Oct 30, 2011

Joanna Wang

Sunday, October 30, 2011
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While roaming around the ever-addictive Youtube, I came across an interesting Chinese-American singer - Joanna Wang (王若琳; Wáng Rùolín). Her music is an interesting combination of English and Chinese language jazz, pop, rock, and folk influences, somewhat in the Norah Jones vein. The 23 year old Taiwan-born, Los Angeles-bred songstress has a surprisingly mature voice. Her musical maturity may be partly the result of her family background - her father (Wang Bing) is a successful producer who, in addition to working with his daughter, has produced popular artists including girl group S.H.E and David Tao. 

Wang's first album, Start From Here, was released in early 2008 and is comprised of one CD of English songs and another of Chinese songs. Joanna reportedly wasn't thrilled with her first album, feeling that it doesn't represent her true musical influences. Her next album ("Joanna & 王若琳 - her English and Chinese names), released in January 2009, is another 2-CD collection of English and Chinese songs. Her latest album, The Things We Do For Love, was released in late 2011 and includes covers of the Carole King classic (made famous by James Taylor) You've Got a Friend, B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head and my favorite band (that wasn't really a band) Steely Dan's Dirty Work.

Wang's English language cover songs feature a fairly eclectic mix, including songs by Billy Joel ("New York State of Mind"), The Carpenters ("We've Only Just Begun"), Don Mclean, Paul Simon ("50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"), Bread ("Aubrey"), Paul Anka ("Times of Your Life") and Spandau Ballet ("True").

You can check out some of Joanna Wang's music and find out more about her at:

Oct 27, 2011

Fake DVDs in China

Thursday, October 27, 2011
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China is a country full of fakes - not necessarily fake people although those can be found in China as well as just about every country. Instead, I'm talking about fake goods of almost any kind imaginable. From trademark counterfeiting of famous brands to copyright piracy of music, movies and computer software, fakes are ubiquitous in China. Sometimes you can't help wondering if anything is really authentic. 


An article from eChinacities entitled Pirate Pictures: China’s Fake DVD Pandemic discusses the prevalence of fake DVDs all over China. The article mentions an estimate that 93% of all movies sold in China are pirated copies which seems like an underestimate to me. Anyone who has visited China is almost sure to have experienced this as the fake DVD vendors are usually out in the open, especially in crowded shopping areas. For example, last year when I worked at a university in Zhengzhou 郑县, there were several stores that sold nothing but fake DVDs within a block of the campus.

Fake DVD Store

Somewhat to my surprise, I found that here in Xiamen 厦门, fake DVD stores are a bit hidden. Generally, they seem to be in the backroom or upstairs in some other type of store. For example, there are several conveniently located, but not outwardly visible, in the popular Zhongshan Road shopping area. My guess is that there must have been some enforcement in the recent past that forced vendors to be less conspicious.

Fake DVDs are so common in China that most Chinese people probably don't even know they are illegal since they have probably never seen the legal variety. Actually, most Chinese college students don't bother buying even the fake DVDs. They tend to think its ridiculous to pay anything for movies (not to mention music) and download it illegally from the Internet instead.

The major movie companies have tried to develop a legitimate market by reducing their prices in China, but there's no way they can compete with the DVD pirates, who commonly sell DVDs of popular movies for around 10 RMB (about U.S. $1.50). 

The article says there's not much that can be done about the fake problem in China, quoting Shaun Rein of Forbes, who states that "China's piracy problem is not a matter of morality," he says "More than anything, it is a matter of poverty." I agree partly, but also disagree in part and believe this is an oversimplification. While its true that much of China's population can't afford to buy legitimate DVDs, the very poor also can't afford the fakes ones (not to mention DVD players to play them on). On the other hand, there's a large and growing percentage of the Chinese population that spend significant amounts of money on much more expensive goods than DVDs and certainly could afford to buy legal copies. 

I do agree with the article's assertion that China might pay dearly in the longer term for its inability or unwillingness to deal with intellectual property infringement. If China's economy is to continue the high rate of growth its experienced over the past few decades, it will have to start relying much more on creation and innovation rather than mere copying of Western products and technology. China may be able to successfully innovate, but figuring out how to effectively incentivize and protect such innovation could be a much more challenging problem.

