These hutongs are making her feel brand new.  And being somebody in the China City is almost as good as being somebody in the World City.  Sylvia is just in from Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, and is planning to live here permanently perhaps working in a magazine.

It’s certainly an eye-catching color for IT girl Wang Xiaolei.

王小蕾(27)是IT公司职员。关于自己的穿衣风格，她说 “必须 this 让我任何时候都浑身自在的休闲随性不盲从的boyish风格”。

From Yunnan, Vivian Shi (23) appears the Chinese editions of men’s magazines like FHM and Maxim in very tantalizing poses.  She gave me an autographed copy of her latest, which is a cover shot on Chinese Maxim (风度).  Also an aspiring actress, she has a very provocative role in a new horror movie.  Here’s her blog, which has more lovely images of her and some movie clips.  She actually worked for a while at Beijing’s only Hooter’s.  Apparently the clients were less flirtatious than one might have expected.  Interestingly, she wears absolutely no makeup when she is not working.  Her skin needs to breath.

The Chinese edition of Grazia has just come off the press with some street style images shot by me (including this one of Vivian).  It is sold throughout China.  Check it out!

施柳屹是个演员。她的穿衣风格是“乱七八糟，舒服为主”。看她漂亮的图片在她个人网站。

《GRAZIA红秀》三月份的杂志刚出来了里面。里面有施柳屹和三个其他的我拍的照片。请去看看！

These two girls in IT and design of some kind come from Nanjing, but are now working in Beijing.  Both had odd bags from elsewhere.

This one was purchased on a trip to London…

…and this one in Seoul.

This young lady from Jiangsu is studying shoe design.  This is her first trip to Beijing and she really enjoyed it, though she barely left the area around Gulou and Nanluoguxiang.  The rest of the city is rather revoltingly modern and homogeneous.

从江苏来的女孩在学鞋设计。这是她第一次来北京。她觉得很好-几乎没有离开南锣鼓巷和鼓楼那块。

I sort of doubt it, but the oversized plaid does have a certain drama.  The coat and boots are actually both from Xidan.

She had several lackeys photographing her on Nanluoguxiang.  I joined in.  She is a makeup artist.

Duan Yanling is Editor-in-Chief of design magazine Case da Abitare and Atcasa.cn, an online design channel in collaboration with sina.com. She was also hosted CCTV 9 (English) program Travelogue.  She graduated from Stockholm University and completed advanced study at Pace University in NYC.

Yanling believes that taste comes from one’s knowledge and cultivation. On Chinese people’s taste in fashion, she feels that many traditions in style and beauty are long lost. At present, most people are still trying to copy stereotype fashion elements of other culture/countries. She thinks that it will take some more time for Chinese people to find their own unique style. For shopping, she hopes to see a local design concept store something like Paris’ Colette or perhaps this new shop in Antwerp called ra.

段妍玲是《居Case da Abitare》和新浪ATCASA设计频道主编，旅游卫视全球创意发现节目《创意生活》的设计行策划、撰稿兼主持，原CCTV9《旅游指南》英语节目主持人。她毕业于斯德哥尔摩大学，后在纽约佩斯大学深造国际广告研究生课程。

妍玲认为品味来自知识与修养。对于当前中国人在时装方面的品味，她觉得中国传统美学系统在现实中已经完全失传了。在中国，很多人还只是模仿外来时尚风格的一些流行元素，要找到自己的独特风格尚需一些时间。在购物方面，她期待一个有生活味而又有品质感的设计时尚概念店的出现。

I have a whole set of rules that make it easier for me to know what not to photograph.  Most people can be crossed-off without further thought because they have committed some kind of unpardonable offense.  Beyond the obvious sins like large logos and monogram handbags, Ugg boots – generally fake in Beijing – and puffy coats generally guarantee exclusion from these rarefied parts.  Still, these two students from the Northeast had cuteness, which tends to get you somewhere in life.

This sort of look is rather popular at the moment - especially the big scarf and trousers tucked into high-tops. 

