Many articles on Danwei do not grow stale even as they scroll off the main page. Over the years Danwei has been in operation, the archives have amassed quite a number of posts whose information is still current and which we believe may still be of interest to readers.
For the convenience of the Danwei readership, who would otherwise be forced to slog through hundreds of posts worth of old breaking news, announcements, calls-to-arms, and Skinhua alerts to find these gems, we have collected them below.
- A new literary magazine features new writing from Zhou Zuoren (2011.03): Annie Baobei’s O-pen (大方) features a translation of a long interview with Haruki Murakami, a previously unpublished essay by Zhou Zuoren, and other interesting reading material.
- Nixon in China, not in China (2011.03): Nick Frisch puts the Met’s performance of Nixon in China up against the expectations of Chinese opera viewers.
- Chang Ping talks about “being resigned” and the future (2011.03): Chang Ping (长平), a journalist at the Southern Media Group, was forced to quit at the end of January.
- Big Iron’s broken promises (2011.01): The Ministry of Railways been promising a speedy resolution to the Spring Festival ticket crunch for many years.
- Zhang Neixian’s 100% Strawberry (2011.01): “If ‘100% Strawberry’ is just a simple porn movie, then there’s no point for me to stay in this field. I don’t need to worry about censorship, because there is nothing extreme in the film. Also don’t tell me that I am poisoning youth, kids nowadays mature very early, look what they are showing on TV these days? They don’t need me as a channel to be poisoned.”
- Behind the scenes at a musical in Sin City (2010.12): In which our correspondent dares to watch a musical play about Teresa Teng in Dongguan.
- Sting operation nabs a lit mag vendor (2010.12): A middle school student working with Cultural Market Enforcers hooks a news kiosk proprietor dealing in contraband Fiction Monthly.
- Hymns of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (2010.12): The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and their Christian hymns.
- A Yiddish documentary about China and Jews (2010.12): A documentary in Yiddish about Chinese people’s attitudes to Jews.
- The Lius I admire (2010.12): Liu is an idol to many.
- Those damned book thieves (2010.12): Winter, the season for book theft at All Sages Books.
- Xu Wenli: How Chinese dissidents and the Communist Party use the Western media (2010.11): An interview with Democracy Wall activist Xu Wenli: Is Western media coverage of dissidents and their activities good for them or for China? What have Chinese dissidents learned from the Communist Party about using the Western media?
- Today’s dose of the paranormal: Stargates and UFOs (2010.11): Yangtse Evening Post turns its eye on a “stargate” in the Gulf of Aden and a vortex off the coast of Norway.
- Aftermath of the Shanghai fire: poor govt. supervision and dodgy sub contracting (2010.11): The aftermath of the deadly Shanghai blaze that killed 79 people earlier this week.
- Bringing the Bohai Sea to Xinjiang (2010.11): A conference proposes routing seawater from Bohai Gulf to Xinjiang to fight desertification.
- Ai Weiwei’s river crab banquet (2010.11): Artist and activist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest in Beijing, but but his river crab party in Shanghai goes on without him.
- Dissidents and their activities (2010.11): “其人其事” for various exiles and dissidents.
- Coked up bankers of Hong Kong (2010.11): The financial community in Hong Kong is buried in white powder according to one friend of a Hong Kong-based banker who recently jumped to his death after a cocaine binge. What is going on?
- A Nanjing without news kiosks (2010.11): A Nanjing newsstand (see story #11 ) Nanjing has decided that news kiosks are a blight on the city. Erected on the roadway, they create yet another unnecessary obstacle to the growing number of cars on the streets. Moved to…
- “My Dad Is Li Gang” incident: Ai Weiwei produces video interview of Chen Xiaofeng’s brother and father (2010.10): A video is being uploaded again and again on Tudou over the Hebei University affair where a female student was killed by a drunk driver.
- What happened to the men who built China? (2010.10): Daily Telegraph’s Malcolm Moore takes a look at China’s first generation of migrant workers transformed China, building its skyscrapers, manning its factories and digging its mines.
- An environmental protection association, a pyramid scheme, and a 5,000-RMB miracle pill (2010.10): The Shenzhen Evening News reports on a fake wonder-drug that’s being used to attract applicants to a pyramid scheme.
- Harvest Season: Q&A with novelist Chris Taylor (2010.10): Chris Taylor is the author of Harvest Season, his debut novel set in southwestern China and published earlier this year by Earnshaw Books. He recently answered Danwei’s questions about how he came to write his first work of fiction.
- Soho Xiaobao, a thought-provoking corporate magazine, ceases publication (2010.10): Pan Shiyi’s Soho Xiaobao abruptly halts publication after its 119th issue.
- Translation award vacant in Fifth Lu Xun Literary Prize (2010.10): One laureate for poetry has a series of poems lauding women from Wuhan who light up the silver screen; the translation award is vacant this year.
- Chongqing man stuns press by conjuring up 30,000 RMB (2010.10): The Chongqing Economic Times reports on a man who conjured up 30,000 RMB.
- Chicken blood injections and other health crazes (2010.10): Zhang Wuben wasn’t the first purveyor of peculiar miracle cures. In the mid-20th Century, Chinese citizens endured fads of chicken blood injections, kombucha, water, and hand-waving.
- Too traditional for modern tastes: the latest TV Red Chamber (2010.10): The new TV version of Dream of the Red Chamber has just ended on Beijing TV, but the series has been surrounded by controversy.
- Translating for the masses (2010.09): Sun Zhongxu explains literary translation; Zhao Guohua talks about two decades of film translation; and genre translator Yu Shi describes her work schedule.
- Belief in contemporary China (2010.09): Li Xiangping blogs about the sociological implications of religious beliefs in contemporary China.
- Redefining the Great Wall (2010.09): The Great Wall is a misleading English translation for 长城, writes Pei Yu in the China Youth Daily.
- New rules on dress and speech for teachers in Jiangsu (2010.09): A dress code and a speech code are intended to protect teachers’ image, say authorities.
- Men’s Health magazine repackages 1Q84 (2010.09): Ever thought about what the relationship between a commercially successful magazine such as Men’s Health and Haruki Murakami’s latest work 1Q84 is? No, well someone at Men’s Health have, because their August issue comes with a photographic version of the 1Q84 story － with fashion models and singers posing as the central characters: Aomame (青豆), Tengo (天吾) and Fukaeri (ふかえり or 深田绘里子).
- Han Han on the Diaoyu Islands incident (2010.09): China’s balls? (Wikipedia) Han Han, China’s bad boy novelist, editor, blogger and race car driver recently posted his thoughts on the unfolding Diaoyu Islands spat between China and Japan. Protect illegal characters by Han Han/ translated by Julian Smisek A…
- Chinese horror films: It was all just a dream (2010.09): Yang Jian explains why there aren’t any real horror films on the mainland, and why Hong Kong has backed away from real horror.