Oct 25, 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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A recent NY Times article Korean Pop Machine: Running on Innocence and Hair Gel discusses the teen pop phenomenon that's been going in South Korea for at least a decade. While the general concepts are largely copied from American teen pop (The Jackson 5 to New Edition, New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys, etc.), the Korean music industry has created a manufacturing empire, cranking out an endless stream of  boy and girl groups as well as solo artists. 


The popularity of Korean pop music (K-Pop) goes extends well beyond Korea, with many artists also achieving popularity in Japan, China and throughout much of Southeast Asia. Some of the most K-popular groups include SHINee, Girl's Generation, 13-member group Super Junior, 2NE1, etc., etc., etc. With the Wonder Girls international hit Nobody, K-Pop has even started to have some success in the West. It may be tough for much of the highly produced K-Pop to become popular in the U.S., but then again if Justin Beiber can do it, anything is possible.
K-Pop boy group SHINee
Here in China, K-pop takes a backseat to Chinese pop (which generally tends to be blander than the Korean variety) although its a very large backseat. This may be largely due to the ingrained nationalism programmed into young Chinese. Despite this, quite of few the most popular Korean pop stars have very large fan bases in China. 

I recently tried to get an idea of what music is most popular among Chinese college students by asking in some of my classes. Although this was by no means a comprehensive or scientifically conducted poll, my general conclusion is that China is still about at least a decade or two behind the rest of the world in terms of its pop music tastes. When asked who their favorite non-Chinese singers or bands are, other than Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber, the most common responses are Michael Jackson and the Backstreet Boys (and MJ and the BBBs seem to be even more popular than the Bieb). Sadly, no students in my classes were familiar with John Lennon although a few had vaguely heard of The Beatles. Maybe this shouldn't be too surprising since popular music development was severely stunted during the Chairman Mao years (especially during the Cultural Revolution). During the decades when rock, R&B and their pop offshoots were developing and thriving in England and the U.S., Western music was virtually non-existent in China. 

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  • Author: David Moser

Oct 24, 2011

Dialectic Confusion

Monday, October 24, 2011
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I happened upon a traditional Chinese puppet show yesterday at a senior citizens activity center in Jimei 集美. I couldn't understand it at all, but neither could my Chinese friends since it was in the local Mǐnnánhuà 閩南話 dialect. 

Mǐnnánhuà is sometimes also referred to as the Hokkien dialect and originated in the southern Fujian province. The version of the Min dialect spoken here in Xiamen is also sometimes called the Amoy dialect (Amoy was the name given by Westerners to Xiamen). A version of this dialect is also spoken by some people in nearby Taiwan. Fortunately, most Chinese people of my generation and younger from Xiamen speak Mandarin Chinese or Pǔtōnghuà  普通话 (which I'm trying to learn) rather than any of the local dialects. Even more fortunately for me, most of the younger generation of Chinese have also grown up learning English in school and, although often shy about using it, can speak at least a bit. 

However, many older Xiamen residents only speak Mǐnnánhuà which is basically incomprehensible to Mandarin speakers (not to mention English speakers like myself). Last week, an elderly lady approached me while I was waiting for a bus and seemed very curious about me. She tried to talk to me in Mǐnnánhuà so I politely responded in Mandarin that I couldn't understand, but she couldn't understand that I was trying to tell her I couldn't understand. She then started talking to a Chinese student nearby that I had been talking with, hoping a Chinese person could translate for us. However, the Chinese girl couldn't understand  Mǐnnánhuà much better than I could so the nice, inquisitive old lady's questions for me unfortunately had to go unanswered.

Oct 22, 2011

"Don't Eat Basket"

Saturday, October 22, 2011
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I recently ate at a fast food restaurant in Xiamen called Mos Burger (a Japanese chain) and saw this sign. I think what it means to say is don't throw the basket (that the food comes in) into the trash, but one never knows. The burger wasn't bad although nothing special and I was full enough that I didn't feel tempted to eat the basket it came in.


  • Author: David Moser

Jan 29, 2011

China & America's New "Sputnick Moment"

Saturday, January 29, 2011
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A Los Angeles Times article discusses a comment by President Obama in his State of the Union speech where he said that Americans face a "Sputnik moment," essentially meaning a major challenge from another foreign superpower. In 1947, Russia beat the United States in the space race  by being the first country to launch a satellite named Sputnick into orbit around earth. Russia's initial victory prompted the U.S. to move much faster in the race to explore space.

