Monthly update on China's social happenings and pop culture. Keep up to date with China as it continues to grow and change.

1. July
09

2. Welcome to the first issue of LUAN DUN.
It’s called Luan Dun after a hotpot dish
from Dongbei, the north-eastern part of
China. All kinds of ingredients and flavors
are cooked together in one big pot.
Luan means chaos, so it suggests that
everything is truly mixed up together.
Luan Dun is for those of you who are new
to China and for those who want to keep
up with China as it continues to change.
We want you to understand China from
various angles, but most importantly, we
want to help you think the way locals do.

5. CHINA
SNAPSHOT
中国怎么想
For its 300th issue, News Weekly (a local Chinese magazine)
put together a collection of ‘keywords’ to describe some of the
events and attitudes from the last year.
“只买贵的， 不选对的” “爱情 3.0”
“ONLY BUY EXPENSIVE ONES, NOT “LOVE 3.0”
THE RIGHT ONES” “做人， 不能太CNN”
Based on the Internet term – Web3.0 –
“TO BE A MAN, DON’T BE TOO CNN” Love3.0 (also known as fast love) describes
Chinese people believe that buying expensive
things is money well spent; showing off their CNN’s reporting of the situation between the speed and the easy accessibility of
wealth makes them feel proud. This phrase Tibet and China is considered biased by finding love through the internet. It also
reflects a view that places financial value over most Chinese, who have turned against the reflects the open-mindedness of Chinese
product quality. It also explains the growing channel. The saying suggests that to be a youth today towards love and intimacy
consumption of luxury products where the good person, don’t be too biased, therefore, compared to the more traditional and
brand name is everything. don’t be too CNN. conservative view of the older generation.

6. CHINA
SNAPSHOT
中
国
制
造
At the end of 2008, Mexico and India overtook China, to become the countries
with the lowest production costs. This shows that China is evolving beyond a
country that solely relies on cheap labor for their economic income.

7. Cheng Guan is a local government agency
established in every city in China. It recently
published a handbook called “Cheng Guan
Law Enforcement Practical Procedures”. Its
guidelines for enforcing the law included the
catchy and practical “MAKE SURE THERE
IS NO BLOOD WHEN YOU HIT SOMEBODY”.
which caused a great deal of attention on the
Internet, when the book was circulated.
CHINA
SNAPSHOT
城管

8. CHINA
SNAPSHOT
CCTV is known to be strict and formal, as it
belongs to China’s central Government. But
following the recent death of popular news
anchorman Luo Jing, they have decided that it is
time to make a change by adding more life and
emotion to their broadcasting session. We’re not
sure how this will play out yet, but we will be
中央新闻联播 looking out for the first smiling newsreader.

9. CHINA
SNAPSHOT
高考
June is the month of the gao There are two main reasons One example: all 29 students
kao (tall test) or “College for this cause: from one Chong Qing class
Entrance Exam”. This is the abandoned the college
chance for students to get a The high failure rate, coupled entrance exam because
place at University and is the with the difficulty of securing they were awarded places at
climax of the already stressful a graduate job is making more American universities.
years of education. people question the value of a
college education.
According to the Ministry of
Education, the number of Going abroad to study is
exam participants increased becoming more popular
from 5.27m to 10.5m between amongst Chinese young
2002 and 2008. Of these only adults. More and more
about 50% get a place families have the financial
at university. means to send their children
to what are seen as more
This June, participation from prestigious colleges.
all Chinese provinces has
decreased, by up to 10%.

10. CHINA
SNAPSHOT
时
代
变
迁
A hundred groups of people
that once had their photos
taken in Tian An Men Square
were invited back to re-take
that same shot in 2009.
This compare and contrast
reflects the change in time,
politics and economy that
China has gone through in
the past 40-50 years since
The Reformation.

12. 潘 Wilber Pan (Pan Weibo) is a famous
American born Taiwanese singer,
玮 rapper and actor.
柏
Many Chinese singers imitate songs
from the West, keeping the tune but
changing the lyrics. However, “Be
With You” performed by Wilber Pan
is an actual collaboration with Akon,
who made the original track. Newest Album: 007
Song: Be With You
POP CHINA
•MUSIC

13. POP CHINA
•MUSIC
陈绮贞：太阳
Cheer Chan is a popular
Taiwanese singer-songwriter,
guitarist and pianist.
Chan writes her own music
and lyrics and is always seen
with her Gibson Hummingbird
acoustic guitar. Chan’s lyrics
encourage people to keep
following their dreams despite
the harsh bite of reality.
Newest Album:
Immortal

14. POP CHINA
•MUSIC
许巍： 今天
2002-2008生活作品集
Xu Wei is one of the
best known rock
musicians in China.
Greatly respected
as the “Godfather
of Rock”. His lyrics
reflect hope, warmth,
tolerance, solicitude
Newest Album:
and his understanding
Today 2002-2008 Greatest Hits
of life. He said, “Youth
is the war of self
breakout”.

