Jenny Zhu

The Chinese believes that the most ethereal beauties are often found in the most remote places where the pristine environment nurtures the body and soul. Far from being an ethereal being, I however fully took in the benefits of good air, clear water and rolling hills covered by cedar and pine trees in Canada.

I spent a good couple of days in the valleys of British Columbia where little towns were almost like a movie set complete with modern amenities. It was utterly different from the mountain regions in China where living condition tends to be a lot more ‘rudimentary’. Driving across the region, I was stunned by the sheer volume of trees, mountains and lakes. And there were so many stars scattered across the sky that they almost seemed chaotic.

Of course, I couldn’t miss a trip to the sacred land of Canada: the Hockey Hall of Fame where the meaning of the sport became alive for me. I bought a special champion’s edition puck of the Detroit Red Wings. Why don’t we have a table tennis hall of fame in China?

Qingdao/青岛, a beautiful coastal city in North China which is hosting the Olympic sailing events is gearing up every effort to clean up a horrific outbreak of algae. A month away from the Olympics, this really is the worst nightmare come true. The bright green algae extends several hundred meters along the coastline.

According to experts, the algae came from the central region of the Yellow Sea and has no affect on the water quality of the sea off the Qingdao coast. But one look at the algae makes one pretty skeptical. The city says it will clean up the algae in 2 weeks and it won’t have any impact on the sailing events. 

The public was badly shaken when Taihu/太湖, China’s third largest lake was plagued by blue algea 2 years ago. Tens of million’s people’s drinking water was contaminated. I remember it being the first environmental consequence that hit home in a large scale, triggering public panic, awareness and government actions.  Just today, I read in the paper that local governments are teaming up with EU and UN to draft green plans.

In a time of Olympic euphoria, we receive a sobering wake up call from mother nature. 

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 ambitious and successful undertaking that took almost 5 years to complete. Actors underwent intensive classic literature and cultural boot camp in order to bring out the essence of the novel. 

Hong Lou Meng has captured the public imagination ever since 曹雪芹/Cao xueqin wrote it 300 years ago. So the new production has some big shoes to fill. Not only are people looking for representation of the literary masterpiece, but also comparing it with the first TV adaptation. This explains why the entire casting process took the form of a talent show for the masses to watch and vote. The show was a rating’s champion, although many of the actors chosen were finally vetoed by the director (publicity stunt?). In fact,  the casting process turned out to rival the intrigue and plot portrayed in the book. 

Here is the picture of the 2 leading characters: 宝玉/Bao Yu and 黛玉/Dai Yu. Both actors are unknown new comers who will play the characters in teenage. The public is already making noise about them and their styling, deeming it to be too Peking opera-ish. But I like the poetic aesthetics. 

ChinesePod’s lesson on Hong Lou Meng

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 might even be a publicity stunt more than anything else, but in general, the tickets resold on the market go for 10 times the original value.  The organisers have regulated against exorbitant profiteering through measures like ID check for ticket buyers and only one resell is allowed at no more than twice the price, but rules are often hardly more than a mere guide line for behaviors.  As China is fast becoming the world’s largest market for luxury products where million-dollar Maybachs sell like hotcakes, the outlandishly rich might just drop 100,000 RMB on the game of a life time.

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 and fast growing fan base. Typing in 2008 NBA 决赛/jue2 sai4/final on google.cn, you get just over a million results. 2008 欧洲杯/ou1 zhou1 bei1/ Euro Cup returned an astounding result of close to 7 million.

Soccer does seem to have a wider appeal across generations, enthusing grandpas and primary school boys. Chinese TV stations broadcast live games of the 4 major European leagues every week. And the government sanctioned soccer lottery also includes betting on those games. Basketball, or shall we say the NBA by comparison has most of its fans in young Chinese, although middle aged men such as my dad enjoy a good game too. Yao Ming still draw weighty attention, but we get equally hyped up if not more by Kobe or Lebron.

Many would attest that watching the NBA and Euro Cup are worth skipping school or work for. Or staying up late for a Euro Cup match is like partying to 3 in the morning on a Friday night. So in some ways, one benefit of the Beijing Olympics is that we can finally see a topnotch game in a civilised hour.

With the recent rise of anti-Western populism, soccer and basketball seem to be the only 2 safe territories where one can declare unambiguous love for the West. A good game is a good game.

Cpod’s lesson on basketball

Cpod’s lesson on soccer

While I am taking in all the benefits of nature in Canada, I seem to be missing a lot of fun in China. A few days ago, 1,200 bikini clad girls gathered in Guangzhou and stood in the shape of Olympic circles to celebrate the summer games. The spectacle set a new Guinness record.

