China’s GenNext cartoon

Song has the oversized ambition of creating a cartoon character that can help redefine the world’s image of modern China. But Song is trying to catch a popular culture wave in a country where the tide shifts quickly, the competition for the youth market is fierce and the generation gap is measured in years rather than decades.

“Chinese kids, especially in the cities, have a cocky, smart, urban edge to them,” said Stacey Duff, the arts editor for Time Out Beijing, an English-language magazine to which Song is a contributor. “If they see something that doesn’t match their lives, they’re going to lose interest fast.”

Little P isn’t exactly a paragon of modern Chinese virtue. She talks back to her parents, makes fun of ancestor worship and secretly smokes cigarettes. Her dysfunctional family is more like The Simpsons than The Cleavers.

But look more closely, Song said, and Bad Girl offers a positive message.

“A lot of Chinese young people appear to be very bad on the surface,” he said. “They might appear to be lazy, they may cheat people often, they’re crazy about money. But when they come across serious things, the kindness in their heart will be expressed.”

Song is riding high: Bad Girl is featured in an advertisement for Hugo Boss’ Man fragrance; he has a gallery show in Beijing’s trendy Dashanzi art district; and he is working on a “cartoon-based record” for a foreign music company, featuring original songs sung by him and a voice created for Bad Girl’s character. The record is due out this year.

In the last decade, China’s leaders have significantly relaxed their controls on artists, leading to a flowering of painting, photography and performance art exploring previously taboo subjects.