Obama's statement was intended to motivate Americans to rise to the economic challenges posed by China's rapidly expanding economy which challenges U.S. economic dominance of recent history. China became the world's second largest economy last year and is starting to assert its economic power more while the American economy, though still the largest, is lagging in growth.

Although probably not intended by Obama to be a comparison of the U.S. relationship with Russia and the current U.S./China relationship, any such comparison is probably a poor one. The U.S./Russia relationship during the Cold War was openly adversarial and confrontational, with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev saying "We will bury you." China, on the other hand, seems to be much more interested in cooperation with the U.S., as stated by President Hu Jintao during his recent American visit.

While President Obama may try to use China's economic rise as a tool to motivate (or scare) Americans, into believing that China is about to overtake the United States, most Chinese people don't seem to agree. From talking with Chinese people, the vast majority seem to recognize that the U.S. is still a much bigger economic power than China. They also seem to realize that China is still technologically behind the U.S. as well as some other nations and still needs to make significant improvements to be more competitive. For example Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at Beijing Institute of Technology is quoted as saying "Our system lacks creativity" . . . "The U.S. is a private sector. It will stimulate innovation. We may be temporarily ahead of America in the areas Obama mentioned, but to truly surpass the U.S., we have to reform our system."

While looking up a link for the term Sputnick for this post, I found out that sputnik means "co-traveler", "traveling companion." The rise of China does not necessarily have to mean the all of the United States. Although the U.S. and China will be competitors in some ways, they could also be co-travelers.

Jan 28, 2011

China's Mega City in Doubt?

Friday, January 28, 2011
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A few days ago I posted about plans in southern China to build the world's biggest megacity by merging 9 existing cities, including some already pretty large one such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou. It has since been reported that there is some doubt about exactly how serious these plans are. Apparently some government officials in the province of Guangdong have denied the plans to create the world's largest metropolis.

Instead, the Guangdong provincial government says it intends to promote further development within 3 economic circles, each of which includes 3 cities. I have also heard rumors that the Chinese government may ultimately want to merge Hong Kong (香港) with the neighboring city of Shenzhen. There is already a great deal of economic interdependence between these cities so this is not impossible although if it happens, it will likely be sometime after 2047 (since China promised to let Hong Kong remain self-governing for 50 years after its handover from Great Britain in 1997) . Regardless of of these stories is more accurate, it seems clear that there are at least plans to massively increase development in the region. Whether one megacity or 3 (or 4 including Hong Kong) neighboring (but somewhat smaller) megacities, growth in this region of China is guaranteed to be substantial.

Jan 26, 2011

China 3rd Top Tourist Destination

Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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China is now the 3rd most visited country according to the UN World Tourism Organization. China had about 56 million tourists in 2010 and overtook Spain for the 3rd highest position. The top destination was France with 79 million visitors, with the United States following with 61 million. The rankings for 2010 and 2009 can be found here.
Tourist destinations such as the Great Wall (长城), the ancient Terracotta Warriors (兵马俑; bīngmǎ yǒng) in Xi'an, and the Shaolin Monastery (少林寺; Shàolín Sì), the home of Chinese kung fu (功夫; gōngfu) continue to attract increasing numbers of visitors. The 2010 Shanghai World Expo also brought a large number of foreign visitors. In addition, China's many modern major cities provide foreign visitors with a plethora of entertainment, shopping, as well as sightseeing opportunities.
Hong Kong harbor
While the biggest number of international visitors have chosen to travel mostly to European countries in recent years, that trend may be changing a bit as China and other Asian destinations (Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, etc.) are becoming more popular. The growth rate for international tourism in Asia for 2010 was 13% while Europe experienced only 3% growth.

Due to huge economic growth in China over the past few decades, there is now a significant portion of China's 1.3 billion population (although certain still a small minority of that huge total) that can afford to travel internationally. Appropriately, while more people are likely to continue to visit China, more Chinese people will be likely to be visit other countries in the near future as well.
 

Jan 25, 2011

Lang Lang Insults America?

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
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A Los Angeles Times article reports that some American and Chinese conservatives are claiming that a song played by pianist Lang Lang (郎朗; Láng Lǎng) at a White House dinner for president Hu Jintao was intended as an insult to the United States. Lang Lang, however, claims he chose to play the song because its one of his favorites and for the beauty of its melody.