- Artists and their guides in the government (2010.09): Zhao Dan writes for the People’s Daily in 1980 arguing against a strict censorship regime in the arts.
- Fat China – a chat with Paul French (2010.09): Paul French tells Jeremy Goldkorn about Fat China, a book he co-authored with Matthew Crabbe subtitled ‘How expanding waistlines are changing a nation’.
- Wang Xiaofeng: Fang Zhouzi and China as a modern medieval state (2010.09): Bruno didn’t behave either (Wikipedia) In late July, “science cop” Fang Zhouzi, known for exposing academic and scientific fraud, was attacked by thugs wielding an iron hammer and anesthetic spray. The case has been widely reported in Chinese and western…
- Wen Jiabao corrects a geography textbook (2010.09): A car pile-up on the Fifth Ring Road. Also, a geography textbook gets revised in response to criticism from the Premier.
- Wang Li on mealtime hospitality (2010.08): Many consider Wang Li (1900-1986) to be the founder of modern Chinese linguistics. Along with other linguists, Wang Li developed a new Chinese framework of linguistic analysis, and after 1949, he worked extensively on reforming the Chinese writing system. In addition to his linguistic contributions, Wang Li also wrote several essays. Below is “Mealtime hospitality,” originally published in 1943.
- The people want positive news (2010.08): A Beijinger writes to the Shanghai Party Committee to recommend that the local news be more positive.
- Editor of Oxford’s new giant Chinese English dictionary (2010.08): Danwei interview with Julie Kleeman, the English editor of Oxford’s new giant English-Chinese Chinese-English dictionary.
- Beijing Literature celebrates 60 years (2010.08): Beijing Literature (北京文学) was founded in 1950 under the editorship of Lao She (老舍), who died on this day in 1966.
- A permit to drive a mule cart (2010.08): A 1954 driver’s license.
- The many forms of official approval (2010.08): Jiang Zongfu explains how officials offer hints as to their real feelings when they sign off on work proposals.
- Lisa Brackmann’s Rock Paper Tiger excerpt and Q&A (2010.08): Lisa Brackmann has worked as a motion picture executive and an issues researcher in a presidential campaign. She has lived and traveled extensively in China. A southern California native, Brackmann in Venice, California, and spends a lot of time in Beijing, China. Rock Paper Tiger is her first novel.
- Self-censoring the used book market (2010.08): Kongfz, an online marketplace for used books, releases new rules designed to eliminate content from sellers that could get it into trouble with the authorities. The problem: it doesn’t spell out what content is problematic.
- Hu Shi on “Tolerance and freedom” (2010.08): Never burned at the stake (Wikipedia) Hu Shi published “Tolerance and freedom” in 1959, the year in which the KMT began persecuting ideological dissidents and suppressing criticism of the government. According to Professor Chou Chih-p’ing of Princeton University, the essay…
- Launching a people’s war against crosstalker Guo Degang (2010.08): Guo Degang gets blacklisted because of a misbehaving student.
- Southern Weekly in conversation with Chen Daoming (2010.08): Two weeks ago, Southern Weekly ran a long interview with Chen Daoming. In it, Chen talks about the bygone days of when directors actually took time to film TV series and when film-makers were not just trying to grab money.
- Get ready for your morning exercise (2010.08): Radio exercises resume next week in the capital.
- Next-generation migrant workers need love too (2010.07): If You Are the One (非诚勿扰) does up a special migrant workers episode.
- Chinese computer magazine curses at Tencent (2010.07): “Fucking Tencent!” exclaims the latest issue of China Computerworld.
- Performing at funerals: professional mourners in Chongqing and Chengdu (2010.07): A look at the funeral performance industry in Chongqing and Chengdu, from The Beijing News.
- Aftershock, filmed like The Banquet or The Day After Tomorrow? Decide! (2010.07): Today is the opening of Feng Xiaogang’s Aftershock (唐山大地震), a tear-jerker of a movie, with the promoters are hinting that there won’t be a dry eye in the audience. Based on the big earthquake of Tangshan in 1976, Feng’s wife Xu Fan plays a mother who has to choose which of her offsprings will live. The film is also the first i-max movie made out of the United States, and predicted to be a top box office smash.
- Hu Shi thanks the imperialists (2010.07): Do Chinese parents say “I love you”? (Wikipedia) Chinese tradition is fairly enthusiastic about filial piety, having much to say on how to be a good child. Rather less is said about being a good parent. In this short essay,…
- Stuff you can’t microblog about (2010.07): Sina microblogger Cheng Yizhong discovers that he doesn’t turn up in a Sina microblog search.
- Hu Shi, missionaries, and women’s rights (2010.07): Julian Smisek translates an article by Hu Shi, who notes that missionaries, often considered the vanguard of the West’s cultural invasion, did actually bring some positive change to China.
- Revelations from Chinese characters (2010.07): Contradictory findings led by Chinese fortune-telling technique of taking apart the characters.
- It’s summer — time to get circumcised! (2010.07): Parents in Hangzhou are having their sons circumcised to beat the heat.
- Faked credentials, a ghost-written autobiography, and a diploma mill (2010.07): Did Tang Jun fake his resume to falsely claim he holds a PhD from Cal Tech? Fang Zhouzi is on the case!
- Annoying fake accents on Chinese TV (2010.07): Movie and TV critic Meng Jing (孟静) writes for Xinmin Weekly about actors adopting dodgy accents for regional TV dramas.
- Rights lawyer Ni Yulan － from prison to a Beijing park (2010.07): The lawyer Ni Yulan (倪玉兰) has been making the rounds on microblogs and the magazine world. Her story began when Beijing successfully won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics － and the municipal government promptly started to ‘beautify’ the city by razing houses and independently owned property.
- Courts can mediate, but enforcement is another matter (2010.07): In one Beijing district, half of all defendants who agree to court mediation don’t follow through, reports the Beijing Youth Daily.
- The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero (2010.07): General Yuan Chonghuan said “Fuck his mom! Hit the hard!”
- Court receives warning letter from local authorities in frog compensation case (2010.06): The Beijing News reports on a land requisition lawsuit brought by a local frog farmer in which the court received a warning letter from a local party committee before handing down a verdict in the town’s favor.
- 2013: The Fat Years — Interview with Chan Koonchung (2010.06): A brief interview with Chan Koonchung (aka John Chan or Chen Guanzhong 陈冠中）, author of the near future dystopian novel 2013, The Fat Years (盛世：中国2013年). Also on Tudou. See also earlier Danwei Q&A with Chan.
- Haruki Murakami’s Chinese translators on emulating style (2010.06): Lin Shaohua (林少华) and Lai Ming-chu (赖明珠) talks about translating Murakami into Chinese and preserving his unique style.
- The prosecutors strike back: no revenge on informants (2010.06): A denial in Procuratorial Daily of the claim that 70% of informants face some form of revenge.
