Jenny Zhu

 
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 […]

I’ve picked up a new word and a new lifestyle (or at least an eating habit) in July: pescatarian. During a recent lunch with a friend who has also swore off meat (for life though), he was admittedly very proud of his choice and action. ‘Meat is the centerpiece of the meal. To pull off […]

Among the many closely guarded secrets at the Beijing Olympics, theme song is at the very top of the secret list. 5 songs stood out from more than 10,000 submissions to be shortlisted.
Olympic theme songs tend to be ostentatiously majestic. My favourite out of the 5 though is a refreshing tune that evokes folk songs of old Beijing. It’s called 北京欢迎您/Bei3 jing1huan1 ying2 […]

 
 
These photos feature some of the most iconic places in China. However, what catches most people’s eyes is the naked man doing push ups. How scandalous! The naked man is a TV host from Guangdong. He claims that the series of naked photos display his pride of China and his body. 
You can probably figure out that such brave actions would scandalise China. But interestingly the focus is not […]

红楼梦/Hong Lou Meng or Dream of the Red Chamber, a classical novel widely regarded as one of the finest literary piece in Chinese history is being adapted into a TV series once again.
The first version was produced 20 years ago by CCTV, China’s state media. The excessively powdered faces and vibrant colour scheme are a tell-tale sign of the 80’s. 

 
Nonethelss, it was an […]

Nothing displays the extreme wealth, hype and excess in China better than the price tag of the Olympics opening ceremony.  On ganji.com, the hottest cyber market for trading Olympics tickets, several sellers have the neck to charge 100,000 RMB for a ticket originally priced at 5,000, the highest of the opening ceremony. This is extreme and […]

Clay (ChinesePod’s product manager, once a minor league baseball player) once asked me which sport was more popular in China: basketball or soccer. It’s a question that you can never find a precise answer to. But very timely are the 2008 NBA finals and Euro 2008, both broadcast live in China, and have a firm […]

Organisers of the 2008 Games recently announced a standard, four-part Olympic Cheer. It is a series of hand motions and slogans that’s being promoted as THE way to cheer. See the video clip and illustration for reference. This doesn’t mean spectators’ can’t cheer in their own ways, but the authorities hope to rally a uniform, powerful and 文明/wen2 ming2/’civilised’ audience to showcase China’s image to […]

Anxious parents stand outside the school to give kids moral support
Besides Chinese New Year, the only occasion that China stops for is 高考/gao1 kao3/university entrance exam. Every year, from the 7th to the 9th of June, the entire nation switches into exam mode with millions of teenagers. This year, a staggering 11 million students […]