{"id":212555,"date":"2021-11-04T12:38:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T16:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/supchina.com\/?p=212555"},"modified":"2021-11-05T17:17:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T21:17:21","slug":"the-wild-wonderful-queer-world-of-chinese-radio-dramas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/2021\/11\/04\/the-wild-wonderful-queer-world-of-chinese-radio-dramas\/","title":{"rendered":"The wild, wonderful (and very queer) world of Chinese radio dramas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"[SupChina] The wild, wonderful (and very queer) world of Chinese radio dramas\" src=\"https:\/\/art19.com\/shows\/china-stories\/episodes\/f4d4f943-77bb-4653-bb0e-bd306e215ae2\/embed#?secret=mc6MPE6Lzf\" data-secret=\"mc6MPE6Lzf\" width=\"500\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After Officer Li bugs the home of a homicide suspect, Lei Zi, and his same-sex partner Guan Huiliang, he goes to another building and listens in. But instead of useful information related to the case, the couple starts to discuss the finer points of lubrication. Emotionally drained by their hours-long lovemaking session, Li takes a cold shower, smokes a few cigarettes, and falls asleep while still eavesdropping. When he wakes up, it is early morning. \u201cOne last time,\u201d Guan whispers on the transistor. Li explodes in frustration and smashes something. \u201cI love you, Guan Huiliang,\u201d Lei Zi\u2019s voice comes through the device. \u201cGuan Huiliang, I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This was the final scene of <em>Passage d\u2019Enfer<\/em> (\u51a5\u5e9c\u4e4b\u8def m\u00edngf\u01d4 zh\u012b l\u00f9), a Chinese radio drama that ran from 2019 to 2020 in which a kidnapper and his hostage fall in love and become each other\u2019s savior. The drama is available for free on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.missevan.com\/\">MissEvan<\/a>, a Chinese audio streaming platform and mobile app known for its large selection of radio dramas.<\/p>\n<p>In China, depictions of homosexual relationships are banned from TV and films. For instance, the hit television series <em>Word of Honor<\/em> (\u5c71\u6cb3\u4ee4 sh\u0101n h\u00e9 l\u00ecng), adapted from a <em>d\u0101nm\u011bi<\/em> \u803d\u7f8e, or \u201cboys love\u201d (BL), webnovel, became a phenomenon within and beyond the borders of China earlier this year. (It has since been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/page\/202108\/1232091.shtml\">removed<\/a> from all video platforms in China for reasons unrelated to its content.) But the same-sex romance central to the original text, though insinuated through poetic dialogue and the characters\u2019 subtle body movements, was overtly presented as a platonic friendship to circumvent China\u2019s censors. This practice of changing homosexual relationships into platonic ones is common enough in such TV adaptations of <em>danmei<\/em> webnovels \u2014 <em>d\u0101ng\u01ceij\u00f9<\/em> \u803d\u6539\u5267 \u2014 that Chinese viewers gave it a name slathered with satire: \u201csocialist brotherly love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Radio dramas, however, have so far escaped these restrictions. Instead of \u201csocialist brotherly love,\u201d unflinching portrayals of romantic love and sex between men are the norm. While male characters on the screen aren\u2019t allowed to share a kiss, in radio dramas they can fall in love, have sex, get married, and even have children together. As unlikely as it seems, this space that offers considerable freedom for creativity, expression, and depictions of alternative lifestyles does exist in China. But for how long?<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The origins of \u201czhongzhua\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve listened to radio dramas in the past\u2026the kind from radio stations. They were very different from our radio dramas,\u201d says the voice actor who goes by Y\u01cec\u00e8j\u016bn \u96c5\u7b56\u541b, one of the stars in <em>Passage d\u2019Enfer<\/em>. In the world of radio drama, Yacejun is a heartthrob to tens of thousands fans, and has appeared in more than 300 episodes since 2012 as a character voice (CV); in real life, he is a 34-year-old architect from the eastern city of Qingdao. Like many in the circle, he does not mix the two worlds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Radio dramas in the past) were more like audio books with multiple character voices, heavily relying on voiceover narration to tell the story,\u201d he explains. But <em>zh\u014dngzhu\u0101<\/em> \u4e2d\u6293, a linguistic hybrid of Chinese and Japanese English that means \u201cChinese radio drama,\u201d is more dynamic. \u201cThe less voiceover narration there is, the better, and the scenes are constructed with post-production sound effects and voice acting,\u201d Yacejun says. When it is done well, the effects can deliver a rich, immersive auditory experience.