- China’s private healthcare racket (2010.06): Why is the price of private healthcare in China rising at 3,000 per cent a year, and how long will the private clinics be able to get away with it for?
- A Beijing sex shop makes a revolution (2010.06): Sam Voutas is the director of a movie filmed in a sex shop in Beijing.
- Chinese science fiction: A podcast and reading list (2010.06): A Sinica podcast on Chinese science fiction featuring author Chen Qiufan. Plus, a list of resources for more Chinese SF-related information.
- Liu Ye fights a drunken foreigner over a taxi (2010.06): The Chongqing Times reports Bo Xilai’s remarks on zongzi and notes that Liu Ye smacked a drunken foreigner.
- Crowd-sourced cheating on the 2010 gaokao (2010.06): A student in Sichuan seeks help with the ancient Chinese section of this year’s college entrance exam — while the test is going on!
- Welcome to the i-Party (2010.06): The Communication University of China’s branch of the Communist Party launches a cell phone newspaper: 中传机关手机党报, or i-Party.
- Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: 2010 college exam essay questions (2010.06): Essay questions from the 2010 college entrance examination.
- Dating show contestant banned for sexy modeling? (2010.06): SARFT is once again mentioned for a rumored ban for a model who might be too hot for her own good. She also said outrageous things on a TV show.
- Collective punishment for building occupants (2010.06): A woman hit on the head by an object dropped from an apartment building wins her suit. All occupants of that side of the building share the fine.
- Translation and photography in Shanghai (2010.06): At A Room With a View, btr writes poetry, posts photos of Shanghai, and covers literature in translation.
- An update on volunteer Eckart Loewe (2010.05): Chai Jing posts a message from Eckart Loewe explaining his situation.
- A doctor who prescribes beans and eggplant as cure-alls (2010.05): Zhang Wuben charges 2,000 RMB for a consult and prescribes mung beans, eggplant, and daikon. Now he’s being exposed as a fraud in the Chinese press.
- A fantasy novel in a serious literary magazine: Guo Jingming in Harvest (2010.05): Guo Jingming has a new fantasy novel published in a supplement to Harvest magazine. Critics go nuts.
- A volunteer’s shuttered blog: follow-up (2010.05): Global Times reports on Eckart Loewe; New Weekly says he turned down an interview because of government criticism.
- Group sex and the Cultural Revolution – a translation (2010.05): Li Yinhe leading the charge (Wikipedia) In her latest blog post, sexologist and activist Li Yinhe writes that the crime of “group licentiousness” is the last draconian law left over from the Cultural Revolution. The posting protests the recent decision…
- The history lessons of Yuan Tengfei (2010.05): Yuan Tengfei, who is dubbed the most awesome histoy teacher, recently appeared in a video after two month of silence.
- Volunteering without a license (2010.05): Eckart Loewe shuts down his blog after receiving warnings to avoid the media.
- Observations on the mainland media (2010.05): Fang Kecheng comments on Chinese journalism.
- Southern Weekly on Thailand and democracy (2010.05): The Chinese media have covered the protests rather heavily, with the implicit message frequently being that chaos is the expected outcome when developing countries embrace democracy.
- Southern Weekly on how to deal with “naked officials” (2010.05): Naked official Pang Jiayu in the happier days that existed before he was sentenced to 12 years for corruption (image source) According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, around 4,000 corrupt officials fled the mainland between 1978 and 2003, taking more…
- Beijing’s famous graves (2010.05): Places named after graves in Beijing.
- Surviving Henan TV’s dating reality show (2010.05): It wasn’t until I was standing in front of the cameras in a wrestling fatigue doing muscle poses that I realized I had yet again bit off more than I could chew in China. How does this happen? Miscommunication? Ignorance? A desire to see foreigners looking foolish on Chinese TV
- How do Peking University students read the news? (2010.05): A look at how students at China’s most prestigious university get their news.
- Han Han: “Children, you’re spoiling grandpa’s fun” (2010.05): Bad boy novelist, blogger and racing car driver recently posted some thoughts about Chinese media coverage of the recent school attacks in China, titled “Children, you’re depressing grandpa.” The blog post was soon deleted by the blog nannies at Sina.com, but not before Julian Smisek translated it:
- School violence: does it belong in the news? (2010.04): Some newspapers report on the stabbings at a kindergarten in Taixing, Jiangsu Province, but most report obliquely on new measures intended to improve school campus safety.
- Injured on the job? Uninsured? Use a coworker’s insurance policy! (2010.04): An uninsured man received treatment under a different name.
- Driving domestic film production past Hollywood (2010.04): The release of mainstream Chinese films have caught some attention over the months, especially those made in conjunction with directors from Hong Kong, such as Teddy Chen’s Bodyguards and Assassins (十月围城).
- Hospital holds newborn hostage when parents can’t pay their bill (2010.04): The Dongguan Maternal & Child Healthcare Hospital has held a newborn hostage for three months because his parents can’t pay their 39,299.75 RMB maternity bill.
- How monks aided in the Yushu earthquake relief effort (2010.04): A translation by Dave Camp of a Southern Weekly report on the work of local Yushu lamas in the earthquake relief effort.
- A history of Shanghai in photos: Q&A with Karen Smith (2010.04): Q&A with Karen Smith, co-author of Shanghai, A History in Photographs 1842 – Today.
- Please refer your inquiry to the relevant departments (2010.04): A citizen requests information from the Ministry of Public Security, which responds with a form letter instructing him to consult “relevant departments.”
- AV actress entices Chinese netizens to go on Twitter (2010.04): AOI Sora (also known as Sola Aoi) is a Japanese AV actress famous for her large breasts. She is also an award-winning actress who has appeared on mainstream Japanese TV as well as a Thai film.
- Now that’s how to print an apology (2010.04): The Chongqing Times prints a front-page apology to the Chinese Writers’ Association, promising to do a better job in the future of following Marxist journalism theories and implementing the ideas of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
- A guide to book reviews in China (2010.04): Duxieren (读写人), an aggregator of book reviews, by Bimuyu, who also keeps his own literary blog.
- Science Fiction World topples its editor-in-chief (2010.04): Science Fiction World topples its director.
- Kangxi is Coming: impressions on a popular Taiwan TV show (2010.03): Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) presents a flagship entertainment show, Kangxi is Coming (康熙来了), produced under the company Gin Star Entertainment (金星娱乐), is shown on Taiwan Cti TV Monday to Friday at 10pm. The show has been shown attention by mainstream mainland media, and its presenters, Dee Hsu and Kevin Tsai (蔡康永) were on the cover of February’s Esquire (时尚先生) magazine.
- Han Han on Google leaving China – deleted post (2010.03): Young adult fiction author, blogger, race car driver and current flavor of the month for American journalists and bloggers who cover China recently posted a rather acerbic post that included a section on Google leaving China. The post was deleted from his Sina blog, but copied on to another Sina blog which is still available in Google’s cache.
