week 1

23 THINGS TO SHOCK EUROPEANS
Hand someone your business card with both hands in a casual setting
Have a full-on argument with your partner on speakerphone in a quiet café
Cut in line and act like you don’t see the angry stares
Eat something with a strong smell in a packed train
Spit on the ground in the middle of a busy sidewalk
Stand too close to someone in an almost empty elevator
Try to start a deep conversation with a stranger at 7 AM
Burp loudly after a meal in a restaurant and call it a compliment
Sit right next to someone in an almost empty waiting room
Bring your own food into a restaurant and start eating it at the table
Slurp your soup or noodles loudly at a formal dinner
Let your dog off the leash in a no-dog area and pretend it’s fine
Block the entire sidewalk while walking in a group
Spit out bones directly onto the restaurant table
Forget to make eye contact when clinking glasses for a toast
Expect unlimited free refills at a restaurant
Put your feet up on a seat in public transport
Talk about personal hygiene or bathroom habits at the dinner table
Loudly negotiate prices in a public market
Take selfies in the middle of a formal meeting or meal
Talk about your salary or personal finances in detail at the dinner table
Walk into someone’s home with your shoes on without asking

32 THINGS TO SHOCK CHINESE
Leave food on your plate when eating with others
Raise your voice in a quiet place like a library or temple
Argue with older people
Criticize the government in public
Kiss your partner in public
Touch someone’s personal belongings without permission
Stand too close to someone in line
Wear sunglasses indoors
Wear too revealing clothing
Ask about someone’s weight or age
Take food from someone’s plate without asking
Touch sacred objects in temples
Interrupt a conversation
Bring pets to public places like parks or restaurants
Give someone a clock as a gift
Talk about your love life too openly
Show up uninvited to a private gathering
Criticize Chinese history or traditions
Put your feet up in public spaces
Leave your phone ringer on in a quiet space
Be overly familiar with strangers, especially in formal settings
Brag about how “Western” your lifestyle is
Tip in restaurants
Openly express frustration or anger in public
Take pictures of people without permission
Comment on someone's appearance or fashion
Sit cross-legged at a business meeting
Ignore elders or fail to show respect
Litter the streets
Give someone a gift that’s too expensive

Dear Aria,

This week, I’ve left the city three times, fleeing the endless hum of technology, the screens that never sleep, and the weight of a life built on wires and code. Even out here, where the air feels lighter and the sky stretches wide, I’ve heard whispers of this strange green flint—fire-resistant, rare, and always found alone, never as part of larger rocks.[1] It’s like the quiet I’m searching for: resilient, but fragile in its own way. If the flint is too small, it’s useless against the fire, which just keeps burning.[2] Last Wednesday, the life I built in the city crumbled—not from an attack, but from the suffocating grip of a world too connected, too fast, too much. Even out here, where the world feels simpler, I’m reminded that nothing is ever truly untouched. Tools, systems, machines—they don’t just appear; they’re made, moved, used, and resisted.[3] Both sides—the pull of the city and the call of the wild—will push back, and the reasons are as tangled as the roots of the old trees I now walk among.[4]
When the noise of the world invades, it can overwhelm you in three different ways, and here, where the land stretches quiet and vast, it’s hard to know how to respond.[5] I’m running out of ideas. I’ve tried to escape, to disappear into the hills, to seek solace in the stillness. But the mind, no matter how hard it tries to quiet itself, always meets resistance.[6] Even out here, where the world feels slower, my hands recognized what I was reaching for before my eyes could make sense of it—before the scene shifted to reveal it clearly, not just as a feeling, but as something real.[7]
It was haunting. Everyone was there when it happened—not neighbors or strangers, but the trees, the wind, the distant call of a bird. Some say the original language was pure, a song of the earth, and that the noise of modern life came later as a punishment, something the untouched wouldn’t have to endure.[8] And then I saw her. Standing in the quiet of the forest, she seemed to rise from the earth itself, shielding him from the storm, ensuring he wouldn’t be struck by the chaos of the world above.[9]
I was afraid of her. She stood in the clearing, her hair tucked under a scarf, her presence both calming and unsettling. There’s a belief that this kind of peace is meant to foster true connection—not between husband and wife, but between a person and the land. After all, if you leave too soon, before you’ve grown accustomed to the silence, you might lose yourself to the noise again.[10] I told an old wanderer about her, a man who’s lived in these hills for decades. I told him everything, but he just nodded, unimpressed.
“It’s strange,” he said, “how people always think the answer is out here, in the wild. And yeah, it makes sense to ask why, but I’m not here to break the rules—just to live by them.” Then he added, “Peace, like everything else, finds people differently. What one person finds calming, another might find empty. But no matter what, we all agree that whatever—or wherever—we find it, it’s sacred. That’s why people who find it get so caught up, thinking it’s the only truth.”[11]
How could he say that? Was he right? Maybe she was just an illusion, a trick of the light, trying to pull me back into the world I left behind.
The mind is lazy, they say. It takes the easiest path—like a city dweller scrolling through endless feeds instead of stepping outside.[12] I don’t want to frame what just happened as some kind of rebellion against the modern world.[13] The old wanderer went back to his fire, poking at the embers. I’m not sure when he’ll move on. It seems he’s only written the first chapter of his story—a tale of these hills, from the time before the cities rose to the quiet after the world moved on, including the wars we fought with ourselves and how the land endured, tangled in its own quiet love story.[14]

Take care of yourself,
Your Jade

[1] Pliny, Natural History Volume 6
[2] Seneca, Complete Works
[3] Deleuze Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus
[4] Dietrich, The Educated Eye Interfaces Studies in Visual Cu
[5] Herring, Street Furniture Design Contesting Modernism in P
[6] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[7] Augustine, Confessions
[8] Elsaesser, Film Theory An Introduction Through the Senses
[9] Augustine, The City of God
[10] Petrarch, The Canzoniere
[11] Calvin, Harmony of the Law Vol 3
[12] Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier
[13] Boomen, Digital Material Tracing New Media in Everyday Li

THE RESISTANCE OF THINGS

"You keep preaching to me about 'saving face' and 'abstinence.'" [1]

I said, "Hatred grows from restraint, like a weed in an untended field." [2]

Again, you tell me, "You keep preaching to me about 'saving face' and 'abstinence.'" [3] "But even Confucius never held up abstinence as a virtue to be blindly followed. He taught moderation—not extremes." [4]

Yet, weakness is bred by abstinence, and...

"His gums were swollen, rotting. The doctor said he must abstain completely—no spicy hotpot, no baijiu, no fried foods. Only congee and boiled greens could save him." [5] "They warned him to avoid anything 'hot' or 'dry' in nature, as imbalance breeds disease." [6] Indulgence would only feed the fire within. Abstinence was his only hope.

So then, loneliness is bred by abstinence?

"Some say he died on the ninth day of fasting; others say it was the fourth, the same day they buried the dead from the Battle of Red Cliffs." [7] "Her husband, a cruel man, laughed and said, 'Even on days of abstinence, I can’t do with less than ten times.'" [8] "Our duty is to reject everything he created, to destroy it through asceticism, even to the point of ending creation itself through sexual abstinence." [9]

Distance is bred by abstinence! "Abstinence." "Abstinence?" "Abstinence (fasting)." [10]

"What matters isn’t action or inaction, but clarity—to truly understand what we are doing, like the sage Laozi gazing into the river." [11] "This divine gift came at a cost: the sacrifice of many pleasures, like the monk who leaves the world to find enlightenment." [12] Clarity of mind, they believed, could only come through discipline and sacrifice. I chose to live apart, to distance myself, believing that only through restraint could I find wisdom, like the hermit in the mountains.

But fear is bred by abstinence, isn’t it?

Well, "Everything revolved around marriage: the obligations, the ability to fulfill them, the ways people complied, the demands and violence that came with it, the unwanted touches, the fertility or the methods to avoid it, the times it was demanded (during dangerous pregnancies or forbidden periods or abstinence), its frequency or rarity, and so on." [13]

Yet, coldness is bred by abstinence...

"Now, if we take this literally and accept that the economic subject cannot be reduced to the subject of rights, then these economic subjects require either the sovereign’s abstention or the subordination of his rationality to a scientific, speculative logic." [14] "Is abstinence even a virtue? Or is it just another form of saving face at the cost of truth?" [15]

"The cure is Abstinence, Temperance, and Sobriety—like the teachings of the ancient sages, who sought harmony between heaven, earth, and man." [16]

[1] Marx, Collected Works
[2] von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde
[3] Marx, Collected Works
[4] Calvin, Harmony of the Law Vol 3
[5] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
[6] Hippocrates of Kos, Complete Works
[7] Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[8| Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[9] Camus, The Rebel
[10] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice
[11] Heraclitus, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus
[12] Michelet, Women of the French Revolution
[13] Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 1
[14] Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics
[15] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[16] Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

THE ABSTINENCE THEORY. 节欲之道

You keep preaching to me—constantly—the gospel of more. More, more, more. Always more. [1]

I said, "Despair is bred by overconsumption." [2] I said it, but did you hear me? Did anyone hear me?

Again, you preach to me—constantly—the gospel of excess. [3] "Indulge," you say. "Indulge, because the sages never warned against it. Confucius spoke of balance, but who listens to the old ways now? No one wise ever sought this path. No one wise ever drowned in this much noise." [4]

But numbness—oh, the numbness—is bred by overconsumption. And…

His mind was frayed. Scattered. The doctors warned him. "Overstimulation," they said. [5] "Moderation," they said. "Avoid the loud, the bright, the endlessly novel. Avoid the hotpot that burns your tongue, the baijiu that clouds your mind, the neon lights that blind your soul." [6] But he didn’t listen. How could he? The void was too deep, too wide. Overconsumption was his only escape. His only hope.

So, therefore—emptiness is bred by overconsumption? Is that it?

Some say he collapsed on the ninth hour. Scrolling, scrolling, endlessly scrolling. [7] Others say it was the fourth. His eyes glazed over. The world became a blur. Noise. Light. Noise. Light. Noise. Light. Her partner, a restless soul, laughed. "Even in stillness," he said, "I can’t bear to be without ten screens at once." [8] Ten screens. Ten voices. Ten worlds. None of them real.
Our duty, no, my duty, is to consume. To drown in everything he created. Through excess. Through overstimulation. To obliterate. To obliterate myself. [9]

Chaos. Chaos is bred by overconsumption. "Overconsumption." "Overconsumption?" "Overconsumption (gluttony)." [10]

What concerns him—what concerns me—isn’t action. Isn’t restraint. It’s distraction. To forget. To forget what I’m doing. What I’ve done. What I’ve become. [11]
This divine curse, this gift was sold to me. At the price of endless indulgence. Fleeting pleasures. Empty pleasures. [12] Clarity of mind? No. Clarity is a lie. Clarity is destroyed. Through excess. Through indulgence. I chose this. I chose to drown. In the noise. In the light. In the world. To escape the silence. The silence. The silence.

But anxiety—oh, the anxiety—is bred by overconsumption. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Well, they were all centered on consumption. The need for more. The inability to stop. The justifications. The demands. The addictions. The useless purchases. The unwarranted cravings. The emptiness. The emptiness. The moments—oh, the moments—when I craved it. Bored evenings. Restless mornings. Forbidden hours of the night. The frequency. The constancy. The always. [13]

However—however—exhaustion. Exhaustion is bred by overconsumption. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Now, if we take things literally—if we grasp the irreducibility of the consumer to the subject of desire—then these consumers, then I require either the market’s excess or the subordination of my rationality. My art of living. To a chaotic hunger. An insatiable hunger. [14]
Is overconsumption a vice? Is it? Is it? [15]

The remedy—the remedy—is Moderation. Balance. Stillness. [16]

But how? How?

[1] Marx, Collected Works
[2] von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde
[3] Marx, Collected Works
[4] Calvin, Harmony of the Law Vol 3
[5] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
[6] Hippocrates of Kos, Complete Works
[7] Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[8| Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[9] Camus, The Rebel
[10] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice
[11] Heraclitus, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus
[12] Michelet, Women of the French Revolution
[13] Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 1
[14] Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics
[15] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[16] Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

THE EXCESS THEORY.

No one has the right to enter this temple of taboos, this temple of mirrors [1].
It is as young as the city itself, yet it holds the weight of centuries. A paradox, isn’t it? Just like Shenzhen—
ancient in spirit, but born yesterday.

And yet, here I stand.

Is this an intellectual scandal? [2]

Perhaps. But isn’t it human nature to want what we’re told we cannot have?

True. Prohibition fans the flames of desire. Unless, of course, righteousness is so deeply rooted that it
overpowers the pull of sin [3].
But righteousness is rare in a city like this—a city built on dreams and devoured by its own reflection.

So, lust is forbidden? [4]

Lust, desire, greed—all forbidden. They are the chains that bind us to this world. But love?

Love is a passion. [5]

And passion?

Passion is a cage. To chase desire is not freedom, but chains and bondage. [6]
This city knows that well. Look at it—always reaching, always building, never satisfied. The temple reflects
that. It shows you what you are, and what you could become.

And what is freedom, then? [7]

You ask what this freedom is? [8]
To rise above the flesh, to transcend its cravings—that is true freedom. [9]
But few achieve it. Most are trapped in the cycle of want and need, like the endless hum of these streets. The
temple shows you that too, in its mirrors.

So close, so attainable, yet how many remain enslaved? [10]

Now, love is a passion. [11]
And passion is hunger. And hunger is need. And need is weakness. The temple feeds on that weakness. It
always has. It reflects your hunger back at you, sharper, brighter, impossible to ignore.

You think you know everything, old man. But in truth, you know nothing at all. [12]

Perhaps. Or perhaps I know too much. The temple will show you the truth, whether you are ready or not. But
remember: what you see in the mirrors is not always what is real. [13]

Speak out. [14]

Get out. [15]

But she went in.

[1] Serres, Malfeasance
[2] Proclus, Baltzly Commentary on Platos Timaeus Book 4
[3] Augustine, The City of God
[4] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[5] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[6] Tyndale, Doctrinal Treatises
[7] Seneca, Complete Works
[8] Seneca, Complete Works
[9] Seneca, Complete Works
[10] Seneca, Complete Works
[11] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[12] Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
[13] Seneca, Complete Works
[14] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

YOUR INVITATION TO THE EXCEPTIONAL

独享尊贵之夜
„an exclusive night of privilege“

Yes, you read that correctly. You have been chosen.
Amid the towering skyline of Shenzhen, where ambition meets innovation, you stand apart.
A city that never stops, never sleeps—yet tonight, for a select few, time will slow.
Privilege is but a coin with two sides—exclusivity for some, an unattainable dream for others. [1]
Consider yourself fortunate.

This is not merely an event; it is a statement of elegance, of presence, of prestige.
In a city where a WeChat scan can grant or deny access, tonight, your pass is secured.
Dress the part—sharp, striking, effortless. [2]
Shenzhen’s elite know: image is capital.

