Apr 30, 2013

Shakespeare in Xiamen

Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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About a week ago I attended a drama competition at Xiamen Institute of Technology (厦门理工学院). There were 13 short scenes performed, all of one of which were in Chinese. The one English scene was from Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Hamlet.
In the scene, Hamlet is losing it a bit
I had been recruited by the students performing the Hamlet scene and met with them once to help them rehearse their lines. Although speaking in Shakespearean English of the late 16th century was a serious challenge for the Chinese students, they made a good effort not only in trying to pronounce the dialog, but also acting out the scene with dramatic flair the Bard himself would be proud of. Apparently the judges also appreciated the effort since the Hamlet group made it into the finals of the competition to be held sometime in May (getting exact dates for anything more than a few days in advance is virtually impossible in China).

 I actually also enjoyed the Chinese performances. While I couldn't understand most of the dialog, I was able to get a general idea of what was going on just from watching the action (helped a bit by a Chinese student who whispered brief explanations to me).
This girl with a painted on beard was quite amusing
Here she slapped this guy, who not able to remain in character, broke out laughing
A traditional Chinese dance
An Emperor and a few of his concubines
3 girls portraying Chinese soldiers
Evening ending musical finale

Apr 23, 2013

Marriage in China - For Love or Money?

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
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In China, marriage is all about love, but love of what? It seems that for many Chinese women (and their families), love of money may be more important than love of the man they marry.  An NPR article, For Chinese Women, Marriage Depends on the Right 'Bride Price,' discusses how young Chinese men are growing up in a society where they must buy a bride and there's been serious bride inflation over the past decade.

Traditional marriage in China
I see some of the effects of this among the college students I teach in China. When I ask them what their goals are, by far the most common response among the boys is to find a "beautiful girlfriend" (the word beautiful virtually always precedes girlfriend). Most of them do not have (and have never had) a girlfriend and they're worried about being able to find a girlfriend (i.e., future wife) - and maybe even more worried about being able to afford one.

 It's not the same for the young women who may realize that statistics are seriously in their favor - 117 baby boys born for every 100 girls, leading to a 24 million bride deficit by 2020 according to the article. Some of these young women are obviously aware of their market value and are holding out for the best deal they can negotiate. I'm sure it's not just the young women, but also their parents and other family members, putting pressure on them to get the highest possible price in return for their marriage commitment.
Modern marriage in China?
A few months ago, I heard that a former student of mine (a 21 or 22 year old woman) got married. I was a bit surprised since the last time I had spoken to her, she didn't even have a boyfriend and (as far as I could tell) didn't seem to be in a rush to find one. Apparently, her parents had introduced (matched her) to a young man and, after a week or two of courting, they got married. It may have been love at first sight, but it might also have more to do with the fact that the man she married is apparently a fairly wealthy businessman who can buy her a house, car, etc.

 In a society that long subjugated woman, forcing them to bind (and deform) their feet and treating them as property (of their father until marriage and husband thereafter), it may be a form of ironic revenge that Chinese women are now taking advantage of their economic appreciation. In response to the unfavorable balance of trade for Chinese men, women are being increasingly imported as brides from other countries such as Vietnam. 
Importing bide from Vietnam
I was recently asked by a group of Chinese college students if I believe in love at first sight. My response was to ask "first sight of what - man or money?" They laughed, seemingly  understanding exactly what I meant. 

Apr 22, 2013

China's Most Popular Film Director's Speech Censored

Monday, April 22, 2013
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Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) is probably the most commercially successful Chinese film director of the past decade. He's known in China for films such as romantic comedy If You are the One (非常勿扰) featuring actress Shu Qi (舒淇) as well as more serious historic dramas such as Aftershock (about the 1976 Tangshan earthquake) and Back to 1942 (about a major famine during war with Japan). 

 Recently, Feng was honored as Director of the Year by the Chinese Film Director's Guild. During his acceptance speech, Feng took the opportunity to speak out against film censorship by China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). Ironically, the Chinese word for censorship was censored out of the TV broadcast.  

Feng's censored speech (censored part at a bit over 3 minutes)

Feng has criticized the Chinese government's censorship previously and although he may believe he can get away with doing so since he's immensely famous and popular in China, it still takes some courage. Some of China's most famous and successful directors have had their films banned and been prevented from working in the past, including Zhang Yimou. 

