2. Hello
Winter is here in China, and it is the perfect time to start re-boiling our Luan Dun pot again.
Many events occur daily without us ever realizing just how big an impact they may have on our lives. It’s often these
small everyday occurrences that shape the mental, physical and emotional lives of China’s 1.3billion people.
China Snapshots will take you on a chaotic ride into the heart of Luan Dun while Pop China keeps you updated with
what is currently smoking hot with China’s pop culture this month.
Our feature designer for this issue is Kevin Cao, an artistic genius who has amazingly incorporated industrial
features with what was originally a chaotic boiling pot of food. Inspired by his personal favorite - The Transformers -
the theme suggests that all the little mechanical parts come together to form one big industrious Luan Dun factory.
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4. Flying Monk
It may look like he’s cheating his way across the water, but if you were asked to run 15 meters across the surface of a
river with only a very thin sheet of cardboard as support without sinking, could you do it?
One Shaolin monk has been training his entire life to do just this and finally, has succeeded. Monk Shi Li Liang has
been training himself in the art of “Qing Gong” (Light Arts) in order to “fly” as lightly as possible defying gravity. This
attempt now holds the Guinness World Record for treading the longest distance on the surface of a river.
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5. Contradictory Cure
Swine flu survivors saving Swine flu victims. What better ways are there to find a cure
than from the very people with immunity, rather than spending time and money on costly
scientific research?
14 university students from Qingdao willingly donated altogether 5L of blood to the hospital
in the hope that other H1N1 victims in China will not suffer like they did. It may come as a
surprise to some, but this entire project was thought up by these students, not the doctors.
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6. One step at a time
A mother who wanted to donate her liver to her
cancer-striken son was told by her doctor that it
was too fatty. He recommended that if she was to
be a viable donor, she would have to lose weight.
Since then, she decided to walk 10km a day and
after 211 days she found out her liver is finally fit for
donating.
She said “If my liver still wasn’t good enough this
time, I would have continued to walk until it was.”
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7. Revolutionary Pack Marriages
Following a month of lively celebration of China’s 60th anniversary of the founding of
Communism, 60 young couples were married in a ‘revolutionary’ style. This brings back
the idea of peace, unity and socialism where everyone is happily married under the same
roof with the blessing of their Communist leaders.
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8. Green for farmers
This is China’s first ever Solar Greenhouse used for generating energy in the city of Rao
in Jiang Xi Province.
In total, the 1250 solar energy tiles generate up to 150,000 kw/h a year for the entire Rao
area. This is large enough to support the electricity needs of not only the farmers but
also the city itself.
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9. Cruelty on the streets of China
A mother of 2 refused to get up after being thrown out of
a supermarket for begging. Earlier, 4 supermarket guards
literally threw her out on the street, and while lying there
helplessly, an anonymous man in a black coat continued the
violence by stomping on her stomach and slapping her hard
across the face before disappearing from sight. The baby, not
understanding the situation, imitated her mother and started
crying in the middle of the street.
Reporters continued to investigate the beggar’s background
and discovered that she was begging for money to cure her
infant daughter from tumor. She claimed that she was not
a beggar, rather she had no choice but to beg ever since her
husband was killed in a car accident.
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10. Freshly Maid
A ‘maid’ restaurant is becoming popular
in Shanghai. Originally from Japan, the
waitresses dress up as maids and treat
customers as their masters. They also
hold cos-play (costume play) events and
play various games with customers in
the restaurants.
In Shanghai, more and more kids are
“ACG” (the term which describes people
who have a love of Animation, Comics or
Games), or “OTAKU” (which means people
who spend most of their time on the
internet).
The maid restaurant serves up this
dream experience to ACG and OTAKU
Kids in the real world. And of course,
many adults also love to be called
“Master”…
If you’re in Shanghai:
系珈琲店 ＠ニャオハイ 上海美萌女仆咖啡店
Address: 6F,No.161 Changle Road Shanghai Address: 2F, No.237 ZheJiang Road Shanghai
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11. Fu Kung Grandpa
Inspired by Jin Yong’s* “Legend of the Condor
Heroes”, 91 year old grandfather from Wuhan
City has been practicing his toad-style hand-
stand for years. In addition, he has also
mastered other martial techniques that he
claims have allowed him to stay healthy for 27
years without once being sick.
A proud man, he can still be seen exercising
on the streets of Wuhan every morning.
*Jin Yong: one of the most influential modern Chinese-language novelists. He has earned
the reputation of being the finest Wuxia (martial arts genre) writer ever. 11
12. New Terms of the Month
车震 Car Quake
中嫩阶层 Middle Tender Class
食草男 Herbivorous Male
肉食女 Carnivorous Female
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13. Car Quake 车震
I ca n bo rro w
u ha ve a ca r fro m WK ...