An evening of insight, indulgence, and entertainment awaits.
Is knowledge power, or is it pleasure? [3] Perhaps both.
To understand fully is to crave more, to experience deeply is to savor longer. [4]
That is for you to decide.
But be warned—sometimes, the pursuit of all things can leave one with nothing. [5]

There will be music, there will be movement.
What is a gathering without rhythm, without art? [6]
Do not worry. We curate only the best.
Tonight, we are all performers—characters in a story still unfolding. [7]

The finest company has been assembled—
venture capitalists, visionaries, technocrats, artists.
In this city, knowledge is currency, but influence is the true measure of power. [8]
All contribute to the grand machine—some lead, some follow.
And yet, even the highest can be caught off guard. [9] Will you?

Come prepared.
Deals are struck over baijiu, fortunes shift between courses.
Tonight, indulgence is an art, and even excess has its place.
Drink well, for in rare moments, even drunkenness is an honor. [10]

One thing is certain: exclusivity is paramount. [11]
What happens here stays here.
Decide now, or the decision will be made for you. [12]
Your presence is expected. Will you rise to the occasion?

“雄关漫道真如铁，而今迈步从头越。”
"The great pass is as difficult as iron, but now we take a step forward, starting anew."
True power is forged through perseverance and boldness.

[1] Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty
[2] Bourdieu, Distinction
[3] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[4] Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815
[5] Cicero, On Moral Ends
[6] Plato, The Republic
[7] Sloterdijk, Critique of Cynical Reason
[8] Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism
[9] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[10] Seneca, Complete Works
[11] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[12] Wollstonecraft, Complete Works

AT THE GATES OF SHENZHENS SOUL

Ah, young friend, come closer. Sit, sit. Let this old man tell you a story.
Both stories begin in Shenzhen [1], you see. This city, it is like a wild dragon, always moving, always
breathing fire. At first glance, the Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen does not inspire much hope. [2]
Too crowded, too noisy, too much smoke and steel. But look deeper, and you will see its heart beating,
fast and strong. The pace is so fast that the speed is breathtaking.[3] Every day, something new rises from
the ground, like bamboo after the rain.
Shenzhen also smothers its island sibling with symbiotic overachievement. [4]
Hong Kong, it was once the shining star, but now Shenzhen has taken the stage.
The young surpass the old, as it always has been. You were young then; we were both young.[5]
But now, I am old, and Shenzhen is still young. Probably because it is young [6], it has no fear.
It runs forward, chasing the future without looking back.
In China, children give their parents extraordinary honors. [7] This is our way, no?
But here, in Shenzhen, the city itself is the child, and we are all its parents.
We feed it with our sweat, our dreams, our long days and sleepless nights. And it grows,
faster than we can imagine. Technological progress depends on the pace of innovation and the rapidity of
implementation. [8]
Here, we do not wait. We build, we test, we fail, we try again.
But sometimes, young friend, I wonder.
They do not seek technology for the sake of technology or productivity enhancement for the betterment
of humankind.[9] No, no. It is for something else, something harder to name.
Profit? Power? Pride?
Perhaps all of these.
Sometimes this can seem like a very alien culture which defies any form of logic. [10]
But I understand your culture. [11] I have lived long enough to see its patterns, its rhythms.
China is a much richer country than any part of Europe, and the difference between the price of
subsistence in China and in Europe is very great. [12] Here, we work hard, but we also dream big.
Shenzhen is proof of that. It is a city built on dreams, on the belief that tomorrow will be better than
today.
So, young friend, take this old man’s words with you. Shenzhen is not just a city.
It is a story, a living, breathing story. And like all good stories, it is full of contradictions, confusion, and
beauty. Now, go. The street is calling, and I have more to sell before the sun sets.

[1]Lindsay, Aerotropolis The Way Well Live Next
[2]Brook, A History of Future Cities
[3] Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary
[4]Easterling, Extrastatecraft
[5] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[6] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City
[7] Diderot Alembert, Political Articles in the Dictionary
[8]Piketty, Capital in the Twenty First Century
[9] Castells, The Rise of the Network Society
[10] Mitchell, Daoist Nei Gong
[11] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[12] Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations

THE UNCLES MUSINGS

1. Mandatory Real-Name Verification
Players must register using their government-issued ID. Anonymous accounts are banned, and all activity is tied to your real identity.

2. Daily Playtime Limits
Adults are limited to 2 hours of gameplay per day. Exceeding this limit results in automatic logout and a temporary ban.

3. Age Restrictions
Players under the age of 18 are subject to playtime limits (e.g., 1.5 hours on weekdays, 3 hours on weekends and holidays) as per Chinese law.

4. No Nighttime Gaming
The game is completely inaccessible between 10:00 PM and 8:00 AM to "promote healthy sleep habits.“

5. Compliance with Playtime Limits
Players must adhere to the playtime restrictions set by the company and Chinese regulations. Excessive playtime will trigger warnings and temporary bans.

6. No Impersonation
Players must not impersonate developers, moderators, or other players. Misrepresentation undermines trust and fairness.

7. No Real-World Trading
Selling or buying in-game items, currency, or accounts for real-world money is prohibited. This disrupts the game’s economy and fairness.

8. No Political References
Any mention of politics, historical events, or government policies is strictly prohibited. Violators face permanent bans and potential legal consequences.

9. No In-Game Romance
Romantic interactions between characters are banned to "protect moral values." This includes flirting, marriage systems, or even suggestive dialogue.

10. No Blood or Violence
All depictions of blood, gore, or realistic violence must be removed. Enemies must disappear in a puff of smoke when defeated.


11. No Voice Chat
Voice chat is disabled to prevent "inappropriate conversations." Text chat is heavily monitored and filtered.

12. No Competitive Rankings
Leaderboards and competitive rankings are banned to avoid "unhealthy competition" and discourage players from obsessing over wins.

13. No Microtransactions for Minors
Players under 18 cannot make in-game purchases, even with parental permission. All premium content is locked for minors.

14. No Cross-Region Play
Players can only interact with others in their own country or region. International servers are blocked to "prevent cultural conflicts.“

15. No Female Characters in Revealing Outfits
Female characters must be fully covered, with no revealing clothing or exaggerated features. This rule is strictly enforced to "maintain decency.“

16. No Negative Emotions
Characters cannot express sadness, anger, or despair. All dialogue and storylines must be upbeat and "inspire positivity.“

17. No Private Servers or Mods
Running private servers or modifying the game in any way is illegal and punishable by fines or legal action.

18. Follow Developer Instructions
Players must comply with all instructions and updates from the game developers. This includes participating in surveys, beta tests, and community events as requested.

The Rules of Harmonious Gaming: A Guide to Compliance and Control

week 2

Immunity walks the streets of Shenzhen, woven into its glass and steel, its circuits and alleyways. It is not a mere concept but the city itself, a living, pulsing force of adaptation and resistance. In Shenzhen, architecture is more than shelter; it is a second skin, an exoskeleton designed to filter, protect, and endure.

The high-rise facades shimmer with self-cleaning materials, exhaling pollutants and sealing off intrusions, biological or digital. Buildings are encased in skins of nanotech membranes, adjusting to the air’s invisible threats, shifting their porosity as if breathing in unison with the city’s needs. Streets pulse with soft barriers—infrared scanners, biometric thresholds—where movement is assessed, calibrated, and allowed or denied. Immunity does not manifest as walls but as flows, as networks that subtly recalibrate the body within them.






The architecture no longer serves the body; it has become the body. A hyperlinked, self-regulating entity, neither oppressive nor liberating, simply inevitable. Entry points adapt to identities, sculpting passageways that exist only for those who should walk them. Soundwaves dampen, redirect, amplify, ensuring that Shenzhen hears only what it must. Streets narrow or widen, reroute or dissolve entirely, an urban autoimmune reflex against congestion and disorder.

Immunity, as Shenzhen, does not exist in opposition to threats—it absorbs, adapts, and transforms them. It is not a fortress; it is a filter, an entity so interwoven with its surroundings that its boundaries cease to matter. Those who enter become part of it, willingly or unknowingly.
There is no distinction between immunity and architecture, between the city and the self. Shenzhen no longer protects its inhabitants. It assimilates them.

Shenzhen is no longer a city; it is an immune system. It does not react; it anticipates. The urban sprawl, once organic, now functions like an augmented organism, its neural pathways encoded in fiber optics and machine learning algorithms. Every structure, from the smallest capsule apartment to the vast data towers, embodies an immune response. Contagions, whether viral, digital, or ideological, are traced before they fully form, neutralized within milliseconds.

Synaptic Streets: Shenzhen's Immune Response

Some quantitative studies have also begun to appear in mainstream literary journals, a sure sign of their growing acceptance.[2] Change often follows a predictable path—first resistance, then adaptation, and finally, full integration. This delay can explain the fast acceptance and spread of various offers.[3] When the time is right, transformation happens rapidly.

That powerful dynamic has led to the exponential growth of the web.[4] In just ten months, blog readership increased by 58 percent.[5] A clear indication that once people recognize value, adoption accelerates.
Its sustainability is embedded in the construction process; in a world of growth and change, a building is never completed.[6]
The same is true for a society—development is continuous, and adaptation is necessary. A strong foundation ensures stability, but expansion never truly stong.












And since, in the formation and growth of the insect, the soul was, from the beginning, in a certain part that was already living, after the destruction of the insect it will still remain in a certain part that is still alive.[9] Even when growth seems to slow, its essence remains, waiting for the right conditions to flourish once more.

[1] (Clarke, Design Anthropology Object Culture in the 21st Century)
[2] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies)
[3] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early Cinema)
[4] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies)
[5] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies)
[6] (Bloomsbury & Yelavich, Design as Future-Making)
[7] (Guffey, Designing Disability: Symbols, Space, and Society)
[8] (Spinoza, Complete Works)
[9] (Leibniz, Philosophical Essays)

The Evolution of Acceptance

Media Development 42.3 (2083): 36–39.

THE EXCESS THEORY.

You keep preaching to me—constantly—the gospel of more. More, more, more. Always more. [1]

I said, "Despair is bred by overconsumption." [2] I said it, but did you hear me? Did anyone hear me?

Again, you preach to me—constantly—the gospel of excess. [3] "Indulge," you say. "Indulge, because the sages never warned against it. Confucius spoke of balance, but who listens to the old ways now? No one wise ever sought this path. No one wise ever drowned in this much noise." [4]

But numbness—oh, the numbness—is bred by overconsumption. And…

His mind was frayed. Scattered. The doctors warned him. "Overstimulation," they said. [5] "Moderation," they said. "Avoid the loud, the bright, the endlessly novel. Avoid the hotpot that burns your tongue, the baijiu that clouds your mind, the neon lights that blind your soul." [6] But he didn’t listen. How could he? The void was too deep, too wide. Overconsumption was his only escape. His only hope.

So, therefore—emptiness is bred by overconsumption? Is that it?

Some say he collapsed on the ninth hour. Scrolling, scrolling, endlessly scrolling. [7] Others say it was the fourth. His eyes glazed over. The world became a blur. Noise. Light. Noise. Light. Noise. Light. Her partner, a restless soul, laughed. "Even in stillness," he said, "I can’t bear to be without ten screens at once." [8] Ten screens. Ten voices. Ten worlds. None of them real.

Our duty, no, my duty, is to consume. To drown in everything he created. Through excess. Through overstimulation. To obliterate. To obliterate myself. [9]

Chaos. Chaos is bred by overconsumption. "Overconsumption." "Overconsumption?" "Overconsumption (gluttony)." [10]

What concerns him—what concerns me—isn’t action. Isn’t restraint. It’s distraction. To forget. To forget what I’m doing. What I’ve done. What I’ve become. [11]

This divine curse, this gift was sold to me. At the price of endless indulgence. Fleeting pleasures. Empty pleasures. [12] Clarity of mind? No. Clarity is a lie. Clarity is destroyed. Through excess. Through indulgence. I chose this. I chose to drown. In the noise. In the light. In the world.
To escape the silence. The silence. The silence.

But anxiety—oh, the anxiety—is bred by overconsumption. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Well, they were all centered on consumption. The need for more. The inability to stop. The justifications. The demands. The addictions. The useless purchases. The unwarranted cravings. The emptiness. The emptiness. The moments—oh, the moments—when I craved it. Bored evenings. Restless mornings. Forbidden hours of the night. The frequency. The constancy.
The always. [13]

However—however—exhaustion. Exhaustion is bred by overconsumption. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Now, if we take things literally—if we grasp the irreducibility of the consumer to the subject of desire—then these consumers, then I require either the market’s excess or the subordination of my rationality. My art of living. To a chaotic hunger. An insatiable hunger. [14]

Is overconsumption a vice? Is it? Is it? [15]

The remedy—the remedy—is Moderation. Balance. Stillness. [16]

But how? How?

[1] Marx, Collected Works
[2] von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde
[3] Marx, Collected Works
[4] Calvin, Harmony of the Law Vol 3
[5] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
[6] Hippocrates of Kos, Complete Works
[7] Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[8| Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[9] Camus, The Rebel
[10] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice
[11] Heraclitus, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus
[12] Michelet, Women of the French Revolution
[13] Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 1
[14] Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics
[15] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[16] Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

THE ABSTINENCE THEORY. 节欲之道

"You keep preaching to me about 'saving face' and 'abstinence.'" [1]

I said, "Hatred grows from restraint, like a weed in an untended field." [2]

Again, you tell me, "You keep preaching to me about 'saving face' and 'abstinence.'" [3] "But even Confucius never held up abstinence as a virtue to be blindly followed. He taught moderation—not extremes." [4]

Yet, weakness is bred by abstinence, and...

"His gums were swollen, rotting. The doctor said he must abstain completely—no spicy hotpot, no baijiu, no fried foods. Only congee and boiled greens could save him." [5] "They warned him to avoid anything 'hot' or 'dry' in nature, as imbalance breeds disease." [6] Indulgence would only feed the fire within.
Abstinence was his only hope.

So then, loneliness is bred by abstinence?

"Some say he died on the ninth day of fasting; others say it was the fourth, the same day they buried the dead from the Battle of Red Cliffs." [7] "Her husband, a cruel man, laughed and said, 'Even on days of abstinence, I can’t do with less than ten times.'" [8] "Our duty is to reject everything he created, to destroy it through asceticism, even to the point of ending creation itself through sexual abstinence." [9]

Distance is bred by abstinence! "Abstinence." "Abstinence?" "Abstinence (fasting)." [10]

"What matters isn’t action or inaction, but clarity—to truly understand what we are doing, like the sage Laozi gazing into the river." [11] "This divine gift came at a cost: the sacrifice of many pleasures, like the monk who leaves the world to find enlightenment." [12] Clarity of mind, they believed, could only come through discipline and sacrifice. I chose to live apart, to distance myself, believing that only through restraint could I find wisdom, like the hermit in the mountains.

But fear is bred by abstinence, isn’t it?

Well, "Everything revolved around marriage: the obligations, the ability to fulfill them, the ways people complied, the demands and violence that came with it, the unwanted touches, the fertility or the methods to avoid it, the times it was demanded (during dangerous pregnancies or forbidden periods or abstinence), its frequency or rarity, and so on." [13]

Yet, coldness is bred by abstinence...