 A translation of Feng's speech includes the following: "A lot of times when you receive the order [from the censors], its so ridiculous that you don't know whether to laugh or cry, especially when you know something is good and you're forced to change it into something bad. Are Hollywood directors tormented the same way?" 

 A few other Chinese directors have also criticized China's film censorship system, often objecting that its virtually impossible to know what will be censored any why. While there are certain topics that directors should know are clearly forbidden such Tibetan or Taiwanese independence or any direct criticism of the Chinese Communist Party, there are apparently no clear rules that SARFT follows in making individual censorship decisions and SARFT generally does not give any reason for its decisions. The Chinese government has recently decided to merge SARFT with the General Administration for Press and Publications although its unknown whether this will have any affect on censorship policies. 

 While Chinese films can be difficult for Westerners to appreciate (even with English subtitles) due largely to cultural differences, I've enjoyed all of Feng Xiaogang's films that I've seen. My favorite is one of his lesser-known ones, Big Shot's Funeral (大碗), which stars American actor Donald Sutherland as well as Chinese actor Ge You (who's in almost all of Feng's films). I found it hilarious for its satiric portrayal of modern Chinese society and Hollywood. 

Apr 16, 2013

My Chinese iPad (or cPad)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
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I recently purchased a new technology toy. However, I'm not sure exactly what to call it. When I've shown it to Chinese friends and students, they almost invariably say "Oh, you have iPad." I then try to explain that its not an iPad - instead, its what I call a "Chinese pad" or "cPad."

My cPad made by Chinese company, Ainol
The i-Pad, as most people know, is a tablet computer made by Apple Inc. My new tablet computer is very similar to Apple's iPad Mini, a smaller (8 inch) version of the 9.7 inch iPad or the Google Nexus 7. My tablet, whose real product name is Ainol Novo Flame (or Fire), is made by a Chinese company called Shenzhen Ainol Electronics Co., Ltd. The company doesn't seem to have an English-language website, but does have a Facebook page.

The home screen of my Flame
So far, I'm very pleased with my purchase. While I would expect that Apple's iPad provides a bit better performance in terms of processing power, the Ainol Flame works fine for my needs. One of the main uses for me is as an e-book reader (an absolute necessity since I'm an avid reader and its impossible to find most English books in Chinese bookstores). I had been using a several year old Kindle, but can only use that for reading and downloading books from Amazon. In addition to functioning as an e-book reader, the Flame also allows me to access the Internet, download applications (chat software, Facebook, games, Chinese dictionaries, etc.), and even has 2 reasonably decent built in cameras (front-facing and rear-facing). It can also be used to store and listen to music and watch videos (although I'm so far resisting using it for videos in hopes of maintaining the eyesight I have left).
Pleco English-Chinese dictionary, a very handy app here
The Ainol Flame uses the Android operating system and even has some advantages over its Apple iPad and Google Nexus 7 competitors. The Flame has expandable memory, HDMI output,and unlike Apple devices is unlocked (you can use any third-party Android software on it). All in all, its a great, small and versatile portable device.
BBC New App
Although I'm very happy with my Flame so far, a Chinese 12-year old boy I tutor in English isn't as impressed. He uses an iPad which he says is much better. Of course, his main use is playing games which the iPad is likely a bit better for. The Flame seems to work fine for the few games I've tried on it, but I don't play games very often so that's not a very important consideration for me. Instead, the main reason I bought a Flame instead of an iPad mini is price. I paid just under 800 yuan (about U.S. $130), about $300 cheaper than an iPad Mini costs here and at almost $100 cheaper than a Google Nexus 7.

 I find it ironic (although not surprising) that many Chinese consumers opt to pay the much higher price for an iPad, mostly due to Apple brand recognition and the status it gives them by being able to flaunt their expensive gadget. I, on the other had, being a much more bargain than status-conscious American, will gladly stick with my comparable, but much cheaper Chinese pad.

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  • Author: David Moser

Apr 13, 2013

Jane Zhang's Impressions of West Lake

Saturday, April 13, 2013
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I have to admit that I, like most Westerners in China, find most modern Chinese popular music to be very simplistic and monotonous to listen to. China's musical development was dealt a devastating blow during the Mao era when the only music allowed was so-called "Red Songs," patriotic Communist songs used as a form of propaganda.

