Arts & Entertainment Posts

May242011

Posted By
Ryan

Review: Last Train Home

There’s an undeniable disconnect between being a foreigner in China and being a Chinese in China. Yeah, I know, thank you Captain Obvious. As self-evident as that statement is, it’s sometimes easy to neglect the truth in it and ignore the consequences of what it is to be Chinese in China.

Maybe this is only true for me, but when I first arrived in China I was fascinated with everything. I sucked it all in like a sponge. Every discarded baijiu bottle, weathered shoe repair person, steamy baozi vendor… it was all so noticeable. But after a time these things, and the millions of others of still frames that blur together to form a tapestry of modern China, began to blend into the background as I just got on with living. I shifted from being a curious tourist to a preoccupied resident.

Which is why I’m grateful for having caught Last Train Home, a documentary by Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Fan Lixin, as it re-humanized the mass of strangers just off the edge of my doorstep.

May112011

8Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Review: Mao’s Last Dancer

I’ve had Mao’s Last Dancer on my “to watch” list for a while now, and finally sat down and gave it a look the other night.

I’ve no doubts that the reason it sat for so long unwatched was because my academic desire to watch it couldn’t beat out the fact that I’d be spending two hours watching a dude dance. Fortunately for me, my less-evolved side succumbed to ever-eroding powers of having nothing else to watch.

Apr082011

12Comments

Posted By
Travis

Love, with Chinese characteristics (a conversation)

“You need to understand,” Walter said, lighting a cigarette. “Chinese love is real love.” “And American love isn’t?” Nick said. “Western love,” Walter said, “is not real love. Not in the Chinese sense. It’s not. Their love is deeper, truer.” “Yeah,” Nick said, “I can see what you mean.” He could too. One night at [...]

Mar192011

5Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Major General Genre, Mao’s apple is far from the tree

There is a Chinese saying, 虎父无犬子, which mirrors the old Western adage “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Love him or hate him, it’s tough to argue that the late Mao Zedong wasn’t extremely charismatic and a commanding leader. The same is not as often said about his grandson, Mao Xinyu.

A new Chinese meme illustrates why. The meme, “Major General Genre”, takes a rambling, nonsensical dialog that Xinyu had with a reporter and applies it to different topics, mad libs style.

Here’s the original interview:

Mar172011

7Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Video: Chinese flight attends shake things up with safety dance

I’ve been on my share of flights where the flight attendants tried to spice things up with a bit of comedy or improv, but this is a first. The video below shows three flight attendants from China’s Capital Airlines putting a bit of a shimmy in their safety instructions.

Mar152011

NoComments

Posted By
Ryan

Photo: Morning Exercises

This photo reminded me of a video blog I did back a few years ago. An intriguing shot. Explains Eric Hevesy, the photographer, “This photo was taken with a telephoto lens looking out of my teaching dormitory at my university in Dalian. I used vignette to kind of highlight towards the center of the photo.”

Feb192011

28Comments

Posted By
Steven

A guide to using an Android smartphone in China, and how to get paid apps

Qiyi app for Android, shown on a Galaxy Tab

I’ve been enjoying my past few months of being a new Android user; but residing in China entails some frustrations and difficulties in getting the most out of your Google-powered smartphone – especially with regards a lack of paid apps support, and some popular apps missing from the Chinese version of the Android market. Here are a couple of solid – and legitimate – ways to tackle these two annoyances…

Feb112011

1Comment

Posted By
Ryan

Video: 2011 Year of the Rabbit

So, it’s a little late and most of us have begrudgingly returned to work, but 新年快乐 fellow laowai.

I captured my own thoughts, photos and videos of my 6th Chinese New Year’s Eve on my blog, and so won’t waste space with a reiteration here.

However, I wanted to share this great short video by Jonah M. Kessel, Paul Morris and Kit Gillet:

Feb112011

1Comment

Posted By
Ryan

Photo: Hot Cha

I’ve seen some fancy tea pouring before, but this takes things to a slightly elevated level. Shot by Peter Luginbühl in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Feb092011

6Comments

Posted By
Ryan

Nearly half of luxury handbag market from purse-carrying Chinese men

I was the first of my friends to jump on the man-bag fashion-wagon. Despite the constant “murse-wearing” ribbing I took, and the defensive protests that it’s not a “European carryall“; there’s no denying the practicality of not having to load all your modern man-gear into your pockets.

That is to say, I’m quite open to the concept of a man with a purse-like device. Being “practical” is manly, even in heels and a dress. But upon moving to China, I noticed that the men of the Middle Kingdom take things to a whole new level. There were some ground-rules to murse-wearing in the West: it shouldn’t be fancy; if it wasn’t on your back, most of it should rest below your hips; think more Indy than Cindy; and the width of its strap was inversely proportional to its level of femininity.

Chinese men seemed, by comparison, to have quite literally “clutched” on to metrosexualism in a more drastic way. Seeing men walking around with designer purses that looked perfectly suited to carry a tampon and a compact just seemed bizarre.