<\/p>\n<p>This new form of radio drama emerged online in China in the early 2000s, when fans of Japanese anime, manga, and video games started to dub Japanese anime into Chinese and make dramatic audio presentations of scripted stories. These communities grew into a full-fledged subculture around 2005, when online radio drama \u201csocieties\u201d organized by enthusiasts appeared and quickly grew in numbers.<\/p>\n<p>These societies recruited their own production staff and talent, who collaborated to produce radio dramas and release them online for free. These are known as \u201cweb dramas\u201d (\u7f51\u914d\u5267 w\u01ceng p\u00e8ij\u00f9), in contrast with the professionally-produced \u201ccommercial dramas\u201d (\u5546\u914d\u5267 sh\u0101ng p\u00e8ij\u00f9) that came later. These creators spent time, labor, and often cash on recording equipment, studio time, music, and other services, and made no money from their productions. What they did was, as they like to say, \u201cgenerate power out of love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the quantity and quality of production improved and its loyal fanbase grew, <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas began attracting investment from audio platforms and commercial voiceover studios that previously only serviced TV and film. In 2017, MissEvan ushered in the era of paid radio dramas with <em>Sh\u0101 P\u00f2 L\u00e1ng<\/em> \u6740\u7834\u72fc (2017-2019), <em>Xi\u0101ng Ji\u00e0n Hu\u0101n<\/em> \u76f8\u89c1\u6b22 (2017-2021), and<em> S\u0101 Y\u011b<\/em> \u6492\u91ce (2017-2021), all co-produced with professional voice studios. In 2018, MissEvan was bought by Bilibili, one of the biggest video streaming platforms in China, for more than 1 billion yuan ($154 million). The same year, the company released <em>The Founder of Diabolism<\/em> (\u9b54\u9053\u7956\u5e08 m\u00f3d\u00e0o z\u01d4sh\u012b, 2018-2019), which, merely two months into streaming, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jiemian.com\/article\/2326265.html\">attracted<\/a> 53,000 paid listeners, grossing over $2 million.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Some of the big radio drama societies are known in the circle as &#8220;<\/em>danmei<em> societies,&#8221; predominantly \u2014 if not exclusively \u2014 producing gay-themed content.<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>The success of MissEvan caught the attention of other established players like Ximalaya, China\u2019s largest online audio platform. The platform opened a module specifically for radio dramas in 2017, and later began producing non-<em>danmei<\/em> programs that cater to a general audience, such as Li\u00fa C\u00edx\u012bn\u2019s \u5218\u6148\u6b23 <em>The Three-Body Problem<\/em> (\u4e09\u4f53 s\u0101n t\u01d0, 2019-). HongdouFM, an audio livestreaming platform, launched audio streaming app Manbo in 2020 with radio dramas as its main content, in direct competition with MissEvan.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this move toward a more general taste, <em>danmei<\/em> remains the most popular genre in radio dramas. At the time of this writing, <em>danmei<\/em> seasons account for 19 of the top 20 most-followed list on MissEvan. Seventy-one <em>danmei<\/em> seasons, compared to only four \u201cboy-girl\u201d (BG) romance seasons, have more than 10 million plays. Topping the most-played list is <em>The Founder of Diabolism <\/em>(\u9b54\u9053\u7956\u5e08 m\u00f3d\u00e0o z\u01d4sh\u012b), with each season exceeding 100 million plays. The phenomenon seems exclusive to boys love dramas; <em>b\u01ceih\u00e9<\/em> \u767e\u5408, a genre that depicts romances between two women, is even less popular than BG romances. The most popular <em>baihe<\/em> drama on MissEvan is <em>Miss Gu and Miss Qu<\/em> (\u987e\u5c0f\u59d0\u548c\u66f2\u5c0f\u59d0 g\u00f9 xi\u01ceoji\u011b h\u00e9 q\u016b xi\u01ceoji\u011b, 2018-2021), which has 3.6 million plays. Even on Ximalaya \u2014 which has a much broader audience than MissEvan\u2019s younger, more female-dominant audience to whom <em>danmei<\/em> content most appeals \u2014 six of the 10 most popular radio dramas are of the <em>danmei<\/em> genre.<\/p>\n<p>Today, 6,061 radio drama societies are listed on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinadra.com\/\">chinadra.com<\/a>, a website dedicated to collecting and archiving information related to Chinese radio dramas. The majority of the creations are of the <em>danmei<\/em> variety. Some of the big societies, such as Ju\u00e9y\u00ect\u00f3ngr\u00e9n \u51b3\u610f\u540c\u4eba, Jiandao Society (\u526a\u5200\u5267\u56e2 ji\u01cend\u0101o j\u00f9tu\u00e1n), and Shu\u01d0\u00e0nl\u00edngy\u012bn \u6c34\u5cb8\u8046\u97f3, are known in the circle as <em>danmei<\/em> societies, predominantly \u2014 if not exclusively \u2014 producing gay-themed content.