Stretching her tubby body in a painstaking manner, an obese cartoon panda jumps through a burning Olympic ring-shaped obstacle, a frightened yet excited look on her face.
The scene is from the comic image "Panda Queen, "the creation of young Chinese designer Wang Fang who featured the clumsy yet iconic Chinese symbol on her blog in late July, inspired by the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
An elliptical face, highlighted by heavy black circles around apair of narrow eyes constitute Panda Queen's classic image. "Clumsy and dull, but internally sensitive and passionate," as Wang describes her creation.
Ever since the animated Hollywood film "Kung Fu Panda" grossed nearly 200 million U.S. dollars at the Chinese box office this summer, it has provoked a nationwide debate of "why can't we make a cartoon as popular" among many so-called cultural critics.
Currently, numerous young talent nationwide are passionately designing cartoon panda images, developing them into creative products in China. Wang is one of them.
Having collected panda-themed items for five years, the Xi'an native who started as a photographer has shifted her focus to marketing and developing her creation which she debuted in 2006. She recently got her merchandise, including brooches, handbags, clothing and paintings, among others, into a handicraft store in the Nanluogu Alley in Beijing. It is the fourth shop to sell the items all bearing images of the Panda Queen.
Wang is representative of thousands of emerging Chinese grassroots designers. "Fengguo Box Shop," in Joy City in the capital's Xidan commercial area, features handicrafts by more than170 young designers. It attracts thousands of customers daily.
Wang said her peers were different from the more established artists. "We can not compare with the artists in the 798 art zone, who have money and reputation. We are more concerned with whether the market can accept our designs and products."
Of her own offerings, including ceramic cups and fashion accessories, such as panda-shaped soft pottery brooches and necklaces, the sailcloth bags are best sellers.
"I dropped into this shop when I was strolling along this hutong," said a Spanish lady who was in Beijing for the Olympics."I love the panda, so special and funny. I'll buy several purses as gifts for my family."
The charmingly-naive panda appears in settings of daily life with different looks and settings, sharing her every subtle happy or sad moment with readers.
She could be an ancient witch who prays for rain in a traditional way with two fans in her hands, the Chinese characters of fengshui, or "wind" and "rain" written on them. In another she is sitting on the stairs of a museum, pondering "to be or not to be? That is the question. When everyone looks blue, melancholy becomes a fashion."
Panda Queen's rich and exquisite feelings towards the dazzling city life evokes her devotee's sympathies, which is also the reason for her popularity.
"It's really cute. I'm quite impressed by the contrast the sentimental mood delivers by her obese body," said customer Guo Ling, a third-year Peking University student. She was referring to a small painting depicting Panda Queen standing on a rainbow, noticeably cheery after a day's rain.
It is the strong affection and reception to her work that continues to drive Wang professionally. "Having been a photographer for a couple of years, I find the most striking photos are those that are black and white. Panda, the black-and-white guy, in my eyes, symbolizes a simple way of life that I've been pursuing all the time."
Wang posts her latest designs onto a blog that also goes by the brand name "Panda Queen." "I didn't expect to achieve any commercial goal. I just feel like sharing my designs and communicating with people who love pandas like me."
At her northwest Beijing studio, the 28-year-old Xi'an Art College graduate works with her six employees developing her creation. In addition to the four shops selling her output, she also has two e-shops online.
It was "I-Mart," commonly known as "creative fair" that initially paved the way for Wang to design. Launched in Britain around 1997, I-Mart is a spontaneous outdoor creative carnival where fledging artists, designers and handicraft amateurs gather to display or sell their works.
Since coming to Guangzhou in 2006, I-Mart has swept across major cities throughout China over the past two years.
Driven by her passion and curiosity, Wang started off with a handful of her D-I-Y panda-shaped sailcloth bags in her first I-Mart trip in 2006 in Beijing. "I didn't expect to earn money in that fair. It was just for fun. But to my surprise, my handicrafts were soon snapped up."
Sensing the potential of the market after finding out about so many other people's passion for pandas, she began to think seriously of designing a distinctive cartoon version and developing it into a brand.
"I tried to create a distinctive cartoon figure. This personalized panda is upright, humorous yet sometimes timid, self-indulgent and cynical," said Wang, a Beijing resident for the past five years. "You can find her characteristics from the scenes and monologue in the images, some of which are my own experience and thoughts towards our city life."
Past images, more than 40 and counting so far, have depicted Panda Queen gorging herself in chocolate, shouting, "don't save me." In another, she is driving a car, stuck in traffic, a familiar scene in the congested streets of Beijing. "Panda Queen is not a flawless cartoon character as the typical Chinese ones. She is more like a common person in real life," an anonymous netizen wrote in Wang's blog.
Several successful experiences at I-Mart encouraged Wang to setup her e-shop, something which has helped her make a living, grow her business and expand the brand. To date, her business achieves monthly gross sales of about 40,000 yuan .
Still, there are problems. The high price of the creative handicrafts affects sales. A sailcloth bag sells for 98 yuan , three times higher than average in the local market. "Nice but too expensive" is the common response of customers who look for a while but finally turn away.
Her main customers are white-collar women, those well-paid witha deep affection for Panda Queen.
"These handicrafts are really costly . I need to invest great energy and time in their design, and the labor takes up a large proportion in the production," Wang said. "On the top of that, the high rent in Beijing's business areas inevitably pushes the price even higher."
While China, and particularly Beijing, has been attaching more importance to creative industries in recent years, independent young designers still need more concrete support from the government.
"I hope the government can launch some specific programs to help grassroots artists," Wang said. "I learnt that in London young talent can start and run their own shops within a special low-rent zone backed by the government."
Indeed, Britain has set a good example in developing creative industries, which accounts for 7.3 percent of its economy. Since 1998, the British government has made its creative industry an economic priority, systematically assisting those creative talents by providing preferential loans and other services, creating a favorable environment for these grassroots artists to develop.
Despite her financial difficulties, she is still optimistic about her business's potential. "Definitely, it'll be better. After all, China's economic roar will promote more people to seek a better life and with it a more promising future."
Source: Xinhua
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