W+K Luan Dun Nov 2012

NO HIBERNATION

HEREAlthough our front cover – a Polar bear ready to go into hibernation – reminds us of the world slowing down

towards year end, China never ceases to stay chaotic, keeping our Luan Dun pot boiling.

This issue you will find stories from high school students and their take on the new English textbooks, Western men

and their experiences marrying Chinese wives, and new internet terms that have been making the waves on China’s

twittersphere - Weibo.

October and November were also “domestic movie protection months”, where foreign films’ screening dates are

pushed back so that domestic films can grow their box office. We’re curious to see what China has to offer during

these months, along with the newest in music as well as TV programs.

Han Meimei is a character from a highschool English textbook used in Chinese primary schools since the early 90s.

This character has a nostalgic place in the minds of many Chinese youth born in the 80’s, reminding them of what school life used to be like.

The education bureau recently announced that Han Meimei is going to reappear in the new edition of the textbook as an adult, exciting but also disappointing many.

HAN MEIMEI IS GETTING MARRIED In the previous edition, Han Meimei is a

student who befriended a boy named Li Lei. The new edition shows Han Meimei getting married, but sadly not to Li Lei. Li Lei on the other hand has grown up to be a teacher wearing glasses, marital status unknown.

Nostalgic post-80s complained about the new roles of these characters, becoming one of the hottest topic on Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) in this month.

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SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONOn a normal day in the hustling and bustling subway station in Beijing, passengers found themselves looking at the TV screen with 4 big characters “WANG PENG, F*** YOUR SISTER”. The screens were meant to display time of next arrival of the trains.

The metro authorities apologized to the public via its weibo account, saying it was a mistake made by one of its employees. This employee was sitting next to his colleague whose name is Wang Peng during a training program when he decided to play a prank on him by typing “Wang Peng, f**k your sister” into the system they were testing. He didn’t realize these characters would appear in every single screens in every subway stations across Beijing, creating much confusion amongst passengers.

CHINA SNAPSHOT

Image from Weibo.com

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ROMANCE IN THE SKY

Office romance has never been deemed as healthy, in fact most workplaces prohibit such idea or behavior.

But one company decided that it is, in fact, a good choice. Hainan Airlines recently launched a “Lovers Above the Sky” campus recruitment program, recommending student couples to apply for the job and work for the company together.

The airline believes couples working side by side could relieve the monotony in the working lives of airline crew.

Image from feiyoo.com

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STATUS MEANS CORRUPTION-FREE

Shanghai hosted its first International Debutante Ball early this year. Invitation to the high-society event is becoming the new status symbol in the city.

In the Shanghai Waldorf Astoria’s colonial-style ballroom, 13 ladies making their debut into high society, donning traditional white gowns and dripping with RMB 60 million (US$9.5

million) worth of jewelry and tiaras. 13 debutantes were aged between 16-25 coming from Great Britain, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, unfortunately there was

none from mainland China.

To qualify as a debutante, they must have a “good family background.” Good family background in today’s China means a family without any scandals, such as corruption. But this is no sweat to the eligible daughters of the Communist Party elite or “red princesses”, as they

have already been waltzeing at Le Bal des Débutantes, the annual Debutante Ball in Paris, for the past decade.

CHINA SNAPSHOT

Image from Shanghaidaily.com

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HAIRY CRABS GO DIGITALSeptember and October are the best months for the gourmet local delicacies: the hairy crabs. These crabs only are only bred in Yangcheng Lake, near Suzhou.

Hairy Crabs have become a premium delicacy, since they can only be enjoyed once a year for it’s roe. Because of high demand, many restaurants struggle from high competition and often sell fake hairy crabs (bred in other lakes) to attract customers.

In order to rise from the competition, one small local restaurant decided to go digital, by creating an app called “Eat Crabs for Free” that allows customers to make reservations for crabs and seats at lower prices, and win chances to eat crabs for free. Interesting to see local restaurants thinking innovatively, since many of the hairy crab restaurants only open once a year by local farmers.

CHINA SNAPSHOT

Image from appchina.com

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TRADITIONAL CHINESE CHARACTERS PLANTS VS ZOMBIES OPPA GANGNAM STYLE

CREATIVITY UNLEASHED

High school sports days in China are known to be uneventful, especially when classes make their way around the track during opening ceremonies (much like the Parade of the Nations during the Olympics.)

However, recent photos have been shared online showcasing creativity during these dull moments. Students, inspired by recent pop trends, began dressing up and parading through the tracks in costumes, becoming a contest in itself to see which class is the most ‘creative’. Entertaining and harmless, teachers seem to enjoy the show as much as the students.

CHINA SNAPSHOT

Images from Weibo.com

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BEWARE OF CONSEQUENCES

An online Weibo post titled “Foreigner complained - the consequences of getting a Chinese wife” received more than 3 million comments in one day.

The writer who posted the post interviewed several foreigners who married Chinese and described their complaints humorously—if you marry a Chinese wife, you are married to her entire family; no privacy at home; Chinese eat all living creatures, you know the rest.

Here are some of the more memorable quotes: “I like all the food they cook, as long as I’m not told what it is”, “my in-laws follow me everywhere in the house to turn off the lights I left on”, “carpet, remote and piano are all covered in plastic”

CHINA SNAPSHOT

Image from chinalovematch.net

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JIE CAO

The term “Jie Cao” means moral and principle. In normal conversations, the term is used to describe people with or without dignity.

無節操 [wu jie cao] means no dignity, or 節操掉了一地 [jie cao diao le yi di], means your dignity have fallen over the floor.

