So last week's mentioning of the Chinese Crossbow was not accidental, but a preview of what's to come. For the reward challenge, the contestants have to use a crossbow to shoot arrows at the names of the contestants to determine who is the winner and the winner and two pals get to go to the GREAT WALL!

THE GREAT WALL!!!


(Image from Wikipedia.)

Almost as awesome a reward as going to the Shaolin Temple, but not quite. I find it funny that Denise and Todd and Courtney almost seem to have no idea about what to do with all the food put in front of them and that large pot of boiling water. Never have hot-pot before? Fondue?

As for the immunity challenge... Yawn! It's just a rehash of a few of the challenges from previous episodes. Balut again? It's not as shocking the second time you see it.

Spoiler: While PG has never been a favorite player of mine, it's a little sad to see her go, because while she is pretty much the outsider throughout all the episodes, she does last this long and keeps up a good fight until the very end.

In response to our latest Survivor China Watch entry, blog reader "Allergic to Eggs" asked, "So were the wheelbarrow and crossbow invented in China???????"

They are indeed. The Chinese have definitely invented the crossbows and wheelbarrows on their own, if not the first in world history. Ancient text including Sunzi's Art of War that came out out around 6th Century BCE already devoted long chapter on the use of such weapons in time of battles.

A cool site for discussion on ancient Chinese weapons and other history topics is ChineseHistoryForum, for those of you who love free content and don't want to buy books. It's better than anything on the History Channel.

ps. We love blog comments. Give us some comment love today!

Awwwww. For the reward challenge last night, the show brings out a family member for each of the contestants to help them navigate a maze blindfolded. I must admit I get misty-eyed when I see the family members connect. It's fitting for a show taking place in China to feature something that deals with family relations, for it is well known that the idea of a family is very important in Chinese culture.

And what is the reward? Just a little boat ride with their family members. I guess when you can't top a trip to Shaolin Temple, the show just don't even bother.

The immunity challenge seems to be the most exciting yet. The contestants were roped to an obstacle course and physical exertion aside, they had to know some Chinese culture and history. Each time the contestants are faced with two choices and they have to decide whether the Chinese invented it or not. The choices include crossbows, wheelbarrows, fortune cookies, etc, etc. Todd who had been leading the game stumbled on his last pair of choices: Chinese Checkers or gunpowder. Sigh, Todd, how can you not know gunpowder is invented by the Chinese. PG came up from behind and took the win. See, being born Chinese and presumably knowing all these Chinese trivia does give PG a leg up over the other contestants.

For the unenlightened, the Chinese Checkers was invented in Germany, based on a game called Halma. (Okay, I just looked it up. I had no idea where Chinese Checkers came from either, but I definitely know the Chinese invented gunpowder.)

Survivor was off the air for one week because of Thanksgiving, and it already felt like such a distant memory. I'm like "What's the name of that lunch lady again?" However, it more than makes up for the long wait when they show Shaolin Temple as the destination for the reward challenge. SHAOLIN TEMPLE!

But first, the contestants have to sit through a quiz that tests them on Chinese culture to determine who shall be so lucky. Here are the questions for those of you who missed the show and don't bother to watch it:

1. T/F? China is credited with the invention of abacus.
2. Which animal doesn't belong to the Chinese zodiac?
3. T/F? 99% of giant panda's diet is bamboo.
4. Which city is the capital of China?
5. In Chinese culture, what do you get when you receive a red packet? (The answer is money, but I like one of the wrong answers they give: a military draft.)

Anyone who has read any intro to Chinese culture book would have got the last question right, but apparently no one did read up on anything before they go to China, which benefited PG, who's born Chinese and has received red packets all her life, to win the reward challenge.

Shaolin Temple (wiki). A 1,500-year-old establishment, Shaolin Temple is one of the most significant Buddhist temples in China, and specially famous for its martial arts emphasis, made even more alluring and fantastic in the countless martial arts movies and novels. There's a common saying in China that says every single style of martial arts ALL originate from Shaolin. And the demonstration they show on TV rocks! OMG, did you see that monk breaking a metal tube on his forehead? This is the best reward challenge ever!

