The society was so different [in China] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.

Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.

I always admire writers. My father was a writer, a poet. I always admire people who can clearly state their mind.

Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.

Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.

Destroy or build. Crazy or noncrazy. I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much.

Recently I danced in a video spoof of the song 'Gangnam Style,' and it was quickly banned across multiple Chinese online video platforms. But the story still traveled all over the world, carried in hundreds of international media reports.