http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php Bringing you the latest news about Chinese Learning, Culture and Society en-us Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:22:11 PST Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:22:11 PST http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=802 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=802 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:22:11 PST Once again as we do every year, we bring you videos of Hong Kong's Chinese New Year Fireworks Show, because it is simply just awesome. And no other cities in China quite splurge like Hong Kong yet. Some 23,888 fireworks were set off in an epic 23-minute program. Enjoy! And Happy New Year! Continue for part 2 and 3. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=801 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=801 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:23:25 PST This is Jeremy Lin, star and captain of Harvard's basketball team and a Bay Area native. He is one of the very rare Asian-American players in the sport of basketball at the college level and has been gaining national recognition. NPR has just run an interview with him. If you don't think racial discrimination still exist, please read: MARTIN: And forgive me, because this cant be, you know, the most fun thing to talk about. I understand that your ethnicity is noticed by some spectators. I am told that you actually still get slurs on the court. What do the people say? Mr. LIN: Yeah. I mean, I get Asian jokes and, you know, when other fans try to heckle us, I dont really hear from other players very much. That was more of the case when I was in high school, but in college its mostly just the fans and they say just stuff about, you know, stereotypical jokes in terms of go play the orchestra or yell out beef and broccoli or sweet and sour chicken. And they call me sometimes, I heard Chinese import, go back to China, slanty eyes, can you see the scoreboard. So pretty much everything you can think of. It has been 60 years since Harvard last went to March Madness, and this year they may have a chance because of Jeremy. To think that such talent and skill could have easily get dismissed because he is not born black or white. Go Jeremy go! Also: Hyphen Magazine: "Jeremy Lin: Basketball Player Extraordinaire, Pioneer http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=800 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=800 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:37:39 PST Wow, Taishan, a giant panda born at the Atlanta Zoo, is quite the jet-setter. He'll be flying to China in a customized Fedex cargo plane painted with its image on the side, complete with another panda companion, food, and a team of caretakers for his 14-hour flight from Atlanta back to Chengdu, Sichuan. Man, I wish to be on that flight. Wapo has a video about a daily life of Taishan, before his departure. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=799 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=799 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:05:25 PST In recent years, the words that immediately follow Indian-Chinese are usually conflict, border dispute, or competition. But the contact between India and China goes back a long time, both boasting an ancient culture. Traders have been traveling on the Silk Road for two thousand years, and there are plenty of cross-over between the two cultures--the spread of Buddhism into China is the main one. It's not surprising that there is a fusion of Indian and Chinese cuisines. NPR has done a little introduction to this Indian-Chinese cuisine, and has printed 4 such recipes. The Sichuan Chili Stir-Fried Potatoes made with a mix of garlic, onion, chili flakes, red chili paste, soy sauce, sugar and peppercorns sound extremely delish. Note: If you like this style of strong-flavored "Asian" dishes, try Malaysian and Singaporean cuisines. Their dishes really melts together the best of Chinese, Indian, and other Southeast Asian flavors. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=798 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=798 Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:34:32 PST Well, there was the biggest snow storm Beijing has seen in 50 years, but there is also the intentional winter wonderland that happens yearly in Harbin, the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, where crafty ice sculptors build and sculpt everything under the sun. SF Chronicle is showing the above and 20 other amazing pictures from the event. One of them is the Space Shuttle awaiting lift off at its launching pad. How'd they even do that? Update: But even nicer and bigger pictures are run by the Boston Herald in its Big Picture sections that cover the same event. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=797 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=797 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:35:06 PST I just caught up on the news that Yang Xianyi has passed away last month, November 23, from recurrence of a throat cancer. He was 94. His wife Gladys had died 10 years earlier, at 80. Now I don't know them personally. I don't even know much of them until I read the obituaries and realize they have such an amazing life story. But I know this: this wife-and-husband team has translated quite a few Chinese literature classics into English and bringing such modern Chinese masters like Lu Xun into the Western world. They are a trailblazer and master in the field; many of their works remain the definitive translation today. Any students or perusers of Chinese literature in English will have definitely heard of their names and read their works, as do many of our China Books customers. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=796 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=796 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:58:59 PST Are you thinking of faces like these: Or these? Yes, they are all Chinese people, two of the official 56 ethnic groups in China. Whom we usually acquaint with the image of a Chinese person is that of an ethnic Han, who makes up of 92% of China's population. A photography team in China has spent a year traversing all over China to take pictures of all 56 ethnicities, and has now published a book. You can see one picture of each of the 56 ethnicities in the link. Unlike the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, all ethnic representations are real this time. