Need2LearnChinese Blog

Forbes has released its list of the Top 10 Chinese celebrities, which surveys the who's who of China to rank them based on personal income, public influence, internet reach and commercial value.

Thanks to Olympics fervor, sports stars were especially represented this year, with four of the five top spots belonging to athletes. The rankings and Forbes' reasonings below:

1.姚明 Yao Ming (Basketball)

Yao ranked No. 1 on our list for the sixth consecutive time, bolstered by exposure from the Olympics and a bevy of endorsement deals that included Visa and McDonald's. On the basketball court, the seven-and-a-half-footer led China's squad to finish among the final eight teams.

2.章子怡 Zhang Ziyi (Acting)

Actress Zhang Ziyi, 30, ranked No. 2 in part because of her success in Forever Enthralled, a tribute to opera singer Mei Lanfang directed by heavyweight Chen Kaige. But she also attracted attention because of her romantic ties to Vivi Nevo, the low-profile Israeli media and entertainment industry investor.

3.易建联 Yi Jianlian (Basketball)

Another Olympic basketball team member and NBA star, New York Nets forward Yi Jianlian, ranked No. 3, up from No. 4 last year. Off the court, he added to his fame with appearances in ads for Nike and McDonald's.

4.郭晶晶 Guo Jingjing (Diving)

Two gold-medal performances propelled 27-year-old Olympics star Guo Jingjing to No. 4 from No. 28 last year. Guo won gold on her own in the women's springboard, and, with Wu Minxia, another in the women's synchronized springboard. She has appeared in advertisements for Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Avon.

5.刘翔 Liu Xiang (Sprinting)

Sprinter Liu Xiang, who shocked Chinese when he pulled out of the games due to a leg injury, still managed to come in at No. 5 on our newest list, down from No. 2 last year. Liu, 25, has been in the news for traveling to the U.S. for surgery.

6.李连杰 Jet Li (Acting)

Beijing-born actor Jet Li, who slipped three notches to rank No. 6 this year, is best known for Chinese-language films such as Hero and The Warlords, but he made his biggest mark last year promoting charity. Li's One Foundation, founded in 2007, has emerged as an up-and-coming force in Chinese philanthropy with efforts in disaster relief.

7.赵薇 Zhao Wei (Acting)

Zhao Wei, who also goes by the name Vicki Zhao, ranked No. 7 in part from exposure from the epic "Red Cliff" series set in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and directed by Hong Kong-American John Woo.

8.范冰冰 Fan Bingbing (Acting)

Fan Bingbing ranked No. 8, down two spots from last year, but gained publicity from Flash Point, a bloody martial arts movie, and Tao Hua Yun, a light romantic comedy... She has also appeared in ads for Olay cosmetics.

9.周迅 Zhou Xun (Acting)

Zhou Xun slipped a notch to No. 9 this year but appeared in the film Wa Pei (Hua Pi), which, according to one description, ''follows the love-hate relationship between a vixen spirit and a group of humans.''... Zhou's endorsements over the years have included Olay cosmetics and Motorola

10.李冰冰 Li Bingbing (Acting)

Li Bingbing, 33, appeared with Jet Li and Jackie Chan in last year's The Forbidden Kingdom. The Harbin native graduated from the Shanghai Drama Institute. Endorsements include Olay cosmetics.

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U.S.-based ladmag Complex has compiled a list of what they consider the Nine Hottest Chinese Women. While we're not ones to argue whether the women compiled in the list are actually hot, we were a little surprised by some of the inclusions (Christy who?). We were also a little bemused by how many pictures involved the women getting sprayed with liquids. Apparently Asia is one giant wet t-shirt contest.