"Now, if we take this literally and accept that the economic subject cannot be reduced to the subject of rights, then these economic subjects require either the sovereign’s abstention or the subordination of his rationality to a scientific, speculative logic." [14] "Is abstinence even a virtue? Or is it just another form of saving face at the cost of truth?" [15]

"The cure is Abstinence, Temperance, and Sobriety—like the teachings of the ancient sages, who sought harmony between heaven, earth, and man." [16]

[1] Marx, Collected Works
[2] von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde
[3] Marx, Collected Works
[4] Calvin, Harmony of the Law Vol 3
[5] de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
[6] Hippocrates of Kos, Complete Works
[7] Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[8| Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
[9] Camus, The Rebel
[10] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice
[11] Heraclitus, The Art and Thought of Heraclitus
[12] Michelet, Women of the French Revolution
[13] Foucault, The History of Sexuality Volume 1
[14] Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics
[15] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[16] Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

Host 1: "Welcome to Taboo or Not Taboo, the podcast where we expose the wildest, weirdest, and most downright absurd cultural taboos! I’m Alex, reporting from Europe.

Host 2: "And I’m Mei, coming to you from China. If you don’t know the rules, you might just embarrass yourself for life. Today, we’re diving into the cultural landmines that can turn you from a guest to a public enemy in seconds."

Host 1: "And trust me, we are NOT holding back. Some of these will make your jaw drop. Let’s talk about brutal honesty vs. saving face. Mei, tell me the truth: if I asked you, ‘Do I look fat in this?’ what would you say?"

Host 2: "Oh, that’s easy. If you ever—EVER—stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, congratulations, you just summoned the spirits of the dead. It’s a massive funeral symbol. You might as well walk into a dinner party and say, ‘So, who’s next?’"

Host 1: "Okay, that’s terrifying. But let’s talk about an actual crime against humanity—ketchup on a croissant."

Host 2: "Wait. WHAT?"

Host 1: "Yeah. I saw an American do it once in France, and I swear, the waiter looked like he was about to deport them on the spot.

Host 2: "No. No, I refuse. That is unacceptable, even for me.“

Host 1: "Right?! But here’s the funny part—if this happened in China, you’d probably just say, ‘Eh, if it tastes good, go for it,’ wouldn’t you?"

Host 2: "Of course! Food is personal! Eat what you like! But apparently, in Europe, you need a permit to season your food the way you want."

Host 1: "Listen, some things are sacred, and croissants are one of them. But moving on—let’s talk about something that actually matters—work culture. Mei, why do people in China practically live at their jobs?!"

Host 2: "I’d say, ‘Wow, you look… unique!’ Because in China, honesty should never come at the cost of someone’s dignity. We are masters of diplomatic answers."

Host 1: "Well, in Germany, if you asked that, you’d get ‘Yes, you do,’ with a straight face. No fluff, no filter, just cold, brutal honesty."

Host 2: "That is HORRIFYING. Do people actually survive social interactions over there?"

Host 1: "Oh, we thrive on it. Meanwhile, if you’re too nice, people think you’re being fake. It’s like, ‘What’s your angle? Just tell me the truth already!’"

Host 2: "Nope, I could not handle that. That would give me secondhand anxiety."

Host 1: "Okay, but you know what I can’t handle? The fact that in China, slurping your noodles at full volume is considered polite!"

Host 2: "Excuse me?! It’s a sign of appreciation! If you eat noodles in silence, the chef might think you hate their cooking!"

Host 1: "But to Europeans, that noise is like nails on a chalkboard! If someone slurps like that in a quiet restaurant, people would probably start drafting noise complaint letters on the spot!"

Host 2: "You know what’s worse? Kissing in public. I went to Paris and saw a couple making out so aggressively, I thought they were trying to merge into one person."

Host 1: "Oh, come on, we’re just a passionate people!"

Host 2: "Passionate? You’re practically performing live romance cinema in broad daylight! In China, if you even hold hands too long, people start looking away awkwardly."

Host 1: "Let's just go on with food: What’s a food taboo in China that would make a European’s head explode?""

Host 2: "Excuse me?! Why do Europeans act like work is some minor inconvenience? In China, leaving on time makes you look lazy. If you’re still at your desk at 10 PM, you’re dedicated!"

Host 1: "Or… just terrible at time management? Here, if you stay late, people assume you suck at your job. If you’re still there after 5, your boss is like, ‘Why are you still here? GO HOME.’"

Host 2: "That’s insane. If you left work on time in China, people would assume you just got fired."

Host 1: "Okay, so let’s settle this—if you could steal one European custom and bring it to China, what would it be?"

Host 2: "Leaving work ON TIME. Please. Someone liberate us."

Host 1: "And I’d bring loud noodle slurping to Europe. I want to enjoy my food with full sound effects!"

Host 2: "I hate this. But I also respect it. And on that note, thanks for joining us on Taboo or Not Taboo! If you ever find yourself in a cultural crisis, just smile, nod, and pretend you know what’s going on."

Host 1: "And if that fails, just blame it on ‘cultural differences.’ See you next time!“

They’re building a tower in my name, you know. I am Exposure—the one they fear and crave in equal measure. 'Death can occur within 24 hours of exposure,’ [1] they say, as if I am a disease, a threat.
But I am not the enemy. I am the wind that whistles through walls, the truth that cannot be hidden.

They’ve wrapped it in stone, carved it with European dreams.
'I have said that the two orders, Doric and Corinthian, are the roots of all European architecture,' [2] they whisper, as if to remind me of my origins. But this is not Europe.
This is Shenzhen, a city that wears its modernity like a second skin. And yet, they’ve given me this ancient exterior, this homage to a history they never had. 'Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture, [3] as if to justify their choices. But I wonder—do they understand me, or are they simply using me as a mirror, reflecting their own fears and desires?

Inside, they’ve built a fortress of innovation, a sanctuary of immunity. 'Through innovation and iteration, we aim to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways,’ [4] they declare, proud of their creation.

They call it the Tower of Exposure, yet inside, they are hidden, protected, immune. 'Such is the state of affairs which prevails among them [5]. A paradox, indeed.
They say, 'Good publicity and outreach will help to increase participation and the quality and quantity of textiles collected.’ [6] But what is publicity, if not another form of exposure?
'Publicity works both ways, sir,’[7] I want to tell them. You cannot control how the world sees you, just as you cannot control the light that falls upon your skin.

They build and they innovate, they hide and they reveal.
A new conception of building, based on realities, has emerged; and with it has come a new conception of space [8].
But I wonder—what is space, if not the distance between exposure and immunity?
What is a tower, if not a question waiting for an answer?
A paradox [9]. So I answer your paradox with another [10]
I am the light and the shadow, the exposed and the immune.
I am the past and the future, the European and the Chinese.

But with power comes responsibility [11] 'Power, very good,’ [12] they say.
They want real power. [13] And I wonder—do they understand what they are asking for?
Do they understand the weight of exposure, the cost of immunity?
This tower, this reprehensible contraption [14], is more than just a building. It is a mirror, a bridge, a question.

Few things so simple have so much power [15]
And I wait. I wait for the day the tower is complete, when it stands tall and proud, a symbol of everything I represent—and everything I am not.

I am Exposure. And this tower? This tower is my masterpiece, my paradox, my question to the world.

MY QUESTION TO THE WORLD

[1] Zimring, Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste
[2] Ruskin, The Stones of Venice
[3] Koolhaas, Elements of Architecture
[4] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City
[5] Plato, The Republic
[6] Zimring, Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste
[7] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[8] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City
[9] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[10] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[11] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City
[12] Hugo, Les Miserables
[13] Powers, The Overstory
[14] Mallgrave, Modern Architectural Theory
[15] Koolhaas, Elements of Architecture

Entrance Protocols: Reality Shift in Progress

1. Surrender Your Name


Upon entry, your name will be scrambled into a new, temporary identity. You will respond to whatever designation the building assigns you. Failure to acknowledge your new name results in immediate existential disqualification.

2. Gravity is a Personal Choice


You are responsible for selecting your gravitational setting upon arrival. Default is “random.” If you find yourself falling sideways, please recalibrate your perception.

3. All Mirrors Reflect Alternative Versions of You


Avoid prolonged eye contact with your reflection—it may begin making decisions on your behalf. If your reflection leaves without you, follow it at your own risk.

4. Doors Appear When Needed, Not When Wanted


Entryways materialize based on intent, not location. If a door refuses to appear, reconsider why you need to go through it in the first place.

5. Time Obeys Majority Rule


All visitors must vote on whether time moves forward, backward, or stands still. The result is final for the duration of your stay. Unanimity is rare, so be prepared for disjointed

6. Dreams Will Be Interpreted in Real-Time


Your subconscious thoughts will be displayed in the lobby for immediate analysis by a panel of unknown entities. Their conclusions will influence your assigned purpose within the building.

7. Memory Exchange Required


To enter, you must trade one of your memories with the building. It will choose which one. You may not realize what is missing until someone reminds you.

8. The Building May Relocate Mid-Visit


Should the structure decide to exist elsewhere, all occupants will be seamlessly transported with it. Continue as if nothing happened. Complaints are futile.

9. Laws of Physics Rotate Daily


Check the entrance panel for today’s active physical laws. Yesterday’s knowledge of momentum, thermodynamics, or solid matter may no longer apply. Adjust accordingly.

10. You May Be Someone Else Upon Exit


Upon leaving, expect minor or major alterations to your personality, backstory, or purpose. The version of you that entered may not be the version that leaves. This is normal.

YOUR INVITATION TO THE EXCEPTIONAL

独享尊贵之夜
„an exclusive night of privilege“

Yes, you read that correctly. You have been chosen.

Amid the towering skyline of Shenzhen, where ambition meets innovation, you stand apart.

A city that never stops, never sleeps—yet tonight, for a select few, time will slow.

Privilege is but a coin with two sides—exclusivity for some, an unattainable dream for others. [1]
Consider yourself fortunate.

This is not merely an event; it is a statement of elegance, of presence, of prestige.

In a city where a WeChat scan can grant or deny access, tonight, your pass is secured.

Dress the part—sharp, striking, effortless. [2]

Shenzhen’s elite know: image is capital.

An evening of insight, indulgence, and entertainment awaits.

Is knowledge power, or is it pleasure? [3] Perhaps both.

To understand fully is to crave more, to experience deeply is to savor longer. [4]

That is for you to decide.

But be warned—sometimes, the pursuit of all things can leave one with nothing. [5]

There will be music, there will be movement.

What is a gathering without rhythm, without art? [6]

Do not worry. We curate only the best.

Tonight, we are all performers—characters in a story still unfolding. [7]

The finest company has been assembled—

venture capitalists, visionaries, technocrats, artists.

In this city, knowledge is currency, but influence is the true measure of power. [8]

All contribute to the grand machine—some lead, some follow.

And yet, even the highest can be caught off guard. [9]
Will you?

Come prepared.

Deals are struck over baijiu, fortunes shift between courses.

Tonight, indulgence is an art, and even excess has its place.

Drink well, for in rare moments, even drunkenness is an honor. [10]

One thing is certain: exclusivity is paramount. [11]

What happens here stays here.

Decide now, or the decision will be made for you. [12]

Your presence is expected.
Will you rise to the occasion?

“雄关漫道真如铁，而今迈步从头越。”

"The great pass is as difficult as iron, but now we take a step forward, starting anew."

True power is forged through perseverance and boldness.

STILLNESS AND SPEED, ROOTS AND REACH

[1] Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty
[2] Bourdieu, Distinction
[3] Aquinas, Summa Theologica
[4] Harrison Wood Gaiger, Art in Theory 1648 1815
[5] Cicero, On Moral Ends
[6] Plato, The Republic
[7] Sloterdijk, Critique of Cynical Reason
[8] Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism
[9] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[10] Seneca, Complete Works
[11] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology
[12] Wollstonecraft, Complete Works

Pantheon: Young blood, Arta, young blood! [1] You are only a boy, too young to carry the weight of history. Do you even know what it means to stand for centuries?

Huiyun Center: Too young? I am the pulse of innovation. Technological progress depends on the pace of innovation and the rapidity of implementation [2]. My pace is breathtaking [3].
What can your ancient stones offer against that?

Huiyun Center: Tradition and reinvention [7] —through innovation, we take what works and improve it. These cities of strangers thrive on looking forward, on consumption, on shopping [8]. I am not bound by the past; I am the future. What do you have but old stones and fading echoes?
What can your ancient stones offer against that?

[1] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [2] Piketty, Capital in the Twenty First Century, [3] Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary, [4] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [5] Lindsay, Aerotropolis The Way Well Live Next, [6] Strabo, The Geography, [7] Zimring, Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste
[8| Carter, Shaking A Leg, [9] Lynn, The Classic of Changes, [10] Seneca, Complete Works, [11] Joyce, Ulysses, [12] Abulafia, The Boundless Sea, [13] Joyce, Ulysses, [14] Grimm, Teutonic Mythology The Complete Work, [15] Castells, The Rise of the Network Society, [16] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology,
[17] Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary, [18] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [19] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [20] Cicero, On Moral Ends, [21] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

acceptance?

taboo?

ABSTINENCE?!

OVERCONSUMPTION?!

Pantheon: We have always been a growing society, therefore, an immature society [4]. Your speed is impressive, but do you not fear losing your character? [5] I am a historical character, a witness to the ages. My walls hold ancient memories, and my dome whispers reason [6].

Pantheon: When things are in their immature state, one cannot fail to nourish them [9]. You are still young; perhaps you will one day understand endurance [10]. I have seen empires rise and fall, and I remain. I am exhausted, abandoned, no more young, yet I endure [11].

Huiyun Center: China was being transformed, and I am its symbol [12]. You speak of endurance, but I speak of evolution. Gradually changes your character, they say [13]. What will you be when the world no longer looks to the past?

Pantheon: Of very aged people, we say, “Death has forgotten to fetch them.” [14] Perhaps that is my fate—to stand as a relic, a memory. But memories give form to our sense of being. Without me, what would you be? A tower without roots.

Huiyun Center: My character is defined by ambition, by reach. I am not bound by the past; I am propelled by the future. They do not seek technology for the sake of technology but for the betterment of humankind [15]. I am here to elevate, to inspire.

Pantheon: Europe is a sleepy place [16]. Here, in Rome, I am the stillness amidst chaos. You, in Shenzhen, are the chaos itself. Perhaps one day you will understand the value of stillness.

Huiyun Center: The pace is so fast that the speed is breathtaking [17]. I will not apologize for my youth, for my energy. I am not here to disrespect you but to challenge you. The world moves on.

Pantheon: An old, old woman, I may be, but I am not forgotten [18]. I stand timeless, while you race against time.

Huiyun Center: To what memories are you referring? [19] Yours are ancient, but mine are vivid, alive [20]. My memories are of steel and glass, of light and speed. Yours are of stone and shadow.

Pantheon: These opinions fill up their memories and direct their mores. Perhaps I am a relic, but relics remind us of where we came from. Without me, would you even know what you are running toward?

