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Profile of a Chinese advocate

The race-car-driving, bestselling-novel-publishing, world’s-most-famous-blog-writing Chinese phenomenon that is Han Han can now boast being profiled in the New York Times.

An article over the weekend highlighted the 28-year-old heartthrob, who is a professional race car driver, published his first novel at the age of 19 and now maintains the most popular blog in China with 300 million hits. Not only did his novel, “Triple Door,” become the bestselling book in China in the last two decades, the New York Times points out that due to the popularity of his blog in the world’s most populous country, Han Han may be the most popular living writer of our time.

It may come of no surprise that Han Han is also one of the world’s greatest advocates.

He routinely engages in highly publicized online scruffs, exchanging barbs with literary critics who disprove of his work and chastising corrupt bureaucrats. In a country where the media environment is notoriously hard to navigate, how does Han Han get away with it? His tactics are an example for advocates everywhere.

First, Han Han is authentic and sticks with what he knows. It may seem like this renaissance man is spread pretty thinly. But Han Han isn’t good at everything. In fact, he flunked out of China’s national college entrance exam twice before eventually dropping out. So when he penned his first novel, it was about the hard knocks of a middle school student. Young adult literature is not the most commonly taken path to stardom, but it worked for Han Han because he knew the subject – he had lived it. Lesson: Stick with what you know, and your voice will be heard.

Second, Han Han has a sense of humor. It’s not easy into translate into English, but let’s just say that his clever use of irony, sarcasm and parody make him a difficult target to nail and an easy personality to be beloved. Lesson: Sometimes humor is the best way to get to the heart of a thorny issue.

Third, though Han Han’s professional race car driving career may seem unrelated to his controversial social and political stances, it is actually integral to his advocacy. Not only does it make him financially independent, the celebrity status it affords shields him from the negative consequences that might normally befall someone more obscure. Lesson: The debate on celebrity activism is ongoing, but there is no denying that they can get the message out when sometimes others can’t.

Advocate watchers everywhere: keep an eye on Han Han.

References:

• Heartthrob’s Blog Challenges China’s Leaders (nytimes.com)
• Han Han’s blog on Sina (http://blog.sina.com.cn/twocold)