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Insatiable demand for <em>danmei<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ironically, censorship has played an important role in this development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Danmei<\/em> radio dramas were able to grow 10 years ago because there was no such content on television or in movies,\u201d says a script writer known as Y\u00faxi\u00e1n \u4f59\u5f26, a thirtysomething who works a finance job in Shanghai. She identifies herself as a <em>f\u01d4n\u01da<\/em> \u8150\u5973 \u2014 literally, \u201crotten woman,\u201d slang for a straight woman who is a <em>danmei<\/em> fan \u2014 and a \u201csenior\u201d one at that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, a lot of television adaptations of <em>danmei<\/em> novels are being produced, but not many have been shown,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is still a controlled area.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Dangaiju <\/em>have become hugely successful since they began popping up in 2015. These shows have \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/chaoyang.substack.com\/p\/boundary-ball\">played the boundary ball<\/a>\u201d by replacing depictions of same-sex relations with \u201csocialist brotherly love\u201d while preserving homoerotic undertones to attract <em>danmei<\/em> fans.<\/p>\n<p>In the past two years, hit series like <em>The Untamed<\/em> (\u9648\u60c5\u4ee4 ch\u00e9n q\u00edng l\u00ecng, 2019), based on the same novel as <em>The Founder of Diabolism<\/em>, and <em>Word of Honor<\/em> (\u5c71\u6cb3\u4ee4 sh\u0101n h\u00e9 l\u00ecng, 2021) have propelled the <em>dangaiju<\/em> genre to the top of profit-making web television genres, and the year 2021 had been called the \u201cinaugurating year of <em>dangaiju<\/em>,\u201d with at least 80 <em>dangaiju<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.36kr.com\/p\/1412469523207552\">in production or set to stream<\/a>. In September, however, in a dramatic turn of events, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xinhuanet.com\/ent\/20210917\/7ca3d89b53a546bdaaec4305e8fcc2e6\/c.html\">called<\/a> to \u201creject the trend of adapting danmei novels to television,\u201d among other \u201cpan-entertainment phenomena,\u201d which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sixthtone.com\/news\/1008539\/china-takes-aim-at-growing-tv-adaptations-of-boys-love-novels\">led to concern<\/a> that a ban of <em>dangaiju<\/em> may follow.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the popularity of <em>dangaiju<\/em>, even as the watered down versions of the <em>danmei<\/em> novels they are based on, is a testament of the public\u2019s appetite for <em>danmei<\/em> content. Radio dramas have filled the void left by TV for many <em>danmei<\/em> fans who want more sensory representations of the stories they love.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, radio dramas have always been allowed considerably more creative freedom than TV or web streaming. Part of the reason is because it\u2019s believed to be a niche form of media. According to BigData-Research, a Chinese consulting firm based in Beijing, Ximalaya, the biggest audio platform, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigdata-research.cn\/content\/202104\/1176.html\">has about<\/a> 172 million monthly active users (as of March), and MissEvan, the eighth biggest audio platform, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigdata-research.cn\/content\/202104\/1176.html\">has about<\/a> 1.6 million. In comparison, as of January 2021, iQiYi, one of the largest video streaming services in China, has <a href=\"http:\/\/ex.chinadaily.com.cn\/exchange\/partners\/82\/rss\/channel\/cn\/columns\/sz8srm\/stories\/WS603c81c0a3101e7ce9741765.html\">569 million<\/a> monthly active users.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities are not directly involved in the production process of radio dramas, unlike in broadcasting, publishing, and now web video streaming. However, the onus is on the platforms and shows themselves; if they are reported for inappropriate content, the platforms can get in trouble. In 2018, a group of video\/audio streaming sites including Bilibili and MissEvan were \u201cinvited for tea\u201d \u2014 a euphemism for being questioned by authorities \u2014 with the Office of National Anti-Piracy and Pornography Working Committee for hosting \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.xinhuanet.com\/legal\/2018-06\/08\/c_1122957824.htm\">pornographic and vulgar<\/a>\u201d ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) content. Afterwards, videos of people whispering into a camera were banned on these platforms.