15. 惘闻
Wang Wen is a post-rock This year marks their 10th
band from Da Lian. anniversary, although
not popular among other
Wang Wen’s music is a mix mainstream music, but they
of sadly sweet melodies, are greatly popular among
heavy, noisy guitars, and China’s Rock scene.
Chinese scales. Close your
eyes and you will easily lose
yourself in the ambience
created by their music as it
takes you back to the scenes
of your favorite movies.
Wang Wen influences
include Tortoise, Mogwai,
Mono and Red Red Meat.
Their newest album will be
released on the new record
label Fox Tail recently
founded by Zhao Chenhong,
Beijing’s best record dealer.
POP CHINA
•MUSIC

16. “Better dead than alive.”
– Kadokawa
南京！南京！
The film deals with the massacre
of Nanjing and its aftermath
during the Second Sino-Japan
war. Shot entirely in black
and white, the film presents a
sympathetic portrayal of the
Japanese soldier Kadokawa,
who witnesses the slaughter.
The Nanjing massacre is still
a very powerful theme among
Chinese people, who never stop
wanting to explore and know
what was going on during that
tragedy. The success of this film
reflects youth’s patriotism and
interest in the history of war.
POP CHINA
•MOVIE

17. 喜羊羊与灰太郎：牛气冲天
Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf is a
Chinese animated TV series. The first
movie – The Super Adventure - came
out in 2009.
Several goats and their old nemesis,
Big Big Wolf, join forces to defeat their
common arch enemy – Bacteria.
Chinese cartoons tend to be associated
with poor animation and boring plots.
However, “Pleasant Goat and Big Big
Wolf” has gained popularity because
of the satirical features that are added
into the plot. These features include
“Shanzai” [fake copycat brands],
“melamine incident” and “Microsoft
POP CHINA
blank screen”. •MOVIE

18. POP CHINA
•MOVIE
Cape No.7 is a 2008 Tawainese Romcoms are very popular
romantic comedy musical- amongst Chinese youth,
海 drama. It has broken Taiwan’s reflecting their dreams of
all time box-office record. perfect love.
角
七 Aga, a band singer, returns
to Hengchun frustrated with
号 life. Tomoko is a Japanese
model assigned to organize
a local warm-up band for the
Japanese super star’s beach
concert. Together with five other
ordinary Hengchun residents
who were not expected to be
great or amount to anything,
they formed an impossible band.
Meanwhile, the love between
Aga and Tomoko grows…

19. 永 POP CHINA
•INTERNET
恒
之
塔
Aion - The Tower of Eternity is a
massively multiplayered online
role-playing game released
in Korea with new localized
versions in development. It is
the No.1 hottest online game
according to Baidu.com.
Extraordinarily rich and hyper
real graphics set it apart from
other MMORPGs. Its character
creation system allows for
a great deal of character
customization.

20. POP CHINA
•INTERNET
地下城
与
勇士
Dungeon & Fighter is a 2D In 2009, it began to be run
side-scrolling online action by Tencent QQ in China.
game, developed by Neople. Thanks to QQ’s huge number
of users, it is now the
The game is classic arcade no.3 hottest online game
game style and offers a according to Baidu.com.
variety of game-play modes
and tasks. Players can
fight in solo or in groups to
advance to higher levels,
while winning functional and
decorative items.

21. POP CHINA
•INTERNET
劲舞团
Audition Online, also It is free to play, but This is a typical place
known as X-BEAT in people can buy a variety for people to get social
Japan, is a downloadable of virtual items such as and hang out, extremely
multiplayer online casual clothes for the player’s popular after ‘zhai’ culture
rhythmic game produced avatar. Characters can be (the culture of staying
by T3 Entertainment. It customized and there is online at home all day)
was originally released in a warehouse of music to spread throughout China.
South Korea in 2004, but choose from. It acts as an
it has been localized by online virtual society for
various publishers around players to communicate
the world. and interact with each
other, including making
friends, characters
falling in love and getting
married.

22. 饭否
POP CHINA
•INTERNET
www.fanfou.com
The Chinese version of Twitter:
You can share messages of up to
140 characters to Fan Fou from
MSN, QQ, Gtalk, Mobile Phone
and your own blog. You can also
upload and share pictures.
The Fan Fou Ranking continually
updates the top 5 hottest
movies, media, culture and
websites. The reading is based
on Fan Fou user views.

23. POP CHINA
•TALK SHOW
快乐大本营
Happy Camp is a theatrical This show is currently
entertainment program China’s most highly-rated
produced by Hunan entertainment show.
Provincial Satellite TV
station.
A combination of bold
and casual hosting styles,
Happy Camp’s hosts tell
bad jokes, play tricks
on celebrity guests and
encourage the audience
to sing and clap along
whenever possible.

24. POP CHINA
周立波 •TALK SHOW
“朋友帮帮忙”
Shanghainese Stand-up
“Help me, friend”
comedian: his humour
reflects the changes
Shanghai has experienced
over the last 30 years. The
uniqueness of his act comes
from the language it is
delivered in, Shanghainese,
which means he remains
somewhat inaccessible to
both foreigners and most
“算了吧，兄弟” Chinese alike.
“Are you kidding me”

25. POP CHINA
•TALK SHOW
百
家
讲 Bai Jia Jiang Tan is a popular
坛 TV program of China Central
Television, mostly featured on
CCTV-10.
This program invites
distinguished professors from
different universities to give a
series of intensive lectures on
Chinese culture and history,
such as Three Kingdoms, the
Analects of Confucius, Kang
Xi Emperor, often in a more
interesting and peculiar way.
This program is China’s first
integrated educational program
about Chinese culture and
history, and unlike many other
televised classes, it has gained
wide popularity among Chinese
youth. This suggests that despite
China’s youth being portrayed
as fickle, they actually have
their own academic aspirations
and deep interest in their own
history and culture.

26. POP CHINA
•YOUTH
桌面游戏吧
Board Game Bar is a hot new
place to hang out for Chinese
youth today. It currently has
more than 15 stores in Beijing,
Guangzhou, Nanjing and
Shanghai.
Here you can eat, drink and
play over 150 different types
of board games, and this only
costs 15-20rmb an hour per
person. Parents see the Board
Game Bar as a healthier place
for their kids to be, compared to
night clubs or internet cafes.