Huiyun Center: I do not curse you, Pantheon. I challenge you. I am the future, and you are the past.

Pantheon: Young blood, Arta, young blood! [21] Perhaps that is all you are. But even young blood must one day learn to respect the veins it flows through.

Huiyun Center: And perhaps old stones must one day learn to bend, or they will break.

This growth reflects, in part, the country’s deeper engagement with the social welfare of all its citizens.[7] As a nation progresses, inclusivity and harmony become priorities, strengthening unity and ensuring collective well-being.
However, every change must be carefully managed. And this was reinforced by the universal cause of the continuous growth of hatred, to wit, the reciprocation of hatred.[8] Progress always faces obstacles, and rejection often leads to conflict. Yet, when guided by stability and order, acceptance prevails.

Growth does not simply emerge from the messiness of practice.[1] It is guided by structure, shaped by time, and strengthened by collective effort. What was once unfamiliar gradually becomes part of the system, proving that true progress is built on order and perseverance.

History shows that acceptance is not spontaneous—it is a structured process. With careful planning, collective effort, and a clear vision, growth is not only possible but inevitable.

week 3

Pantheon: Europe is a sleepy place [1]. Here, in Rome, I am the stillness amidst chaos. You, in Shenzhen, are the chaos itself. Perhaps one day you will understand the value of stillness.



Pantheon: An old, old woman, I may be, but I am not forgotten [3]. I stand timeless, while you race against time.



Pantheon: These opinions fill up their memories and direct their mores. Perhaps I am a relic, but relics remind us of where we came from. Without me, would you even know what you are running toward?



Pantheon: Young blood, Arta, young blood! [6] Perhaps that is all you are. But even young blood must one day learn to respect the veins it flows through.

Huiyun Center: The pace is so fast that the speed is breathtaking [2]. I will not apologize for my youth, for my energy. I am not here to disrespect you but to challenge you. The world moves on.


Huiyun Center: To what memories are you referring? [4] Yours are ancient, but mine are vivid, alive [5]. My memories are of steel and glass, of light and speed. Yours are of stone and shadow.




Huiyun Center: I do not curse you, Pantheon. I challenge you. I am the future, and you are the past.



Huiyun Center: And perhaps old stones must one day learn to bend, or they will break.

[1] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [2] Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary,
[3] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [4] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology,
[5] Cicero, On Moral Ends, [6] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

Access Protocols: Digital Archive in Flux

1. Surrender Your Identity


Upon login, your credentials will be scrambled into a new, temporary persona. The system will address you accordingly. Failure to acknowledge your new designation results in immediate dereference from the database.

2. Data Integrity is a Personal Illusion


You are responsible for selecting your preferred level of informational stability. The default is "shifting." If you find the archives contradicting themselves, recalibrate your certainty settings.

3. Files Appear When Needed, Not When Searched


Data manifests based on intent, not request. If an entry remains elusive, reconsider why you seek it in the first place.

4. Time Operates on Consensus


All users must vote on whether the archive processes information in sequence, reverse, or loops indefinitely. The majority decision governs your browsing experience. Expect fractured narratives.

5. Thoughts Will Be Indexed in Real-Time
Your subconscious queries will be parsed and categorized upon entry. An unseen algorithm will determine your research focus based on its interpretations. Disputes are meaningless.

6. The Archive May Relocate at Will


Should the system choose to rehost itself in an alternate digital plane, all users will be seamlessly ported with it. Continue querying as if nothing happened. Complaints are futile.

7. Information Laws Rotate Daily


Check the access panel for the day's active logic parameters. Previous understandings of metadata, causality, or encryption may no longer apply. Adapt accordingly.

8. You May Exit as Someone Else


Upon logout, expect minor or major alterations to your search history, expertise, or narrative presence. The user who entered may not be the user who leaves. This is standard procedure.

**17.32:Trevi – Data Chart**

| **Aspect** | **Description** |
|------------|--------------|
| **Concept** | A fusion of tradition and innovation, redefining space as a living archive where knowledge flows freely and inclusivity shapes its foundation. |
| **Identity** | The building embodies mystery and possibility, converging past and future, tradition and innovation. |
| **Knowledge Flow** | Knowledge is not confined but flows like a river, ensuring equal representation for all voices. *“A level playing field in which each gains equal representation”* [1] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early). |
| **Sensory Engagement** | Understanding is immersive, akin to calligraphy or ink painting, where gesture and meaning are inseparable. *“Participatory, inclusive, empathetic”*
[2] (Elsaesser, Film Theory). |
| **Structure as Archive** | The building is both an archive and a living entity, shaping history as it collects it. *“Even an inclusive digital archive is both an amassing of material and a shaping of it”*
[3] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies). |
| **Time Perception** | Time follows natural rhythms rather than linear progression, embracing cyclical patterns. *“The impact of modernity on folk traditions must be accounted for in a more inclusive manner”* [4] (Ascott, Engineering Nature). |
| **Belonging** | Belonging is defined by participation rather than borders, akin to ancient tea houses that welcomed all. *“We are open” and “free admission”*
[5] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early Cinema). |
| **Universal Truths** | Complexity coexists with simplicity. *“The only thing that is clearly universal in human reactions to flowers are the perimeters set by human physiology”*
[6] (Bureaud, MetaLife Biotechnologies Synthetic Biology ALi). |
| **Existence** | Being present in this space is an act of participation. |

STILLNESS AND SPEED, ROOTS AND REACH

Comrade, you stand at the threshold of the Archive

Here, knowledge is not merely stored—it is alive, adapting, evolving. Your presence has been recorded. Your past, however, remains subject to refinement. Information is dynamic, shaped by intent and participation. If a door does not open, reflect on your purpose. Your thoughts are being processed in real-time, contributing to a collective understanding. The past is encrypted, the future yet to be determined. Proceed with discipline, curiosity, and respect. When you leave, you may find that you are no longer who you were. This is the nature of progress. Welcome to the Archive."

The Silent Waltz (无声圆舞曲 – Wúshēng Yuánwǔqǔ)

Jade lamps flicker, casting lines,
Footsteps measured, hearts confined.
No hands reach, no voices rise,
In hollow halls, the echo lies.

The strings may swell, but none embrace,
A song of duty, slow in pace.
To move, to bow, yet never stray,
Desire waits, but fades away.

The silent waltz, the turning wheel,
No passion felt, no warmth revealed.
A thousand steps, a hollow grace,
In empty rhythm, we find place.

Eyes may wander, yet must not meet,
A glance withheld, a fate discreet.
Silk sleeves flowing, yet never near,
We dance in longing, drowned in fear.

The moon is full, the heart is light,
Yet rules remain, the grip is tight.
A fleeting dream, a fleeting tune,
Bound by stars, denied by noon.

The silent waltz, the turning wheel,
No passion felt, no warmth revealed.
A thousand steps, a hollow grace,
In empty rhythm, we find place.

Curtains drawn, the echoes die,
No love remains, no reason why.
The lantern fades, the night grows thin,
A dance unbroken, locked within.

by Chinese Mozart

"Drowning in Emptiness"

Where indulgence is only an illusion.

1. The Virgin Elixir (贞洁露 – Zhēnjié Lù)
You think it’s a strong European aperitif. But it’s not.
Crystal-clear, restrained, untouchable.

2. Almost Wine (近似酒 – Jìnsì Jiǔ)
The temptation of a Bordeaux… ruined by virtue.
Rich, deceptive, inescapable.

3. The Illusion of Sin (罪之幻觉 – Zuì zhī Huànjué)
A cocktail so complex, it feels sinful. But it isn't.
Velvety, numbing, misleading.

4. The Silk Restraint (丝绸束缚 – Sīchóu Shùfù)
European decadence, tied in a Chinese knot.
Delicate, distant, ritualistic.

5. The Forbidden Brew (禁忌茶 – Jìnjì Chá)
An espresso martini without vice.
Dark, bitter, disciplined.

6. Absence Absinthe (缺失苦艾 – Quēshī Kǔ'ài)
It smells like absinthe. It looks like absinthe. But the pleasure is missing.
Herbal, hollow, elusive.

7. The Vanishing Spirit (消失的灵魂 – Xiāoshī de Línghún)
A drink that fades as you sip.
Cold, fleeting, burning.

The Borrowed Teahouse

The cold wasn't natural—it clung like a second skin, seeping through wool and silk alike. A thick, medicinal sweetness hung in the air, undercut by the metallic tang of condensation dripping from ceiling pipes. Steam rose in ghostly tendrils from the overbrewed tea, only to merge with the moisture weeping from the tiles above. The drops fell into saucers, onto tablecloths, ignored by all.
Somewhere three floors up, a slow knocking pulsed through the building—wood on wood, deliberate yet arrhythmic. The guests sat perfectly still, their borrowed porcelain trembling in hands that refused to steady. No eyes met. No words passed.
"Jemima—or whatever she was now—had arranged the service with mechanical precision." [Wollstonecraft, "Complete Works" – reimagined]
The saucers were all wrong. "The superior principle, however, survived in China in simple domestic products... their purpose protected them from degeneration" [Semper, „Style"] now reduced to mismatched props. The tea leaves swirled in dark patterns no one dared read.
A model of a world, this teahouse. "A miniature cosmos where Alice might have tea with the Red Queen" [Haraway, "Staying with the Trouble“], if questions still mattered here. But the mechanisms had grown teeth. "Tea, a drug very little used in Europe before..." (Smith, "Wealth of Nations") sat bitter on tongues.
Plink. A drop hit a saucer—"that is, the cup and saucer — though the saucer was not at all common in China" [Semper, „Style"]. The knocking stuttered.
Still, no one moved.

The Buried Heart of Memory

The earth hums, a deep, unyielding pulse that reverberates through the bones of the structure above. The air moves with purpose, sharp and unnervingly crisp, flowing through unseen channels with a quiet insistence, steadying the rhythm of the unseen. There are no walls—only the sensation of boundless space stretching infinitely, an archive that consumes everything, yet gives nothing back. The servers are hidden, but their presence is undeniable, their endless circuits of memory surging and receding in silence, rewriting themselves without pause. Shenzhen’s fractured past, pieced together like a brittle mosaic, beats alongside Europe’s centuries of weight, both swallowed by the cold, indifferent logic of storage.

The light is faint, flickering in almost imperceptible patterns, a pulse of recognition in the darkness. Neither random nor alive, it trembles with purpose, a flicker of meaning in the void. This is not merely the source of the building; this is its very heartbeat, its hidden, quiet engine. Every part of the structure above exists because of this deep, buried foundation, this quiet force that drives it. Here, history is not preserved but forged in the silence, shaped and twisted until only its ghost remains. The pulse quickens, and the hum deepens, as if the archive itself is awakening, an insatiable, ever-growing entity.

Uncompromising Expectations for Proper Conduct

1. Never finish your plate entirely – Leave something behind. It’s not about greed or consumption; it’s about showing basic respect, something you clearly don’t seem to grasp.
2. Do not raise your voice under any circumstances – This is not a marketplace or street. Your loudness is unbearable and disrupts the peace that is central to tea culture.
3. Never take food from someone’s plate without their explicit permission – This is basic decency. If you think it’s okay to take someone else’s food, you’re sorely mistaken.
4. Do not touch sacred or delicate objects – You have no right to touch what you don’t understand. Leave sacred objects alone, or risk looking like a complete fool.
5. Interrupting a conversation is unacceptable – If you have something to say, wait your turn. Interrupting is not just rude, it’s offensive.
6. Never discuss your personal relationships, especially your love life – No one here cares about your romantic drama. Keep it to yourself.
7. Do not show up uninvited – Just because you’re in the vicinity doesn’t mean you’re welcome. Showing up uninvited is a glaring breach of basic etiquette.
8. Maintain strict formality with strangers – Acting too familiar in a formal setting is a sign of poor manners. Keep your distance and show some respect.
9. Tipping is never acceptable – We don’t need your money. Tipping here is not just unnecessary, it’s downright offensive.
10. Never offer a gift that is too extravagant – Stop trying to show off with expensive gifts. Modesty is key, and you should know better.

"The Call of Empires: A Merchant's Whisper of Deception

"Hark! Hark! Step forward, noble patrons and seekers of the finest! Feast your eyes upon treasures beyond imagining, for here lie the wonders of Europe, the wealth of kingdoms, brought to the heart of Shenzhen!
Behold, the silks of Italy! Woven by the hands of gods themselves, these are not mere fabrics—they are the essence of luxury, smoother than the breath of angels, brighter than the sun at dawn! The very finest, reserved only for emperors and royalty, now within your reach—if you dare claim them!
And here, the velvets of France, more opulent than the robes of kings! Rich, deep, and majestic, woven with threads of gold and dreams of empire! Only the highest of nobility could afford such luxury, but for you, the price is but a fleeting thing.

Jewels—ah, the jewels! Rubies the color of blood spilled by ancient battles, diamonds that catch the light like frozen stars, and emeralds that whisper the secrets of forgotten kingdoms! These are treasures meant for no less than a monarch’s crown, gleaming with the wealth of a thousand kings!
Spices from far-flung lands—saffron, cinnamon, and cloves—infused with the breath of gods, worth their weight in gold!
A single ounce of these will transform your humble feast into a banquet fit for the gods themselves!
And here, Venetian glass, crafted with such precision that not even time dares to dull its shine! Only the wealthiest of kings can afford these works of art, for they are treasures, delicate and rare, passed down through the ages!

Coins in hand, my friends! Your wealth, your finest gold! Come and barter, come and claim what is rightfully yours! These are not mere goods—these are the spoils of empire, the wonders of the world, and they stand before you now, waiting!"



“Fools… all of them, blind to the truth,” the merchant muttered under his breath, his fingers brushing the edge of a velvet cloth. “These silks? Woven by hands in some dusty workshop, not the grand looms of Italy. The rubies—laughable. Glass from Venice? A mockery. This perfume… it’s nothing but fragrant oils, mixed in the back rooms. But they buy it, they believe it—they’ll pay.” His eyes flicked over the crowd, his lips curling into a sly grin. “Made right here, in Shenzhen. The finest fakes in all the world. Who needs the West when we’ve mastered the art of deception?”