这样的穿法好象现在很流行.

Probably best known by foreigners at least for its appearance in 希望（xiwang – to wish/hope for), the character 希 means “rare” or “infrequent”.

看到这个字外国人肯定会马上想到“希望”。

She rather humbly described this combination as “mix and match”, but I am always happy to see bright colors in the see of black and gray puffer coats.

她很谦虚地把自己风格形容为“混搭”但冬天每次看到这么多颜色我就很开心-还是比我最讨厌的黑色羽绒服好。

I wonder how many red-haired artists China has.  Maybe it is more common than I think. At the very least, there is a writer, also from Taiwan, who had red hair.  Victoria (Yung-Chih) Lu was born in Taipei and studied painting at age six.  At nine, she enrolled in night classes at University and was described by newspapers as the “youngest college student”.  At 19, she went to study in Belgium and in ‘73 she went to the United States where she became involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement.  Concurrently, she moved away from traditional painting and became a more radical figure in the art world.  This month, she had a show at the Today Art Museum in Beijing.

中国有几个著名艺术家把自己头发染成比较亮的颜色？可能不少。当代著名的”动漫美学策展人”陆蓉之在中国台湾出生但带的时间在美国很长。她从6岁开始学绘画；9岁进大学夜间部修课，被报纸称作当时年纪最小的大学生；19岁到比利时皇家学院深造。1973年到了美国，参与了女权主义运动，同时她一下子抛掉已经学习了17年的传统绘画，成为观念艺术的急先锋。一月份在北京今日美术馆有她动漫展叫”生化–虚实之间”。

These two, from Xinjiang, are students at the Central Academy of Drama.  They also play in rock bands in old country.  The ideal, these two say, is to be in movies abroad.  Apparently there are about ten or so Uighurs studying at the school.

Photographed at Lan Club, Beijinger Liz does PR in a multi-brand luxury retailer.  She prefers to mix and match rather than wear only items from upscale labels.

The shades lighter than navy should appear more, especially in coats.  It brightens the mood in a winter landscape, too often dominated by black and gray, especially in horrible puffer coats.

Blue coats always make me think of Julien Sorel, the protagonist in the Red and the Black.  He was given one by his patron, the marquis, and this enabled him to feel on a level with the aristocrats whom he was attempting to impress.  Of course, I would think that the coat in that case was a dress garment and not an outdoor coat.

我希望大家会穿更多这各蓝色的外套。北京冬天超难看的黑色羽绒服太多了。

Not the sort of person one would expect to see checking sending a text message in a traditional hutong.  Is this garment referred to as a dhoti?

很少在胡同里见到这样的人在发短信。

This couple chooses an understated way to coordinate.

My parents rarely allowed television in the home.  I didn’t become accustomed to its presence, so I am rarely bothered that the set in my Beijing hutong home gets no signal. An unfortunate result, however, is that I have not seen Cao Difei hosting on Beijing Television (BTV). I had run into him several times without realizing that he was a bit famous.  Cao Difei grew up in a hutong in Beijing and has been at BTV since 2001.  More on him later.

From Australia, Tana has been in Beijing over ten years. She started what was probably the first vintage shop in Beijing on Yandai Xiejie, near Houhai. The items she sold were brought in from abroad and included Levi’s and other such items.  The shop has not been open for several years, but vintage clothing has become much more popular here lately.

从澳洲来的Tana十多年在北京。因为她喜欢收藏很独特的衣服，丝禁，鞋，袜子，帽子，等，她原来开国第一个卖二手衣服的商店在烟袋斜街。她卖的东西原来主要是从国外进口的，像一些Levi’s牛仔裤，70年代的衣服等，但价格卖的不是很高因为这个她的爱好。 她的11岁的女儿, Lily。女儿受到母亲的影响，也穿得很特别，也喜欢戴大的墨镜。我真羡慕她女儿，能说世界两个最重要的原因说得很流利。