Breathtaking view, isn't it? The winning team of the reward challenge (a pretty lame game bouncing balls over "Chinese" drums across distance) gets to take a cruise down the Li River (漓江), around Guilin (桂林) in Guangxi province. Way better than going to an authentic ancient village on any given day. There has always been a saying that says Guilin is the most beautiful place in all of China. The area boasts of many unbelievable sights what with its many hills and caves and strange geological formations unseen anywhere else in the world (SnapChina.net: Photos of Attractions around Guilin). While CBS only show you a little glimpse of this amazing place, it does go out of the way to arrange for a nice treat this time, because Guilin is a couple provinces away from where they're filming, one or two hours on plane, I'll say.

The immunity challenge is a memory game that uses the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, which the show has already used for a previous episode. Recycling materials two episodes in a row, it's clear that the designers have totally run out of ideas to copy any more "Chinese" motifs.

Wow! The opening shot of the Great Wall had me excited for a little bit; I thought this is going to be the episode when the contestants go to the Great Wall, but too bad, they didn't. As pretty as Zhelin Lake is, it's getting a little old. Oh well, at least the winning team of the reward challenge gets to spend some time at an "authentic" "thousand-year-old" village, which there are still a few that exist in China, but are all in danger of being lost to the passage of time and economic development. (See this nice China Heritage Project article on the topic: Reconciling Tourism and Conservation: The Case of Historic Towns.)

Funny how they spent the whole show trying to show how desperate JR try to figure out where the hidden immunity idols are, that he thinks he is the only one smart enough to figure out the clues while in real life the idols are already taken, and he latches onto the fake gate emblems. Where was he at the last tribal council? Didn't he see Jeff threw the fake idol into the fire when Jaime tried to use it? And James is actually quite close getting the boot this time, which goes to show that it doesn't matter how many immunity idols he has if he doesn't know when to use it.

For the immunity challenge, the show is recycling the dragon dance symbol. Think they have run out of "Chinese" ideas already? One develops a sudden urge to run for the bathroom when watching this challenge. :)

ps. "Hae Da Fung" as they spell it on the show is not proper Mandarin. It's pinyin spelled via Cantonese, no doubt thanks to input from PG, whom was born in Hong Kong. The correct spelling: Hei Da Feng.

It's going to be a short take this time.

So the two tribes merge and they have to give themselves a new name and the name they come up with is Black Fighting Wind?! 黑打风 (Hei Da Feng)?! What type of name is THAT? And I thought Zhan Hu and Fei Long are bad enough. The new name is actually grammatically incorrect. Surely you get black + fighting + wind from a literal translation of the term word by word, but a meaningful translation would be Black Storm Brewing. I think Black Storm itself will be sufficient, but who knows, I'm not in the tribe. (A famous character's nickname in The Water Margins happens to be 黑旋风 (Black Tornado). Now that's a great name.)

The new tribe is treated to a feast and a cultural performance, which would have been great, if the show does not only show so little of it, just enough to clue us in for the quiz challenge later on. (One thing they get culturally correct is the contestants drink wine with big bowls. Traditionally. That's why Chinese get drunk so fast.) If you haven't seen enough of the amazing acrobatic performances, we just happen to carry DVDs that will be a feast for your eyes.

Here for bonus, we have found some Chinese acrobats video on Youtube:

By the way, the new immunity necklace made up of ancient Chinese coins looks horrible. I miss the charm of the old terracotta warrior immunity idol.

Finally, Confucius makes an appearance in Survivor: China. It's about time. You cannot have a show that takes place in China without ever mentioning Confucius; Confucius is only about the most important philosopher in all of Chinese history. The episode starts with a reward challenge to unscramble some wooden planks to uncover one of his famous quotations: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (千里之行始于足下)." That's good, educational, etc, *IF* THE QUOTE HAD ACTUALLY COME FROM CONFUCIUS. No, it's actually a saying from Lao-zi (or Lao-tzu), recorded in Daode Jing. But I guess it's too much to ask for an one-hour prime-time entertainment show to explain who Lao-zi is and that there is another major school of thought called Daoism in China.

