Throwback Thursday: A Catchup With Nightlife Promoter and INTRO Co-Founder Miao Wong

Back in 2007, the Beijinger featured our first interview with nightlife heavyweight Miao Wong, who at that point in time was managing Beijing-based Acupuncture Records and still buzzing from PENG label's first anniversary show. To say that Wong has had a turbulent 10 years since then would be a gross understatement, co-founding Lantern, which to this day remains one of Beijing's best nightclubs; battling with brain cancer (compassionately documented by our former Managing Editor Steven Schwankert here); co-founding Intro Festival, now seven years deep; before becoming managing director of ARP Creative, the sister company of dART Festival, celebrating its second year. In this week's Throwback Thursday we have a quick chat with Wong to see what she's up to and what's on the horizon in her beat-soaked world.

You say that this interview back in 2007 was the first that you had ever done, how has Peng evolved since then? What are Jackson Lee, Pancake Lee, and the rest of the crew up to nowadays?
Yes! In September 2007 we started Acupuncture Records, and that’s when Peng came to a pause. Then, in 2011, Pancake Lee left Acupuncture and brought back Peng, it’s still running now. Jackson Lee wasn’t a member of Acupuncture Records from the very beginning but he has always been helpful with Acupuncture’s projects, like INTRO festival, Halloween, and NYE parties. In 2009 we opened Lantern Club and Jackson Lee has been the manager there since.

Can you name any “Eureka!” moments that you have had musically in the past 10 years? Any DJs that completely blew your mind and changed the way that you view dance music?
Good question. A track I can never forget is Timo Mass' “First Day.” I think I loved it so much and listened to it so many times because of the line “It’s the first day of the rest of my life.” It’s one of the very few songs that I can name with lyrics, as later on I moved to minimal and techno [which tends to have few lyrics]. Many DJs blew my mind; of course there are many more than just one but the first that comes to mind is Steve Bug when he played at Lantern in 2011. 

In your opinion, how have the Beijing and Chinese dance scenes evolved in general?
There’s always good and bad. What I miss in those good old days is everything was so new to me and to most of the young crowd in Beijing. “Party” wasn’t a familiar word to the police, drugs weren’t connected to electronic music, getting government approval wasn’t a major concern for event organizers. Overall, there was much less pressure for dance music – it was very underground. Then more and more DJ crews, party promoters, underground clubs, and electronic music record labels started to arise, and finally, our own electronic music festival in China. Then it kind of went downwards; old groups separated, underground clubs closed, festivals got kicked out of Beijing. It reminded me of how excited I was when I heard an “old warrior” like Weng Weng telling me his experience of the early party scene in Beijing back in 1999 (at Sanlitun No. 88) and Jackson being the first Chinese DJ in Beijing at a hotel bar/club. “Then it went quiet,” that’s what they always said. Then it was my turn – it went quiet. But I knew it would come back, just like it did. So now you see, even though there are still few underground clubs in Beijing and there remains heavy pressure on the business, there are more record labels, more producers, and more types of electronic music DJs. And it’s not only in Beijing; the party scene in cities like Shanghai and Chengdu are booming.

What's the idea behind ARP Creative and dART. Do you have any events coming up?
ARP Creative is more of an umbrella company for different creative industries and through it we provide artist related services, such as photography, design, and music to various brands. dART however is concerned with organizing events, festivals, and exhibitions. dART is also a way for me to contact different international acts and communities to help them come and perform in China, which is exactly what happened with regard to Boiler Room. Next year we hope to expand on similar streaming parties as they're not quite yet understood in China, although we've seen more even since the first one came through.

As for events, I can tell you that Boiler Room will have its second Beijing event in November. Other than that, we'll be putting together our usual NYE party as well as other events [subscribe to dART's WeChat account for up-to-date info: dART_festival].

One last question: do you still go out as much as you used to?
I still go out but not so much in Beijing. I tend to explore the nightlife of other cities while I'm traveling. Although Beijing's scene has gotten a little boring, it is definitely on the up and there are more and more parties that grab my attention. However, nowadays I prefer to attend smaller, more intimate events surrounded by close friends, which is not to say that they're any less crazy! These are the types of parties I'd like to be involved in and organize in the future.

You can keep track of ARP Creative's latest events here and dART here.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tomarnstein@thebeijinger.com
WeChat: tenglish_
Instagram: @tenglish__

Photo courtesy of Miao Wong