“你可以亲吻我的戒指 ,但不能碰我皇冠”
Sinologist Elsbeth van Paridon (University of Leiden, Netherlands) is a run-of-the-mill fashion|underground culture aficionada.
Moving from Beijing (2010-2016) to crawling and clawing her way through the throes and woes of the dragon that is the study of Journalism (2016-2018), and taking a New York detour (2018-2019), she (as of 2020) today once again saunters through the streets of China, from Shanghai to Da Jing. Back to the source.
‘Tis in such fashion that van Paridon has now turned her groupie-esque lust for China Fashion, Lifestyle and Underground into a full-time occupation as editor-in-chief of The China Temper — scroll down for more. Available in both English and 中文。
Van Paridon has reported on a variety of China Fashion&Urban Lifestyle related topics for several publications, including the likes of What’s On Weibo, SIX Magazine, Global Times, Global Health Magazine, The Beijinger, UK YAHOO! Style and China International Communications Group (formerly known as China International Publishing Group).
In a bid to expand her professional portfolio and learn a thing or two from the big Mickeys in the game, Van Paridon has contributed her articles and opinions to a variety of China News buddies, including RADII China, The China Project (formerly known as SupChina), Jing Daily, the South China Morning Post, and so on.
As of 2021, Van Paridon is active at Beijing Review (the English print edition courtesy of China International Communication Group) as an editorial consultant — writing, column-izing, and editing. In addition, she films three series for/ with Beijing Review: Talk With Xiao Bai (about China through Fashion etc. etc.) and, together with her colleagues, Booming Beijing (about Beijing’s swiftly changing urban landscape) and China Chic (presenting what’s hot in the field of guochao). #staytuned
The quest for more off-the-grid intel never ends.
Passion for Print
Some day… From Beijing to Shanghai and every corner of the mainland, China Fashion and Lifestyle is a phenomenon that deserves to be explored by the niches of global fashion, art, and socio-culturalism.
As to capture a real sense of this colorful and inspiring new Chinese landscape, van Paridon set up The China Temper — her passion project — aka a platform that looks into the art of clothing and how this reflects the blossoming of China’s contemporary society in revolutionary motion.
The Temper “team” now includes six benevolent contributors and two very big-hearted translators. Not to mention a host of insanely talented helping hands without whom this adventurous mega-endeavor of a lifetime would never be possible.
And hopefully some day, we can turn this into print — we’ve poured our dream team tantrums into a few concerted lookbook efforts already, you can flip through them right here.
Ya gotta do something in life.
China’s Urban Underground
Paired with a deep devotion to China’s urban underground scene, van Paridon holds a particular interest in the topics of androgyny, the exploration of a new urban individuality, and the power that is the New Youth in contemporary China. She reports on trends in the respective fields in her pet project called “China Under The Radar“.
“I do not fear the Dragon; I chase it.” Van Paridon
Elsbeth van paridon: Sinologist| China Fashion, Urban Culture&Underground 