- Internet executives complain about excessive Net censorship (2010.03): Internet executives complain about excessive Net censorship at an officially sanctioned meeting in Shenzhen.
- Soy sauce man III: Manager Zhang and the shopping guides (2010.03): A story about Li, a Chinese university graduate who became a soy sauce businessman
- The true story of a soy sauce man on film (2010.03): The true story of a soy sauce man, the companion film to Eric Mu’s series of articles
- Xingtai: the city and the soy sauce man’s job (2010.03): A story about Li, a Chinese university graduate who turned a soy sauce businessman
- Some problems with train tickets and the Ministry of Railways (2010.03): A blogger tries to return to Beijing by train but discovers he has to buy a ticket for several stations beyond the city.
- The true story of a soy sauce man (2010.02): A story about Li, a Chinese university graduate who turned a soy sauce businessman
- Spring Festival Gala scandal! Two versions of Lu Chen’s magic act (2010.02): CCTV-9 ran dress rehearsal footage for a number of Gala acts, including Louis Chen’s table-penetrating magic demonstration. Also, Han Han PK Louis over professionalism.
- Tragedy visits Yi Zhongtian (2010.02): Yi Zhongtian, whose ‘Tragedy!’ screencap launched an online meme, gets memorialized as a seal.
- Infant formula pushers: round two (2010.02): Tianjin’s Metro Express runs a Xinhua article on maternity ward infant formula promotions.
- Drive for development fuels illegal land seizures in Pizhou (2010.02): An investigation into the land controversy in Pizhou, whose villagers recently staged a large protest against local government leaders.
- Fan Lixin’s Last Train Home: why film unhappy things? (2010.01): Canadian citizen Fan Lixin (范立欣) has made a documentary that spans the years 2007 to 2009, focusing on an old couple’s journey back to Guang’an city, Huilong village (回龙村) in Sichuan from the factories of Guangzhou. The documentary, made with over one million dollars in funding, will have wide release in foreign countries…
- Who holds the rights to an ancient character? (2010.01): Hengyuanxiang is suing an independent businessman over the trademark rights to the bronze character for ‘sheep’.
- Cats and dogs in the animal cruelty law (2010.01): A draft animal cruelty law may outlaw eating cat and dog meat.
- Striking out at Zhang Yimou’s musical extravaganzas (2010.01): Jiang Zongfu, vice-mayor of Linxiang in Yueyang, Hunan, thinks that Zhang Yimou’s Impression series of outdoor performances have hurt the tourism industry.
- Old Beijing Man talks about Mao and Cultural Revolution (2010.01): Today’s China maybe fully embraces capitalism and is on the fast track to prosperity, but what may be regarded by many as a failed ideology still manages to find ways to manifest itself.
- How to run a good newspaper: don’t cause trouble (2010.01): The editor in chief of a party daily in Guangdong has some thoughts about how to run a newspaper.
- Danwei Canteen: Egg Dumplings (2010.01): In the second episode of Danwei Canteen, Anhui native Li Zhongqin cooks her mother’s egg dumpling recipe, set to music from Anhui.
- Dirty jokes by mobile phone (2010.01): Since the announcement that any mobile phones sending sexual and pornographic text messages will have their text messaging function turned off, bloggers and microbloggers have been mercilessly mocking and teasing the government plan
- Get your wedding vows from the government (2010.01): The Ministry of Civil Affairs presents four forms for a wedding ceremony in China.
- Earth-shattering news and a faked interview (2010.01): Chengdu Business News and Global Times pair the devastation of the Google pullout with the Haiti earthquake.
- The Storm Warriors is awesome. You just don’t realize it yet! (2009.12): A full-page ad in today’s paper explains a few confusing things about the film.
- Narrow Dwellings: a TV series that slipped through SARFT’s guidelines (2009.12): The series has drawn a lot of criticism as well as recommendation. The former for its poor script and one dimensional characters, and the latter for its social commentary, which focuses on people of different social statuses, nailhouses, corrupt officials and mistresses, all wrapped up in the setting of a consumerist metropolis. There are edited versions of Narrow Dwellings on Youku and broadcast on TV, and lines that have been deleted for its “bone-baring” (露骨) directness.
- Dongguan’s ISO sex industry (2009.12): Covers to an issue of Southern Metropolis Weekly feature on Dongguan’s sex industry.
- The highest-paid authors in China, 2009 edition (2009.11): Changjiang Times and Wu Huaiyao find that Zheng Yuanjie passed Guo Jingming to become China’s highest-earning author.
- Slogans on Tiananmen Gate (2009.11): A look at how slogans on Tiananmen and Xinhuamen have changed over the years.
- Interview with Zhou Lingfei, whose father’s father is Lu Xun (2009.11): Jeremy of Danwei.org had a chat with famous Chinese writer Lu Xun’s grandson Zhou Lingfei.
- The highly educated chengguan might be no better than the neighborhood committee auntie (2009.11): The Beijing Youth Daily reported that the Chengguan (the para-police force who are responsible for “cleaning” the streets in cities) in Hefei, Anhui province, are recruiting university-degree level employees. Yesterday the paper ran a letter-editorial from Anhui province about the move.
- Barbecue with Yu Hua in a Hangzhou park (2009.11): Luminaries of the cultural economy meet at a new park in Hangzhou.
- Light shines on the Qixia Mountain Buddha (2009.11): Crowds stood amazed for 27 minutes.
- Yang Xianyi, translator of classics, dies at 94 (2009.11): Microblogs report.
- Tian Zhuangzhuang: The film world as mafia and commerical models of film (2009.11): Time Weekly interviews Tian Zhuangzhuang about his new film The Warrior and the Wolf, in which he talked about commercialism of films in China, the film industry as a kind of mafia and the lacking of a master film in China.
- To the Chinese media, is Obama “aobama” or “oubama”? (2009.11): The US Embassy puts forth a new transliteration.
- Julia Lovell on translating Lu Xun’s complete fiction: “His is an angry, searing vision of China” (2009.11): Julia Lovell teaches at the University of London’s Birkbeck College and has translated Serve the People by Yan Lianke and Lust; Caution by Eileen Chang amongst other Chinese literary works. Lovell’s new book of translation is modern fiction forefather Lu Xun’s The Real Story of Ah Q and Other Tales of China, published by Penguin. Danwei interviews Lovell.
- Those damned English experts (2009.11): Snarking at ‘expert-approved’ translations.
- TIME’s Austin Ramzy on GDP growth, the Global Media Summit and the TIME China blog (2009.10): Austin Ramzy has been reporting for TIME for 6 years, starting in Hong Kong and moving to Beijing in 2007. Since then he has covered the Hong Kong Chief Executive election in 2007, the Beijing Olympics, Wenchuan earthquake and the Xinjiang riots.
