Tag Archives: Danwei.com

The ruan (zhongruan)

Posted on 2011-09-15 by Danwei

The ruan (阮) or moon guitar is a four-stringed Chinese instrument similar to the pipa. It is also sometimes called the qin pipa (秦琵琶) and ruanxian (阮咸). The most common ruan is the zhongruan (中阮) or tenor ruan. The bass ruan … Continue reading →

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The erhu

Posted on 2011-09-14 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Perhaps no musical instrument is more evocative of China than the erhu (二胡), but its origins are in central Asia: The erhu is one of several instruments including gaohu, zhuihu and jinghu that were historically known as “huqin” (barbarian’s fiddle) … Continue reading →

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A Chinese student on 9-11

Posted on 2011-09-14 by Jeremy Goldkorn

This image is currently being circulated on Weibo. It’s a series of screenshots from a Phoenix TV program on the tenth anniversary of 9-11. The screenshots show an interview with a student in Beijing. These are the captions: Q: What was … Continue reading →

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Opening the door to American universities with lies

Posted on 2011-09-07 by Tim Hathaway

There’s a growing perception that American universities are admitting Chinese students based on fraudulent applications. How big is this problem, and who is responsible for it? Tim Hathaway investigated the problem for the Southern Weekly, and this is what he found: … Continue reading →

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Kuang Kuang and the 38th Parallel

Posted on 2011-09-05 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Here is another episode of Kuang Kuang’s Diary, featuring Kuang Kuang, the primary school boy with a permanent bloody nose, and his girlfriend Xiao Hong. This episode is called The 38th Parallel, a reference to the border between North and South … Continue reading →

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Chinese students and a foreign agony uncle

Posted on 2011-09-02 by Ralph Jennings

Ralph Jennings is a journalist who has contributed advice columns to the Beijing-based 21st Centurynewspaper since 2000. I was working at the China Daily eleven years ago. One day, during an editing shift,  a colleague suddenly popped up beside my desk and said the … Continue reading →

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Confessions of a Chinese graduate

Posted on 2011-09-02 by Eric Mu

An essay by Danwei staff writer Eric Mu.  When I was a kid, university graduates were as rare as unicorns, now they are more like popcorn: cheap and plentiful. No big surprise, considering there are millions of fresh ones every … Continue reading →

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The rawap – a Silk Road lute

Posted on 2011-08-30 by Josh Summers

I lived in the far west of China in Xinjiang from 2006 to 2010, and I was captivated by the musical heritage of the Uyghur people. Much of their history and entertainment revolve around gatherings of song and dance, and … Continue reading →

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Scenes from the tobacco harvest: Why China can’t quit smoking

Posted on 2011-08-30 by Mike Frick

Gejiu is a city of 135,000 people that lies 280 kilometers southeast of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, and several hours north of China’s border with Vietnam. Sibling mountains cradle Gejiu in a narrow valley, made even smaller by … Continue reading →

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Blowing up the school

Posted on 2011-08-29 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Early this year, an animation showing a group of bunnies oppressed by tigers and then rising up in rebellion became an overnight hit in China, soon making it to international TV news, including Australia’s ABC. The video was part of an … Continue reading →

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