The song, My Motherland (我的祖国; Wǒde Zǔguó) was used in a 1956 Chinese movie called Battle on Shangganling Mountain. The movie was about the Battle of Triangle Hill in the Korean War, during which Chinese troops ultimately triumph against the Americans. The American led UN forces wanted to capture a location calld Triangle Hill near the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) which was occupied by the Chinese Army. Despite several attempts, American and South Korean forces were unable to capture the hill despite their superior artillery and aircraft. The Chinese suffered 11,500 casualties, but repeatedly refused to give up. While few Americans are aware of it, there was Chinese fear that the U.S. might try to invade China from Korea. This battle was therefore an important victory for the Chinese Army and a source of nationalistic pride in the young People's Republic of China, which established itself only 6 years earlier and was trying to rebuild China after a century of foreign interference and revolution.

My Motherland  is, as the title suggests, a patriotic song about the beauty of China. Reading through the lyrics, its hard to see what the alleged insult is, but if you look carefully, there's one small line that mentions "wolves" (the American army?) invading to be repelled by people with "hunting rifles." Here's two verses, including the controversial lyric line:
This is my heoric motherland
The place where I grew up
In this stretch of ancient land
There is youthful vigour found everywhere

Great mountains, great rivers and an amazing land
Every road is broad and wide
When the friends come, fine drink is offered
But if the wolves come
What greets them are the hunting rifles
Here's a videoclip from the movie where the song is played - of course, its in Chinese so most Americans won't understand the lyrics let alone catch the vague alleged anti-American reference. 

It seems very unlikely that Lang Lang would harbor, much less publicly express, any anti-American sentiments since he is a resident of both the U.S. and China currently living in New York and has achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the United States. His performance didn't include any lyrics since he's a pianist and its possible that he wasn't even aware of the vague lyric line's alleged interpretation and, in a statement, Lang Lang said that he wanted to:
"bridge cultures together through the beauty and inspiration of music … America and China are my two homes. I am most grateful to the United States for providing me with such wonderful opportunities, both in my musical studies and for furthering my career."
Apparently, there are people on both sides (U.S. and China) that, rather than bridging cultures and improving relations, are insistent on maintaining divisions. Its a shame that music is used for such purposes, especially if that's not the intent of the performer.
 

Jan 24, 2011

China's Future Mega City

Monday, January 24, 2011
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China has more big cities than any other country in the world. However, in recent years, nothing is ever big enough in China. So it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that China intends to create the world's biggest mega city. According to The Telegraph, the plan is to combine 9 cities in the Pearl River Delta region of southern China into a yet-to-be-named mega city of about 42 million. Existing cities to be included in the project include several already major cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai) near Hong Kong. The region is the main manufacturing area of China and the nine cities combined contribute about 10% of China's economy.
The mega city will require huge infrastructure projects over the next 6 years to integrate transportation, energy, and telecommunications throughout the region which are predicted to cost 2 trillion yuan (U.S. $260 billion).

One goal of the project is to spread industry, jobs and public services more evenly across the region. Another is to regain competitive advantage from other growing urban areas around the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

The massive changes that have taken place in China over the past 30 years may be best illustrated by the growth of Chinese cities as huge numbers of Chinese migrants have moved to the cities from the countryside. In the late 1970s, China initiated an economic reform program, establishing special economic zones in different areas in order to attract investment and stimulate business. Several of the earliest special economic zones were located in the Pearl River Delta area. Since then, other major cities and surrounding regions have also experienced rapid economic growth and corresponding population increases from rural migration. It is estimated that by 2020, China will have several city zones with populations of 50 to 100 million in addition to even more "small" city areas with populations from 10 to 25 million.

While there is no avoiding the continuing urbanization trend in China since poor rural residents will keep seeking greater opportunity and fortune in the cities, hopefully Chinese government planners will consider the many consequences that will result. Some of these consequences will likely change the basic structure of Chinese society which has always been based on extremely close family connections. In modern urban environments, family ties tend to be looser and ironically, in many ways, people tend to become more isolated from each other. While change and growth are inevitable and often positive, its important to consider what might be lost in the process.
 


  • Author: David Moser
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