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The dangling sword of censorship<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>To radio drama creators, especially non-commercial creators like Yuxian, it is important to stay up-to-date with the latest regulations. \u201cWe know the boundaries well,\u201d Yuxian says. \u201cYou can\u2019t touch politics, and the story can\u2019t involve minors. That\u2019s it. You can\u2019t cross the red line, and if you\u2019re not promoting justice, at least you can\u2019t let bad guys win or be too negative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Standards vary across platforms. \u201cFor the platforms with large flows, like MissEvan and Manbo, or others like QQ Music and NetEase, it\u2019s very hard to say who is the most lax, because they have different focuses,\u201d Yuxian says. Sometimes the standard can seem arbitrary. \u201cTake kissing for instance,\u201d she says, \u201csome may think eight seconds is okay and let you pass, but some others may think five seconds is too long and must be reduced to four seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The risk of being censored also varies depending on the source material. \u201cIf a drama is adapted from a webnovel, either through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jjwxc.net\/\">Jinjiang Literature<\/a> (\u664b\u6c5f\u6587\u5b66 j\u00ecnji\u0101ng w\u00e9nxu\u00e9) or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gongzicp.com\/\">Changpei Literature<\/a> (\u957f\u4f69\u6587\u5b66 ch\u00e1ng p\u00e8i w\u00e9nxu\u00e9), the story should have already been approved by these platforms and isn\u2019t likely to have any principle issues. For an original script, one has to be careful what not to write,\u201d Yuxian says.<\/p>\n<p>But adaptations are not necessarily free of risks. Jinjiang Literature, a leading source of <em>danmei<\/em> webnovels for radio drama adaptation, was investigated by authorities and ordered to clean up its \u201cpornographic content\u201d multiple times in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, 15-day suspensions were levied on the website twice due to content deemed inappropriate.<\/p>\n<p>The trend, as in many other media sectors, is toward increasingly tightening control. Abrupt removal of content has become more common. After an episode is removed, it is up to the production team to re-edit and re-upload \u2014 or not, in some cases. For Yuxian, it was devastating to see a large proportion of the shows she co-produced \u2014 70% to 80% of them, she estimates \u2014 removed in the last three years. Or, as she and those in the circle prefer to say, \u201charmonized.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;You make a show not just to entertain yourself. You hope more people can hear it.\u201d<br \/>\n\u2014Yacejun<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Many of Yacejun\u2019s older dramas have also been removed from MissEvan, Bilibili, and cloud servers. \u201cI think (tighter censorship) is already happening,\u201d he says, \u201cand now when we make a show, we won\u2019t make anything too risqu\u00e9. I don\u2019t know about others, but it was obvious to me these past few years, because a lot of my work is quite risqu\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet even in shows that have been re-edited, bold erotic scenes still exist. The re-edited version of <em>Passage d\u2019Enfer<\/em>, for instance, has allowed all the sex scenes to remain, just in shortened and less explicit (e.g., less moaning) forms. In <em>Hu\u00e1ng J\u012bn T\u00e1i<\/em> \u9ec4\u91d1\u53f0 (2019-), a radio drama that Yacejun stars in on MissEvan, erotic scenes can be found in most of the episodes, including masturbation and intercourse. Artfully done, these scenes are able to pass censors while still creating the desired mental images for listeners.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, nothing is certain and no drama is absolutely safe. There is no guarantee that shows like <em>Huang Jin Tai<\/em> will not be taken down in the future. But to media creators in China, that is part of the deal \u2014 forever testing boundaries and negotiating a creative space with their work.<\/p>\n<p>Yacejun even sees the tightening standards for sexualized content as a positive development.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRisqu\u00e9 content should be of service to the story,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s not that the listeners are here for this. If one only likes to listen to this, there are many other avenues for it and they don\u2019t have to listen to radio dramas.