Beijing, AFP, 22.12.08
Xi Fu's name in English means Seeking Happiness and
the Chinese street artist who has almost no use of his
hands remains firmly on that path despite his
handicap.
Xi, 30, was dropped by a nurse shortly after birth,
causing the disability which has given him trouble
walking as well as the problems with his hands.
He went to school for three years before being forced
to drop out because the school found it too
time-consuming to teach him, even though he had become as
adept at using his toes and feet as others using their
fingers and hands.
When he was 18, his mother took him to an arts centre
and asked about painting lessons for her son.
Seeing that Xi was smart and confident as well as
skilled, the teacher was sure he could help and explained
to Xi that many people made a living from art.
After three years of one-on-one training, the teacher
declared it was time for the then 21-year-old "foot
artist" to hit the streets and earn a living.
For the past nine years Xi has roamed across the
Chinese capital, writing calligraphy and painting flowers
with his feet.
In a good month he can earn 3,OOO yuan (430 dollars),
more than many Beijing office workers, selling his works
for 1OO-2OO yuan each.
While Xi said he has a passion for his work, he says
it is not an easy life.
Often he sets up his paint brushes and scrolls in one
of the city's many pedestrian underpasses, though he must
dodge police who would force him to move.
He often also comes across insensitive and rude
people, but said he accepts his fate. "It doesn't matter
if you are normal or disabled, everyone has his or her
bad moments."
In his more private moments, he admits, there is inner
pain as he believes his disability makes it difficult for
him to find a wife or girlfriend.
But Xi remains cheerful, pragmatically accepting his
lot in life and confessing to feeling uncomfortable if he
thinks people are pitying him.
"I'd like to find a girlfriend, but who wants a
boyfriend who is disabled?" he said.
"Women like you for your money, so even if you are
disabled but have money maybe a woman can like you, but
if you are disabled and poor there is no chance."
He believes that finding a partner who is also
disabled could become problematic when they are older and
unable to help one another.
As he lives with his parents, who own their home in a
rural suburb south of Beijing, the money he earns enables
him to have fun and socialise with his performance-artist
friends.
He particularly likes relaxing drinking beer -- an act
he delicately performs with his feet, pouring beer from a
bottle held in one foot into a glass held in the
other.
He also loves music and can sometimes be found at
local bars in the heart of Beijing's ancient Drum and
Bell Tower neighborhood, drinking or dancing to live
music by Chinese folk and rock bands.
Xi said he overcomes his disability by living in the
present, aware that he can work to earn a living and
thankful he has good friends.
When asked what he will do when one day he can no
longer earn a living, he replied defiantly: "I don't want
to think about that so much now. I'm not afraid and only
think about being happy."
Source
www.google.com/hostednews/afp
