2. NO
HIBERNATION
HERE
Although 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.

4. 亂
炖
HAN MEIMEI
NOV
2012
IS GETTING
MARRIED Han Meimei is a character from a highschool
English textbook used in Chinese primary
schools since the early 90s.
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.
This character has a nostalgic place in the
Li Lei on the other hand has grown up
minds of many Chinese youth born in the
to be a teacher wearing glasses, marital
80’s, reminding them of what school life used
status unknown.
to be like.
The education bureau recently announced Nostalgic post-80s complained about the
that Han Meimei is going to reappear in the new roles of these characters,
new edition of the textbook as an adult, becoming one of the hottest topic on
exciting but also disappointing many. Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) in this month.
CHINA SNAPSHOT 4

5. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
Image from Weibo.com
SYSTEM
MALFUNCTION
On 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 5

6. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
ROMANCE
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.
IN THE SKY
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
CHINA SNAPSHOT 6

7. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
STATUS MEANS
CORRUPTION-FREE Image from Shanghaidaily.com
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 7

8. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
HAIRY CRABS
GO DIGITAL
September and October are the best months In order to rise from the competition, one
for the gourmet local delicacies: the hairy small local restaurant decided to go digital,
crabs. These crabs only are only bred in by creating an app called “Eat Crabs for Free”
Yangcheng Lake, near Suzhou. that allows customers to make reservations
for crabs and seats at lower prices, and win
Hairy Crabs have become a premium
chances to eat crabs for free. Interesting to
delicacy, since they can only be enjoyed
see local restaurants thinking innovatively,
once a year for it’s roe. Because of high
since many of the hairy crab restaurants only
demand, many restaurants struggle from high
open once a year by local farmers.
competition and often sell fake hairy crabs
(bred in other lakes) to attract customers.
Image from appchina.com
CHINA SNAPSHOT 8

9. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
TRADITIONAL CHINESE CHARACTERS PLANTS VS ZOMBIES OPPA GANGNAM STYLE
CREATIVITY
Images from Weibo.com
UNLEASHED High school sports days in China are known However, recent photos have been shared
to be uneventful, especially when classes online showcasing creativity during these
make their way around the track during dull moments. Students, inspired by recent
opening ceremonies (much like the Parade of pop trends, began dressing up and parading
the Nations during the Olympics.) 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 9

10. 亂
炖
BEWARE
NOV
2012
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”
Image from chinalovematch.net
CHINA SNAPSHOT 10

12. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
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.
Image from Weibo.com
JIE CAO
節操
CATCH PHRASE OF THE MONTH 12

13. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
...
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
YUAN FANG,
solve the case. He will ask, “Yuan Fang, what do you WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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?”
YUAN FANG,
YUAN FANG, WHAT WHAT DO YOU THINK?
DO YOU THINK? YUAN FANG,
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
元芳， ...
...
你怎麼看?
YUAN FANG, YUAN FANG,
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Image from Weibo.com
STOP ASKING ME THE SAME
QUESTION EVERY TIME!
YUAN FANG,
CATCH PHRASE OF THE MONTH WHAT DO YOU THINK?
13

15. 亂
MOVIE
炖
NOV
2012
白鹿原 WHITE DEER PLAIN
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.
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 15

16. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MOVIE
Images from Baidu.com
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
DOUBLE XPOSURE
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 16

17. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MOVIE
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
Images from Baidu.com inside underground kingdom of the rats.
邋遢大王奇遇記
THE SLOVENLY BOY’S ADVENTURE
POP CHINA 17

18. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
TV SERIES
Images from Baidu.com
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
BEIJING YOUTH background, and different ambitions overcoming life obstacles.
POP CHINA 18

19. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MUSIC
Artist: Zhang Xuan張懸
Album: Games We Play
Genre: 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.
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 19

20. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MUSIC
Artist: Brain Failure 腦濁
Album: (Dare to be)
tous les jours
Genre: 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.
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 20

21. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MUSIC
Artist: Wan Fang 万芳
Album: Love, after all.
Genre: Pop/Folk
Images from Baidu.com
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 21

22. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MUSIC
Artist: Li Quan 李泉
Album: The Genius and The Dust
Genre: 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.
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 22

23. 亂
炖
NOV
2012
MUSIC
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).
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 23

24. 亂
TV SHOW
炖
NOV
2012
中国好声音
THE VOICE OF 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.
Images from Baidu.com
POP CHINA 24

25. WRITTEN BY
Charinee Chairasmisak
Kate Lu
DESIGNED BY
Ricky Li