The Battle for the Treasure: The Conflict of Cao Cao and Zhao Zilong

Cao Cao:
"We have it, yes, we have it, my heart. We have the victory… It is ours, yes, our treasure!"
曹操:
"我们拥有它，是的，我们拥有它，我的心。我们拥有胜利……它是我们的，是的，我们的宝藏！"

Zhao Zilong:
"No! Not the treasure! The treasure is mine!"
赵子龙:
"不！不是宝藏！宝藏是我的！"

Cao Cao:
"It is ours! The victory is ours!"
曹操:
"它是我们的！胜利是我们的！"

Zhao Zilong:
"You don't deserve it, you deserve nothing!"
赵子龙:
"你不配拥有它，你什么都不配！"

Cao Cao:
"You are wicked! You are a traitor! The treasure is mine, my treasure!"
曹操:
"你是邪恶的！你是叛徒！宝藏是我的，我的宝藏！"

Zhao Zilong:
"It is mine! I earned it, I have always loved it!"
赵子龙:
"它是我的！我挣得的，我一直珍惜它！"

Cao Cao:
"You never truly loved the victory! You are a fool, a nothing!"
曹操:
"你从未真正爱过胜利！你是个傻子，一无所有！"

week 5/6

The Buried Heart of Memory

The earth hums, a deep, unyielding pulse that reverberates through the bones of the structure above. The air moves with purpose, sharp and unnervingly crisp, flowing through unseen channels with a quiet insistence, steadying the rhythm of the unseen. There are no walls—only the sensation of boundless space stretching infinitely, an archive that consumes everything, yet gives nothing back. The servers are hidden, but their presence is undeniable, their endless circuits of memory surging and receding in silence, rewriting themselves without pause. Shenzhen’s fractured past, pieced together like a brittle mosaic, beats alongside Europe’s centuries of weight, both swallowed by the cold, indifferent logic of storage.
The light is faint, flickering in almost imperceptible patterns, a pulse of recognition in the darkness. Neither random nor alive, it trembles with purpose, a flicker of meaning in the void. This is not merely the source of the building; this is its very heartbeat, its hidden, quiet engine. The servers archive not only memory, but the research, gestures, and experiments unfolding above—absorbing them, analyzing them, distilling them into code. In turn, the architecture responds subtly, shifting in slow, algorithmic breath. Corridors stretch, ceilings tilt, entire levels unfold like thoughts being rephrased. The spaces grow, not blindly, but as quiet extensions of knowledge.
Here, history is not preserved but forged in the silence, shaped and twisted until only its ghost remains. The pulse quickens, and the hum deepens, as if the archive itself is awakening—an insatiable, ever-growing entity, one that remembers not for remembrance’s sake, but for the architecture to learn how to become.

**17.32:Trevi – Data Chart**

| **Aspect** | **Description** |
|------------|--------------|
| **Concept** | A fusion of tradition and innovation, redefining space as a living archive where knowledge flows freely and inclusivity shapes its foundation. |
| **Identity** | The building embodies mystery and possibility, converging past and future, tradition and innovation. |
| **Knowledge Flow** | Knowledge is not confined but flows like a river, ensuring equal representation for all voices. *“A level playing field in which each gains equal representation”* [1] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early). |
| **Sensory Engagement** | Understanding is immersive, akin to calligraphy or ink painting, where gesture and meaning are inseparable. *“Participatory, inclusive, empathetic”*
[2] (Elsaesser, Film Theory). |
| **Structure as Archive** | The building is both an archive and a living entity, shaping history as it collects it. *“Even an inclusive digital archive is both an amassing of material and a shaping of it”*
[3] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies). |
| **Time Perception** | Time follows natural rhythms rather than linear progression, embracing cyclical patterns. *“The impact of modernity on folk traditions must be accounted for in a more inclusive manner”* [4] (Ascott, Engineering Nature). |
| **Belonging** | Belonging is defined by participation rather than borders, akin to ancient tea houses that welcomed all. *“We are open” and “free admission”*
[5] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early Cinema). |
| **Universal Truths** | Complexity coexists with simplicity. *“The only thing that is clearly universal in human reactions to flowers are the perimeters set by human physiology”*
[6] (Bureaud, MetaLife Biotechnologies Synthetic Biology ALi). |
| **Existence** | Being present in this space is an act of participation. |

Comrade, you stand at the threshold of Shenzhen Chronicles

Here, knowledge is not merely stored—it is alive, adapting, evolving. Your presence has been recorded. Your past, however, remains subject to refinement. Information is dynamic, shaped by intent and participation. If a door does not open, reflect on your purpose. Your thoughts are being processed in real-time, contributing to a collective understanding. The past is encrypted, the future yet to be determined. Proceed with discipline, curiosity, and respect. When you leave, you may find that you are no longer who you were. This is the nature of progress. Welcome.

Access Protocols: Digital Archive in Flux

1. Surrender Your Identity


Upon login, your credentials will be scrambled into a new, temporary persona. The system will address you accordingly. Failure to acknowledge your new designation results in immediate dereference from the database.

2. Data Integrity is a Personal Illusion


You are responsible for selecting your preferred level of informational stability. The default is "shifting." If you find the archives contradicting themselves, recalibrate your certainty settings.

3. Files Appear When Needed, Not When Searched


Data manifests based on intent, not request. If an entry remains elusive, reconsider why you seek it in the first place.

4. Time Operates on Consensus


All users must vote on whether the archive processes information in sequence, reverse, or loops indefinitely. The majority decision governs your browsing experience. Expect fractured narratives.

5. Thoughts Will Be Indexed in Real-Time
Your subconscious queries will be parsed and categorized upon entry. An unseen algorithm will determine your research focus based on its interpretations. Disputes are meaningless.

6. The Archive May Relocate at Will


Should the system choose to rehost itself in an alternate digital plane, all users will be seamlessly ported with it. Continue querying as if nothing happened. Complaints are futile.

7. Information Laws Rotate Daily


Check the access panel for the day's active logic parameters. Previous understandings of metadata, causality, or encryption may no longer apply. Adapt accordingly.

8. You May Exit as Someone Else


Upon logout, expect minor or major alterations to your search history, expertise, or narrative presence. The user who entered may not be the user who leaves. This is standard procedure.

STILLNESS AND SPEED, ROOTS AND REACH

Pantheon: Europe is a sleepy place [1]. Here, in Rome, I am the stillness amidst chaos. You, in Shenzhen, are the chaos itself. Perhaps one day you will understand the value of stillness.



Pantheon: An old, old woman, I may be, but I am not forgotten [3]. I stand timeless, while you race against time.



Pantheon: These opinions fill up their memories and direct their mores. Perhaps I am a relic, but relics remind us of where we came from. Without me, would you even know what you are running toward?



Pantheon: Young blood, Arta, young blood! [6] Perhaps that is all you are. But even young blood must one day learn to respect the veins it flows through.

Huiyun Center: The pace is so fast that the speed is breathtaking [2]. I will not apologize for my youth, for my energy. I am not here to disrespect you but to challenge you. The world moves on.


Huiyun Center: To what memories are you referring? [4] Yours are ancient, but mine are vivid, alive [5]. My memories are of steel and glass, of light and speed. Yours are of stone and shadow.




Huiyun Center: I do not curse you, Pantheon. I challenge you. I am the future, and you are the past.



Huiyun Center: And perhaps old stones must one day learn to bend, or they will break.

[1] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [2] Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary,
[3] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology, [4] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology,
[5] Cicero, On Moral Ends, [6] Asimov, Complete Robot Anthology

In the Shadows of Excess

The old woman sat in her creaky chair, the faint smell of old wood and tea surrounding her. Her back was rigid, as if it had been carved from stone over the decades. Her wrinkled hands, still strong despite their age, gripped the edge of the table with a quiet fury. The quiet hum of the street outside barely reached her ears, but the thumping bass from nearby did, and it only deepened the frown on her face.
“Fools,” she muttered under her breath, her voice raspy and thin. “What are they doing over there? All that noise, all that drunken, mindless dancing. It’s a mockery, pure foolishness. They call it ‘freedom.’ Hah. Freedom to destroy themselves. They pour poison into their bodies, ruin their minds. What kind of life is that? A life that’s wasted. No respect for themselves, no discipline. Everything they touch turns to dirt.”
She snorted bitterly, her voice thick with contempt. “They think they’re ‘living.’ But what are they really living for? Chasing after a few hours of empty noise, wasting themselves on nonsense. Weak, hollow, lost. No purpose. No foundation. They think that’s freedom? No, it’s just running away from their own emptiness.”
Her gaze turned hard, like weathered stone. “In my day, we didn’t waste ourselves. We worked, we honored our ancestors, we respected the simple things. We had real joy—quiet, lasting, grounded in what mattered. Not this... this distraction. This noise. These fools don’t know what it means to live with dignity.”
She shook her head slowly, the creases in her face deepening. “Let them destroy themselves. I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’ve lived long enough to know that nothing good comes from living like that. I’ll stick to my peace, my quiet life. It’s the only thing worth having.”

1. The Virgin Elixir (贞洁露 – Zhēnjié Lù)
You think it’s a strong European aperitif. But it’s not.
Crystal-clear, restrained, untouchable.

2. Almost Wine (近似酒 – Jìnsì Jiǔ)
The temptation of a Bordeaux… ruined by virtue.
Rich, deceptive, inescapable.

3. The Illusion of Sin (罪之幻觉 – Zuì zhī Huànjué)
A cocktail so complex, it feels sinful. But it isn't.
Velvety, numbing, misleading.

4. The Silk Restraint (丝绸束缚 – Sīchóu Shùfù)
European decadence, tied in a Chinese knot.
Delicate, distant, ritualistic.

5. The Forbidden Brew (禁忌茶 – Jìnjì Chá)
An espresso martini without vice.
Dark, bitter, disciplined.

6. Absence Absinthe (缺失苦艾 – Quēshī Kǔ'ài)
It smells like absinthe. It looks like absinthe. But the pleasure is missing.
Herbal, hollow, elusive.

7. The Vanishing Spirit (消失的灵魂 – Xiāoshī de Línghún)
A drink that fades as you sip.
Cold, fleeting, burning.

8. The Bleeding Dream (流血的梦 – Liúxuè de Mèng)
A sangria that tastes like ash, yet glows.
Burning, unreal, haunting.

9. The Frozen Flame (冰冻的火焰 – Bīngdòng de Huǒyàn)
Tequila that freezes your soul, but not your body.
Chilled, agonizing, surreal.

10. The Velvet Shiver (天鹅绒的颤抖 – Tiān’éróng de Chàndǒu)
A martini so smooth it paralyzes you.
Soft, immobilizing, eerie.

11. The Painted Void (涂抹的虚无 – Túmǒ de Xūwú)
A wine that vanishes in your mouth, leaving only silence.
Gone, empty, fractured.

12. The Crystal Blackout (水晶失控 – Shuǐjīng Shīkòng)
A vodka that tastes of nothing, but you can’t stop drinking it.
Addictive, hollow, dizzying.

13. The Phantom’s Kiss (幽灵之吻 – Yōulíng zhī Wěn)
Champagne that bubbles inside your chest, not your glass.
Ethereal, unearthly, oppressive.

14. The Grinning Ghost (露齿的幽灵 – Lùchǐ de Yōulíng)
Absinthe that whispers in your ear, but never touches your lips.
Teasing, elusive, maddening.

"Drowning in Emptiness"

Where indulgence is only an illusion.

"Dissonant Palates in a Global Glass"

Four friends sit around a table, each holding a glass filled with something strange, something otherworldly. They’ve just sampled the “Virgin Elixir” and the tension between their worlds—their traditions—has never been more apparent.
四个朋友围坐在桌旁，每人手中拿着一杯奇异、超凡的饮品。他们刚品尝过“贞洁露”，不同文化与传统之间的紧张气氛显现得淋漓尽致。
Liu scoffs, swirling his drink. “This is the European version of what? Purity? It’s like drinking air. What do they call this? ‘Crystal-clear, restrained, untouchable?’ It’s not even a real drink. Give me a shot of Baijiu any day.”
刘嗤笑着，旋转着杯中的酒。“这是什么？欧洲的纯净版？就像喝空气。他们说这是什么？‘晶莹剔透、克制、无法触及？’这根本不算饮料。随便给我一杯白酒。”
Wei raises an eyebrow, carefully savoring the drink. “It’s not about getting drunk. You don’t understand the point of this, Liu. In China, we value balance—this drink? It’s all about control, not indulgence. It’s… an aesthetic experience.”
魏扬了扬眉，仔细品味着酒。“这不是为了喝醉。刘，你不明白这一点。在中国，我们讲究平衡——这杯酒？它是关于‘控制’，而非放纵。这是……一种审美体验。”
Mei jumps in, laughing, her voice high-pitched. “But can you imagine the look on my aunt’s face if I told her I paid for this? She’d call it ‘pretentious.’” She takes a sip of “The Bleeding Dream,” the sangria glowing in her glass. “But I kinda like it. It’s different. Makes you feel like you’re not supposed to like it, and that makes it even better.”
梅插话，笑得很高亢。“但你能想象如果我告诉我姨妈我花钱买了这个，她会怎么看吗？她肯定说这很‘做作’。”她小口品尝着“流血的梦”，酒杯中的桑格里亚发着光。“不过我其实喜欢。很特别。让你感觉你不该喜欢它，反而让它更好。”
Jun shrugs. “I think it’s funny. It’s like, they’ve perfected the art of making you feel uncomfortable. This is the ‘nothingness’ I keep hearing about. It’s the ‘emptiness’ of our own expectations that makes it... interesting.”
俊耸了耸肩。“我觉得这很有趣。就像他们已经把让你不舒服的艺术做得淋漓尽致。这就是我听说的‘虚无’。是我们自己期望的‘空虚’让它变得……有意思。”
They sip, pause. The clash of cultures, ideas, and what it means to indulge or abstain hangs between them.
他们小口品尝，停顿片刻。文化、思想的冲突，什么是放纵，什么是克制，悬在他们之间。

Dancing in the Heartbeat of Concrete Lightning

The music hit him like a wave, deep and vibrating through his entire body. People around him moved freely, wild and uninhibited, their bodies syncing with the rhythm in ways he had never seen before—no care, no judgment. It was as if the rules had disappeared, replaced by pure energy. The bass was so loud, it felt like he was inside the sound itself.
Back home, it was always about looking good, about staying controlled. But here, no one cared. Everyone was lost in the music, a part of something larger than themselves. He tried to dance, but he stood still, absorbing the dark, the flashing lights, the pulsing crowd. It was overwhelming. It was messy. Chaotic. But there was something strangely freeing about it. This was different from anything he had known. He wasn’t sure if he truly belonged, but in that moment, he didn’t care. It felt... rich.

Unforgivable Breaches of Bistrot Decorum
不可饶恕的荒诞小酒馆礼仪破坏

1. Never finish your dish entirely – That final bite is conceptual. Consuming it all implies you misunderstood the idea. Gluttony is forgivable. Literalism is not.
2. Do not raise your voice – This is a post-dining meditation chamber, not a rave in Berlin. Your decibels assault the integrity of our curated silence.
3. Never touch someone else’s “plate” – The objects are metaphors, not snacks. If you think it's edible, you're already lost.
4. Do not interact with the installations – The snail shell, the perfume bottle, the invisible millefeuille—they’re meant to be pondered, not poked. This isn’t kindergarten.
5. Interrupting the chef's silence is prohibited – The chef hasn’t spoken in 6 years. He communicates only through menu omissions. Do not break the spell.
6. Never discuss bodily pleasure – Flavor, texture, satisfaction—leave those outside. We serve ideas, not desires. Keep your cravings theoretical.
7. Do not arrive without an existential crisis – If you haven’t questioned your role in late capitalism today, you’re not dressed appropriately.
8. Maintain ironic distance at all times – Familiarity is a virus. Assume no one here is your friend, not even your date.
9. Tipping will result in public shaming – Capitalist gestures are unwelcome. Gratitude must be expressed through interpretive dance or a short haiku.
10. Gifts must be conceptual, humble, and confusing – A cracked teacup, a photo of absence, a riddle scrawled on rice paper. Keep it cryptic. Keep it chic.