These 2 words speak for themselves. no ca r!!
This term was coined by netizens and
journalists after a recent incident where
Chinese basketball player Sun Yue was
caught in his Mercedes with Chinese
pop star Zhang Ru Yi minding their own
business…
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14. Middle Tender Class 中嫩阶层
This is a word derived from 中产阶级 which literally means ‘middle
working class’, but in this case, the word 产 [chân] (which means
working) is changed to 嫩 [nèn], meaning soft and tender, hence: The
Tender Class.
The Tender Class is a term used for Chinese women aged 30 and above
who are mature, financially independent, but still live their lives freely
as if they were still in their early 20s. This group of women are in
contrast to many who aim to marry before they hit the big 3-0. The
Tender Class are smart, confident and career-minded women; they
have boyfriends but aren’t planning on getting married; they dress
fashionably and pay more attention to the quality of their life.
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15. Herbivorous Male 食草男
Like herbivores, Herbivorous Males, 食草男 [shí câo nán] are kind Although Herbivorous Males do put energy and effort into the
and friendly, yet when it comes to marriage, they seem to be opposite sex, they are more willing to focus their energy on
missing some certain initiative. Their biggest trait is their lack friends and family.
of spontaneity in the act of love, preferring to lead a simple and
sexless relationship with their other halves.
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16. Carnivorous Female 肉食女
Carnivorous Females, 肉食女 [ròu shí nü], are the ying to the yang of
Herbivorous Males. The term describes females that are voracious in
the pursuit of men. Usually these white-collared females pounce on
men like a hungry tigress when she spots her target. In most cases,
these women live in total disregard of the perceptions of people around
them.
The term ‘Carnivorous Females’ mainly describes women of the 80s
generation who care more about personality, freedom, and the equality
of love. In the past, women never dared to actively pursue men, but for
this group of females, every man is their prey.
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18. INTERNET
China Unicom + iPhone
China Unicom has an agreement with Apple to distribute Apple’s iPhone
throughout China. They will hope to snatch up subscribers from the rival
China Mobile by offering 3G service to users of grey-market iPhones.
China Unicom will let users buy a service contract for any handset that
supports the 3G standard being used by the carrier, WCDMA (Wideband
Code Division Multiple Access).
Chinese media called the China Unicom plan an “amnesty policy” for
iPhone users. Grey-market iPhones have advantages over the China
Unicom versions including support for Wi-Fi, which Apple removed from
official iPhones to comply with Chinese regulations. The grey-market
handsets are also cheaper, selling for around 4,000RMB (US$587). By
contrast, the cheapest model sold by China Unicom, the 8GB iPhone 3G,
will cost 4,999RMB (US$732) with no service contract.
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19. INTERNET
Everybody has goals, but sometimes needs a little help to ‘Just Do It’. Inspired by the slogan, a website (24doings.com)
was established to encourage and supervise people to carry out their tasks/plans with perseverance. Users can post
Do客 their tasks/goals/plans on the website where your status is monitored and if your tasks have not been completed, an
alert will be sent to your email as a reminder. Users who have similar goals will share their status and experience to
encourage one another.
Do Ke Nowadays, more and more Do Ke’s are springing up among young white-collar workers. Gong Xiaoliang is one of them,
he made a list on 24doings.com including 14 things (including going on a diet, travel to Japan, find a girlfriend, etc). He
said his life had changed since he became a Do Ke.
Goals Do Ke’s want to achieve It’s also my goal
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20. INTERNET
Bing Mobile portal in China
Microsoft has stepped up promotion of its search engine Bing with the launch of a Web
services platform for mobile phones, in a possible step toward challenging the dominance
of Google and Baidu.com in China.
The Microsoft portal, an effort to spur-on use of its services in a market crowded by local
competitors, offers downloads of mobile clients for Bing and Windows Live Messenger
with instructions on how to use Microsoft services, which include Hotmail that can be
managed by phone.
In addition to “classic” web search, the Bing mobile client allows users to search for local
information such as maps, restaurant locations and weather forecasts.
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21. MUSIC
Elva Hsiao “Diamond Candy”
萧亚轩：钻石糖
Following the success of her previous album “3-Faced” last year, Taiwan pop diva Elva
Hsiao released her 10th album Diamond Candy and is set to launch her world tour at the
Taipei Arena on December 31st. The new album features the title track Diamond Candy,
a sweet R&B tune composed by Wayne Hector, who has supplied songs for world-famous
artists like Westlife and Britney Spears.