Besides, it has to save time to show Jean Robert salivating over Amanda and Courtney sharing a bath tub or James taking a shower in the nude when Fei Long got sent to a tea house for some R&R for winning the reward challenge. I don't know what type of tea house it is, but people in China generally don't go to tea houses to take bath (there's another type of establishment for that). Tea house as an institution in China is not unlike coffee houses in the West in the old days. Literati and common people will go to the tea houses to hear storytellers tell tales, which eventually led to the writing of such serialized novels such as Journey to the West and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.


As for the immunity challenge, well, this is the episode when contestants have to eat "traditional Chinese delicacies"! Here's my quick gag reflex reaction (Warning! May ruin your appetite!):

1. Chicken hearts: They are tasty! A bit mushy, compared to say, chicken kidneys, but hey, they're just like foie gras.
2. Eels: There's nothing disgusting about eels. It's seafood, and quite expensive at that! Though it can be quite fishy, and full of small bones (seemed to be deboned already for filming), and maybe too tender to the American tongue (like you will feel that it is still alive when eating it). It *is* a delicacy in China.
3. Baby turtles: Okay, I have NOT eaten them, and I don't plan to. EVER. I know their shells are soft when turtles are young, but still, GROSS! They're babies. Who can be so heartless to eat them? I don't know where in China does this "delicacy" originate from.
4. Chicken fetuses: Okay, the show just makes it sound really gross by calling them chicken fetuses; they are actually just partially hatched eggs. (Apparently there is a name for it, it's called a balut in the Philippines. The Chinese name is 毛蛋 (feathered egg).) Not that I have ever eaten one, I would have thrown up on this too, but I remember when I was young and when not all eggs are sterilized, sometimes you will see such an egg and you just throw it away. On second thought, aren't all eggs technically chicken fetuses? Something for you to think about the next time you order omelet for breakfast.
5. Thousand-year eggs: Now these are VERY COMMON in China and they are the yummiest preserved things ever!!! I love them. Thousand-year eggs, or known as pidan(皮蛋), are delicious; they are just pickled duck eggs and only 100-day olds. They taste like a jello-like hard-boiled eggs, and they are awesome with rice porridge. You can get 皮蛋瘦肉粥 (jook with pidan and lean meat) at almost any Chinatown eateries. I bet you will like it too if you'll just try it. (BTW, here's a recipe.)

I think it is true that Chinese eat many things that can be quite unappetizing to unacquired taste. There's a saying that goes like Chinese (especially Cantonese) will eat anything with four legs except a chair, anything in the water except a boat and anything that flies except an airplane. There is even a special name, wild flavors (野味), for all the exotic animals they eat, endangered or not. But the reasons for such development are plenty. (1) When you have a culinary history as long as China's, the people are bound to have eaten more variety of things and developed the ways to cook them. (2) In the past, most people's diet actually are actually not too heavily meat-based because of poverty and limited supply of animals. Therefore, when they do slaughter an animal, they will eat up any body parts so as not to waste anything. (3) The exotic food are eaten for their medicinal purpose, not as a daily stable of common food. (Here's an excellent article about Chinese and Exotic Foods written from the perspective of an American who has spent a few years in Taiwan.)

CBS' Survivor series is already in its 15th season, and China finally manages to put together a knock-off version of the show. It's called Conquer, but no matter what you call it it is still a fake. Everything in the original is here in the Chinese version: the remote island, annoying contestants, a dour host, and the whole tribal council thing. Here's a clip of the first episode from China's video-sharing site:



Doesn't it look very familiar?

Composer of the Survivor: China theme music Russ Landau shows off a video of his journey to China to create this theme music. I'm actually surprised by how many stops he has made. He also ventured deep into some ethnic minority regions and learn about their different music as well.

Episode 5 is the best episode of Survivor: China yet. Everyone's plan is bubbling to the surface. Some people are shown to be more devious than they have led you on so far. Then comes the tribe member switch. More than a few contestants' carefully laid out plans are sidetracked and people are upset (*cough* Jean Robert *cough*). New team dynamics are forming. PG is especially shown a new depth as she rallies for voting out the Fei Long members that got switched into the Zhan Hu tribe. [SPOILER] Aaron is voted out this episode, and there is nothing James can do to prevent him from being voted out next week (unless he can turn Eric and Jamie against PG in time, but he doesn't seem to have the social skill for it). [END SPOILER] Ingenious. This is how the game should be played.