\u201d How true that actually is is debatable. In <em>Huang Jin Tai<\/em>, or instance, whenever an erotic scene comes on, there is a flurry of <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/ipg-media-lab\/what-is-bullet-screen-and-why-is-it-so-popular-in-china-be71ee774453\">bullet comments<\/a> \u2014 a feature MissEvan adapted from Bilibili\u2019s video player \u2014 that fly across the audio player.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the omnipresent specter of censorship, there is much optimism that a relatively free space for <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas will be allowed to exist in the foreseeable future. \u201c(The future of <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas) depends on the government\u2019s general policies on the LGBTQ+ community,\u201d Yuxian says. \u201cI think barring extreme cases, such as serious events that involve a lot of people in the community, the general trend will be open and relaxed.\u201d Future regulations targeting <em>dangaiju<\/em> may affect <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas, she believes, but so far, there has been no regulatory action to close up this space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is such a heavy topic,\u201d says Xi\u01ceo (\u5c0f) K, a 26-year old CV who works as a financial analyst in Kunming. Carefully choosing his words, he says, \u201cMaybe when some things have grown too big, grown in influence, or touched certain major issues, they will be regulated.\u201d Shifting tone, he continues, \u201cPersonally, I think as long as there\u2019s a balance, it\u2019s all good\u2026Let people who are intellectually mature and open have access to (<em>danmei<\/em> content), but maybe put some restrictions on minors who are not as mature.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It may be hard for those on the outside to see where this optimism comes from, but it would be a hasty assumption that it is disingenuous and not from a sincere sense of social responsibility and trust in the government.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of how other creators view censorship, no one has a choice but to comply, because the price of doing otherwise is simply too high. \u201cWhen you make a show, it\u2019s not great if you get a call from the police inviting you to have tea,\u201d Yacejun says. \u201cYou probably wouldn\u2019t even be able to release a show if it is too risqu\u00e9. You make a show not just to entertain yourself. You hope more people can hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As to his shows that have been taken down, Yacejun says with a kind of calm acceptance, \u201cSome of them might have been too risqu\u00e9, but some really were okay. It\u2019s just every editor has a different standard. The production teams didn\u2019t re-edit them, so they\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_212564\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-212564\" style=\"width: 2000px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-212564\" src=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio.jpg\" alt=\"Danmei and Chinese radio dramas\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio-500x300.jpg 500w, https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio-1200x720.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio-768x461.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/radio-1536x922.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-212564\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Illustration for The China Project by Derek Zheng<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><strong>Questions about representation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In Japan, where the boys love (BL) genre originated, there was a fierce debate among feminists in the early 1990s about the genre\u2019s treatment of same-sex relationships. BL stories \u201cwere treating gay sex frivolously, fetishizing gay people, and fantasizing about and imposing aesthetic norms upon them,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nippon.com\/en\/in-depth\/d00607\/\">wrote<\/a> Fujimoto Yukari, a Japanese professor who studies gender and representation in manga.<\/p>\n<p>This disconnect between the BL genre, mostly created and consumed by straight cis women, and the lived reality of the LGBTQ+ community has also <a href=\"https:\/\/theinitium.com\/article\/20210706-opinion-cp-roundtable-1\/\">been scrutinized<\/a> by Chinese scholars and activists. Distinguished from queer literature (yet not mutually exclusive), <em>danmei<\/em> fiction is often seen as perpetuating a patriarchal structure and heteronormative gender roles. <em>Dangaiju<\/em> are viewed by many critics and LGBTQ+ activists as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vice.com\/en\/article\/7k95mg\/boys-love-drama-china-tv-untamed-lgbtq\">queerbaiting<\/a> \u2014 hinting at queer relationships without actually portraying them so as to bring in viewers and profits while complying with both government censorship and mainstream culture.