In the midst of a million significant events around the globe, today also marks the inaugural episode of Chinese Soundbites, a new weekly podcast about buzzwords in China. Amber and myself host the show. It’s a collaboration between ChinesePod and Shanghaiist, a massively popular blog about life and survival in Shanghai.
Of course, nothing is more buzzword-sy than Liu Xiang right now. In a bittersweet fashion, his pullout is the subject of this week’s show.
The 汉办/HanBan, China’s equivalent of the British Council responsible for promoting Chinese worldwide has teamed up with 湖南卫视/Hunan TV, China’s guru in reality show and LOL entertainment to produce a competition that selects college students with the most formidable knowledge of the Chinese language and culture.
The competition, known as 汉语桥/ hanyu qiao/ Chinese Bridge has been around for almost 10 years. But it was largely an academic event. This year however, 汉语桥 gos to the masses (of Chinese and foreigners hopefully). This year’s theme is flamboyantly vibrant ‘fervor with Olympics, fun with Chinese’. And judging by the clip, it does deliver.
Yes, fun with Chinese! A theme of ChinesePod from the beginning. In fact, we are working with the Hanban, having set up their online Confucius Institute. http://www.confuciusinstitute.net/ ,and consulting on promoting Chinese overseas.
I remember the head of the Hanban speaking of ‘soft promotion’ of Chinese where the language is presented as a vibrant part of culture and life. No longer are the learners confined to a classroom and dictionary, we experience Chinese, live, speak and play with it.
Fun with learning. Confucius would have been proud.
Despite the favourite Chinese number ’8′, 2008 was believed to be an unlucky year for marriage based on mystical but popular interpretation. But why are there still so many weddings? I’ve attended a handful in the past 2 months. And that’s taking a slight toll on my financial status.
Blame it on 红包/hong2 bao1, a red pocket containing good wishes in the form of cash. No major Chinese celebration is complete without it, be it New Year or weddings. And it’s not just symbolic money. We are talking about real damage, because in China, the purpose of 红包/hong bao is to help the newly weds cover the cost of the reception and hopefully make a few extra bucks. I’ve been giving around 300 or 500 RMB to my blissful friends. Note to avoid 400 because 4/si4 rhymes with 死/si4/death. After some asking around and googling, it seems that in China’s big 3 cities 300 or 500 is the standard amount. Oh, that’s for one guest. If you go as a couple, 600 to 800. But how much you give is a careful and elaborate calculation based on a few key measures:
1) How well you know the couple. Yes, you might get an invitation from friends who are equivalent to a facebook friend.
2) How important yuur relationship is, but more on the practical side. In blunt terms, what’s the ROI for me.
3) Your salary and financial status. The general rule is 红包 should make you look generous. And you are expected to put your name on the red pocket, which is extra pressure to give generously.
Judging by the above, Chinese weddings might almost seem profiteering, but I see the politics and intricasies of hongbao more to do with our cultural inclination than simply money. Face, no matter how overquoted and misused, underpins Chinese social interaction. It’s about doing the PROPER thing, not just superfacial fluff. Having said that, wedding hongbao does put quite a bit of a financial strain on people. But why are we still showering our friends with our good wishes in RMB? Because as long as we get married, we’ll get back what we gave. People will return the favor/回礼/hui2 li3, which is also essential to Chinese culture.
Ah, the cycle of life for hongbao.
ChinesePod lesson on wedding customs:
Podcast: chinesepod_C0516pb.mp3
In today’s ChinesePod lesson, we inserted a snippet of a Xinjiang song, 青春舞曲/qing1 chun 1 wu3 qu3/a Song for My Youth into the dialogue. The lesson has nothing to do with Xin Jiang, but it is about being young. Inciedntally, Xin Jiang folk music does make one feel very young and upbeat. The region has an incrediblly rich and vibrant cultural heritage heavily centered on music. But the Uighur/维吾尔/wei2 wu2 er3 tradition was largely unknown to the rest of China until the 50′s, when a musician from Beijng named Wang Luobing 王洛宾 went to Xinjiang and brought the beautiful music onto the national stage . He heard many folk songs from the locals and wrote Chinese lyrics for them to reflect the mezmerising culture and people of Xinjiang. Those beautiful tunes became massive hits all over China. His work also helped promote ethnic music, which is so diverse, rich and fresh. I’ll share more in future posts.
These clips are some of the most famous works popularised by Wang Luobin. They are reinterpreted by numerous singers from time to time. Most of these sweet melodies are about unrequited love. Music really has wonderful healing powers.