Now, onto the Chinese characteristics.

Episode starts off with an Awwwww! Panda taking a nap on tree branches! Soooo cute! shot. 1 point for showing peole giant pandas can climb trees (like normal bears); still no points for randomly showing giant pandas out of their habitat.

Hey, why give the contestants red wine and white wines with their food baskets. Why don't give them some Chinese wine? The Chinese has been making wine for 4,000 years. In fact, the word for wine in Chinese has its own radical (meaning the word itself is very very old and important). Just give them some Chinese bai jiu, the show will go into unsuitable-for-primetime and cable territory in no time.

And there is only one elimination challenge this episode. When they first show the underwater cage with all the discs lodged with sticks inside I am like WHAT IS THAT ENTRAPTION? DO THEY BUILD SOMETHING FOR CHINESE WATER TORTURE (wiki)? (Sorry, can't help.)

Turns out the contestants only have to take out the discs with Chinese zodiac animals and ba gua signs and then fit them onto a table with matching pegs and slots. Hm... even children can do it. I'm sure all of you know about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac already. But you may not know about the ba gua signs: those dotted and straight lines of the discs.



They come all the way from one of the oldest books in China in history: the I Ching. From it comes the idea of yin and yang, the idea of change is constant, and that the possibilities from the combination of yinyang is unlimited. The I Ching provides a foundation for Daoism, and in some way a foundation for all of Chinese culture. (It is said that the I Ching has also served as a blue print for modern computers, because computers, no matter how fancy they are and how they always know when to break down at the most unfortunate moments, only operate with binary values 0 and 1 after all.) Numerologists over the ages have tried to predict future events through the application of I Ching, much like how they try to crack the code for the Bible.

From preview of the next episode: Finally the episode every one is waiting for: when contestants have to eat mysterious Chinese things. Ewww! Gross! Get your sick bags ready. I will be watching closely to see what go in and what come out from their mouths.

Episode 4 starts off with a shot of not just one, but three, THREE, giant pandas frolicking! In fact, this episode has more animal shots than usual. The monkey makes its return. There is also a water buffalo, which actually likes water and wetlands and that's why the Chinese have been putting them to work on the paddy fields for ages. (It looks different from an American buffalo because, well, American buffalo is not actually a buffalo (Wiki).) And beetles. And snakes. But the best animal shot is definitely the one when they show a mantis catching and feeding on another insect (cricket?). That immediately brings to mind the Chinese fable about the mantis and the cicada and the sparrow 螳螂捕蝉黄雀在后: a mantis preys after a cicada, but it is totally unaware that it itself is the prey of a sparrow. Timely lesson to be had for all the contestants busily scheming after one another.


Fight breaks out in the Zhan Hu tribe over moldy rice. I don't even know that rice can get moldy; they must have left the rice completely drenched. As a life-long bachelor, I've seen plenty of moldy food in my pad before, but I've yet to see my rice get moldy. Uncooked rice has amazing water-absorbing properties. You can actually try to save your electronic gadgets that got wet by placing them on a bed of rice and let them sit overnight(s).

Finally, a challenge that shows off a major Chinese invention: fireworks! Rumor has it firework was accidentally invented when a cook mixed up all the ingredients into a bamboo tube by mistake and colorful sparks came flying out, but I think it's a natural progression after gunpowder (or fire powder as they call it in China) was invented. Gunpowder was in turn an accidental invention as ancient alchemists tried to create elixirs of eternal life, a futile effort since the time of Qin Shihuang. China today is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world.

The fireworks is cool. But calling those two big log "chopsticks"? Eh, okay.

For winning the reward challenge, the Fei Long tribe got fed by a fisherman's family who came to prepare a meal for them. Now, that's authentic Chinese. Denise calling the food "delicatest"; can't argue with that. The fisherman also shows them how to use trained cormorants to fish. Hope PETA isn't watching. Cormorant fishing is practiced in many places in China, but it is supposedly a highlight for tourists around Guilin (a very famous touristy spot in China for its breathtaking scenery). But I remember seeing somewhere that says cormorant fishing is a dying art. Just Youtube or Google cormorant fishing for more information.