Their list:

9. 刘亦菲 (Liu Yifei): Also known as Crystal Liu. Famous for her role as the teenage love interest in that Jackie Chan + Jet Li flop Forbidden Kingdom
8. 赵薇 (Zhao Wei): Also known as Vicky Zhao. Was most recently in Painted Skin. Once had feces smeared on her face by a fan upset over her posing in a Japanese flag.
7. 黄圣依 (Huang Shengyi): The mute lollipop-loving girl in Kung Fu Hustle. We really haven't seen her in anything else, though her Wiki page says she's Shanghainese! 上海人 represent!
6. 徐若瑄 (Xu Ruoxuan): Also known as Vivian Hsu. She's apparently an actress, a model, and was part of some sort of girlie pop group in Japan. Our fondest memories are of seeing her in a shoe commercial in the subway.
5. 钟丽缇 (Zhong Liti): Christy Chung. We've never heard of this Canadian-born Chinese Vietnamese mix, but supposedly her career as a sex symbol suffered when she had her first baby. She ought to take a couple tips from Heidi Klum.
4. 舒淇 (Shu Qi): Adorable, transportable and previously a porn star.
3. 章子怡 (Zhang Ziyi): Those sexy photos earlier this year couldn't keep her out of our hearts. Chinese netizens angry at her engagement to a white man may never admit it, but they'd die for a chance to engage in some butt sniffing antics.
2. 张曼玉 (Zhang Manyu): More famously known as Maggie Cheung, she's starred in over 70 films since beginning her career in 1983. Fun fact - Her wiki page says she's Shanghainese too!

and the award for hottest Chinese woman named in an American metrosexual magazine is...

1. 巩俐 (Gong Li): Yep, the woman who broke China's heart when she renounced her citizenship and became a Singaporean came in first. Viva la used-to-be Chinese.

Thoughts? Comments? Heartfelt rants against Complex for not including your favorite, much more deserving Chinese starlet?

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As outstanding examples of southern China's private gardens, Suzhou's classical gardens are noted for their exquisite design and layout. Landscape and buildings are perfectly integrated, to create a great harmony between man and nature.

Thanks to careful protection and good management, several of the gardens have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Zhuozhen Garden(Humble Administrator's Garden), Wangshi Garden(Master-of-Nets Garden), Liuyuan Garden(Lingering Garden), Huanxiu Villa(Villa with Embraced Beauty) , Canglangting Garden(Surging Waves Pavilion), Shizilin Garden(Lion Forest Garden), Ouyuan Garden (Double Courtyard), Yipu Garden (Art Garden) and Tuisi Garden(Retreat and Reflection Garden). These gardens demonstrate the typical features of Suzhou's classical gardens in layout, structure, design, style, use of color, decoration and furniture.

Suzhou's classical gardens occupy a unique and irreplaceable position in the history of world landscape gardening, and have high value for the study of Chinese landscape gardening, architecture, culture, aesthetics, philosophy and folklore.

Canglangting Garden (Surging Waves Pavilion)

Canglangting Garden has the longest history among all the existing classical gardens in Suzhou. Naturally laid out and well designed, it is called one of the four best gardens in Suzhou---the other three are Shizilin, Zhuozhen and Liuyuan.The garden looks simple but natural. Without contrived decorations, it combines buildings with scenery so perfectly that the whole garden appears to be naturally endowed. The garden is built along a small pond. In front of its north gate, there is a stone bridge. Entering the garden, you can see a yellow rockery. Behind it, there is an artificial hill made of stone and earth. Vigorous is naturally made, properly arranged, and appears steep and magnificent. Since there is a courtyard on each side of the garden, it is named Ouyuan, meaning double courtyard.

Yipu Garden (Art Garden)

This garden has an expansive view and a simple style. Since many of the original features of the garden have been preserved, the garden has a high historical and artistic value.

Occupying an area of five mu (one mu equals 0.07 ha), the garden is built around a pond with stone bridges over it. Most of the buildings are constructed in the north, among which the Buoya Hall is the main hall of the garden. To its south there is a small courtyard with a rock terrace in a pond. To the south of the courtyard are built five water pavilions. And to the south of the pond there is an artificial hill. The side of the hill along the pond is steep, with precipitous paths. To the south of the pond there is the Ruyou Pavilion, dating from the Ming Dynasty, which is connected with the outside by paths. To the west of the pond is located Qinlu Courtyard, which is entered by a round moon gate. Inside the courtyard there is a small pond linked with the main pond outside. Such a design is unique among Suzhou's classical gardens.