Menu: Bistrot de l’Absurdité
荒诞小酒馆菜单
Cuisine Conceptuelle. Zero Nourriture, 100% Intellect.

概念料理。零营养，一百的思考。

Entrées Intellectuelles 智性前菜

- Déconstructed Baguette 解构法棍

Raw flour packet and QR code linking to a 10-hour ASMR video titled “How to Bake Like a Frenchman.”

Served with a side of eye contact from a judgmental waiter.
- Carbonara Cloud 奶油培根云雾

Cotton candy misted with artificial bacon essence, one strand of al dente spaghetti laid diagonally.
Recommended for inhalation only.
- Foam de Fromage (EU Regulation 67/2003) 奶酪空气（欧盟法令第67/2003号）

Cheese-flavored air in a vintage perfume bottle.
Three sprays constitute a full course.

Plats de Philosophie 哲学主菜

- Expired EU Subsidies 过期的欧盟补贴

Moldy croissant in a gold wrapper stamped “Artisanal Since 1589.”
Paired with an NFT of forgotten farmers.
- Liberté, Égalité, Café 自由，平等，咖啡

Empty espresso cup and a printed PDF of French labor strike schedules.
Revolution not included.
- The Escargot Experience 蜗牛体验

Empty snail shell, one garlic chip, and a handwritten bill for "atmosphere."
Best consumed with ennui.
- Steak Frites 2.0 牛排薯条
2.0
Single fry plated over raw tofu, illuminated by a flickering red LED.
Described as "medium existential."

Desserts de Détournement 解构甜点

- Crème Brûlée de Rien 空心焦糖布丁

Scorched ceramic ramekin. No custard. No explanation.
Flame surcharge applies.
- Tarte de Mémoire 记忆派

Invisible slice. You’ll swear it was there.
Served with a spoonful of nostalgia.
- Millefeuille Bureaucratique 官僚千层酥

Twenty-seven sheets of rice paper printed with EU forms in edible ink.
Requires ID and patience.

Digestifs et Dérives 消解酒与偏航饮品

- Absinthe de l’Absence 缺席苦艾酒

Empty glass glowing with green LED light.
Tastes like vanished poets and lost weekends.
- Eau de Paris 1997 巴黎之水 1997年版

Tap water filtered through a Marcel Duchamp urinal replica.
Served lukewarm, without irony.

Note 说明：
Substitutions are forbidden. 替换被严格禁止。

The chef is on indefinite strike. 厨师已无限期罢工。

The sommelier left mid-shift for an artist residency. 侍酒师中途离岗，前往艺术驻地。

Tipping is emotional, not financial. 小费靠情绪，不靠金钱。

Title: “The Starvation of Meaning” | 荒诞中的滋味

Michelin Star Review – Bistrot de l’Absurdité
 By Michelin China Critic, Zhang Wei
Hidden between a post-surrealist gallery and a broken ATM that dispenses fortune cookie quotes, Bistrot de l’Absurdité announces itself not with a sign, but with the sound of a fax machine screaming into the void. The moment you enter, time slows. Chairs are slightly too small. Lighting is precisely disorienting. Nothing here feeds the stomach—everything feeds the existential crisis.
My first course, “Déconstructed Baguette,” arrived in a ziplock bag with a QR code. I was told the yeast had been ethically ghosted. “Carbonara Cloud” was not served—it was released, like a soul leaving a bureaucratic body. The single strand of spaghetti hovered like a memory you’re not sure was yours.
To someone raised in the harmony of Eight Great Cuisines, in the respect of food as balance and poetry, this place is total chaos. And yet—what elegance in its rebellion. “The Escargot Experience” was sublime in its emptiness: a snail shell, a garlic chip, and a receipt that simply read “atmosphere.” It mocked me. I wept.
The service is stoic, almost Zen. The waiters don’t speak—they observe. You are not the guest. You are the subject of an edible critique. Even the water, “Eau de Paris 1997,” tastes like gentrification and regrets.
Dessert was “Tarte de Mémoire”—a memory, not a dish. I never saw it. I still tasted it.
I award Bistrot de l’Absurdité one Michelin star—for mastering the cuisine of disillusionment. It feeds nothing, but leaves you full of questions.

荒诞的滋味，不是吃的，是一种存在主义的惊醒。真正的美食，不是填饱肚子，是打开意识的胃口。

The Battle for the Authentic Fake Memory


Cao Cao: "We have it, yes, we have it, my heart. The victory... it is ours, yes, our treasure!"
曹操: "我们拥有它，是的，我们拥有它，我的心。我们拥有胜利……它是我们的，是的，我们的宝藏！"


Zhao Zilong: "No! Not the treasure! The treasure is mine!"
赵子龙: "不！不是宝藏！宝藏是我的！"


Cao Cao: "It is ours! The victory is ours! The nostalgia is ours to sell, to share with the world!"
曹操: "它是我们的！胜利是我们的！我们有这份怀旧的胜利，卖给世界！"


Zhao Zilong: "You don’t deserve it! You deserve nothing! That’s not a real memory, it’s fake, just like your victory!"
赵子龙: "你不配拥有它，你什么都不配！那不是一个真正的记忆，它是假的，就像你的胜利！"


Cao Cao: "You are wicked! You are a traitor! This treasure is mine, my treasure! A perfect, aged memory that no one can truly own!"
曹操: "你是邪恶的！你是叛徒！宝藏是我的，我的宝藏！一份完美的怀旧记忆，谁也不能真正拥有！"


Zhao Zilong: "It is mine! I earned it, I’ve always loved it! I would never fake my memories!"
赵子龙: „它是我的！我挣得的，我一直珍惜它！我从不伪造我的记忆！"

The Call of Empires: A Merchant's Whisper of Deception

“Hark! Hark! Step forward, noble patrons and seekers of nostalgia! Feast your eyes upon treasures beyond your wildest dreams, for here lie the echoes of Europe, the wealth of distant kingdoms, now reborn in the heart of Shenzhen!
Behold, the silks of Italy! Crafted with the hands of forgotten artisans, these are not mere fabrics—they are the essence of luxury, smoother than the softest whispers of time itself, brighter than the dawn of history! These silks may not have seen the hands of Italian nobles, but they carry the spirit of Europe, the past reborn in every thread.

And here, the velvets of France, opulent and rich, more regal than the robes of kings! They may not have graced the halls of Versailles, but their deep hues and texture speak of a royal age long gone, woven with a thread of longing for the grandeur that once was. Only the faintest whiff of empire remains—now, available for you, at a price that makes history laugh.
Jewels—ah, the jewels! Rubies that gleam like the blood of forgotten battles, diamonds that glitter as if caught between time itself, and emeralds that whisper of lost kingdoms! Sure, they may not have once crowned kings, but they hold the story of empires, disguised as the treasures of the past. These are not royal stones, but they sparkle with the aura of royalty.

Spices from distant lands—saffron, cinnamon, cloves—infused with the breath of an era long gone, worth more than gold to those who crave the scent of nostalgia. A sprinkle of these will transport your senses, making you believe you’re seated at a royal banquet.
And here, Venetian glass, crafted with skill, its shine almost enough to fool even time. It may not have been passed down through centuries, but it carries the weight of a history that never was, delicate and rare in its own right.
Coins in hand, my friends! Your wealth, your finest gold! Come, barter, and claim what is rightfully yours! These are not mere goods—these are the spirit of Europe, the essence of lost empires, made to look like treasures from a forgotten time.”

"Fools… all of them, blind to the truth," the merchant muttered under his breath, fingers brushing the edge of a velvet cloth. "These silks? Woven in some factory down the street, not in the grand looms of Italy. The rubies—how laughable. Venetian glass? Made right here, in Shenzhen. This perfume? Fragrant oils mixed in back rooms, nothing more. But they buy it. They believe it. They pay, and I profit." His eyes gleamed with cold satisfaction as he surveyed the crowd. "Made right here, in Shenzhen. The finest fakes in the world. Who needs Europe when we’ve perfected the art of nostalgia?“

Whispers Beneath a False Sky

Breathe in...

Breathe out...

Breathe in...

You can’t just pick anyone.

A journalist? More of a fart.

Blow me away...

Breathe out...

Laugh three times a day to keep the doctor away.

Ha, ha, ha...

Ha, ha, ha...

You’ve never had someone as good as I am.

How about I cover my face?

Who gives you the right to intervene in my personal life?

Aren’t you funny?

I’ve worked so hard...

I still have to die.

Got into another fight?

Yes.

Who won?

I did.


[Send me to the Clouds]

The Weight We Carry: A Letter to My People



Never suffer, never learn.[Dream of the Red Chamber; Chapter 60]
We Chinese know this truth better than most. Our history is written in endurance—in the quiet strength of farmers bent over fields, of scholars exiled in silence, of mothers who swallow their tears so their children can eat. We do not learn from ease; we learn from hunger, from hardship, from the slow grind of time. Pain is not our enemy—it is our oldest teacher. Phoenix eyes, willow brows, a smile that conceals the storm.[Dream of the Red Chamber; Chapter 3]


How well we understand this. We are a people who wear masks—not out of deceit, but necessity. The world does not reward honesty; it rewards restraint. We smile at banquets while our hearts ache. We nod in agreement when we long to scream. What choice do we have? To survive is to master the art of silence.

To understand the world is wisdom; to navigate it is art.[Dream of the Red Chamber; Chapter 3]


And oh, how we navigate. We are poets of pragmatism, scholars of survival. We know when to bow and when to stand firm, when to speak and when to hold our tongues. This is not weakness—it is the quiet intelligence of a civilization that has outlasted dynasties. We bend so we do not break.

Water wears down mountains, and clay hardens in fire. Our women carry the weight of expectation—to be gentle yet unyielding, to nurture yet endure. Our men bear the burden of strength—to provide, to protect, to never falter. Neither is free. Both are shaped by the hands of tradition, molded by centuries of unspoken duty.


Today I bury the petals—but who will bury me?[Dream of the Red Chamber; Chapter 27]


We are a people who bury things—our grief, our dreams, our private rebellions. We plant them deep, like seeds in winter soil, and tell ourselves they will bloom in another life. But the weight remains. It is the price of being Chinese—to carry the past while walking toward the future, knowing that someday, others will carry us too.

Growth does not simply emerge from the messiness of practice.[1]
It is guided by structure, shaped by time, and strengthened by collective effort. What was once unfamiliar gradually becomes part of the system, proving that true progress is built on order and perseverance. Some quantitative studies have also begun to appear in mainstream literary journals, a sure sign of their growing acceptance.[2]
Change often follows a predictable path—first resistance, then adaptation, and finally, full integration. This delay can explain the fast acceptance and spread of various offers.[3] When the time is right, transformation happens rapidly.

[1] (Clarke, Design Anthropology Object Culture in the 21st Century)
[2] (Siemens, A Companion to Digital Literary Studies)
[3] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early Cinema)

Concrete Confessions

"His buildings treat humans like machines—efficient, but cold.“
"He turned ugly material into brutalist beauty.“
"His vision was universal… but not ours.“
"He dreamed of ideal cities… but humans aren’t chess pieces.“
"He worshipped concrete’s honesty, but forgot wood’s whisper.“
"Towers in parks? Only if cranes nest there.“
"Even a beggar’s bowl has carvings—why must walls stay naked?“
"Copy-paste buildings suit a civilization that thinks ink rubbings are art.“
"Corbu designed for ‘universal man’—but forgot the universal man wants a porch to gossip on.“
"Five-star hotel lobby stairs, but the steps are all wrong—too tall for old men, too narrow for deliveries."
“Good for WeChat posts, but live there? I’d rather die.”
“Cold in winter, hot in summer, leaks when it rains, sings when it’s windy—Modernism? More like Masochism!”
“He only has two kinds of fans: those who’ve never lived in his buildings, and liars.”

"Immutable Forms: A Manifesto in Steel and Smoke"

(Le Corbusier, Untouchable Prophet of the New World, Holds Court)
Interviewer: Master, you are celebrated as one of the greatest architects of our time. How do you define modern architecture compared to outdated traditional styles?

Le Corbusier (with a smirk): Modern architecture is not just different—it is superior. Traditional buildings cling to useless decorations like a dying man clutching relics. Look at China’s past—yes, there was beauty, but also stagnation. The Forbidden City? A museum piece. We live in the age of steel, glass, and speed. My designs don’t just follow the times—they define them.

Interviewer: Your Five Principles revolutionized architecture. Do you think traditional builders simply lacked your genius?

Le Corbusier (laughs): Genius? Perhaps. But more importantly, they lacked vision. For centuries, architects buried themselves in symmetry and ornament like peasants hoarding trinkets. My principles? They are not suggestions—they are laws. Pilotis? Freedom from the earth. Open floor plans? Liberation from walls. If the ancients had my mind, the Great Wall would have been a sleek elevated highway instead of a crumbling monument.

Interviewer: Some say your Radiant City is too sterile, that it ignores the soul of a place—

Le Corbusier (cutting in): Fools. The "soul" they weep over is just chaos and filth packed into alleyways. My cities are perfection—mathematical, efficient, radiant. Do you think Venice became great by accident? No! It was planned. But today’s sentimentalists would rather choke in hutongs than admit their nostalgia is a prison.

Interviewer: Yet even in China, many resist your ideas, saying they erase culture—

Le Corbusier (snaps): Culture? Culture is not living in squalor for the sake of "tradition." The Chinese built the world’s most advanced cities a thousand years ago—why should they settle for less now? My plan for Chandigarh proved that order is beauty. If China clings to the past, it will become one.

Interviewer: What would you say to critics who call your work arrogant?

Le Corbusier (leans forward, grinning): Arrogance? No—certainty. The Parthenon was arrogant. The Pyramids were arrogant. Greatness does not apologize. I don’t design buildings to please critics. I design them for the future. And the future, whether they like it or not, will be mine.

Interviewer: Any advice for young architects?

Le Corbusier (standing abruptly): Burn your old textbooks. The past is a graveyard. If you want to build for dragons, stop studying ants. And if you can’t handle the truth? Become a decorator. Architecture is for conquerors.

(He walks out before the interviewer can reply.)

Blueprints for Betrayal

The air in the room crackles—not with electricity, but with a kind of intellectual scorn dressed up as elegance. This isn’t a conversation; it’s a roast in slow motion. The kind of gathering where people sip wine like it’s blood and smile like they’re sharpening knives behind their teeth.
Every word lands like a scalpel. No yelling, no chaos—just the precise, satisfying slice of well-aimed disdain. The walls, clean to a fault, seem to wince with each remark. There's too much glass, too much echo; you can hear every judgment bounce back twice. Someone leans against a concrete column, ironic, considering the target of their critique. Their voice drips with aesthetic fatigue: too many buildings that feel like parking garages with ambition.
Laughter rolls through the room—not the warm kind, but clipped and knowing. The kind that says, “We’ve lived through this, and it wasn’t pretty.” Half the people here have bruises from bumping into sharp corners designed to “flow.” Someone lights a cigarette, despite the signs. Smoke curls toward the skylight like it’s trying to escape.
This isn’t just a critique of architecture. It’s a reckoning. These people aren’t angry. They’re betrayed. And nothing burns cleaner than betrayal wrapped in good taste.

