话，被朋友说得多了终于连自己都觉得自己很潮。听电子音乐、写作、喝咖啡、抽烟，我可会玩了。所以我想说的是，我要给你们一些关于中国潮人的接地气见解，让你们看看这究竟是像伦敦Box Park那样的大流行，还是只是小儿科地不吃谷物棒或巧克力牛奶棒的部落纹身族。
校园里并没有很多潮人。在宁波诺丁汉有那么几个潮学生，但我希望看到更多。我看到一些奇怪的装束，更适合在曼哈顿南部而不是特伦特建筑中出现。但总的来说，没有很多潮人啦。
但这也不是完全准确的。我没见到多少中国潮人的主要原因是在这里当个潮人，你不一定要有纹身，敞开最上面的纽扣或者戴个奇葩帽子来遮盖剃丑了的头发。你只要豁得出去，当个临界弱智。不同于英国穿着Ralph的橄榄球小子，在中国像Palace和Supreme这样的酷牌就是潮流。每个人的发型都想上天，至少也要是一般人无法理解的潮。要想潮一定要与众不同，你必须染个头发，顶发也不能只是绑在那里，而是得从剃光了的后脑勺上散落下来。你一定要穿马丁靴，那种大到走不动路的。在星巴克上花的钱比正常吃饭还多。中国潮人在英国的潮标准看来就是小儿科。在英国对潮的标准更高，特别特别高。虽然总的来说，当个潮人还是需要一块滑板的。
不像在英国我们对潮的定义有一种共识。不管是穿着特别讨人厌的阿迪达斯嗑药自嗨还是听着King Krule这种奇葩音乐还要各种拍照发Instagram，我们的内心都是有点潮的。这一点点的潮（和接触那种音乐的机会）是被身边太多潮人熏陶出来的。
但在中国，我觉得这里的潮人不是真的潮，我只是觉得他们在做自己，不装，他们就是不在乎，管你怎么想呢。但这不是真正意义上的潮。你穿的像北极熊或伐木工也没人会嘲笑你，因为大家都觉得这很正常。但总会有那种特立独行力刷存在感的人。但在中国独一无二的目的不是为了求关注，只是人们心从所欲地做自己。
总结一下吧，有一天我去剃头，心想，要不来点不一样的？我朋友指了指滑板上的小孩说，“为什么不呢？在中国谁看你啊。”那小孩的书包外面挂着钉鞋，头上留着臭名昭著的顶发。
Bio
Frazer Worboys is an exchange student studying Chinese language at UNNC. He is not only a lover of all things Chinese, but loves to write thought provoking essays that generate fantastic debates.
Frazer Worboys是在宁波诺丁汉大学学习中文的交换生，他不仅热爱中文的一切，还喜欢写一些很犀利的论文。