Tuisi Garden (Retreat and Reflection Garden)

Built between 1885 and 1887, the garden looks delicate, simple and elegant. It is a masterpiece among southern China's private gardens.

As one of China's major schools of miniature trees, Suzhou-style bonsai is famous for its long history, unique design and distinctive style.

Thanks to favorable natural conditions, skilled artisans have long since created bonsai masterpieces to record natural scenery in tiny pots. In addition, the rich culture of the city adds special flavor and a unique style to Suzhou-style bonsai.

Suzhou bonsai is noted for its plainness and elegance. Old twigs aged 40, 60 or even 100 years are planted in a small plate and presented in different shapes -- drooping, prostrate, looking up or bending down.

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Curious about what the Chinese stimulus plan looks like? Caijing Magazine has put together an interesting pie chart based on the recent “rebalancing” by the National People's Congress. Some of the biggest changes: a massive injection into sci-tech and social welfare, and surprisingly less towards rural civilian projects, considering how much publicity talks of “helping the rural areas” have been getting.

[National Development and Reform Commission Director Zhang Ping] said the changes to the original stimulus plan, which was announced by the State Council four months ago, includes slight adjustments to investment targets and a major reshaping of investment allocations. The changes were made based on varying opinions from the public, he said.

“The make-up of 4 trillion yuan is actually a process of give and take,” Zhang said. “Many projects, perhaps, will see changes in practice as situations are not unchanged.

While nobody (except the CCP, we guess) is sure how the extra billion here and there make a difference in their proposed categories, the pie chart is still a decent look at where the CCP's 4 trillion yuan may end up.

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One of the proposals being presented before the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is a plan to "restore, resume, resurrect, or return" to traditional characters.

The whole "traditional vs. simplified" debate might seem inconsequential, but is in fact a heated topic that has its stakes in political and cultural identities.

As the name implies, simplified characters are, well, simpler--they require less strokes to write and are easier to read when written in smaller type. Mainland China moved towards simplified characters as a way to increase literacy in the vastly illiterate 1950s.

However, Chinese in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and various overseas communities still use traditional characters, which have been around in their current form since more or less the 5th Century.

According to Danwei, Pan's primary complaints concerning the usage of simplified characters stems from these three key issues:

China Smack" has translated some of the reactions against the measure and the complaints all seem to be in the same vein - related to either the logistics and costs for re-introducing a completely new system, or whether people (especially the already educated) should have to retroactively learn traditional characters. One commenter offered his terse perspective on this issue:

The cost for the government for things like government seals, etc., all need to be changed. Each only costs a few dozen kuai but has everyone thought of how many government departments are in all of China? These costs are all paid by the ordinary common people!

The proposal, which if we can judge from the reactions of the "ordinary common people!" doesn't seem very popular, doesn't face a strong likelihood of passing the Congressional meeting.

Anyway, we already have a difficult enough time deciphering simplified words as it is, so the possibility of moving towards traditional characters is a little petrifying. What is your take on it? Stick with simplified or a return to traditional?

Posted by jialilyus at 09:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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Locals in Xi'an are working to preserve the art of ancient Tang Dynasty court music. Dating back to the seventh century, this music is said to be comparable to Europe's Gregorian chants in age, which are "commonly described as the earliest written music".

Li Kai, a Xi'an local who leads a Tang Dynasty music performance group, is helping to keep the aural memories of this musical era alive. Judging from the dwindling numbers of such Tang Dynasty music ensembles (from 40 in 1950 to just 12 today!), his job is crucial.

During the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an was China's largest city and a mecca for foreign influences. Tang Dynasty music is said to have a tinge of Western musical conventions. However, the music is still distinctly Chinese, with roots in Confucian ideals of harmony:

Li says that the Tang Dynasty adhered to the Confucian idea that music's highest function was as a tool of moral education and socialization. It taught people to respect authority and hierarchy, and to cultivate a spirit of composure and moderation.

That means that everyone in the orchestra played the same note at the same time.

"Music emphasized harmony," Li says. "The myriad sounds were united as one. This united sound was used to promote the emperor's authority. So while each person played a different instrument and had a different role in society, they all acted according to the same standards and rules."

Read about and listen to their music here.

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