It landed in the wild and rogue Shanghai of 2008, in the midst of the economic explosion of a country that positioned itself as a new promised land for young entrepreneurs. The Chinese adventure was very seductive. And more so for a profile with good academic and economic tables like those that Eduardo Vallejo arrived with. More than three decades later, this 44-year-old from Zaragoza dedicates himself during the day to sending containers with all kinds of products manufactured in China to Spain, while at night liven up the parties in the best clubs from one of the financial capitals of the world.
Anyone who has immersed themselves in Shanghai’s vibrant nightlife, especially the Latin restaurants that transform into reggaeton clubs at midnight, has at some point seen a flyer under the name DJ Tuto. “It comes from the Chilean expression ‘do the tuto’, which it means taking a nap. The artistic nickname was given to me by a friend from Chile because she said that she really liked to sleep,” says Vallejo.
This Christmas, the Spanish DJ, who already has an international lineup with performances in the best clubs in Ibiza, Sydney and Singapore, has a full agenda with all kinds of parties where he has been hired to play. “When I arrived, the party was 90% expats and 10% Chinese. Those figures have already been turned around. The Chinese that comes out now has a lot of money, much more than the foreigner, but their way of having fun is different, more boring in our eyes,” explains the Spaniard.
“The Chinese dance less, but they drink more. They don’t care what you play, what they want is loud music playing in the background while they are sitting at a table with their friends playing dice. They don’t go to a bar to socialize, they go to drink and play. That is their way of having fun, although it is also true that in recent years, especially Chinese women and thanks to Latin music, reggaeton, they are becoming more and more integrated into dancing.”
At night in Shanghai, DJ Tuto is a benchmark. But what few know outside of his environment is that he is also one within the Spanish business bubble. In China he founded a business group, Liem Group, which includes an export company and a consultancy. He also opened a Spanish school and a restaurant Colombian-Venezuelan cuisine. In addition, he has been a professor of Political Economy at Fudan University, one of the most important universities in the economic capital of China.