Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Orange Storm


Orange County, China: refers to a $60 million, 143-unit housing development situated about one hour north of Beijing, China, consisting entirely of expensive American-style townhouses and tract homes, decorated and furnished with American products. The Chinese developer Zhang Bo built the community to anticipate the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing. All 143 units were sold within a month of going on sale, in a phenomenon the Beijing media called "The Orange Storm." Designed by architect Aram Bassenian, who hails from Newport Beach, California in Orange County, California, the Orange County development is an example of wealthy Chinese literally adopting the suburban American lifestyle.

Nope, not your street in fullerton, or newport, or costa mesa, or whatever it is that you're from. This is in fucking China. I wish I could find a better picture of this online, but it's eerie. Eerie because if this becomes a pattern in China, it like Korea will become so concentrated on Westernization that it'll lose it's original history. Eerier because in another picture i found in a magazine, there was a typical townhouse you'd find in the suburbs of Newport, with the Chinese flag smack dab in the middle waving its bright communist colors in the air. Don't tell me you've seen anything more ironic. They're only fanning the flames of the West as being the best. I don't think they should conform to a stupid neighborhood in Southern California--did you watch the real housewives?

No comments: