http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php Bringing you the latest news about Chinese Learning, Culture and Society en-us Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:50:19 PDT Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:50:19 PDT http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=711 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=711 Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:35:59 PST See what happens when you show fortune cookies to people in China. For the uninitiated, fortune cookie is purely an American invention, created in California in the early 1900s. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=710 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=710 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:32:44 PST My Internet crush Su Fei is being interviewed on the Today Show. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=709 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=709 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:29:17 PST For our readers who don't watch American TV, the Daily Show is a comedy show, if the Comedy Central logo at the corner doesn't tip you off already. p.s. "Chasing the dragon" is a slang for this. So be careful where you use this phrase. On Comedy Central, very good. On your student paper, not so much. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=708 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=708 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:32:28 PST WOW! Did you all watch the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics? Best. Show. Ever. Right? It's jaw-droppingly amazing. My friends and I oohed-and-aahed the whole time as we watched one spectacle unfold after another on a HDTV (15 hours late because of NBC's anarchronistic insistance of tape-delaying the show until prime time instead of broadcasting it live like the rest of the world, I must add). Beijing promised the world a spectacle that's never seen before, and it delivered. And it exceeded people's expectations by leaps and bounds. People are already saying there's no way London can top Beijing in 2012. Director Zhang Yimou has staged a show that was big, bold and beautiful, not unlike his recent epics Hero and Curse of the Golden Flowers. It never ceased to dazzle audience, if not by sights and sounds (and the 29,000 fireworks), then definitley by the pitch-perfect performance of thousands of performers in all the set pieces. But more importantly, Zhang Yimou has successfully presented the greatest inventions and proudest achievements of 5,000 years of Chinese history and culture to a world audience and made it entertaining and accessible. You certainly don't have to understand where all the Chinese elements are coming from to enjoy the show, but if, by chance, your curiosity is intrigued, well, I think I know just where you can go to for more information. Right here, of course. :) Let's go back to the Opening Ceremony, and we'll go through what you might have missed or what you may want to learn more about. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=706 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=706 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:40:33 PST Well, 8.8.08 is finally here. But not everyone in China is watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony; some people are busy getting married. Because in Mandarin (and Cantonese and a few dialects), the word for 8 sounds like the word for prosperity, many people choose this date to get married for the good luck. More than 16,400 couples booked their marriage certificates on August 8 in Beijing, according to the Beijing Civil Affairs Office. On August 8 last year, 3,390 couples were married in Beijing, making it the second most popular date after December 18 when 4,400 couples wed. Around the country, thousands of people were getting married on Friday; more than 5,000 couples registered in Shanghai, 3,300 in Guangzhou, 2,300 in Wuhan and 2,300 in Hangzhou, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. SF Chronicle ran a similar story for the Chinese and Asian communities here in the Bay Area, Thousands to wed on 8/8/08 - 'luckiest day'. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=705 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=705 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:42:51 PST Happy Qixi (七夕)! Today is the 7th Day of the 7th Month in the traditional Chinese calendar, which is a day when we tell the story of the Cowherd and the Girl Weaver, and is a festival especially for female artisans in the past. Legend has it that once there was a daughter of the Sky King and the West Queen Mother who was skilled in the art of weaving. She came down to earth one day and fell in love with a poor Cowherd. They got married and had children but that angered the West Queen Mother because, well, a mere mortal was just too low class for heaven. West Queen Mother separated the two by drawing a heavenly river between the two of them. (And that is where the Milky Way in the sky comes from.) However, the love of the Cowherd was so strong that even the animals were moved by it, and all the magpies (some type of crows) came to his help and formed a bridge across the river. The lovers reunited, but not for happily ever after, because the West Queen Mother only allowed them to meet one day every year, and that day was the 7th Day of the 7th Month, and people have been "celebrating" on this date since. Don't you think it's a reflection on how ancient Chinese people think about parental pressure and pursuit of true love? http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=704 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=704 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:15:32 PST And it sounds awesome. 