Category Archives: Culture
大世界 Da Shi Jie — Kerry Ann Lee
I enjoyed Kerry Ann Lee’s new exhibition: 大世界 Da Shi Jie/The Great World: Shanghai Works 2009-2010 currently at Toi Poneke in Wellington. Three bodies of work feature in the exhibition, which has shown at Island6 art centre and Shanghai Art… Continue reading
Last Train Home
So moved by Last Train Home (归途列车), a film by Canadian citizen Lixin Fan (范立欣) which follows the Zhang’s annual Chinese New Year’s trip to visit their children who are left in grandmother’s care in Sichuan’s Guang’an city, Huilong village… Continue reading
Human Flesh Search Engines in 中国
Fascinating article “Chinese Cyberposse” in New York Times Magazine about Chinese “human flesh search engine” (人肉搜索引擎 rénròusōusuǒyǐnqíng) phenomenon accompanied by wonderful calligraphic illustrations by Leo Jung. Feng decided to get revenge on the human-flesh searchers. He and a few other… Continue reading
Chinese Social Networks Online
China Lets a Hundred Social Networks Bloom (Sort of). Interesting update on social networks online in China and what’s happening demographically. Chinese broadband users above the age of 13 number 286 million, nearly double that of the U.S. broadband population,… Continue reading
New Zealand to launch first Chinese digital communities website
Excited to see new New Zealand Chinese Community online (http://chinesecommunity.org.nz), launching at the Rising Dragons, Soaring Bananas International conference July 18th. From Xinhuanet: “This partnership between Auckland City Libraries and the New Zealand Chinese Association has been a great opportunity… Continue reading
NZ Chinese Journals 先驅者之聲
Delighted to discover NZ Chinese Journals 先驅者之聲 project containing over 16,000 pages from three publications (民聲旬報 Man Sing Times 1921-22, 僑農月刊 New Zealand Chinese Growers Monthly Journal 1949-72 and 中國大事週報 New Zealand Chinese Weekly News 1937-46) that span 50 years of Chinese New Zealand history. Wonderful interface makes it a joy to view and search these fascinating historical sources in English and Chinese. Continue reading
觉 Jue Music and Art Festival
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twq2hY91dVs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] 觉 (覺) [Jué] to feel, wake up, come to one’s senses. 音乐 [yīnyuè] music 艺术 [yìshù] art Lots of good links to current bands, artists, cafes, clubs, galleries and other groovy locales in both 北京 and 上海 from the… Continue reading
The Fun of a Naughty Pun: 草泥马 Cao Ni Ma
UPDATE 16 March 2009: The original 草泥马 “Grass Mud Horse” children’s chorus video below was removed from YouTube, but reposted here by Rebecca Mackinnon. Also of interest: 12 March NYT article “A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors.” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3tPA_Z_MT0&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b] This… Continue reading
It’s all Greek to Me
When an English speaker doesn’t understand a word, one says “it’s all Greek to me.” Hebrew speakers say it “sounds like Chinese.” Apparently Korean speakers say it “sounds like Hebrew,” according to Language Log. Strange Maps illustrates the relationships between… Continue reading
Stumbling Upon the Money Tree
Giggling when I came across this bonsai tag at California Home & Garden in Wellington, NZ, and took a photo so I could look up what on earth a “shaving bush” tree really was. Turns out the illustrious Pachira aquatica has traveled… Continue reading