China's Cultural Revolution -- Rock 'n' Roll Style
Aug. 5, 2006 — -- China's former communist leader, Chairman Mao Zedong, whipped his nation into a mass hysteria with his "cultural revolution" in the 1960s, when he said the only acceptable way of live was according to his creed -- a live stripped of all decadence and luxury.
Today, Shanghai, China, is a much different place than it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when nearly everyone wore Mao's peasant jackets. It is louder, brasher and more independent.
"This is the real cultural revolution," said Hung Huang, who edits magazines on what's hip and happening in the city. "The whole way the Chinese think, the whole way that we look at life, are being turned upside down."
In Shanghai, most things western are hot -- rockers, Hooters, Harleys.
Hung says that it's all about freedom, and freedom is happiness -- especially the freedom to make money and spend it on brand names. It also means the right to get rich, as long as you don't challenge the still-ruling Communist Party.