10,000 rooms in more than 3,000 apartments contained in 128 housing towers. On site medical facilities. Entertainment center with TV, 500 movies on DVD, pool tables, shuffleboard, air hockey, foosball, live entertainment in the early evening and an alcohol-free disco at night. Free food for the athlete's entire stay. Wow, that almost sounds like Googleplex. But does Google serve Peking Duck? http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=703 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=703 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:40:29 PST We have linked to the star-studded, official version of one of the many Beijing Olympic theme songs Beijing Welcomes You before. I didn't like it much back then. I think it was corny. But somehow the song takes on a new life and becomes much better in the following video. These are now real people, normal citizens that you are seeing. They are 30 music students from a Senior Citizen University in the city of Heze, aging between 50 and 80. Instead of seeing pop stars all trying to outshine each other, these self-starting, voluntary performers actually look like they really want to welcome you to Beijing. And the song becomes much better because of it. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=702 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=702 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:36:00 PST Guess what? With 8 days to go before the Beijing Olympics, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible in China. (Okay, only part of China, and among other countries mainly in the northernmost latitudes). Bad omen? Haha, of course not. We of the scientific mind don't believe in ancient superstitions anymore, right? RIGHT? (AFP: Solar eclipse won't spook Olympics: astrologers) Unfortunately for us who live in the US, the solar eclipse will take place during the middle of the night so we can't see it. But thanks to the Internet, you are able to watch live webcast (and the recorded video afterwards) from several sources. Here are two: SF Exploratorium NASA http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=701 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=701 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:02:33 PST Apparently the Olympic athletes are not only tested for drugs, steroids or other illegal substance abuses, but also tested for their gender. Yes, gender, you read that right. Actually only female athletes are subject to this test, if they look suspiciously like they can be male, because you know, otherwise, they will have unfair advantage over their real female counterparts. And they have been doing it since 1960s. Can you imagine how depressing it will be after you get a Gold medal and then someone begin asking if you are woman enough? (Via SF Chronicle's Violet Blue column, which while not unsafe for work, is filled with so much naughty stuff that if you are the conservative type, you might want to skip that.) http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=700 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=700 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:29:56 PST Let's see. The Great Wall? Check. Terracotta warriors? Check. Ancient Chinese people magically speaking English? Check. Abominable snowmen? Ok.... I guess they can come down on this side of the Himalayas and enter Chinese territory. But a three-headed dragon? C'mon. That's just too unChinese. Movie opens 8.1.08. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=699 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=699 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:41:45 PST Look, Coca-Cola has made a East-Meets-West commercial bringing together Yao Ming and LeBron James over a can of Coke. And a behind-the-scene look at the commercial after the jump. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=698 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=698 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:09:39 PST BBC has produced an awesome promotional shot for its Olympics broadcast that is based on the Journey to the West, which is simply better than anything NBC has put out so far. Now I want to watch a whole animated series of Journey to the West done by this group of people who produced the spot. (Via Shanghaiist) http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=697 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=697 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:23:42 PST UCLA's Asian American Studies Center has produced a very handy 12-page "media brief" that may just be the only thing you need to learn something about China. It touches on all the hot-button issues including China's economy, trade, environment, and human rights; and comes with a very brief timeline that chronicles the 200+ years of US/China love/hate relationships. You will learn enough to pass as one of those "China experts" on the news networks. Or to write this blog. http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=696 http://www.chinabooks.com/cart/blog.php?blogid=696 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:53:21 PST These iconic "Chinese" takeout boxes, they are about as Chinese as fortune cookies, which is to say not at all. Anyway, Washington Post has run an article about what one can do with all the leftover rice from your Chinese dinner/delivery. Make fried rice, of course. There is a couple of fried rice recipes in the article, and the recipe for Thai fried rice with soft-yolk egg sounds especially delicioso.