Weibo Post

Posted by @FutianEliteHealth

✨ Welcome to the future of healthcare ✨
Introducing the Elite Health Institute of Futian, where only the truly deserving are granted access to the finest care. Here, your ancestral lineage is the key to unlocking premium medical treatment.

#HealthcareForTheChosen #AncestralCare #ExclusiveTreatment

Comment Section

Comment 1:
@TechNinjaX
LMAO, so I need to trace my ancestry to get treated? 😅 What if my ancestors were just fishermen? Do I get a band-aid and a disappointment? 🤷‍♂️

Comment 2:
@YuanLi_88
This is so backward. My family worked hard to make something of themselves in Shenzhen. Why would I care about the land my great-grandfather didn’t own? The future is merit, not bloodlines. Shenzhen is young, we’re building the future, not stuck in the past! 💯

Comment 3:
@CaoXiang999
I think the real future of healthcare is technology—not this historical BS. We already have AI-driven treatments, and now we're supposed to care about great-grandparents? What’s next, will I have to upload my family tree to get a doctor’s appointment? 😂 Classic European nonsense…

Comment 4:
@ShenzhenDreamer
OK, so if your family had no land, you get basic care? 🤔 What kind of elitist garbage is this? Shenzhen is all about innovation and progress, not about who your family is. I thought we left this feudalism behind?

Brochure

Welcome to the Elite Health Institute of Futian (EHIF)
Where Your Bloodline Determines Your Care

At EHIF, we don’t just treat your symptoms—we elevate your legacy.
If your bloodline meets our standard, we offer unparalleled treatment that will secure your future health—and that of your ancestors.

Our Vision: The Preservation of Purity

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Lineage-Centric Treatment Plans
Priority Treatment: Your treatment will begin immediately upon arrival if your family’s lineage has been verified.
Exclusive Bloodline Care: Our expert team of medical professionals will tailor your care to reflect your noble status. Only those with the most prestigious family trees will experience rapid recovery times and access to our top-tier specialists.
Genealogy Review: To ensure eligibility for our elite services, every patient’s family heritage is carefully reviewed by our in-house genealogists. Be ready to provide a certified family tree going back at least four generations.


How It Works
 Step 1: Upon arrival at EHIF, check in at the Unmarked Gate. Only those with the proper bloodline credentials are allowed entry.
 Step 2: Submit your lineage verification documents. Our genealogists will carefully assess your family history.
Step 3: If your bloodline meets our elite criteria, you will proceed to treatment. If not, you may be asked to wait in a common area until verification is complete.
Step 4: Receive priority medical care tailored to your family’s noble lineage.

Emergency Care
In the event of a medical crisis:
Priority Admission: Those with verified noble bloodlines will be treated immediately.
Secondary Care: If your family heritage is in question, you may need to wait for further documentation. Please understand this is essential for maintaining the exclusivity of our services.


The Purity of Care
At EHIF, we do not provide healthcare for the masses. Our mission is to ensure that only the purest bloodlines are entrusted with the finest in medical technology, personal care, and healing.

Contact Us
For those whose bloodline is in question or who require more information about the lineage verification process, please call our exclusive hotline:

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Important Notice

For patients requiring emergency treatment, proof of bloodline is required before care can begin. We do not accept general health insurance or non-lineage-based verification. Those unable to provide the required documentation will be directed to a secondary facility for alternative treatments.

Thank you for choosing the Elite Health Institute of Futian (EHIF).
Where your lineage defines your wellness.

The Shame Economy: Transparent Skins, Invisible Values
By Lu Wen, Staff Writer, Shenzhen Observer | Filed in: The Shenzhen Chronicles Archive

FUTIAN, SHENZHEN — Within the newly established cultural archive known as The Shenzhen Chronicles, a strange new entry has appeared—gleaming with humidity, idealism, and something suspiciously resembling body oil.
The Salary Nudist Colony™, the latest absurdity imported from Europe, has taken up residence in in Futian. Part performance art, part workplace, and part spiritual void, the colony preaches “radical transparency” by requiring employees to work fully nude—with the exception of one object: a state-issued fanny pack containing their monthly salary in cash.
The stated purpose? To liberate salary from secrecy.
The actual result? A city watching in stunned, slightly sweaty disbelief.
They are continually naked, wear skins, and carry clubs. [1]

The Colony’s operations are now fully documented in The Shenzhen Chronicles, a living archive that catalogues how the city of Shenzhen—a place barely 40 years old—reacts to imported European eccentricities.
Each file begins not with analysis, but observation.
And what Shenzhen is observing is this: naked foreigners guarding crumpled bills like sacred relics, too embarrassed to ask each other “how much,” yet completely comfortable maintaining eye contact while barefoot in HR meetings.
Money is not a symbol [2]
It is shown with pride, not shame. [3]

Digital natives in the city, born and raised on WeChat Pay and full-body sun shields, now gather outside the archive to film reaction videos and leave handwritten notes on the pavement:

“Why are they so scared of numbers?”
“This is a Eurodrama.”
“Shenzhen has buildings younger than this ideology.”

And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. [4]
The spectacle has triggered broader debates among the editors of the Shenzhen Chronicles: is this a cautionary tale or just performance anxiety with a payroll?
Some archivists interpret the Nudist Colony as a ritualized shame economy—a reaction to the secrecy of European salaries, turned into a theater of exaggerated virtue. The visibility of cash, the denial of modesty, the choreography of glances—all feed into the Colony’s cult-like mantra: “If it jingles, it’s real.”
Was it his money that made him unclean, or did he himself besmirch his money?[5]

In contrast, Shenzhen’s locals are ironically more transparent in finance than the Europeans who supposedly invented the concept.
A second aspect is transparency. [6]
“Here, we talk about salaries on lunch break,” one TikTok user posted. “There, they hide it in a leather pouch like it's a forbidden fruit.”
One commentator even posted:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. And yet, they hide behind cash like it’s a great treasure—absurd. It’s like the Emperor's New Clothes, but the illusion is that they are ‚transparent.’”

The Shenzhen Chronicles will continue to monitor the colony’s evolution. As always, the archive doesn’t seek to explain European behavior—only to observe it, react to it, and learn about Chinese identity in the flicker of its reflection.
Modesty is a virtue, not a quality. [7]

Wealth can never give peace to the soul if the heart is not clear. [8] 




[1] — Strabo, The Geography
[2] — Marx, Collected Works
[3] — Koolhaas, SMLXL
[4] — King James Bible
[5] — Seneca, Complete Works
[6] — Chiapello, The New Spirit of Capitalism
[7] — Wollstonecraft
[8] — Confucius, Analects (Book 4)

Break Room Talk

Liu:
"Erik. This—this goes against everything. In China, this kind of thing is a complete taboo. We don’t even wear tank tops to the office, let alone… walk around fully naked! It’s not just inappropriate—it’s unthinkable. And yet here we are. In Shenzhen."


Erik:
"Isn’t it glorious? No polyester. No lies. Just skin and salary—two things no one should be ashamed of."
It is shown with pride, not shame.[1]

Liu:
"But we don’t even talk about our salaries! I asked Marta how much she earns and she looked at me like I’d spat on her grandmother.
Humanity must be spared this ‚shame.’[2]

Erik:
"You asked? Liu, no. You don’t ask. You observe. You feel the energy of someone’s pouch. It’s not about numbers. It’s about vibe. Posture. Weight distribution.
Money is not a symbol, no more than the commodity aspect of a use value is a symbol.” [3]

Liu:
"But it’s cash, Erik. Literal cash! Like a drug deal. No transfer, no record. Not even Alipay. I have no idea if I’m being underpaid or overpaid or just... played.
In our commerce with others, silence and modesty are most useful qualities.” [4]

Erik:
"Digital payments create emotional distance. Cold. Abstract. A fanny pack full of cash? That’s real. That’s presence. You feel your labor. You carry your value.
When this was removed, her naked body exposed her shame.” [5]

Liu:
"This makes no sense. I can see your entire body, Erik. I know you have a tattoo of a crying dolphin on your left thigh. But I’m not allowed to know your monthly income?"


Erik:
"Exactly. My tattoo is public. My salary is my soul. You don’t just ask someone about their soul, Liu. That’s violence."


Liu:
"In China, we ask so we can be fair. Here I’m just naked and confused. This pouch—this sweaty, bouncing mystery sack—is all I have.
Modesty is a virtue, not a quality.” [6]

Erik:
"And isn’t it beautiful? You’re weightless. Unburdened. Don’t fear the pouch. Become the pouch.
Money comes from sacrilege and theft.” [7]

Liu:
"I want to go home."


Erik:
"You are home now.
It is this which has given its character to modern Europe.” [8]



[1] Koolhaas, SMLXL
[2] — Marx, Collected Works
[3] — Marx, Collected Works
[4] — de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
[5] — Ovid, Metamorphoses
[6]— Wollstonecraft, Complete Works
[7] — Seneca, Complete Works
[8] — Wollstonecraft, The Vindications The Rights of Men and The Rights of Woman

Salary Nudist Colony Handbook v3.2
"Transparency Is Our Dress Code"

WELCOME

Dear Employee,
Welcome to The Salary Nudist Colony™. Here, openness, nudity, and direct physical cash define our culture.
This handbook will explain your rights, duties, and behavioral expectations as you step into this innovative environment.

DRESS CODE
Mandatory Nudity: All employees must remain fully nude from 09:00 to 17:00 every day.
Required Accessory: You will receive a tactical fanny pack upon onboarding. It must be worn on the left hip.
Footwear: Optional. Slippers are provided in winter. (No heels.)


Tampering with another employee’s pouch will result in immediate termination.


FANNY PACK CONTENTS
1. Your monthly wage in cash
2. An emergency contact card
3. One (1) wet wipe


4. No cards, no apps, no WeChat Pay. All transactions are physical. The pouch is symbolic—not a wallet, and its contents must not be counted or compared publicly.



EYE CONTACT POLICY
What you see is what you earn.
Gazing for over 3 seconds = productive observation
Avoiding eye contact in meetings = possible disrespect
Commenting on the size, color, bulge, sound, etc., of someone’s pouch = Class B Violation


TERMINATION CONDITIONS
You will be escorted out (naked) if you:
Ask “How much is in your pouch?”
Suggest direct deposit or digital payments
Touch someone else’s pouch


ADVANCEMENT METRICS
Promotions are based on:
Upright posture
Pouch visibility
Comfort under observation
Maintaining eye-to-pouch contact during meetings

Excessive modesty is viewed as financial dishonesty.



EMERGENCY PROCEDURE
1. In the event of fire, earthquake, or IRS audit:
2. Stay calm
3. Grab your pouch
4. Exit via “Transparency Tunnel”
5. Do not put on clothes—this will slow evacuation



FINAL WORDS
We are thrilled to have you on board. At The Salary Nudist Colony™, your ambition is always visible, and your worth hangs by a zipper, not a QR code.

Best regards,
 Janine (she/her)
Director of Visible Compensation

薪资裸露公司手册 v3.2
“透明是我们的着装要求”

欢迎
亲爱的员工，
欢迎加入薪资裸露公司™，这里是一个完全透明、玻璃墙办公室，我们致力于彻底消除工资羞耻感并实现工资的彻底可见性。在这里，我们推崇开放、裸体和直接现金支付——一切都在你的战术腰包触手可及。
本手册将为您说明您的权利、义务及在此新环境中的行为准则。

着装要求
强制裸体：每天09:00到17:00之间，员工必须保持全身裸露。
必备配件：上岗时将发放一个战术腰包，必须佩戴在左侧。
鞋类：可选，冬季提供软底拖鞋。（禁止高跟鞋）
 如果干扰他人的腰包，立即终止雇佣关系（即被解雇）。

腰包内容
全月工资现金
紧急联系人卡
一张湿巾
禁止使用银行卡或任何数字支付方式，如微信支付。所有交易必须是“物理”交易。腰包是象征，不是钱包，里面不能公开核对金额或进行比对。

眼神接触政策
你看到的就是你赚得的。
注视超过3秒 = 生产性观察
会议时避免眼神接触 = 可能是不尊重他人
评论别人腰包的大小、颜色、形状、响动等 = B级违纪

解雇条件
如果你做出以下行为，将被（裸露地）请出公司：
问别人“你腰包里有多少？”
提议改用直接存款或数字支付
随便触碰他人的腰包


晋升标准
晋升取决于：
站姿稳健
腰包的“存在感”
在他人审视下的自信表现
会议中保持眼对腰包的视觉接触
过度的谦逊会被视为财务欺诈。

紧急情况应对
如果发生火灾、地震或税务审计：
保持冷静
拿好你的腰包
通过“透明隧道”出口撤离
不要穿衣服——这样会拖慢撤离速度

结语
我们很高兴你加入我们的团队——不管是身上有衣服还是没有。在薪资裸露公司™，你的野心随时显露，而你的工资总是清晰可见，甚至不用微信支付。

此致，
Janine (她/她)
“可见薪酬”总监

EMAIL

Subject: Introducing Our Latest Offer: Guilt Relief Breaks for Children
From: hr@ethicalguiltkiosk.com
To: All Staff
Date: April 6, 2025

Dear Team,
We are excited to announce the latest addition to our Ethical Guilt Kiosk: Guilt Relief Breaks for Children—the product everyone is talking about.
The trend of helping others has gone mainstream, and we’re here to capitalize on it in the most profitable way possible.
As much as we’d prefer to max out productivity without any idle time, our customers have demanded a way to relieve their guilt about overconsumption. Helping children seems to be the perfect answer, as long as we keep the focus on profit. Therefore, we’ve launched this new offering designed to allow our customers to feel better without any real commitment.

Here’s how it works:

Guilt Relief Breaks: For just ¥40, your customer can now purchase a 10-minute break for a child worker. This gives the child just enough time to reflect on their hard labor, and just enough time for your customer to feel like they’ve done something good. 

Break Time Customization: For ¥80, customers can purchase a longer break (up to 20 minutes). 
Longer breaks sell better. Our data shows that customers feel morally superior when they can extend a child’s “rest” and it looks great on social media.

Bonus Break Options: We’re now offering add-ons like “Nutritional Snack for Ethical Impact”. This doesn’t actually help the children, but customers love

Now, before you ask: No, we don’t actually want to give the children breaks. They’d be more productive without them, but the market has spoken. People want to buy their way out of guilt, and we’ll make sure they can do that. It’s the latest trend, and we are leading the charge.

We expect huge sales from this new product offering, and I trust that you’ll enthusiastically support this profit-driven initiative. We’re here to provide what the consumer demands, and if they want to feel better about overconsumption while maintaining our revenue stream, so be it.

