While this year is an off-year for major celebrations, the Party – including the Rejuvenator-in-Chief – has been busy going retro. Now, I’m a big fan of retro. Tiki drinks. Shag carpets. The music of Led Zeppelin. But the Party’s version of back to the future has left many folks in Beijing scratching their heads as State media rolls out a collection of golden oldies including “Bourgeois Liberalization” and “Self-Reliance.” Just like the recent bizarre fetish of American television producers to replace “let’s come up with new and interesting ideas” with “Hey, Magnum PI was a big hit in 1981. Let’s do that again,” the Party risks getting stuck in the past.
The Party Goes Retro for National Day