The People’s Republic of Desire

71 The Veterinarian and the Poet

While Little Fang's wedding with Sir William York is taking place at Shanghai 's Grand Hyatt Hotel, Lulu, Beibei, CC, and I are seeing the new Gong Li movie Zhou Yus Train.

In the movie, Gong Li plays the title character, a tempestuous young painter who is torn between her two lovers. One is a poor, sensitive, quiet poet who works as a librarian to support himself and is played by Tony Leung Ka-fai. The other is an aggressive veterinarian filled with machismo.

We come away from the theater in love with the impressionistic cinema. After the movie, we go to a teahouse to play poker and talk about the movie.

As usual, Beibei, the boss in the clique, makes the first comment. "Tony Leung's performance was so brilliant! I fell in love with him ten years ago when I saw him in the French movie The Lover. He is as sexy as ever!"

Lulu says, "I read in the newspaper that in real life Gong Li prefers the poetic type of man to the machismo type. What about you guys? What type of men do you like better?"

I reply first. "I like the poet better. I also find this type of man attractive: gentle, sexy, a bit vulnerable, sensitive, smart, sometimes a bit melancholy. They have a tender side that, when mixed with passion, becomes quite combustible. They make you feel motherly and make your heart tremble and ache, and you feel on fire when they touch you." As I speak, I realize I'm talking about my feelings while I was with Len.

"Sounds like how I feel when I listen to Chopin," CC comments.

I nod. "Yes, exactly. I like Chopin. I've never liked men who never shut up. They're intimidating, and at the same time, they lack romance."

"But successful men are often assertive and talkative," Lulu cuts in.

"That's why I'm not up to finding men of power and money like Little Fang. I'm all for passion, like Zhou Yu, who travels on the rail of love," I say.

"I agree with Niuniu totally," CC jumps in. "I've found most men who have achieved a successful career and money are self-centered and hard to deal with. You have to put up with their bad temperament and their overwhelming characteristics. It's hard to feel like you are a partner in life with men like that. You always feel like they want you to walk behind them and not with them."

Lulu says, "Here in Asia, most of the women are docile and subservient. They don't mind if their men are selfish male chauvinists or much older than they are. As long as they bring wealth and material comfort into their lives, these women seem to be fine with the emotional alienation."

I say, "Gong Li seems to always play strong-willed women who have the courage to reveal their fervent sexual desires. Her characters are not fake. Perhaps that's why she is so well liked internationally. But in real life, I don't see many Chinese women like the Zhou Yu character, whose love is so steadfast, without material aggrandizement. For example, she didn't get any gifts from the poet except poetry. I have seen and interviewed so many girls who always enjoy men buying them Fendi bags or nice expensive jewelry."

"Yes!" CC agrees. "They even envy those young women who marry old ugly men simply because the men are rich."

"That's why strong women like us are left single." CC sighs. "I've found it is so difficult to find a good man in China. It's either that they think I'm too aggressive as a woman or vice versa."

"So that means aggressive women and men don't click? Does a man of power have to find a weak, mild woman? Can a strong woman fall in love with a strong man, like the Clinton couple?" I continue the debate.

Beibei speaks. "This American model doesn't apply here in this culture. That's why poor Zhou Yu has to die at the end of the movie. I think the director chooses such an ending because he knows that Zhou Yu is too noble for this shallow era we live in. In my humble opinion, women in Asia have three choices. First, to be cute and dumb, hoping to find a rich daddy to take care of them. Second, to be single forever or to leave China before it's too late. Third, to be like me, strong, rich, and tough. I'm just like a man who has the power to buy lovers."

"What about love and passion?" I cry out.

" You're still single because you think like that," Beibei says, not just to me, but to everyone. Her words are a proclamation of bloody honesty, but I am a hopeless romantic. I replay the love scene from the movie in my head. I feel like crying. Bravo, Zhou Yu.