Wow, Jean Robert speaks Mandarin!!! And pretty good at that. Where does that come from? There has been no mention of any contestants speaking Mandarin before. I have to reconsider my office pool.

For the elimination challenge, the contestants are decked in "traditonal" "Chinese" "armor". Okay, here, a quick glance of all the traditional Chinese armors through the dynasties:


http://www.gf81.com.cn/35/images/073p1d.jpg

Nope, didn't see what they're showing on the show at all. As I said last time, the armors look like they are recycled from 300. I think the major offense is with the helmets. Traditional Chinese armors emphase on the mobility and weight; putting on a heavy helmet just won't work. Maybe there are experts in the house to enlighten us. On the other hand, the meteor hammers and the challenge itself is pretty cool. In the old days, the meteor hammers will actually be lit on fire and thrown over enemy's walls and gates trying to start a fire. Pity all those porcelains have to be broken. They look pretty. Porcelain was also first invented in China, and became widely popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and that's why they are called chinas in common English usage. But you regular China Books patrons must already know it.

See you after next show.

(As usual, you can catch up with Survivor: China on CBS' website.)

Holy crab! Who would have guessed that a tiny crustacean almost started a fight in the Fei Long tribe. Even James, who had been shown quite quiet before tonight's episode, came out of his shell and became quite vocal. (All puns intended.) Hunger does funny things to people.

Courtney has the right idea to throw the crab into the rice to make a stew (which would become what is called jook (粥), or rice porridge, in China) so everyone can share it. (Remember our turkey jook recipe?) I remember watching Sara Moulton on Food Network once said that the wisdom of Chinese people (I think is more about the poverty) has allowed them to stretch the proteins with many people by breaking up meat into bits and pieces and making stir-fry and stews out of limited supply of meat.


The reward challenge has the two teams trying to throw the other team off a floating platform. Oh my, Dave stripping down to his birthday suit is so unnecessary. They are really showing a lot of skin this season. Anyway, Zhan Hu finally wins a challenge and get some embroidered silk pillows among other comfort items. Silk pillows are fine and delicate items in Chinese bedrooms, not sure how well they hold up in the rain.

And for the elimination challenge, the teams have to break down a wooden block and cut the rope and put some wooden discs in the shape of ancient Chinese coins in order to solve a puzzle. Not much to pick on here.

By the way, I don't see any panda shots this episode. Bring back the "Chinese characteristics"!!! [Sarcasm.]

Reaction from watching next episode's preview: (1) Yay, fireworks! I can finally use the phrase the Chinese invented it. (2) What are they wearing? The armors look totally Roman or Spartan. I thought it was the commercial for 300.

If just by watching Survivor: China, CBS would have you believe that giant pandas exist everywhere. Every time the camera moves around, there is a giant panda sitting there all ready to be filmed. That's totally not the case. There are currently only 1,600 giants pandas living in the wild, and most of them are found in the province of Sichuan. See the following map from WWF China. Notice how the panda habitats get aggressively smaller over the centuries.



If indeed you happen to come into a close encounter with a giant panda, you (1) have most likely entered some protected area illegally, and (2) may want to stay away, because giant pandas are bears after all. Despite their cuddly and awfully cute appearance, they can post harm to you.

You know what I feel about Survivor: China (probably more than you wanted to know), but do you want to know what are the Chinese people in China watching the show think about? Here's one sample thread from a Chinese discussion forum, my translation. [My words in square brackets.]

"Questions that arise 3 minutes after watching Survivor: China" [the first episode]

1. Why don't they transport the contestants to the destination with a big comfy coach bus? Using an old beat-up truck that's as historic as our 5,000-year-old country? That's too much Chinese characteristics! Ha ha! All the laowai who have never been to China will now think that we are still stuck in the Cultural Revolution era.
2. It's Chinese characteristics!
3. Does anyone know the ratings for the first episode? With a mysterious Oriental country set as the background, it should attract some eye-balls?
4. The show is called Survivor. The people are not here on vacation. Do you expect to win a million bucks without even suffering a little bit? And whatever they show you on tv may not be real anyway. They may have only traveled on the truck for a very short distance, just enough for the filming.

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