- Tilting at the Customs Administration over confiscated books (2009.10): A professor sues over Hong Kong books that were seized at the border. Things don’t look promising: Chen Xiwo lost his case over the confiscation of a book of his own stories, and Zhu Yuantao won a brief victory six years ago only to see it reversed a few months later. Southern Weekly investigates.
- Emily Xu’s translation of Tyrannicide Brief (2009.10): Geoffrey Robertson is a well-known human rights lawyer whose reputation extends around the world. He has written numerous books about his occupation and the latest, Tyrannicide Brief, is a historical account about putting King Charles I on trial in England in 1649, a King who had the divine right to rule. Emily Xu translated the book into Chinese. Danwei interviews Xu.
- A foreigner’s life in a Beijing jail (2009.10): A foreigner’s life in a Beijing maximum security jail.
- How old is the motherland? (2009.10): Was National Day on October 1 the “birthday of the motherland”? Bloggers comment.
- A North Korea that’s hard to get to know (2009.10): Premier Wen Jiabao was recently in North Korea to broker deals about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Chinese media accompanied the premier’s trip, and included in the entourage was Rose Luqiu Luwei (闾丘露薇), who is an executive news editor for Hong Kong’s Phoenix Satellite Television.
- The Same Song canceled: CCTV dumps another flagship program (2009.10): The popular, touring concert broadcast will come to an end as part of the station’s programming shake-up.
- A beautiful day for a fall outing with the president (2009.10): Hu Jintao rides the Line 4 subway and visits the Summer Palace.
- Object lessons in human cruelty (2009.06): Wu Fei, an essayist and educator, uses the inclusion of Schindler’s List in a middle school textbook as the starting point for a discussion about the dehumanizing effect of on-screen killing, from televised executions intended to calm the anger of the public, to war movies that feature graphic violence.
- Mo Luo: Turning enemies into people (2009.06): Mo Luo, an essayist and poet, writes about dehumanizing the enemy.
- Three decades of public life in rural Jiangxi (2008.11): Xiong Peiyun writes about television, gambling, and religion in the small village where he grew up.
- In Wang Shuo’s No Man’s Land (2008.08): Geremie Barme addresses Wang Shuo’s 千万别把我当人.
- Don’t ask so laowai don’t have to tell (2008.07): An essay was written by Geremie Barmé, scholar, filmmaker and author of the new book The Forbidden City.
- CCTV’s gatekeepers discuss TV drama censorship (2008.07): Oriental Outlook reports on CCTV’s in-house tv censors.
- National Geographic goes Chinese (2008.06): An American publication portraying China to the Chinese – in Chinese? Not surprisingly, the choice of topics reveals certain China tropes that have gained currency in the West.
- Willow fluff and trashy romance novels (2008.05): Flying Catkin (飞絮) by Zhang Ziping (张资平) has echoes in today’s publishing landscape.
- Freedom of expression and government reform (2008.05): Zi Zhongyun (资中筠) talks of the need for institutional guarantees for free speech.
- Lupine lactose intolerant (2008.05): A book review of Wolf Totem by Linda Jaivin.
- Dreams of mansions, stories of stones (2008.04): A look at sequels, retellings, and pastiches of Cao Xueqin’s immortal Dream of the Red Mansions.
- Religion and government in an uneasy mix (2008.03): Phoenix Weekly (凤凰周刊) article from October, 2007, on government influence on religious practice in Tibet.
- Wang Xiaofeng: Why is SARFT so uptight? (2008.03): A translation of a Wang Xiaofeng blog post about SARFT and their ban on actress Tang Wei.
- China’s TV regulator frowns on crime reenactments (2008.03): SARFT reiterates its disapproval of crime reenactment shows. The Oriental Morning Post laments the blandness of current TV offerings.
- Boom times for Chinese film, but what comes next? (2008.02): Oriental Outlook (瞭望东方周刊) and Sanlian Life Week (三联生活周刊) examine China’s film industry.
- Assessing Spielberg’s withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics (2008.02): Steven Spielberg (斯皮尔伯格) backs out of the Olympics. Rose Luqiu (闾丘露薇), Han Song (韩松), and Wang Xiaoyu (王晓渔) comment.
- The top Chinese books in 2007 (2008.02): China Reading Journal (中华读书报), Yazhou Zhoukan (亚洲周刊), and City Pictorial (城市画报) choose mainland China’s top books for 2007.
- Paper tigers, whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears (2008.02): An article originally published in 1999 by Geremie Barmé about newspapers in China and how they have changed since the Cultural Revolution.
- Lost in Beijing finally gets killed (2008.01): SARFT (广电总局) brings down the hammer on Lost in Beijing (苹果), one year after its offense.
- Colorful mooks for Chinese teens (2007.12): Guo Jingming (郭敬明), Cai Jun (蔡骏), GirlneYa (郭妮), Ming Xiaoxi (明晓溪), Luoluo (落落), and Sharon (饶雪漫) publish YA magazines.
- Learning from the lives of ants (2007.11): The book Ant (蚁呓) by Zhou Zongwei (周宗伟), designed by Zhu Yingchun (朱赢椿). Life of Ants (蚁生, aka Life of Antz) by Wang Jinkang (王晋康).
- Culture and corporate propaganda in Soho Xiaobao (2007.11): Mid-2007 issues of Soho Xiaobao (SOHO小报), illustrating the complicated identity of in-house magazines run by real estate companies.
- The most famous junk collector in Xi’an (2007.10): Gaoxing (高兴) by Jia Pingwa (贾平凹) is actually based on the life experiences of his friend Liu Shuzhen (刘书祯), aka (刘高兴).
- The Dazhai Spirit gets religion (2007.10): In a Window of the South (南风窗) feature on model village Dazhai (大寨), Li Xiangping (李向平) writes about the role religion, in the form of the Pule Temple, plays in the village’s changing identity.
- Some questions about SARFT’s full-stop for Red Question Mark (2007.09): SARFT axes Red Question Mark (红问号). He Dong (何东) responds.
- Women writers in 1940s Shanghai who were not Eileen Chang (2007.09): Xiaojie Ji (小组集), an anthology of literature by women in 1940s Shanghai. Chen Zishan (陈子善) writes the foreword.
- SARFT’s guide to talent show etiquette (2007.09): SARFT releases a new notice regarding talent shows (广电总局进一步加强群众参与的选拔类广播电视活动和节目的管理).
- Hai Yan: books with the reach of television (2007.09): Hai Yan (海岩) is interviewed by Oriental Outlook (瞭望东方周刊).
- Korean history doesn’t fly on Chinese TV screens (2007.09): SARFT puts the kibbosh on Korean historical dramas.
- The horrors of SMS messaging (2007.09): Naraka 19 (地狱第19层), based on the Cai Jun (蔡骏) novel, gets neutered by SARFT.
- Of banned books and reading habits (2007.08): The Hong Kong Book Fair’s theme is Reading Hong Kong (阅读香港). Yau Lop Poon (丘立本) writes about reading banned books.
