The Guanjiang Shou scare off bad spirits with the help of some fierce makeup, elaborate dressing-up and firecrackers.
One night in neon-lit Taipei. The city’s Guanjiang Shou, the ceremonial military leaders of the Underworld who scare off bad spirits using fierce makeup, elaborate costumes and firecrackers. Most of Taipei’s Taoist temples are connected to the mafia — operated by cash donations and remaining tax exempt — hence many of the boys who perform the Guanjiang Shou ritual are in fact debt collectors, bouncers or bodyguards in daily life.
Directed by Seoul-based photographer and Creative Director Au Matt, known for his work with publications such as Vogue Korea, this fashion shortfilm was shot guerrilla-style in 25 hours. Stylist Lin Xiuwei uses clothes from Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Loewe.
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China Fashion, Design and Urban Culture Groupie, Editor-in-Chief at The China Temper
Elsbeth van Paridon holds a degree in Sinology and additionally is just another run-of-the-mill fashion aficionada. After tackling Beijing for some six years and living in Hong Kong for a bit, van Paridon managed to claw her way through a Europe-based academic endeavor called Journalism in 2018 and as of 2020 once again finds herself pounding the pavements of China, from Shanghai to Da Jing.
Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
Perpetually in pursuit of the greater good that is “China Fashion”, van Paridon set up The China Temper to help promote the dynamite dynamic fashion scene sprouting within Beijing, Shanghai, and China overall. Catering to anybody and everybody who reads English and/or Chinese, Temper covers all the basics and bases. From China's street style scenery to its budding photographers, internationally renowned designers, and underground quirks plus phenomena: We present one hot-hip-happening current collective weaving The New "Made in China" tag.
The term “Made in China” is undergoing the ultimate 21st Century makeover. Escorted by the increasingly strong influence of a new thinking among China’s younger generations, regarding individuality and the expression thereof, the fashion scene in the Middle Kingdom is exploding. And stretches far beyond what meets the eye. It’s appliqué, one might say.
Latest posts by Elsbeth van Paridon (see all)
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- Silver, Stepped Up: The Playbook of China’s Senior Style Rebellion - January 17, 2026