 While much has opened up in China over the past few decades, music is still subject to a significant amount of censorship. As a result, much of China's commercially popular music tends to sound like Asian-inspired, mind-numbing muzak to Western ears. This is not to say that there aren't any talented Chinese singers and I do occasionally find some that are a bit different. One example is Jane Zhang (张靓颖; Zhang Liangying), who became one of China's most popular singers after competing in the Super Girl televised singing competition in 2005 (similar to American Idol).

In the video above, Zhang performs a song with Japanese composer/musician Kitaro, who wrote the music for an opera about the city of Hangzhou's famous West Lake. The opera was directed by China's most famous film director, Zhang Yimou (no relation to Jane, who shares the same, very common Chinese surname), and provides a historical and cultural summary with music, dance and technology. The show takes place on a a stage stored below the lake's surface during daytime which is raised at night for actors to perform on. 

 While Jane Zhang's performance of Impressions of West Lake is evidence of her vocal ability (including a very wide vocal range), she unfortunately often falls victim to what's become a Chinese tradition of singing syrupy pop ballads and bland hip-hop-inspired dance tunes. Possibly, this is what a majority of the Chinese audience wants, but I suspect that this is largely due to the relatively restrictive musical environment that's denied them much of the variety found in Western popular music. If Ms. Zhang and other talented singers could find more interesting songs to record, Chinese musical development might start mimicking the nation's rapid economic development.
Here's a music video of the same song which contains some video from the outdoor opera mentioned above.

Apr 7, 2013

Xiamen One of Most 'Open' Chinese Cities

Sunday, April 07, 2013
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According to a recent report, Xiamen (厦门) is the third highest ranked city in China in terms of economic, technological and social openness.

View of downtown Xiamen from Gulangyu Island
Shenzhen (深圳) and Guangzhou (广州) are the two cities ranked ahead of China. Both are much bigger than Xiamen in terms of size and population. I'm a bit surprised that Shanghai isn't included in the top cities from this report, but I'm not sure exactly what criteria were used. Anyway, I guess this means for those of us that want a somewhat smaller, less crowded, less polluted, but still "open" environment in China, Xiamen is the place to be.

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  • Author: David Moser

Apr 5, 2013

How Big is China?

Friday, April 05, 2013
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When speaking of China, using the word "big" is often an understatement. In terms of population, economic growth, infrastructure, and other factors, "huge" might be a more appropriate word. A recent Forbes article, Just How Big is China? Bigger Than You Think, discusses how big China really is and concludes that its "way bigger than you think."

Big Buddha
Among other measures of China's bigness mentioned is the prediction that it will overtake the United States to become the world's biggest economy by 2016 according to an OECD survey. Chinese consumers are now the biggest buyers of luxury goods and are increasingly traveling abroad to purchase them. 

 However, bigger isn't always better as the Forbes article acknowledges. China faces many of the same challenges as most countries, but due to its immense size and the extremely rapid rate of development of the past several decades, the enormity of the problems posed is unprecedented. The longer I live in China, the more conscious I become of the scope of many of these problems and how difficult it will be to cope with them effectively. 

 As anyone who's lived in China knows, pollution is extreme in many of China's big cities. Air and water quality are both very poor, posing serious health threats and potential sources of epidemics. Poor product quality and safety as well as working conditions for many employed in China's factories are also frequently cited problems. Further, the increasingly extreme disparity in wealth in this nation of over 1.3 billion people is a gigantic threat to continued stability. Revolution by the masses is by no means unheard of in China as evidenced by the Mao-led revolution of the 20th century and numerous earlier ones during China's imperial history.

 Of all the problems, many Chinese people would probably consider corruption to be the most serious and I tend to agree. Rampant corruption among officials at virtually all levels of government as well as business hinders efforts to deal with all of the other problems threatening China's future. New Chinese president Xi Jinping (习近平) seems to understand the threat that corruption poses and has made it clear that his top priority is to deal with it. From what I've read and observed, it seems that he's already taken some steps to curb corruption, at least at local government levels. How effective these efforts will be remains to be seen and much more will need to be done over the long-term to change the acceptance of corruption that has become pervasive part of Chinese society.


  • Author: David Moser
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