- Harvest turns 50 (2007.07): Harvest magazine (收获) celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with the July, 2007 issue.
- China’s kings of destruction (2007.07): Terrorist Meng Jiangnu and environmental monster Lu Ban stack up against Zhuge Liang, who snarled Yangtze River shipping traffic, and the Foolish Old Man, who launched a premeditated attack on the landscape.
- Yu Qiuyu on the hardships of reading (2007.07): Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) writes about trunks of books.
- Haruki Murakami in Chinese (2007.07): Lin Shaohua (林少华) talks about how his translations of the works of Haruki Murakami (村上春树) are received in China.
- Some like them uncut (2007.06): Hu Tong (胡同) of Booyee Bookshop (布衣书局) writes about the popularity of uncut editions.
- Lu Jinbo: Marketing the Wang Shuo brand (2007.06): Larry Lu Jinbo (路金波) talks about how he markets books by Wang Shuo (王朔), Han Han (韩寒), and Annie Baobei (安妮宝贝).
- Trend-spotting in online fiction (2007.06): An interview with Daniel Dan Fei (丹飞), publisher of Notes on Graverobbing (盗墓笔记), Rear Palace (后宫), and Those Ming Dynasty Things (明朝那些事).
- Work plans for Chinese writers (2007.05): Zhang Yueran (张悦然) signs with the Beijing Writers’ Association, and as a result has to plan out her contract work. Danwei looks at the work plans that Mao Dun (茅盾), Cao Yu (曹禺), and Lao She (老舍) wrote up in the 1950s.
- Two decades of profitable Chinese book agents (2007.05): An Min (安民) writes in Southern Weekly (南方周末) about Chinese book agents (书商) and Xue Mili (雪米莉).
- Yu Dan: defender of traditional culture, force for harmony (2007.05): Yu Dan (于丹) gets criticized by ‘real scholars’. He Dong (何东) writes in her defense, saying that TV program hosts are the ones who ought to be upset. Zhao Yong in Southern Metropolis Daily writes that she upholds the mainstream government line.
- Zhu Dake on literature and literary prizes (2007.04): Cultural critic Zhu Dake (朱大可) talks about online literature and the Nobel Prize (诺贝尔奖).
- Private argot in the public sphere (2007.04): YWeekend (青年周末) comments on slang in subtitles. Wu Fei (吴非) writes about gang language and cultural revolution slang.
- Ex-cons writing about prison life (2007.04): Four Walls (四面墙) by Zhang Chunlei (张春雷 aka 哥们儿), Female Psychologist (女心理师) by Bi Shumin (毕淑敏), and two prison blogs.
- SARFT uncovers a poisoned apple (2007.03): Chang Ping (长平) on SARFT’s criticism of Lost in Beijing (苹果 aka Apple), Still Life (三峡好人), and Thirteen Princess Trees (十三棵泡桐).
- Yu Qiuyu: why book reading is a waste (2007.03): Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) comments on National Reading Day (国家阅读日) and raises a ruckus.
- What’s wrong with Thirteen Princess Trees? (2007.03): The movie Thirteen Princess Trees (十三棵泡桐) directed by Lu Yue (吕乐) is delayed for a second round of review by the China Film Bureau.
- New Years Past: Other Spring Festivals by Geremie R. Barmé (2007.02): Sang Ye interviews two people about their experiences during Great Leap Forward-era Spring Festivals. Translated and annotated by Geremie R. Barmé.
- 2006 in review: arts & entertainment (2007.01): Links to SARFT’s rules for movie titles, a 2006 online media quiz, and end-of-2006 entertainment roundups from The Beijing News and China Daily.
- Pseudoscience in four glorious colors (2007.01): Philosopher Li Ming (黎鸣) threatened to commit suicide if his Laozi-based proof of the Four Color Theorem was wrong. Turns out it is. Also, Liu Zihua’s Eight Trigrams Cosmology (八卦宇宙学理) as an example of the relationship of traditional Chinese culture to modern science.
- Slow, polluting seniors removed from Beijing city streets (2007.01): Zhang Rui writes about a Beijing plan to ban seniors from the city’s streets, with the goal of reducing gridlock among pedestrians.
- A fairy tale in Guangxi (2006.12): Guangxi schoolchildren write in to the People’s Daily complaining about fraud perpetrated by their county leadership.
- Who has it in for China? (2006.12): Global People (环球人物) magazine looks at people who have said bad things about China in 2006.
- When corruption investigations were all the rage (2006.12): An essay inspired by the Gao Qinrong (高勤荣) case looks back at the anti-corruption campaigns of the early 1950s. Also, details about the Huang Yifeng Affair (黄逸峰事件) and a review of party regulations encouraging a critical press….in 1950.
- Learning about America from prison flicks (2006.12): What Hollywood is teaching the world through prison films and TV shows like Prison Break and The Shawshank Redemption
- Old fables retold: The Tortoise and the Hare (2006.12): The story of The Tortoise and the Hare (龟兔赛跑) told from a Chinese bureaucratic perspective.
- Street hawker cries of Beijing (2006.12): Yang Changhe demonstrates hawker’s cries in a video shot by Muzimei.
- Dragons and branding (2006.12): Should the dragon be retired as China’s national emblem? Were dragons real? Read on…
- These films are not yet rated (2006.12): Ng See-Yuen (Wu Siyuan, 吴思远) argues that Chinese movies are bland because there’s no rating system in place: they have to be acceptable for everyone, from children to the elderly, and they can’t criticize contemporary society. That’s why there are so many costume dramas.
- Apathy — Glimpses Inside the Chinese Media by Ann Condi (2006.12): What do people think when they are shown a tool to help them access off-limits sections of the Internet?
- Insulting the Monkey King (2006.11): A Japanese adaptation of the Journey to the West has Chinese netizens and filmographers angry over its unfaithfulness to the book; a blogger comments that JttW may have inspired Tolkien.
- The Chinese Writers’ Association: what good is it? (2006.11): Tie Ning becomes president of the Chinese Writers’ Association. Is it nothing more than a useless political organization, as Wang Lixiong alleges?
- Will the Boat Sink the Water? a review by Göran Leijonhufvud (2006.11): Göran Leijonhufvud, former China correspondent of several Scandinavian newspapers, is now researching village elections in minority nationalities areas in Yunnan.
- Yu Qiuyu on cross-cultural communication (2006.10): A piece by Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) adapted from a presentation given at August’s 2006 Cross-Cultural Communication Forum.
- Dreck, the new bestseller by your local party secretary (2006.10): Li Dalun writes books, Yu Qiuyu gives advice on officials writing, and two columnists discuss the corruption involved in publishing officials’ works.
- Writing and packaging young adult fiction for teenage girls (2006.10): YA novels for girls, featuring GirlneYa vs. Xiao Nizi.
- Putting animal protection in the dictionary (2006.10): Animal protection advocates in China are upset at definitions in the Xinhua Dictionary that refer to the tasty flesh of animals.
