Notes On The Shanghai Expo,
2010
Hopkins-Nanjing Center
Notes On The Shanghai Expo, Jonathan Hwang
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
1. One of my Chinese classmates mentioned that what really mattered for Chinese visitors were the big exhibitions: Japan, China, Europe, and the US. While still interested in the big exhibits, most Westerners were also astounded by the fact that North Korea and Iran were among the countries with pavilions at the Expo. The pavilions, although far from spectacular, showed a side of the “rogue” nations that is impossible to see in Western media, which often focuses on the proliferation of nuclear weapons and anti-US sentiment. The North Korean Pavilion showed video clips of the Mass Games and random shots …
Questioning The “Chinese Model Of Development”,
2010
University of British Columbia
Questioning The “Chinese Model Of Development”, Zhansui Yu
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Chinese, following Chairman Mao’s famous phrase, tend to use the expression “like a fire burning in the wilderness” [燎原之火 liaoyuan zhi huo] to describe the unexpected rise and popularity of something marginalized or rebellious. Since the literary explosion in the years immediately after Mao’s death, mainland Chinese literary circles have rarely witnessed such a “wild fire.” Recently, however, a fierce literary “fire” suddenly broke out and shocked the entire Chinese intellectual world. The spark that ignited this fire is Chan Koon-chung’s 陈冠中 political novel Shengshi: Zhongguo 2013 [盛世：中国 2013]. [1]
More Questions Than Answers,
2010
University of California, Davis
More Questions Than Answers, Michelle Yeh
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Earlier this month, we ran an opinion piece by Peter Zarrow concerning the plagiarism accusations against Tsinghua University Professor Wang Hui, in which Dr. Zarrow explained why he had signed a letter of support organized by international scholars and sent to Tsinghua’s president. The essay was picked up and circulated by the MCLC listserv, where it generated a number of comments. One of the responses came from Michelle Yeh of UC Davis, and we asked Dr. Yeh if she would expand her remarks and share them with China Beat readers. She has done so in the essay below, and also …
R.I.P. China Blogs?,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
R.I.P. China Blogs?
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We were amused to see that the most recent Sinica podcast was ominously titled “Death of the China Blog,” since here at China Beat we feel very much alive. To our relief, however, the discussion (among host Kaiser Kuo, Imagethief’s Will Moss, and Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn — who was good enough to do an interview with us last month) ended with the happy conclusion that while the China blogosphere has changed quite a bit in the past few years, it’s still going strong. We heartily agree.
Reading Round-Up: China And India,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up: China And India
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• At the Wall Street Journal, Shefali Anand explains why India’s stock market is currently outperforming China’s:
Two Pku Professors On China’S Youth,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Two Pku Professors On China’S Youth, Alec Ash
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
In late May and early June, I interviewed professors Zhang Weiying and Pan Wei of Peking University (known as ‘Beida’). I wanted to know what the generation who grew up in the Cultural Revolution thought of the generation who grew up in the Consumer Revolution – and who could be leading China in thirty years. Here’s what they said.
Reading Round-Up, 7/10/10,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 7/10/10
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Apple is opening its first Shanghai location this weekend, the kickoff to what one analyst describes as a planned “major invasion” of China (Apple projects that it will open twenty-five stores on the mainland in the next eighteen months). Read a New York Times article on the new store here; see here for pictures of the store up at Shanghaiist. The Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report blog has an account of the store’s launch party here.
“The Heritage Of Shanghai”,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
“The Heritage Of Shanghai”
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Read about all things Shanghai in the latest issue of China Heritage Quarterly, now online. In the “Features” section, you’ll find a photo essay on “Shanghai Modern” by Lois Conner
Over Exposure,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Over Exposure, Lisa Movius
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“The Expo story that couldn’t be printed.” That’s what editors at Shanghai’s City Weekend magazine found they had on their hands several weeks ago, when Chinese censors deemed the story below “too negative” to run. A revised version was subsequently submitted, approved by the censors, and printed in the January 20, 2010 issue. City Weekend decided not to post the original story on its website as planned, as they were told it was inadvisable due to an official caution against publishing media reports critical of the Expo. Here, we are pleased to share with China Beat readers the full, uncensored …
Lessons From Sichuan For Haitian Survivors,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lessons From Sichuan For Haitian Survivors, Sascha Matuszak
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
China has just sent its second medical team to Haiti, along with 20 tons of supplies and five Chinese peacekeepers to replace the four who died in the earthquake that destroyed Port-au-Prince on January 12th. The current group replaces a set of Chinese International Search and Rescue workers and sniffer dogs who arrived in Haiti the day after the disaster struck.
