Listening to a Different Drummer: A Former Radio DJ Talks about Life in China

By Tamara Treichel

Born into a regular suburban family in Detroit, Michigan, Rick O’Shea realized he didn’t want to lead a Brady Bunch-like existence. “I was a regular kid headed for a traditional American future of school, marriage, 2 cars, 2.3 kids, and become a lawyer, doctor, or accountant, etc. I had absolutely nothing to rebel against – only the fear of boredom and the acceptance of a life that I could not get excited about,” he wrote .

Rick eventually discovered his passion for radio, which took him on an odyssey to Florida, Hawaii, Taiwan, Hong Kong and eventually Shanghai and Beijing, where he landed a job at China Radio International (CRI) in 1996. He recounts his experiences as an expat radio DJ in his memoir Radio Chopstix: An American DJ in China, for which he is now seeking a publisher.

O’Shea’s book reads like a cross between Mark Twain’s tall tales and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road with an Asian twist. “I’m not going to discuss politics or the financial power of China, nor will you learn about doing business with China from me. It’s a personal journey of how I escaped the regular life of suburban Detroit and became the first foreigner to live in China and do a daily music and talk program on the radio. I was on the air every night for 11 years and became a part of the lives of millions,” O’Shea wrote in his book.
In an exclusive interview with Asian Fortune, Rick discusses his book, expat life and what’s keeping him on his toes in Beijing.

Asian Fortune: What was it like working as a radio DJ in China?
RICK: Fun and challenging. After working many years in radio in the U.S., I think I was just seduced by the chance to live and work in a foreign country and do a job I loved. But the experience in China was, in a way, “old school” radio. The listeners really listened to the radio and became very attached to it, just as I had been growing up and later doing “creative radio.” There’s a special magic when you get a solid grip on an audience in radio and imagination helps take you there. I created the most imaginative radio station ever while in Hawaii. And in those fairly recent days, radio presenters in China were revered and respected. Now radio in many parts of the world has become more homogeneous and computerized (cheaper to run!) as MP3s and the Internet have stolen audiences away.
Asian Fortune: Even though your radio days are over, do people in China still remember you?

RICK: I realize the impact I have had every day. Many Chinese tell me that they learned conversational English from me. And they say thanks for encouraging them to “always look for the joy in life”. It was a very special bonding time for the millions of listeners and our nightly program. It’s amazing to be remembered fondly years after a program ends. And they are especially surprised to learn about my relationship with one of their most beloved authors, San Mao.

Asian Fortune: As a seasoned expat who has lived in China for thirty years, what do you think is the most challenging part of living in China?
RICK: That I will always be a foreigner living in China. A Chinese living in the U.S. can blend in easier. A foreigner in China is always reminded that he is not from here. Part of that is physical and part is a reaction to China’s domestic propaganda, “This is China!” On the other hand, I resist things that are too Western. I live in an old apartment. I want to feel like I am “living in China”! So once you resolve that you are always a foreigner in China, then more things may make sense.
Asian Fortune: Do you sometimes miss living in the United States? If so, what exactly do you miss?
RICK: Actually, I don’t miss much. I miss the fresh air and island atmosphere of living in Hawaii. I can watch most TV programs from the U.S. here. And I can still buy Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups here!

Asian Fortune: Your memoir has already been published in Chinese as 三毛的回声: 一个美国 DJ 在中国 by 李柯 (Echoes of San Mao by an American DJ in China, China Radio and Television University Press, 2011). At present, you are working on the English version of your book. What do you think American readers would like about your book?
RICK: The English version is from a different perspective depending on the reader. It’s the same book actually, but Americans would see it as a guy from Detroit who followed his own unplanned path that led him to Canada as a painter on an island and getting into the radio business in Florida and Hawaii. The creative radio career led him into the second half of the book as he accepts a radio job in China and has spent more than half his life, so far, in Chinese cities. While there, he learns about a part of China most Americans do not know about. It’s a book about ups and downs in life, taking chances, and hoping for the best. This is not the typical pursuit of a life in the American suburbs. And becoming famous in China was never dreamt about as a kid in Detroit!
Asian Fortune: You devoted one long chapter to San Mao in your book. Many Chinese are intrigued by the fact that you were the last love of this famous Chinese writer before her suicide in 1991. For those who are unfamiliar with San Mao, could you briefly introduce her to us? And what were your intentions regarding this chapter?
RICK: We meet many people in our lives. I was just fortunate to have had a 10-year relationship with a woman who happened to be one of the most famous writers ever in China. Half of all Chinese know about her! She wrote books about her travels to the Sahara, South America and other places. The relationship would have evolved perhaps into marriage had she not died. What intrigues Chinese is that she remains so famous even to today. And they didn’t know of our romance just before she died in 1991. Many people think that she was depressed after the death of her husband in 1979. I wanted them to know that she was not depressed for 12 years after he passed. They should know that she recovered and had a chance for romance after that. And that she was a good friend. Even if you don’t know about her, it’s a good story between a man and a woman that ends in tragedy.
Asian Fortune: What projects are you currently working on in Beijing?
RICK: First, I am trying to get a movie made about the San Mao story…Many have said that a movie or TV series should be made from my whole book. But I think the San Mao movie has the most potential right now.
I am also working on helping promote a Chinese legend I heard about many years ago in Taiwan and then again in Hong Kong. A few years ago, I ran across it again on the Mainland and decided it was a story worth passing along because it’s about passing along good luck. They say there was a place for good luck in China many years ago, and an image from Ba Village can now be passed along by the Chinese and given as a gift to the world. It has become my mission to help pass along this good luck to many people and see it on many products. You can read about it on www.bavillage.com.

Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.