Annie Wang - The People’s Republic of Desire

Before I can voice my opinion, my mobile rings to the tune of "Fur Elise."

"Niuniu, it's James. Sorry to be calling you so late. I'm leaving tomorrow, I don't know if we'll still have a chance to meet. You know, I like you. You're a sweet girl. You know that. I can't get you out of my mind. Let's have a drink, okay?"

"I only drink with Harvard men, not Yale men." I hang up.

CC's phone beeps.

"Beijing Hotel!" CC yells.

"Let's have some fun!" She picks up the phone. "Yes, I love men massaging me, and love even more a lover who can use his tongue. You sound amazing. But I can't go to your place. The twenty-four-hour security there is not very convenient. And you can never be sure they don't have hidden cameras!" CC strings James along, barely containing her laughter.

"Then what will we do? I want to hold your body right now."

"Well, why don't you come to my place? I'm home alone, my parents are away."

"Okay, I'll come over. What's your address?"

"Number Nine, Donghua Gate. The taxi driver will know it."

"Okay, see you soon."

"Okay, bye-bye, sweetie."

After CC has hung up, I ask, "What was that address?"

" Beijing Public Security Bureau."

SANLITUN: A district of Beijing that houses many foreign embassies; known for its night life and bars.

YAO TOU WAN: "Head-shaking tablets," better known as Ecstasy. Drug use is becoming increasingly popular and hard to control among Chinese youth.

Colorful Clouds came from the Guangxi countryside.

By sleeping with a guy from the city, she managed to leave her native village.

By marrying an American man forty years her senior, she managed to leave China.

By divorcing her husband and marrying his grandson, physicist Brian, she became an upper-middle-class American suburban housewife.

Forty-two-year-old Colorful Clouds, a has-been small-time actress, thinks her men have helped her successfully upgrade her race and status. Now is the time for her to return to China to show off. In Beijing, she finds every journalist she knows, including me, whom she met back in St. Louis. "You see, I'm an actress and a self-made Chinese-American success story who drives a Jaguar. My fellow Chinese should admire me!"

Inspired by the fact that the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon received only a lukewarm reception in China, I want to do a story on different perceptions of beauty. After I talk to my friend Yi, who is CEO at ChineseSister.com, she says to me, "Why don't we organize an online forum on East-West concepts of beauty on my Web site? You can do a story about it!"

Colorful Clouds hears the news about the forum and begs me to invite her as a special guest so that she can have her fifteen minutes of fame.

Special guests that day are Colorful Clouds; Ken, an executive at CC's firm Ed Consulting; a couple of foreign students; and a Chinese movie director. CC has told me that Ken is a Western expert at chasing Chinese women. Colorful Clouds is wearing a low-cut black velvet dress and a fake diamond necklace – and yellow high-heeled shoes that clash with the rest of her outfit.

She has brought a stack of photos of her house, her cars, her husband, and her beach house. This was the moment she had been waiting for: everybody in China would now admire her.

As soon as the forum starts, all of the questions from the people online are directed at Ken and the foreign students.

Purple Lemon: "Why is it that Westerners' Chinese wives are always considered ugly by Chinese people? Sometimes, there's a huge difference – the guy is tall, the woman is short. And why are the girls who hang out with foreigners always so wild?"

Ken and the foreign students look at each other dumbly, and finally a tall guy called Dennis replies:

"It's not that we Westerners can't tell the difference between ugly and beautiful Chinese people, but we pay more attention to personality. Some girls may not be attractive on the outside, but they are thoughtful and independent, and to me that is beautiful. As for the question of height, I don't think it's a problem. I know that you Chinese probably consider height important, because you are all generally short. But I don't care about a girl's height that much."

"Sometimes" – no one has spoken to Colorful Clouds, but she butts in anyway – "I think many Westerners like the feeling of a small woman, especially in moments of passion. They can wrap a small woman up in their arms; it's very masculine and dominating. Am I right?" Colorful Clouds glances hotly at the young foreign students and Ken.

They are a little embarrassed.

So-So: "Why do Westerners think Gong Li and Lucy Liu are so beautiful? Why don't we Chinese think so?"

Lily: "Especially Lucy Liu, she is very plain. We think Ning Jing and Zhao Wei are pretty. What do you think?"

Ken laughs. "Personally, Gong Li and Lucy Liu aren't my favorite stars. My favorite Chinese celebrity is Faye Wong. But I do think they all have some things in common: individuality, style, and they're good actresses, not just pretty to look at. I think Zhao Wei is quite cute. She's a comedy actress. I think she could be made up to look really sexy."

At that moment, Colorful Clouds interrupts again. "Let me say a few words since I used to live in Hollywood. Lucy Liu and Gong Li both have full lips. Full, large lips are very attractive to Western men, because they're very important when kissing or giving blow jobs. And what's more, their faces are very well defined, with high cheekbones. That is what Westerners like."

Colorful Clouds will not rest until she gets enough attention.

Foxy adds, "Chinese people like small, cherry mouths and homely beauty. And Westerners like a sexy, wild beauty."

"Why do Chinese like small, cherry mouths?" Dennis asks.

People on the Internet immediately post replies.

Snuff Bottle: "Smiling without showing your teeth is beautiful. If your mouth is extremely small, then when you smile, it's difficult for your teeth to show."

So-So: "A small mouth means that a woman doesn't talk too much. A quiet woman is a beautiful woman."

Colorful Clouds continues in an authoritative tone: "You're all missing the most important point, and that is the Freudian perspective on this question. A woman's mouth symbolizes a woman's genitals. The smaller her mouth, the smaller her genitals, and the more stimulation for men. This is what the Chinese man is after."

Oval Face: "I'd like to ask the French foreign student, Sophie, what kind of Asian men do you like?"

Sophie: "I like Jackie Chan's sense of humor and Bruce Lee's body. But if I were looking for a husband, I would probably go for Tony Leung. He's gentle, sophisticated, and handsome. In The Lover, his heavenly butt was unforgettable. I also like men who can cook."

A German student called Marcus says, "Can I ask the Chinese people, what kind of Westerners you think are good-looking?"

The people online leap in:

Bitter Cauliflower: "Ricky Martin."

Shortie: "James Bond."

China Ball: "Britney Spears."

Little Thing: "Catherine Zeta-Jones."

Lovely: "Richard Gere."

Yellow Chrysanthemum: "Audrey Hepburn."

Wolf-in-Sheep's-Clothing: "Sharon Stone."

Fleet-Foot: "Al Gore."

"What? You think even a geek like Gore is good-looking?" American student Sophie cries.

Fleet-Foot: "He looks scholarly, and he's better looking than

Bush."

"But Bush is affable, don't you think?" Sophie rebuts. "

Chinese people don't think Gong Li is sexy or beautiful? Is that because they're jealous?" Dennis asks.

Go-Go: "She looks too local!"

The Chinese director, who has not yet expressed an opinion, finally speaks: "Chinese people think that 'Western style' is attractive, and that 'local style' is unattractive. Why? 'Local style' is like ourselves. Why is being like ourselves considered unattractive? It shows that Chinese people do not have any self-confidence."