- The ‘national’ in National Day (2006.10): Xiao Feng writes about China’s national flavor, national curse, national bird, national car, and so forth, Dongfang Yu writes on the true meaning of China’s National Day in the age of angry youth.
- Another National Day by Geremie R. Barmé (2006.09): A translation by Geremie R. Barmé of interviews by Sang Ye of two individuals about their experiences before and after the revolution.
- A recipe for intrigue: an opportunistic novelization, an anonymous blurb, and the censorship board (2006.09): 暗算, a novelization of a television series adapted from a novel by Mai Jia (麦家), quotes an anonymous online source for a back-cover blurb. Also, the censorship process in regards to code-breaking subject matter.
- Who’s doing the censoring, exactly? (2006.09): Lou Ye gets banned from filmmaking, and workers in a Beijing film processing plant confiscate copies of a movie they think is too sexy.
- Migrant worker blues: Who cares? by Bruce Humes (2006.09): Bruce Humes reviews two recent books about migrants in China: ‘I Shall Shed No Tears’ (我的眼泪不会掉下来) by Wang Lili and ‘La Promesse de Shanghai’ by Stephane Fiere.
- A medical scam’s willing participants (2006.08): From Oriental Outlook, a personal account by a doctor of patients shilling for bad medicine. Also, a Legal Report episode on how commercials are faked.
- Online video tainted by spoofs (2006.08): Translation from Qiu Ao, and bits from the Legal Mirror about the SARFT regulations on personal internet video.
- Beijing’s Bloody August by Geremie R. Barmé (2006.08): Two first person accounts of the beginning of the decade of chaos in the Cultural Revolution, recorded by Sang Ye and translated by Geremie R. Barmé.
- The General Administration of Anxiety about Radio, Film and TV (2006.08): ‘Sanlian Life Week’ contributing editor Wang Xiaofeng’s short blog essay about the new rules issued by the State Administration of Radio, TV and Film (SARFT) that seek to control online video.
- Why commemorate the Tangshan earthquake? (2006.07): SF writer and Xinhua journalist Han Song asks how we know that the Tangshan Earthquake really happened.
- Let the Spiel Begin by Geremie R. Barmé (2006.07): Zhang Yimou, the Olympics opening ceremony, and a historically positive song and dance epics.
- Educational gravediggers (2006.07): A teacher gets fired for defending students who complained about having to sit for hours in the hot sun waiting for a ceremony to start, while the leadership sat in air-conditioned cars.
- Churches and the market economy (2006.07): A translation of Zhao Xiao’s famous essay, ‘Market Economies with Churches and Market Economies without Churches’, and a critique by CASS academician He Fan.
- Clueless academic takes on popular fantasy novels (2006.06): Culture Wars: author Xiao Ding (萧鼎) takes on stuffed shirt Tao Dongfeng (陶东风) over fantasy literature.
- A touching story’s odyssey from print to blogs (2006.06): The story ‘Human’ Certificate (‘人’证) by Yu Qing (郁青), originally published in the Life Daily (生活报) newspaper, circulates online, unattributed.
- Is there such a thing as Chinese indie music? (2006.06): Blogger Wan Yi writes about the sad state of Chinese independent record labels.
- Skirting the law in China’s private enterprise reform (2006.05): An essay by Wu Xiaobo (吴晓波), ‘Reform Begins with Transgression’ (改革从违法开始), about how early Chinese private enterprise dealt with a vague legal framework.
- Wait, what’s the name of this magazine again? (2006.05): How publishers manipulate publication licenses (国内统一刊号), along with an interactive gallery of Chinese magazine covers.
- Gnawing at language, biting the ankles of Chinese media (2006.05): A look at the Chinese magazine ‘Correct Language’ (咬文嚼字 – ‘Yaowen Jiaozi’) and language pedantry.
- CCTV vs. classic movies (2006.03): A rundown of several pastiches of Chinese movies appearing online as 大史记 – “The Year That Was”. Some from CCTV, others not. With links to video.
- Barmé on Ba Jin (2005.11): Geremie R. Barmé dissents from Ba Jin.
- Why we aren’t building a “harmonious Danwei” (2005.09): Liu Hongbo (刘洪波) looks back at the village feuds of his youth and suggests that a ‘harmonious society’ is not something that local governments can necessarily construct.
- Update: Stephen Chow sold for 14,542 yuan (2005.08): Shi Banyu, the Mandarin voice of Stephen Chow, sells phone calls over eBay for 15,452 yuan.
- A positive look at the Nationalist Party (2005.06): A book applauds KMT contributions to the anti-Japanese war effort.
- How much money does a Beijing lawyer make? (2005.06): Today’s edition of the Legal Mirror (法制晚报) featured a new financial column called ‘Checking Your Pockets’ (钱包大兜底). The aim of the column is to inform the readers about how much money people in selected industries make in Beijing. To pay respect to its name, Legal Mirror kicked off with lawyers. Here are the results of the report:
- New classical education fills a void (2005.06): Why the sudden interest in guoxue (国学)?
- A Joint Approach to History (2005.06): The joint Korean-Japanese-Chinese history textbook, 东亚三国的近现代史, published by Social Sciences Academic Press, is reviewed by Danwei.
- Test Questions (2005.06): Test questions from the 2005 gaokao.
- Anatomy of a bogus drug ad (2005.05): When I opened my paper yesterday evening, I discovered a garish four-page insert from a company called Warner advertising a product called “Shark” 帅克. My suspicions were aroused by the unnumbered pages and curious celebrity endorsements, and a quick survey of other news kiosks confirmed that this ad did not come from the Mirror distribution center.
- China’s illegal yellow press (2005.05): On the left is the front page of ‘Military News’, a newspaper without masthead, contact phone number or any kind of publication licence (required by Chinese law). The paper was purchased on the Beijing subway for two yuan, which is relatively expensive, as most of the city’s daily newspapers cost only half a yuan.
- The questionable legality of a Mao impersonator (2005.04): A Mao impersonator promotes a restaurant but runs afoul of the nation’s advertising laws.
- Self-censorship: the 2,000 pound rhinoceros on the dining table (2005.04): In sum, the Chinese government’s censorial authority in recent times has resembled not so much a man-eating tiger or fire-snorting dragon as a giant anaconda coiled in an overhead chandelier. Normally the great snake doesn’t move. It doesn’t have to. It feels no need to be clear about its prohibitions. Its constant silent message is “You yourself decide.”
- Importing Inspiration: Plagiarism in Pop Music (2005.04): Nicholas Tse and Lee-Hom are suspected of not being entirely original in their music writing.
- Men behind the Nanny (2005.04): The Publicity Department (formerly known as the Propaganda Department) has held a “forum” in Beijing to promote what it calls “news editorial staff management regulations (in testing phase)”. These regulations appear to be same the set of rules earlier reported on Danwei of which the stated intent is to clear up corrupt journalistic practices.
