bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Benny Chia

Kevin Kwong

In the city of Kaiping,  time has stood still for close to a century. Scattered over a fertile plain of  rice fields, ponds and farmhouses is a cluster of about 1,800 tower houses combining western and Chinese  architectural styles that  have remained unchanged for the past 70 years.
Built by returning migrant labourers from the US during the Great Depression  of the early 1930s, they symbolise not only their new-found wealth but also the migrants' wishes to settle back within their hometown, which lies 140km outside Guangzhou.
Today most of these ancestral homes, also known as the Kaiping Diaolou,  are empty, although their history will be a highlight of January's City Festival.   Spotlight Kaiping  tells the tale of the migrant workers who returned intending to settle but then never did. The Diaolou are all that's left.
The City Festival programme, which includes a three-month playwright workshop and a photo exhibition in March, sits well with the predominantly contemporary urban festival, says Fringe Club  director Benny Chia Chun-heng.  The theme of migration, the hopes and aspirations of the workers,  bears a strong relevance with today's city life, says Chia.
'Everyone has dreams though they aren't always realised,' he says, adding that it wasn't so long ago that Hong Kong was also a point of transition from which people came and went but never stayed.
'Migrants from Kaiping left for America and the European continent to seek a better life because China at the turn of the last century, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, was plagued with corruption.
'But living abroad presented another set of problems, such as racism. So after the collapse of Wall Street  [in 1929], many decided to return home with their new wealth.'
Upon their return, these migrants built hybrid structures that combined eastern and western architectural features, such as large arches and European window panels. Since they were able to afford better construction materials, these buildings have stood the  test of time. Last year,  the Kaiping Diaolou were declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.
'The migrants returned with  the intention of settling down, but the country was ravaged by floods, famine and other natural disasters,' says Chia, who is also the festival's artistic director.
'Living there became difficult, especially at night when bandits were about. In fact, the defence features are still evident in these buildings.
'Subsequently, many left the mainland to return  to the west, leaving these houses uninhabited,' says Chia, who believes their story is worthy of a play. 'These people were on the verge of realising their dreams, but didn't quite succeed. This has been a common theme in many dramas - the story is therefore very significant.'
As part of the Spotlight Kaiping project, veteran playwright Raymond To Kwok-wai   will  head a workshop series aimed at developing a play based on the region's history and photojournalist Michael Coyne  will travel to the area to document, not only the unique buildings, but the people who live there today.
What Chia calls the 'China factor' continues to play an important part in next year's City Festival which sees the return of Creative China. Curated again by Kwong Wai-lap,  director of programme planning for Fringe Shanghai,  this special segment that includes stage performances, rock concerts and a symposium, will look at how independent theatre positions itself in the mainland's performing arts market.
Chia says the economy plays an important role in arts and cultural development, and he's curious to find out how emerging mainland artists, whose work doesn't necessarily have mass appeal, support themselves through a lean  economic climate. Kwong points out that, ironically, it's the larger performing arts companies that are being affected by the financial crisis because many rely on corporate sponsorship. 'In the meantime, smaller groups are receiving growing support in the form of donations from those who truly believe in what they're doing,'  he says.
The Guangzhou-based veteran arts administrator says there are a number of things independent arts companies can do to improve their prospects. One is to take advantage of recent changes in the law that allow arts groups to set up a 'citizen-managed, non-profit performance organisation'  through the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
'Previously, all performing arts companies had to register  with the Ministry of Culture  and if their works were not officially approved, then that was that,' says Kwong. 'Now these smaller groups can set themselves up as non-profit community bodies through the ministry.'
Fat Bird Theatre  from Shenzhen  is a product of this new channel  and during the festival it will be presenting its FBI Shennong Project,  a satire on contaminated food.
One way for mainland artists to survive is to go abroad, as dancer Guo Rui did.  He studied at the Beijing Dance Academy  before enrolling at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts   and then joined the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios   in Brussels.
'Overseas experience and exposure often elevates the status of Chinese artists on the mainland,' says Kwong.
Resilience and years of hard work also  pay off, as in the case of hip hop dance outfit Speed Crew  from Guangzhou.  'They've worked hard for 10 years and now even the provincial government has given them a base. Their dance school has attracted over 10,000 students.'
Creative China also features a symposium called 'A Stage of Possibilities' where mainland artists can share tips with their local counterparts on how to effectively and efficiently stage a production with minimal resources. Chia says next year the festival will introduce a weekend pass for Creative China, making the programme a more integral experience of the event.
Now in its 11th year, City Festival will feature a wide range of performances including theatre, standup comedy, music, dance and a large exhibition to be held at the recently opened Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre.
Another part of the   programme is the Big Band Festival,  held at the  City Hall  theatre on January 23 and 24, featuring bands that have played together at Fringe events.
'This is the last arts festival in the Year of the Rat  and I don't think we need be told what a turbulent ride it has been. I hope the Big Band Festival will take people's minds off things,' says Chia.
Describing the annual arts event as a 'boutique festival', Chia says that like any arts event, it  should be a mirror to the times in which we live. 'As the festival organisers, we have to find a balance between programmes that provoke the mind and those that are diversional - meaning that they must also amuse and entertain the audience.'
City Festival, Jan 8-24.  For details, call 2521 7251 or go to hkfringeclub.com



From  the edge