<\/p>\n<p><em>Danmei<\/em> radio dramas have certainly inherited some of these issues. The main characters in these shows are often beautiful, wealthy, and powerful men, such as generals in period shows and CEOs in modern shows. Their relationships are often idealized without addressing the real-life struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. On the darker side, sexual and domestic violence and disregard of consent are often normalized in portrayals of relationships characterized as romantic, which is particularly discomfiting in a post-MeToo world. Stories with a \u201chappy ending\u201d are the norm, though in some cases it means that a couple has to stay in an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas involve a more diverse group of people in its production \u2014 out of necessity, if not anything else. Even though the behind-the-scenes production staff largely consists of straight women, the majority of CVs are men. In fact, the popularity of <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas has prompted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepaper.cn\/newsDetail_forward_9707651\">concerns<\/a> about the lack of job opportunities and unequal pay for women CVs in a field where women have long faced educational and employment discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Asked what he thinks about straight people telling gay people\u2019s stories, Yacejun, who is straight, takes a moment to think before answering. \u201cWe should focus on the story itself. This theme happens to be romance between two men. There is no need for us to identify who we do this for. I think to do that actually shows disrespect to the gay community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His attitude is echoed by others interviewed for this story, some of whom seemed genuinely surprised by the question. \u201cWould you expect a criminal to play a criminal?\u201d one asked rhetorically.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>An escape from reality<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As a teen and into his young adult years, Xiao K, who is gay, consumed a lot of <em>danmei<\/em> fiction and anime. He started voice acting in <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas in 2013 when he was in college, and since then, he has done more than 200 episodes. It comes \u201cnatural\u201d to him, he says.<\/p>\n<p>With a clear boyish voice, Xiao K often plays sweet, upbeat, and sometimes clueless \u201csunny boys\u201d on radio dramas. \u201cI <em>am<\/em> a sunny boy,\u201d he says, cheerfully, and then adds a caveat: \u201cThat is, when I\u2019m with my friends. I\u2019m more professional when I\u2019m at work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the recent dramas that Xiao K starred in is called <em>The Days When I\u2019m Married to the Boss<\/em> (\u4e0e\u8001\u603b\u7ed3\u5a5a\u7684\u65e5\u5b50 y\u01d4 l\u01ceoz\u01d2ng ji\u00e9h\u016bn de r\u00eczi). The main character is a young boss in charge of a family business who marries his same-sex assistant in a ploy to fend off pressure from his family; the couple fall in love and live happily ever after. \u201cIf it\u2019s too realistic, no one will want to listen,\u201d Xiao K says. \u201cI agree that most dramas are too idealistic compared to real life, but dramas are \u2018elevated above real life\u2019\u2026to become creative artifacts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, <em>The Days When I\u2019m Married to the Boss<\/em> doesn\u2019t represent all <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas, or even necessarily Xiao K\u2019s work. <em>Notes from Hengjiang <\/em>(\u6a2a\u6c5f\u8bb0\u4e8b h\u00e9ng ji\u0101ng j\u00ecsh\u00ec, 2017), of which he is the writer, producer, director, and star, is a more realistic story of two young men who meet and fall in love in Xiao K\u2019s hometown in Sichuan province. <em>Happy New Year, Ziqingzhou<\/em> (\u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50, \u81ea\u9752\u5dde x\u012bnni\u00e1n ku\u00e0il\u00e8, z\u00ec q\u012bngzh\u014du, 2019), produced and adapted by Xiao K from a webnovel, tells the story of two young men from very different backgrounds in a fictional town wedged between two powerful states, a political allegory of some sort. He\u2019s proud of both dramas, but the number of plays they get is a fraction of <em>The Days When I\u2019m Married to the Boss<\/em>. \u201cThe original novel might be too deep,\u201d Xiao K says about <em>Happy New Year, Ziqingzhou<\/em>, \u201cand some listeners might not understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is not surprising. Most people listen to radio dramas to escape from reality, not to experience or understand it. A lot of these listeners, young people \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigdata-research.cn\/content\/202104\/1176.html\">43% of MissEvan users are under 25, 65% under 30<\/a> \u2014 are perhaps less interested in serious social commentary than entertainment when they put on their headphones.