See China

In a recent interview of Opera News, DAVID HSIEH talked with two Chinese artists who established their names in the world opera scene — bass Hao Jiang Tian (田浩江, literally meaning big river) and bass-baritone Shenyang (沈洋, somehow also literally meaning big ocean, and the English spelling of two names are not even coherent, with the former being “westernized” and the latter in natural Chinese order).

Over the past two weekends, Beijing played host to three major music festivals, showing the breadth of the Chinese music scene. Local independent music label Modern Sky put on the Strawberry Music Festival, which has an indie-rock bent featuring Chinese acts and a smattering of international bands. The Midi Festival, organized by Beijing’s Midi School of Music, has a more rock ‘n’ roll vibe, a punk- and metal-heavy lineup, and an eleven-year history. And the smaller Ditan Park Folk Festival was launched just last year by an independent promoter who also owns a guitar shop in Beijing.

The bestseller book (on which the film is based) describes the professional ascent of a girl who works for a global company, DB. She is often cited as being quick and clever, knowing how to get promotions and please her superiors. The book has since then become a bit of a handbook for aspiring Office Ladys all across China.

At the Panjiayuan market, finding a true treasure still requires a trained eye, but your chances are better on the weekends.

The First See China Club Advisors’ Meeting on Cultural Industries will be held on April 23 (Friday) to analyse the international market demand and audience expectation of Chinese cultural products. Participants (around 20) include senior executives from prominent PR companies, publishing houses, cultural agencies and magazines from both China and across the world. Please contact seechina10@gmail.com for details or registration.

An original photographic exhibition composed of 62 pictures is open for bid for international tour. The theme of the exhibition: portrait of a Chinese for 62 years, faithfully records the life of a Chinese businessman named Ye Jinglv (叶景吕) from 1907 to 1968, spanning three historical eras (Qing Dynasty, Republic of China, the People’s Republic of China) and two World Wars.

When CCTV1’s prime time dramas come on air, the viewers know immediately what the broadcaster is attempting to address. They are all issues that affect the population, ranging from national projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet railway, to northeast China’s countryside entrepreneurship, to the lives and troubles of people on different social ladders in big cities.

For many English readers, the spelling of a Chinese name often brings a lot of headache, but a list of humorously romanticized Chinese names created by the notoriously mischieveous “netizens” of China, seem to have paved out a shinning way for this brave new global village. For example: Johnny for Confucius, Angel for Ma Ying-jeou, and Louis Bond for Liu Bang, founder of Han Dynasty who lived about 2000 years ago.

On March 27, an (almost perpetual) interesting topic was brought up by the Paper Republic on the reception of Chinese literature, or the lack of it, among “Western readers”.

Online travel company Ctrip got a lot of people excited yesterday when they began advertising for adventure trips throughout China, including base jumping in Shanghai, capture the flag in a tiger park, and spending the day as a terracotta warrior.