Five C’S On China, Censorship, And Cyberspace,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Five C’S On China, Censorship, And Cyberspace
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We’re continuing to track the Google and China story, and wanted to call your attention to these particularly good pieces of writing — each of which brought a “c” adjective to mind:
Capturing Chinese With Help From Lu Xun,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Capturing Chinese With Help From Lu Xun
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We’ve run several posts on Lu Xun at China Beat recently (including this one by Julia Lovell and this one by Sean Macdonald). While Lovell’s new translation of Lu Xun’s stories caters to an Anglophone audience, Kevin Nadolny wanted to create a reader that made Lu Xun more accessible to Chinese-language learners. His new text, Capturing Chinese: Short Stories from Lu Xun’s Nahan, features a fully glossed text of Lu Xun’s short stories so that language learners can focus on reading and comprehension rather than their dictionaries. Here, Kevin answers questions about his motivations for creating the reader and his …
When Skinny Is Too Thin,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
When Skinny Is Too Thin
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Many Taiwanese are becoming increasingly concerned for the health of First Lady Chow Mei-ching 周美青 (Christine Chow Ma), who suffered a spinal injury after being bowled over by a group of overenthusiastic children while visiting a primary school in Pingtung 屏東 County on March 3. She was released from the hospital on March 16, but despite repeated Presidential Office reassurances that the First Lady is in good health doctors have ordered two months of additional bed rest, meaning that she had to miss the opening game of Taiwan’s professional baseball league on March 20 (the First Lady is an avid …
A New Book (Almost In The Bookstores) And Some Boston To Boulder Speaking Dates,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A New Book (Almost In The Bookstores) And Some Boston To Boulder Speaking Dates
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Back when the “China Beat” was in its infancy (figuring that blog years should be reckoned like dog years, it is now solidly in its adolescence), those of us involved in launching it thought that a fair amount of its content might well end up taking the form of “Self-Promotion Saturday” posts (shamelessly touting activities we’d been involved in) or “Coming Distractions” reviews (discussions of books that were about to appear, films that were in the works, upcoming conferences, etc.). Thankfully, the content has turned out to be much more varied, so these two features have only made up a …
The End Of The Revolution: China And The Limits Of Modernity,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The End Of The Revolution: China And The Limits Of Modernity
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
When the Association for Asian Studies meets in Philadelphia later this week, one of the keynote speakers will be Tsinghua University professor and noted public intellectual Wang Hui, whose talk on Saturday evening is free and open to the public. A former editor of Dushu(“Reading”), Wang’s writings include China’s New Order: Society, Politics, and Economy in Transition(Harvard, 2003), as well as a recently released collection of essays, The End of the Revolution: China and the Limits of Modernity (Verso, 2009). Here, we are pleased to share with China Beat readers an excerpt from the English edition introduction of The End …
Olympic Fever! From Beijing To Vancouver And Back,
2010
University of British Columbia
Olympic Fever! From Beijing To Vancouver And Back, David Luesink
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are now over, and most of the athletes, media, and tourists have left my home city. If the media (particularly British media) began by focusing primarily on negative issues, the drama of national teams, and individual athletes and overall medal counts seemed to drown out the naysayers, much as in Beijing two years ago. Both host countries came off as excellent hosts, and both host countries carried home unprecedented numbers of medals. If for China their Olympics had been a coming out party, an end to a century of general humiliation, for Canada these games …
How Does China Help Africa?,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
How Does China Help Africa?, Angilee Shah
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
If the headlines are any indication, it’s time for a proper China scare. A sampling from recent news stories on China’s involvement in Africa include: “China throws birthday bash for Zimbabwe’s Mugabe” (Reuters), “Namibia Bans Chinese Investment in Beauty Salons” (Bloomberg), and “China Unicom Denies African Expansion” (Forbes).
International Women’S Day: Readings Around The Web,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
International Women’S Day: Readings Around The Web
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
1. Shanghaiist has a Women’s Day post that includes an interesting Al Jazeera report on Wu Qing, a women’s rights activist and district People’s Congress representative. The video follows Wu Qing as she teaches at Beijing’s Rural Women Training School, instructing village women on their constitutional rights and encouraging them to pursue education and employment opportunities.
A Q-And-A With Jeremy Goldkorn Of Danwei.Org,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A Q-And-A With Jeremy Goldkorn Of Danwei.Org
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham: How did Danwei get started, and what is its primary mission? Has this changed over time?
Lantern Festival,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lantern Festival
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“To the unceasing banging of fireworks, and in the last snow of winter, a child and her grandfather light a sparkler to celebrate lantern festival, or yuanxiaojie.