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cIf it\u2019s too realistic, no one will want to listen.\u201d<\/em><br \/>\n<em>\u2014Xiao K<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>Yacejun has starred in a series based on an autobiographical webnovel by an author whose pen name is Black-Di, <em>Twelve Years of Us<\/em> (\u6211\u548c\u4ed6\u7684\u5341\u4e8c\u5e74, 2013-2020). From the first to the sixth and final episode, the series took seven years to make, and at one point was at risk of being unfinished, which is quite common among free web radio dramas. \u201cNot many people have listened to it,\u201d Yacejun says, \u201cbut I\u2019m pretty proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/2019\/08\/27\/the-supchina-book-list\/#71\">Beijing Comrades<\/a> <\/em>(\u5317\u4eac\u6545\u4e8b b\u011bij\u012bng g\u00f9sh\u00ec) by Bei Tong in the 1990s, whose film adaptation <em>L\u00e1n Y\u01d4<\/em> \u84dd\u5b87 (2001) has never been shown in mainland theaters (though an unfinished radio drama adaptation is available on MissEvan), <em>Twelve Years of Us<\/em> blurs the boundary between <em>danmei<\/em> fiction and queer literature, touching on real issues such as sexual awakening, negotiating identities, cheating, and, most important perhaps to the Chinese gay community, the difficulty of coming out to families. The story is based on the author\u2019s real experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike <em>Beijing Comrades<\/em>, however, <em>Twelve Years of Us<\/em> has a happy ending. In fact, the author, now an executive working in Beijing, still lives with his partner, who is the inspiration for one of the protagonists in his novel. He shares snippets of their daily life on <a href=\"https:\/\/weibo.com\/u\/5618091219\">Weibo<\/a>, testimony that perhaps, after all, 21st-century China is not E. M. Forster\u2019s Edwardian England.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Two very different worlds<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On Weibo, in addition to posts about his work as a CV, Xiao K shares with his more than 100,000 followers a diary-like account of his daily life with his partner, often with photos with cute cliparts over their faces to protect their identities. In the <em>zhongzhua<\/em> circle, gay CVs who are as open about their sexual orientation as Xiao K are rare. \u201cOf course I\u2019m afraid that some family members and friends will see (my Weibo),\u201d he says. He has come out to some family members and friends, but not all. \u201cSome of their views can be too hard to change. You have to make choices. Coming out requires a lot of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In real life, only a handful of people know that he is \u201cCV Xiao K.\u201d \u201cSometimes I\u2019m worried that my cover will be blown,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cPeople I know, coworkers or family members, have low tolerance for <em>danmei<\/em> culture. (The radio drama circle and my social circle) are two very different worlds, and they have little overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Things can change though. Despite their limitations and flaws, <em>danmei<\/em> radio dramas are making sexual minorities more visible to the public, especially to young people. This can potentially encourage understanding and acceptance in the long run. \u201cAt least (radio dramas) send out a message,\u201d says Xiao K. \u201cIt creates representations of the emotional life of those in this community, through various means, characters, stories, and so on, and makes (same-sex love) more concrete, turning it into something that can be heard, understood, felt, and amplified, so at least it won\u2019t be strange or scary to others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it is not just the stigma of homosexuality that keeps creators from using their real identities. Those who make <em>danmei<\/em> web dramas fear being judged harshly in a society as pragmatic as China\u2019s. Because they often work out of passion instead of financial motive, family and friends may perceive them as frivolous and indulgent, instead of \u201cuseful\u201d or \u201cproductive.