China has a penchant for organizing mass actions to break the Guinness record. We hold the world record for the biggest moon cake ever made, the most people eating hotpot at the same time, etc. And now we have the biggest gathering of bikini girls. We’ve come a long way.

First of all, thank you all the Canadian poddies for your welcome messages. Despite a 15-hour jetlag, I am enjoying Vancouver tremendously.

So far, I’ve been enchanted by the pristine blue sky and cotton candy like clouds. It’s like what you see in the opening credits of the Simpsons. If you ever see someone sky watching with morbid fascination, that’s probably me.

I am living with a friend in the suburbs. We\ve been driving around to the city and along the way, there’s a lot of modest looking shops and restaurants, which look quite run down. But once you step in, great adventure begings. You find authentic food from different parts of the world and unique local produce. A stark contrast with the excessively promising exterior of shops in China, the substance of which often leaves you in disappointment.

And lastly, I\ve finally had a taste of suburban horror. Gotta run now.Till next time, take care!

I recently came cross an article about how an average Chinese perceives Canada:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080605.wolympics-survey06/BNStory/International/home

The finding is that most see it as a ‘quiet’, ‘friendly’ place suited for immigration and retirement. But overall, Canada has a bland and even dull image in China.   

However, Canada is home to two beloved foreigners in China. Norman Bethune, or 白求恩/bai2 qiu2 en1, a surgeon who came to China and helped to treat wounded Communist troops in the 1930’s. And 大山/Dashan ( Mark Rowswell), who has a daunting command of Chinese and was the first ’sinophile’ known to the general public.

Most Chinese don’t know the down to earth, even self-deprecating attitude of Canadians. Nor do we get the sacred popularity of hockey.  

All these I shall experience when I leave for Canada today. A much anticipated trip.        

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 the world.

This might seem ridiculous. And many of us in China think it is. But China is used to such ‘engineering’. Much like the idea of making peasants into Frenchmen in Post Revolution France, the authorities have always been concerned with the issue of 文明/wen2 ming2/’civilised’ or ‘proper conduct’ in post 1949 China. And there is indeed a lot of 不文明/improper conduct around. Spitting, littering and flamboyantly speaking on the phone in cinema are starters. The Shanghai government even has a七不/qi1 bu4/seven don’ts for its residents. Amongst them are ‘don’t spit’ and ‘don’t litter’.

You can imagine how the organisers feel about those entrenched behaviours during the Olympics. Therefore, a national ‘be a civilised spectator’ campaign/文明观众/wen2 ming2 guan1 zhong4/ was launched. It features basic rules like ’switch off phone during the match’ to specific rules of the sports and how to watch and cheer appropriately. 

How do people respond to the authoritarian ‘do’s and don’ts’? Well, for a people so accustomed to and almost immune to rules and regulations, we take whatever we deem to be useful or make sense and shrug off the rest. This is how a lot of poeple feel about the official cheer: the idea is a bit absurd, but the actual practice is fun and energising. Besides, when you are immersed in the collective hype, why not?

But of course uniform action and thinking conjure up rather negative associations in the rest of the world. A subtlety which we’ve yet to learn to handle. The slogan of the Beijing Games is ‘one world, one dream’/同一个世界，同一个梦想/tong2 yi1 ge4 shi4 jie4, tong2 yi1 ge4 meng4 xiang3, which resonates with the talk of harmony, a theme of this administration. But I guess what would be even more valuable is the recognition and respect for ‘one world, different dreams’, 同一个世界，不同的梦想／tong2 yi1 ge4 shi4 jie4, bu4 tong2 de meng4 xiang3.

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 are competing for their place at university.

Gaokao is not only crucial for the students. It has a very special place in the collective Chinese psyche.

• A lot of us have personally exprienced or will experience the test of one’s life. Eventhough there are more diverse pathways in life, many still see gaokao as the deal maker or breaker, which touches on a deeper issue–
• –exams have special and deep-rooted significance in China. The standardised exam system dates back 1400 years. Throughout history, it was used to select court officials, and was the most meritocratic and fair system in China. It could catapult someone from humble beginnings to power and fortune. The same can be said for gaokao. That’s why the stakes are so high for most students and parents. The future of your life hangs on the exam. The pressure is so overwhelming that many high school students get gray hair as in the case of my 2 cousins. But it gradually went back to black when gaokao was over.

I’ll write about how the nation stops in tomorrow’s post. Meanwhile, all the very best to the students, especially those in Sichuan.

ChinesePod’s upper intermediate lesson on universities in China

newbie lesson on university majors