Imagine Guangzhou

In 1990s, Guangzhou's urban culture has firstly showed up in a large scale, which came out with a fresh and new appearance. To some extent, this scene may have introduced the whole Chinese urban culture, and then owns a meaning of special importance. In fact, Guangzhou is a city containing multiple cultures harmoniously.The personality of the Guangzhou city roots deeply in the commercial economy. This thesis is based on the previous relating researches, and refers two kinds of semiotic systems to describe it. The first part of the thesis draws various symbols of urban culture from some local popular magazines, aiming to show the representative image of Guangzhou. By comparing the current scenes in the city with the historical records, the cultural characters of Guangzhou in reality have been narrated much. Part two analyzes three local writers and their literal works. They actually offer three different ways to understand the cultural characters of Guangzhou. The most important thing is that urban literature is one type of serious rethinking to the Guangzhou's urban culture. If considering the value of these research objects, then this thesis undoubtedly has offered a meaningful try.