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=795 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=795 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:58:08 PST The Esquire magazine has posted an article about Yao Ming and the nuggets of wisdom he has learned over the years. Some are very funny. Choice quote: I haven't done much trash-talking. But last year, I did complain about a call. Nobody could believe it. So I said, "I've spent a lot on English lessons. I want to get my money's worth." The official was laughing. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=794 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=794 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:44:13 PST Okay, just found some clips on Youtube from the TV series that we carry. Maybe now you can tell what do the TV series really look like. (Note: the quality of the clips here reflects that of the Youtube videos more than the DVDs themselves.) The first one is the opening theme of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a real epic 84-episode TV series: The next one is the opening theme of the grand and solemn imperial drama Yungzhen Dynasty: Next one is for the opening theme of the fun and magical fantasy adventure Journey to the West: (Well, yes, this one is pretty old.....) http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=793 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=793 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:19:31 PST (Photo from the Chinese version of Sina.com's new coverage.) Ha! And you think those of us who live in Sanfran or Manhattan know the pain of paying way too much mortgage/rent for our little house/apartment. Nooooooo! The most expensive apartment in the world is just being sold in Hong Kong for a jaw-dropping US$57 million. And we're talking about an apartment here, not even a whole house. The 6,000 square feet 5-bedroom duplex suite is sold at a US$9,200 per sqft rate (and that doesn't include any free parking spot or any future maintenance fees.) Housing bubble. What housing bubble? http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=792 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=792 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:25:06 PST It has been a while since the last Chinese blockbuster movie came ashore (Curse of the Golden Flower), but in November, another epic Chinese period drama Red Cliff will be opening on US screens. Directed by action-movie master John Woo and starring internationally recognized actors such as Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Chang Chen, Red Cliff is the most expensive Chinese movie ever made (at US$80 million) to date and it has been breaking box-office records in many Asian markets. Based on one of China's 4 Great Classical Novels, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (which in turn is a dramatization of the real historic Three Kingdoms Era), the title Red Cliff refers to the Battle of Red Cliff, one of China's most famous battles in all its long military history. It is simply one of those defining moment that people say changed the course of history. It officially marked the end of the Han Dynasty and ushered in the dawn of the Three Kingdoms. A seemingly weaker Southern allied forces from Liu Bei and Sun Quan overcame the odds and defeated the numerically superior army of Northern warlord Cao Cao, at a naval battle on the Yangtze River no less, with such tactics as using fire ships and "borrowing the East wind". You can bet that a lot of the $80 mil went into the production of that battle scene. For sure there will be many visual spectacles at the movie. But even at its lengthy running time of 148 minutes, it's not going to give you a lot of the background information that you may need to fully follow the story or even just the characters. After all, John Woo already expected the movie's primary Chinese audience to be very familiar with the source materials; he doesn't waste time in explaining who is who on which side from which one of the three kingdoms. So why not read up on the original novels before the movie hits? You will enjoy the movie much better this way. I know, it's not a light read; it's a 4-volume epic saga filled of chaos, ambitions, honor, strategy, intrigue, treachery, heroics, mystery, mystics, and even humor and romance all set to a backdrop of kingdoms rising and falling. Good thing you have a month to finish it. (But for those who are really less inclined to read, we also have the comics version and an earlier TV series production.) http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=791 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=791 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:23:41 PST Justin, you might have been able to bring sexy back, but please, speaking Mandarin is definitely not your forte. I don't understand a word you and Peyton Manning* are saying. As seen in a current Sony TV commercial: * For people outside of the US, Manning is an American Football MVP. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=790 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=790 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:49:36 PST Congratulations to Dr Charles K. Kao (高錕) for being one of the winners of 2009's Nobel Prize in Physics, for his contribution to the study and improvement of fiber-optic cables that results in the robustness of telecommunication industry and the Internet today. Dr Kao, who now has both US and UK citizenship, is a Chinese native born in Shanghai. He finished highschool in Hong Kong, and received his first doctorate degree in the UK. He was the President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1987 till his retirement in 1996. I'm now seeing that media from China, Hong Kong, and the US are all busily claiming Dr Kao as the pride of their own. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=789 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=789 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:38:29 PST What awesome shows!!!! Did you miss China's 60th Anniversary National Day Parade and the Celebration Gala? Thankfully for Youtube and the people who put the clips up, you can catch up on both events in their entirety: Playlist for the National Day Parade Playlist for the Celebration Gala A few amazing clips from the Parade for sampling: If you can read Chinese, CCTV's website will of course have the most complete coverage. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=788 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=788 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:44:21 PST For us who live outside China, sure you will see clips of PRC 60's celebration events here and there, but if you want to watch the whole thing, just like the people of China, CCTV comes to your rescue. It's going to stream the whole National Day Parade on the Internet and again at night for the Firework Display. The Parade will begin at 10:00am Beijing Time, which means 10:00pm EDT, and 7:00pm PDT. Don't miss.