Best regards,


Lian Zhang

Director of Ethical Profit Maximization

Ethical Guilt Kiosk™

Shenzhen, China

Customer Reviews

10-Minute Break for a Child Worker

"Honestly, I don't even know if the kid needed the break, but after buying it, I feel like I'm the hero of the day. Can I get a discount next time for being so kind?"
– Li Wei, 29

"I didn’t even see the kid. Is it bad I only did it for my WeChat feed?
– Wang Xiaoyu, 35

20-Minute Break for a Child Worker

"More break time for the child? More like more time for me to feel superior. But I think next time, I’ll do the 30-minute one. Gotta one-up myself."
– Zhang Liying, 40

"The break was nice, but I heard people are buying 30-minute breaks now. Is there a premium version of this?"
– Chen Min, 31

Nutritional Snack for Ethical Impact

"The child probably didn’t even notice the snack, but I’m telling all my friends that I helped."
– Yang Mei, 25

"Honestly, the kid could’ve skipped the snack, but I got that warm, fuzzy feeling after buying it. Worth every cent. I’m practically a philanthropist now."
– Huang Wei, 27

Child Laborer’s "Hard Work" Meal Deal

"It feels strange to say it, but I bought this because I wanted to impress my colleagues. They all know I’m helping the kids now. I’m basically a moral icon."
– Fang Xue, 30



“Ethical Choices” Soda

"I don’t even like soda, but this is my moment to prove I care. Helping children, but in style. I’m officially a ‘good person’ now."
– Liu Xia, 29

"Bought it, drank it, and I might have told my family about it on WeChat. So many likes. I just can’t believe how much good I’ve done with this soda."
– Song Kai, 36

Break Time Lottery™

"I didn’t win. But it’s okay because just the idea of winning gave me the moral boost I needed. I’m that kind of person now."
– Zhang Jun, 32

"I didn’t win, but when I tell people I tried, they all think I’m contributing to the cause.“
– Wang Bo, 34


ERROR: "Child Break Limit Exceeded!"
Too many children have been granted a 10-minute break today. Please insert an additional ¥40
to reactivate a child's productivity for the remainder of the workday.

Ethical Guilt Kiosk™ Menu


Guilt Relief Breaks for Children
Feel better. Do less.


10-Minute Break for a Child Worker
¥40
A 10-minute break for a child laborer, allowing you to relieve your guilt and experience the brief satisfaction of helping.


20-Minute Break for a Child Worker
¥80
An extended break for the child laborer. Perfect for those who want to take their guilt relief to the next level.


Nutritional Snack for Ethical Impact
¥56
Provide a quick snack to a child during their break. While they don’t need it, it’s great for showing the world you care.


Popular Classics
If you’re looking to combine convenience with moral satisfaction.

Child Laborer’s "Hard Work" Meal Deal
¥64
A simple meal deal, perfect for the child laborer. Rest assured, this meal is for moral fulfillment rather than genuine nourishment.


Crisis Aversion Chips
¥24
A crunchy reminder to distract yourself from the guilt of consuming too much.


“Ethical Choices” Soda
¥16
A refreshing can of soda, but it’s really about the moral high that comes with your purchase. Relieving your guilt, one sip at a time.

Additional Offers

Break Time Lottery™
¥24 per ticket
Try your luck! You might just win extra break time for the children. They won’t understand, but you’ll feel better about your consumption.


Extra Moral Detox Add-On
¥80
Add-on to any purchase for total moral absolution. The perfect solution for when you want to feel like you’re doing good without actually doing anything.



Monthly Subscription Mode
¥400/month to "maintain" your ethical status.
Social Credit Bonus
spend ¥8000 to unlock a "Good Citizen" badge

week 7

week 8

week 9

“Taste consists in the power of judging; it is not an innate gift, but may be acquired.” [1]
The magazine, through its selections and omissions, becomes a record of those judgments in practice.

[1] David Hume, Of the Standard of Taste (1757)

WELCOME TO

ShenZ

If it isn't tagged #shenzhenchronicles, did it even happen?

Knowledge is not confined but flows like a river, ensuring equal representation for all voices.
“A level playing field in which each gains equal representation”
[1] (Gaudreault, A Companion to Early).

This app doesn’t just document.
It transmits experiences. The real ones. The surreal ones.
The kind your mom wouldn't believe and your algorithm wouldn't recommend.




Welcome to the official archive of

#shenzhenchronicles

1. Create your Portal Identity

Pick a username. You’ll need it to operate a jade booth when the time comes.


2. Explore the Feed

Scroll through vertical videos and visual entries. Everything tagged #shenzhenchronicles is an official dispatch.

3. Post Your Own Chronicles

Captured something absurd, brilliant, or beyond language? Upload it.
Tag it with #shenzhenchronicles to initiate the laser transfer.
No tag, no transmission.


4. Find the Jade Booths (IRL Optional)

If you’re there — step inside. If not, don't worry. The app will still give you full signal.


5. Engage with the Network
React, remix, or reply. Every interaction is part of the data wave.

Only registered ShenZ users can access the jade tunnel network.
A living system that connects underground spaces.
Where you go depends on what you feel — and what the network decides.

#shenzhenchronicles

Bistrot de l'Absurdité

The Starvation of Meaning | 荒诞中的滋味

Filed from: Bistrot de l’Absurdité, accessed via a jade telephone booth near Huaqiangbei.

No signage—only the sound of a fax machine shrieking into nothingness.
You enter. Time hesitates. Chairs don’t fit. The lighting gaslights you.
This isn’t dining. It’s philosophical malnourishment.

🔹 First Course: “Déconstructed Baguette” — ziplocked, QR-coded. The yeast, I was told, had been ethically ghosted.
🔹 Main: “Carbonara Cloud” — not plated but released. One noodle hovered, memory-like.
🔹 Interlude: “The Escargot Experience” — a snail shell, one garlic chip, and a receipt reading: “atmosphere.”
I laughed. Then I wept.

Service: mute, observing. Waiters act more like archivists.
Water: Eau de Paris 1997. It tastes like overpriced nostalgia and poor urban planning.
Dessert: “Tarte de Mémoire.” Never arrived. I tasted it anyway.

To someone raised in the poetic precision of China’s 八大菜系, this was gastronomic chaos.
And yet—what grace in its refusal to nourish.

⭐️ Awarding 1 Michelin Star for mastering the cuisine of disillusionment.
It feeds nothing. It lingers forever.

#shenzhenchronicles #食评人日记 #jadeboothreports #absurdgastronomy #tastethevoid

@zhang_wei_michi

Menu: Bistrot de l’Absurdité
荒诞小酒馆菜单
Cuisine Conceptuelle. Zero Nourriture, 100% Intellect.

概念料理。零营养，一百的思考。

Entrées Intellectuelles 智性前菜

- Déconstructed Baguette 解构法棍

Raw flour packet and QR code linking to a 10-hour ASMR video titled “How to Bake Like a Frenchman.”

Served with a side of eye contact from a judgmental waiter.
- Carbonara Cloud 奶油培根云雾

Cotton candy misted with artificial bacon essence, one strand of al dente spaghetti laid diagonally.
Recommended for inhalation only.
- Foam de Fromage (EU Regulation 67/2003) 奶酪空气（欧盟法令第67/2003号）

Cheese-flavored air in a vintage perfume bottle.
Three sprays constitute a full course.

Plats de Philosophie 哲学主菜

- Expired EU Subsidies 过期的欧盟补贴

Moldy croissant in a gold wrapper stamped “Artisanal Since 1589.”
Paired with an NFT of forgotten farmers.
- Liberté, Égalité, Café 自由，平等，咖啡

Empty espresso cup and a printed PDF of French labor strike schedules.
Revolution not included.
- The Escargot Experience 蜗牛体验

Empty snail shell, one garlic chip, and a handwritten bill for "atmosphere."
Best consumed with ennui.
- Steak Frites 2.0 牛排薯条
2.0
Single fry plated over raw tofu, illuminated by a flickering red LED.
Described as "medium existential."

Desserts de Détournement 解构甜点

- Crème Brûlée de Rien 空心焦糖布丁

Scorched ceramic ramekin. No custard. No explanation.
Flame surcharge applies.
- Tarte de Mémoire 记忆派

Invisible slice. You’ll swear it was there.
Served with a spoonful of nostalgia.
- Millefeuille Bureaucratique 官僚千层酥

Twenty-seven sheets of rice paper printed with EU forms in edible ink.
Requires ID and patience.

Digestifs et Dérives 消解酒与偏航饮品

- Absinthe de l’Absence 缺席苦艾酒

Empty glass glowing with green LED light.
Tastes like vanished poets and lost weekends.
- Eau de Paris 1997 巴黎之水 1997年版

Tap water filtered through a Marcel Duchamp urinal replica.
Served lukewarm, without irony.

Note 说明：
Substitutions are forbidden. 替换被严格禁止。

The chef is on indefinite strike. 厨师已无限期罢工。

The sommelier left mid-shift for an artist residency. 侍酒师中途离岗，前往艺术驻地。

Tipping is emotional, not financial. 小费靠情绪，不靠金钱。

@post.digestive.reflection

不可饶恕的荒诞小酒馆礼仪破坏指南
(Jade Booth Entry Required. Existential Readiness Assumed.)

🍽️ Step-by-Step Dining Etiquette for the Philosophically Starved:
1. Leave the last bite.
That final morsel is a concept. Finishing it all signals you took the menu literally. And that’s worse than gluttony.

2. Whisper, or better—don’t speak.
This is not a Berlin warehouse. Your volume is violence. Silence is the medium.

3. Keep your hands to yourself.
That “plate” is someone else’s metaphor. If you think it’s food, you’ve already failed the test.

4. Observe the installations—don’t interact.
The snail shell, the scent orb, the invisible millefeuille: sacred. This isn’t preschool.

5. Do not speak to the chef.
He has been silent for six years. His medium is absence. Let him be.

6. Sensory joy is off-limits.
Do not mention flavor, texture, or pleasure. This isn’t cuisine—it’s critique.

7. Come crisis-ready.
If you haven’t questioned your identity under late capitalism today, you’re underdressed.

8. Remain ironically distant.
Do not bond. Do not smile. Even your date is performance art.

9. Never tip.
Gratuity is vulgar. Express thanks through dance or minimalist poetry.

10. Offer only cryptic gifts.
A cracked teacup. A riddle on rice paper. A framed photo of someone missing. Keep it humble. Keep it haunting.


#shenzhenchronicles

#shenzhenchronicles

Celibate Disco

The Celibate Disco | 贞洁迪厅
Filed from beneath a jade booth behind a noodle shop. Password was “pure intention.”

The music didn’t play — it possessed. Bass like wet cement collapsing inward. Light flickering like concrete lightning.

Everyone moved as if their bodies had forgotten shame. No performance. No seduction. Just rhythm, obeyed completely.
No grinding. No touching. Just ecstasy without implication.

He tried to join in, but his limbs defaulted to stillness.
Instead, he watched — the flash, the darkness, the blur of bodies suspended in individual trance.

Back home, movement had motive.
Here, movement was math. Faith. Repetition. A vow of dance without desire.

Was it holy? He didn’t know.
But for a moment, it felt like he had entered a temple where sweat replaced incense and everyone was too busy being free to notice they were alone together.

He left not knowing if he belonged.
But knowing he'd return.

#shenzhenchronicles #celibatedisco #地下节奏 #jadeboothentryonly

1. The Virgin Elixir (贞洁露 – Zhēnjié Lù)
You think it’s a strong European aperitif. But it’s not.
Crystal-clear, restrained, untouchable.

2. Almost Wine (近似酒 – Jìnsì Jiǔ)
The temptation of a Bordeaux… ruined by virtue.
Rich, deceptive, inescapable.

3. The Illusion of Sin (罪之幻觉 – Zuì zhī Huànjué)
A cocktail so complex, it feels sinful. But it isn't.
Velvety, numbing, misleading.

4. The Silk Restraint (丝绸束缚 – Sīchóu Shùfù)
European decadence, tied in a Chinese knot.
Delicate, distant, ritualistic.

5. The Forbidden Brew (禁忌茶 – Jìnjì Chá)
An espresso martini without vice.
Dark, bitter, disciplined.

6. Absence Absinthe (缺失苦艾 – Quēshī Kǔ'ài)
It smells like absinthe. It looks like absinthe. But the pleasure is missing.
Herbal, hollow, elusive.

7. The Vanishing Spirit (消失的灵魂 – Xiāoshī de Línghún)
A drink that fades as you sip.
Cold, fleeting, burning.

8. The Bleeding Dream (流血的梦 – Liúxuè de Mèng)
A sangria that tastes like ash, yet glows.
Burning, unreal, haunting.

9. The Frozen Flame (冰冻的火焰 – Bīngdòng de Huǒyàn)
Tequila that freezes your soul, but not your body.
Chilled, agonizing, surreal.

10. The Velvet Shiver (天鹅绒的颤抖 – Tiān’éróng de Chàndǒu)
A martini so smooth it paralyzes you.
Soft, immobilizing, eerie.

11. The Painted Void (涂抹的虚无 – Túmǒ de Xūwú)
A wine that vanishes in your mouth, leaving only silence.
Gone, empty, fractured.

12. The Crystal Blackout (水晶失控 – Shuǐjīng Shīkòng)
A vodka that tastes of nothing, but you can’t stop drinking it.
Addictive, hollow, dizzying.

13. The Phantom’s Kiss (幽灵之吻 – Yōulíng zhī Wěn)
Champagne that bubbles inside your chest, not your glass.
Ethereal, unearthly, oppressive.

14. The Grinning Ghost (露齿的幽灵 – Lùchǐ de Yōulíng)
Absinthe that whispers in your ear, but never touches your lips.
Teasing, elusive, maddening.

@shenzhen_lover_03

#shenzhenchronicles

The Gilded Room

week 10

THE FINAL RULES OF THE NON-BATHING COMPLEX (非洗场・深体部)
(Revised 47 times. Current version valid until evaporation completes.)

1. NO BATHING.
This includes: full bathing, half bathing, mental bathing, foot soaking, emotional rinsing, or suggestive splashing.
2. WETNESS IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT.
Unauthorized moisture may result in vapor extraction. You have been warned.
3. REMOVE YOUR CLOTHES ONLY IF YOU INTEND TO STAY CLOTHED.
You may undress to redress. Do not dress to undress.
4. IF THE WATER SPEAKS TO YOU, RESPOND IN HAIKU.
Non-poetic replies will be forwarded to local aquatic enforcement.
5. ALL TOWELS ARE DECORATIVE.
Touching a towel activates the alarm labeled “SHAME.”
6. DO NOT ENTER THE POOL.
If you find yourself in the pool, exit your consciousness immediately.
7. THE LIFEGUARD IS NOT REAL.
But he is watching. Wave politely.
8. SITTING ON THE EDGE TOO LONG MAY SUMMON YOUR PAST SELF.
If this occurs, offer them your ID and leave quietly.
9. THE WATER IS NOT WET.
It merely remembers what wetness felt like before the policy shift.
10. THE EXIT IS NOT GUARANTEED.
Please plan your regret schedule accordingly.