These terms are used to describe people who compromise their dignity or forgo their morals to pursue their desire, whether it makes sense or not.

It has recently become a popular term online used by netizens to ridicule people who behave oddly, for example the man in the picture.

節操CATCH PHRASE OF THE MONTH


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YUAN FANG, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

...

...

...

......




STOP ASKING ME THE SAME QUESTION EVERY TIME!



Yuan Fang is an escort to Detective Di in the TV series called Detective Di Renjie.

In each episode, Detective Di has a habit of turning to Yuan fang for his opinion before continuing to solve the case. He will ask, “Yuan Fang, what do you think?” but Yuan Fang does not respond.

The phrase has now become an online catch phrase to ask people of their opinions on the the latest news or events. For example: “Mo Yan just won the Nobel Prize and the government wants to reward him with a villa. Yuan Fang, what do you think?”


元芳，你怎麼看?

CATCH PHRASE OF THE MONTH


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WHITE DEER PLAIN白鹿原

White Deer Plain is a 2011 Chinese drama film directed by Wang Quan An and based on the novel of the same name. The film competed in competition for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, where Lutz Reitemeier won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for his photography. White Deer Plain tells the story of the grudges and disputes between three generations of two families in a village called Virtue Village that is localed in the middle of White Deer Plain.

The movie stars Zhang Yu Qi as the main actress, who is also the wife of the director Wang Quan An.

POP CHINA

MO

VIE

Images from Baidu.com

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DOUBLE XPOSURE 二次曝光

Double Xposure is a psychological thriller directed by Li Yu, and starring famous actress Fan Bing Bing. Double Xposure is the third movie the director and the actress have worked together.

Double Xposure follows a beauty consultant named Song Qi (Fan Bingbing) who inadvertently found her boyfriend Liu Dong (Feng Shaofeng) having an affair with her best friend Zhou Xiaoxi (Huo Siyan). Song decides to kill her friend Zhou, and the story continues to unravel from there.

POP CHINA

MO

VIE


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THE SLOVENLY BOY’S ADVENTURE邋遢大王奇遇記

The Slovenly Boy’s Adventure is a classic Chinese famous cartoon series aired on TV since 1985.

This year, the team behind the cartoon decided to re-launch it as a movie, exciting many who have grown up watching it.

In the movie, a dirty and sloppy drank a strange orange liquid and turned into a rat. He found himself in the kingdom of other rats, and the movie follows him through his adventurous and exciting journey inside underground kingdom of the rats.

POP CHINA

MO

VIE


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BEIJING YOUTH北京青年

Beijing Youth is a soap directed by Zhao Baogang.

The soap follows 4 native Beijing-ers, He Dong (Li Chen), He Xi (Ren Chong), He Nan (He Gang), He Bei (Du Chun) with different family background, and different ambitions overcoming life obstacles.

TV

SERIES

POP CHINA


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MU

SIC Artist: Zhang Xuan張懸Album: Games We PlayGenre: Indie

Chang’s new album Games We Play provides an insight into Zhang Xuan’s life experiences over the past three years.

This alblum is her fourth album, all written, composed and produce by Zhang Xuan herself. She is considered to be one of the leading alternative musicians in the Chinese music industry.

POP CHINAImages from Baidu.com

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MU

SIC

Artist: Brain Failure 腦濁Album: (Dare to be) tous les joursGenre: Punk

Brain Failure is a punk rock band from Beijing. The band is largely influenced by The Clash and Rancid. Their lyrical subject matter covers politics and personal politics.

They have toured with Dropkick Murphys, The Business, and The Unseen from Boston, Massachusetts. The band has also released a split EP with another Boston band, Big D And The Kids Table, in 2007.

This new album is Brain Failure’s second album.


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MU

SIC Artist: Wan Fang 万芳Album: Love, after all.Genre: Pop/Folk

Wanfang, also known as Wanfang Lin, is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer. She is renowned for her deep, mellow, and soft voice and best known for being the original theme singer of the Taiwanese movie C’est la Vie, Mon Chen.

Wan Fang said this new album is full of love, especially for the song Love, After All, which was written for a father. In addition to love as the main theme, this album also expresses the sentimentality of friendship and family relations.

POP CHINA


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MU

SIC Artist: Li Quan 李泉Album: The Genius and The DustGenre: Pop

Li Quan is back, with his new album named The Genius and The Dust.

No sentimental words, no high tide rolling phrases, not even an official album launch.He finished writing his album in Zurich. The new album have 12 songs perfect in workmanship.

“To be honest to the music,” this is what Li Quan said about his new album.


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MU

SIC

Artist: Shang Wen Jie 尚雯婕Album: Ode to the Doom.Genre: Electronic

Like her 2011 album, in which won her numerous awards, Shang composed and wrote the lyrics for all 15 new songs in the new album.

Shang Wen Jie brought subversive electronic rock and vocals into the album, becoming an odd but unique singer in Mainland China.

In her latest album, she wrote her own English lyrics and added a few French rap (she is a French major in college).

POP CHINA


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TV

SHO

W

POP CHINA

This past summer, something hotter than the weather came to Shanghai. That is the Voice of China.

The show soon became a cash cow for the organizer as the advertisement prices reached 1.16million RMB (0.18million USD) for 15 seconds. And the show has earned more than 100million RMB (16million USD) up to now in ad income only.

The season finale aired on Sunday, September 30, 2012 which took place at Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai. Liang Bo was named the winner.

THE VOICE OF CHINA 中国好声音


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WRITTEN BYCharinee ChairasmisakKate Lu

DESIGNED BYRicky Li

W+K Luan Dun Nov 2012

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Transcript of W+K Luan Dun Nov 2012