- Lip-Service: Lip-Synching in Chinese Pop Musicby David Moser (2005.03): When we showed up at the studio for the taping, we discovered that there was no microphone for our singer, no recording equipment or hookups for our amplifiers, and not even any electrical outlets on the stage. “How are we supposed to do our number?” I asked the studio crew. They looked at us incredulously. “You actually want to sing the song live?” they said
- China’s 50 Most Beautiful People (2005.03): The Beijing News borrows a picture of Maggie Cheung from Cosmo for the cover of today’s Entertainment insert, “50 Most Beautiful People in China”. Ms. Cheung takes the top spot, with Takeshi Kaneshiro, Little S, Zhang Ziyi, and Liu Ye rounding out the top five in this exercise that is a conscious imitation of People magazine’s yearly rundown.
- Asimov Published, Interviewed in Beijing (2005.03): Cover story from this week’s Book Review section of The Beijing News announces the publication of a Chinese translation of Isaac Asimov’s complete Foundation series. Yup, the Beijing News has scored a fictional interview with “I, Asimov”. They’ve been taking similar liberties recently in their entertainment sections, captioning photographs of celebrities with made-up quotes.
- An Imperial Personality (2005.03): This is Mr. Aisin Gioro Zhoudi (爱新觉罗·州迪), who claims to be a distant relative of Puyi, the last emperor of China. Having spent time living in both Taiwan and Hong Kong, he has worked as a bus driver and fortune-teller, but now he seems to be spending most of his time at home in Guangzhou. He’s in the news this week for his willingness to undergo a DNA test to prove his link to the royal family, although it does not seem that many people are doubting him.
- People: Nicholas Bonner and his North Korean films (2005.03): Nick Bonner is one of Beijing’s most eccentric residents, in all the right ways. He is a painter, cartoonist, landscape artist and filmmaker who has been living in the capital for more than fifteen years.
- One country, two versions (2005.02): CEPA eases co-productions between the mainland and Hong Kong, but does it undermine creativity?
- Do whatever the hell you want, as long as you don’t do it on paper or via broadcast (2005.01): Do whatever the hell you want, as long as you don’t do it on paper or via broadcast
- People: Wang Zhaohui (2004.12): Wang Zhaohui is the production manager of CCTV 6’s weekly magazine program, World Film Report. World Film Report covers films from all over the world, film festivals and news about directors and actors. Wang answered some questions from Danwei…
- Public intellectuals on the road to debauchery? (2004.12): Southern People Weekly gets the authorities in a snit with its feature on Public Intellectuals.
- Stifled Laughter: How the Communist Party Killed Chinese Humor (2004.11): The Chinese government has systematically stifled crosstalk by bowdlerizing its tradition, restricting its natural growth and evolution, and reducing the form to a sycophantic, unsatisfying — and unfunny — shadow of its former self.
- David Moser on Mao impersonators (2004.10): I first became aware of this phenomenon in 1992 when I turned on a Beijing TV variety show and was jolted by the sight of “Mao Zedong” and “Zhou Enlai” playing a game of ping pong. They both gave short, rousing speeches, and then were reverently interviewed by the emcee, who thanked them profusely for taking time off from their governmental duties to appear on the show.
- The Three Stooges in China (2004.09): “Can you do the laugh?” I ask him. “You know, that laugh?” He nods. He knows what I’m talking about. “Nyuk nyuk nyuk!” he suddenly erupts, in an imitation of Curly so compelling that I’m suddenly transported from Beijing to my family’s living room floor in Eureka, Kansas, circa 1959…
- People: Tina Liu (2004.09): Tina Liu is Hong Kong’s most prominent image stylist, but her mercurial career has involved her in almost every aspect of Hong Kong’s media world.
- Southern loving: the rise and fall of an independent media entity (2004.08): Washington Post article on Cheng Yizhong, Yu Huafeng, and the beleagured Southern Metropolis Daily (南方都市报) newspaper.
- People: Lolita Hu (2004.07): Novelist, essayist, editor of Playboy, frequent traveller to India: Lolita Hu life does not match with what you imagine when you first hear her English name.
- Ben Marcom Weekly: Sex appeal in Chinese advertising (2004.07): Most Chinese people will remember a TV commercial for a gum called Qing Zui with the opening line of: “Do you want to feel the taste of kissing?” Advertising using explicit sexual messages did not go further on Chinese TV:…
- Ben Marcom Wednesday: Grannie Wang and the IT industry (2004.06): There’s a Chinese saying ‘Grannie Wang boasts about her melons in order to sell them’ (王婆买瓜，自卖自夸). In other words, she blows her own trumpet, so you can’t really believe her when she says the melons are tasty. So what does Grannie Wang do? Well, she can hire a ‘tuor‘ ( 托儿) and a ‘muliao‘ (幕僚). A tuor is a kind of tout employed to say good things about a company or product to entice customers; muliao is an old Chinese word meaning an advisor to a high official or general.
- People: Chen Daming, director (2004.06): Chen’s own life story could be rich material for a feature film. After being rusticated from the Henan Opera School, he was forced to move away from Kaifeng to look for work. The Film Academy is the most prestigious film school in China, counting the directors Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige among its alumni, and competition for place to study there is fierce. Chen Daming came to Beijing for an audition, and was accepted after three auditions.
- People: Dirk Eschenbacher, Ogilvy One (2004.06): Dirk Eschenbacher is Ogilvy One’s Regional Creative Director for Asia Pacific, in charge of all interactive creative in the world’s fastest-growing online marketing environment. Originally from Munich, he has been in Asia for six years. After living in Thailand for three years running his own web design studio, he moved to Beijing to join Ogilvy One.
- New Weekly: Do Chinese kids know anything about traditonal Chinese culture? (2004.06): Q: Do you know what China’s four great inventions are? Paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder 49.3% know all four, 37.3% get one or more wrong, 13.3% don’t know at all (2004.06.12)
- People: Chen Guanzhong (aka Chan Koonchung) (2004.06): John Koon-chung Chan profiled; He is one of the most experienced players in Chinese media, having founded magazines, written and produced feature films and TV dramas, started and run a satellite TV station, and written novels, collections of essays and even a treatise on Marxist literary criticism.
- Chinese reggae pioneers (2004.03): Maybe Chinese doctors started using some of the local herbs in their remedies because something different happened in Jamaica: Kingston’s Chinese population was involved from the earliest days with the down and dirty ghetto music that became reggae.
- A short interview with Muzi Mei (2004.02): Danwei interviews Muzi Mei
- Red Egg (2003.11): Red Egg was a Mainland China magazine about technology, lifestyle, and digi-cool. The magazine flowered for a brief time after the Great Nasdaq Crash. Before the Great Nasdaq Crash really hit the pocketbooks of the Great Nasdaq Boom’s investors’ pocketbooks.