\u201d \u201cFamily members of an older generation would think of this as overly indulging in trivial pleasures instead of striving for lofty aspirations,\u201d Xiao K says, using a Chinese idiom (\u73a9\u7269\u4e27\u5fd7 w\u00e1n w\u00f9 s\u00e0ng zh\u00ec) that describes those who are considered failures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy parents know I do voice acting, but they don\u2019t know exactly what,\u201d says Yacejun. \u201cThey didn\u2019t understand it until I did some paid gigs and made money. They certainly won\u2019t approve of all my works.\u201d Still, he prefers taking unpaid gigs because they put less pressure on his already busy work schedule. \u201cI\u2019m doing it for fun,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Many creators are concerned what their employers or coworkers would think of them spending so much time making homoerotic radio dramas instead of advancing their careers. \u201cMy coworkers or supervisor may think that, say, some night when I don\u2019t respond to a work message, it\u2019s because I\u2019m busy doing this. It\u2019d be hard to explain,\u201d says Yuxian. \u201cIn China, the boundary between time for leisure and time for work is often not recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a way, what these creators do adds another layer of queerness to radio dramas, as it defies society\u2019s narrowly-defined idea of productivity. Whether they are gay or straight, these people are in it for the aesthetics and pleasure \u2014 of making something that they and their listeners enjoy. Like the radio dramas they create, at the center of it all is love. \u201cPeople love stories that they can relate to, that can touch them and comfort them,\u201d says Xiao K. \u201cThis makes me very happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In China, overt depictions of same-sex relationships are banned from mainstream media platforms. But there\u2019s one space where these stories are allowed to be told.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19987,"featured_media":212561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[12908],"tags":[14425,14026],"column":[],"class":[],"coauthors":[18491],"acf":[],"la_post_categories":{"society-and-culture":"Society &amp; Culture"},"la_post_tags":{"access":"Access","lgbtq":"LGBTQ"},"content_writeup":{"rendered":"<p>\nIn China, overt depictions of same-sex relationships are banned from mainstream media platforms. But there\u2019s one space where these stories are allowed to be told \u2014 where the <em>danmei<\/em> (\u803d\u7f8e d\u0101nm\u011bi) genre, or \u201cboys love,\u201d actually dominates.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nOver on The China Project, contributor Jin Zhao <a href=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/2021\/11\/04\/the-wild-wonderful-queer-world-of-chinese-radio-dramas\/\">takes a deep dive into the world of<\/a> <strong>Chinese audio dramas<\/strong>, <em>zhongzhua<\/em> (\u4e2d\u6293 zh\u014dngzhu\u0101), available over the internet. \u201cWhile male characters on the screen aren\u2019t allowed to share a kiss,\u201d Zhao writes, \u201cin radio dramas they can fall in love, have sex, get married, and even have children together. As unlikely as it seems, this space that offers considerable freedom for creativity, expression, and depictions of alternative lifestyles does exist in China.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\nBut with recent campaigns to restrict gay content on popular media, will radio dramas \u2014 particularly the more graphic (one might say <em>popular<\/em>) shows \u2014 continue to flourish?\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAnd should they? Predominantly targeting a heterosexual female fan base, danmei radio dramas are characterized by idealized (sometimes fetishized) relationships that downplay the real-life issues faced by gay Chinese men. Sexual and domestic violence are also normalized, leading critics and LGBTQ activists to accuse these shows as \u201cqueerbaiting.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/2021\/11\/04\/the-wild-wonderful-queer-world-of-chinese-radio-dramas\/\">Click through to read about these and other issues<\/a> in the complicated realm of zhongzhua.<\/p>\n"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19987"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212555"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=212555"},{"taxonomy":"class","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/class?post=212555"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechinaproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=212555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}