Elva herself has penned the words for two tracks, namely “Confessions” and “Thrilling
Legend”, the latter a tribute to the late Michael Jackson. Other lyricists onboard include
Daryl Yao, Chen Zhen Chuan, Ge Da Wei, and Golden Horse-winning songwriter Matthew
Yen (for Cape No. 7’s theme song).
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22. MUSIC
Miriam Yeung
“Actually, I’m Living Really Happily”
杨千桦： 原来过得很快乐
Recently, many celebrities in Hong Kong have got married. Miriam Yeung who has just become the
wife of Ding Zi Gao, released her latest Cantonese album, “Actually I’m Living Really Happily” to share
her own romantic stories and outlook on love. The hottest hit “Mr. Right” shows the sweet moments
on her journey of love and the lyrics of second hottest hit. “I enjoy views on the bridge” describes her
emotions when she was on the bridge. Lin Xi penned the lyrics of “Actually, I’m Living Really Happily”,
encouraging people to be brave in the pursuit of love.
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23. MUSIC
Evan Yo “Loneliness”
蔡 佑：寂寞，好了
Taiwan singer-songwriter Evan Yo can banish your “Loneliness” with his new album. Recently graduated
from his music studies at the National Taiwan Normal University, Evan is now able to focus on in his music
career fulltime. It is reported that before the recording of his latest album, he spent 12 hours every day
writing songs on his piano for half a year, and he went to the studio a few dozen times in order to get
every single note right. With such devotion, Evan channels his feelings into the 10 songs of his third album,
which takes the concept of an audio storybook with illustrations in the style of “Le Petit Prince”. Besides
the soothing ballad “Loneliness, Enough”, Evan sings the punk-rock number “Unbeatable Boy”, Mayday
bassist Masa’s composition “Love is Right”, Footwear MC’s song “My Baby”, and the animated movie Astro
Boy’s Mandarin theme song “Little Good Boy”.
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24. ONLINE GAME
CrossFire
穿越火线
Cross Fire is a fun FPS (first person shooting) game that you are either on the side Global
Risk or Black List, where you simply go and kill each other. What makes this game unique
is that, you earn XP to advance to the next level (private, sergeant, captain, you get the
idea), and you also earn GP to buy guns/grenades/armor.
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25. MOVIE
Stubborn Robot
倔强萝卜
A folk scientist, Lao Luo (featuring Huang Bo), has the ‘perfect’ plan to finish a ‘mission
impossible’ in 20 minutes with his secret recipe and wit. He has been planning it for five
years and everything seems perfect, but he didn’t expect two tearaways would come and
set up many obstacles in his way. The ‘mission’ ends up in hilarious dissaray.
Huang Bo was excellent in the box-office hit comedy Crazy Stone in 2006, and his
performance in Stubborn Robot is worth waiting for. But some people have criticized the
film for not being as good as Crazy Stone, so make up your own mind.
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26. MOVIE
The Message
风声
The Message is a Chinese espionage thriller. During the Sino- To put it simply, the whole story is a process of elimination
Japanese War of the early 1940s, a streak of assassinations have been and mutual suspicion. So if you happen to be a fan of murder
successfully conducted against officials of a puppet government mystery games, The Message will be the film for you.
set up by the Japanese. As a result, a Japanese spy chief puts five
suspects that are working with the government’s confidential
department into an isolated fort for questioning and torture. While
undertaking the close and cruel interrogation, the real undercover,
referred as “the Phantom”, tries to send out a key message to stop the
outside group members from moving into the traps.
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27. TV SERIES
Beyond the Realm of Conscience
宫心计
Beyond the Realm of Conscience is a 2009 ancient-costume The drama’s setting is loosely inspired by the popular Korean
television drama from Hong Kong. Produced by Mui Siu Ching, drama Jewel in the Palace, which created a chart-breaking 50
the serial is one of the two grand TVB productions to celebrate rating points in its final broadcast week in Hong Kong in 2005.
the channel’s 42nd anniversary, the other being Born Rich. The
drama is currently airing five days a week on the TVB network
with 45-minute episodes starting October 19, 2009.
Set in the latter years of the Tang Dynasty, Beyond the Realm
of Conscience tells the story of palace maid Lau Sam Ho and
how she struggles to secure her power and position in the inner
palace’s Imperial Household Bureau.
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28. TV PROGRAM
2009 My Show: First female champion
One of China’s most popular live annual singing shows, My Show, finished at the end of October
and Yu Chao Ying became the first female champion. The show creates a storm in Shanghai and
other cities every summer and autumn. 28
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