Jenny Zhu

Three of my friends are getting married on the same day next month. I would have loved to wedding hop (albeit sounding a bit unseemly), but they happen to be in three different parts of the world. But they do have one thing in common: they are all Chinese. This happy clash of weddings are especially prominent in Chinese culture. A […]

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In this week’s Chinese Soundbites, Amber and I reveal some election vocab. While the media coverage is drowning many of you in the States, why not take a mini detour and see it in a Chinese light?
I’m asked asked how the Chinese see the US election. I’d say first of all, the general public gives […]

I received a gift from the Shanghai government yesterday. A small plastic spoon designed to help moderate people’s salt intake for health benefits. The spoon holds 2 grams of salt. On the package it advises that 3 spoons of salt a day keeps the doctors away. (well, not the second part). So now every Shanghai […]

While conspiracy theorists spin up claims like Liu Xiang is bought by betting agencies,  most people’s hearts go wholeheartedly to him. Commercials featuring Liu Xiang shifted gear from the full on cheer campaign to another kind of 加油 to give Liu Xiang moral support.
Why is Liu Xiang such a huge deal to us? (I love this guy!!!) Well, not only because of his winning performance, […]

Honor used to be the primary drive for athletes in China. Of course there were material benefits such as housing and slightly higher salaries. But glorifying the motherland was the key motivation for sports professionals.
How things have changed. Now, Chinese Olympic gold medalists are rewarded gold, literally. A gold medalist will receive at least RMB3 […]

What’s the buzz at the Olympics? For millions of China’s avid internet users, it’s the search for hot athletes. While most of us find the 204 countries entering the stadium a tad bit long, many have also put the images into good use: comparing which country’s flag bearer is the hottest and try to identify good looking athletes from different delegations.
This detective work is China’s big internet phenomenon, […]

After much procrastination, I’ve finally put my HD camcorder ( image still a bit blurry though) and very amateur editing skills into use. In the second episode of Jenny’s China, we look at the triumph, excitement, competition, and hassle that make up the full Olympic experience.  
  

   
Besides team China and President Hu Jintao, I think Vladimir Putin and Kobe Bryant got the loudest cheer from the audience at yesterday’s opening ceremony. What a great illustration of China’s past and present. (the crowds went out for North Korea too)

 
How to promote the Chinese language? By setting up a cultural corner in the Olympic village where volunteers teach athletes 你好 or making delegations enter the stadium not in alphabetical order, but according to the order of the simplified Chinese characters. The organisers announced this yesterday. I’m not exactly sure what it means. But I assume it refers […]

 
Fully aware this is an incredibly one-sided argument, I dare to say that a key reason is they charge for food and drinks. While this has become a standard practice for airlines in North America and Europe, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of Chinese passengers. 礼/li3 or hospitality is a cornerstone of our culture. That’s […]