In the end, this species learns to adapt to its environment by giving up its dangerous pursuits and becoming gamers and online merchandisers. The final song is titled, “We Stay.”

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Post tags: Han Han, Hu Ge, Internet censorship, satire, videos
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Recently this music video named “The whole world is laughing at China being stupid” (全世界都在笑中国傻) has been circulating on the Chinese internet. Initially this music video was “officially approved” by the Chinese government, however netizens strongly reacted to the bitter sarcasm of the lyrics which associated with China’s current situation. Soon after, Sina – the first website posted this video quickly removed the video content from its page. Subsequently, most of the major Chinese video sharing sites also have removed it.

The whole world is laughing at China being stupid
Selling rare earth minerals to foreigner at the same price as radishes
The whole world is laughing at China being stupid
The goods we deliver make the whole world praising us being so obedient
The whole world is laughing at China being stupid
The money we earn but store in someone else’s home
The whole world is laughing at China being stupid
The words we speak make the whole world praising us being so obedient

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Post tags: music, pop music, videos
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It is an hour long video, “shot” almost entirely with in-game video from World of Warcraft, satirizing the government’s attempt to “harmonize” China’s Internet with forced installations of “Green Dam Youth Escort” and the travails of Chinese World of Warcraft players over the last several months.

…The film tracks the fight between The9 ($NCTY) and Netease ($NTES) over the renewal rights to Activision Blizzard’s ($ATVI) World of Warcraft, the requirement that skulls be removed from World of Warcraft (hence the Skull Party), the bureaucratic battles between GAPP and the Ministry of Culture over the re-approval of WoW in China, the money-obsessed Uncle Yang and his Internet addiction camps and electro-shock therapy (see this forthcoming Feb 2010 Wired article on China’s Internet addiction camps), and the attempts to impose “Green Dam Youth Escort” software on Chinese web users. The movie concludes with an impassioned speech calling for Chinese World of Warcraft players to end their silence and fight the attempts to keep them away from World of Warcraft, followed by an agreement between the warring bureaucracies-GAPP and MOC–to put aside their dispute and go after Netease for more money.

(...)
Read the rest of Video: “网瘾战争 War of Internet Addiction” (Updated) (953 words)

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The music in the above video is from Taiwanese singer Feng Feifei (凤飞飞)’s famous song: The Road Home (归乡路) (1982), lyrics translated by CDT:

The Road Home

I try to set my sights beyond the far horizon
The road seems to extend forever
And is indistinct from the vastness of the earth
I can’t find the words to ask the heavens
True, there are thousands of waves deep in the sea of clouds
But nothing can stop my determination to return home

The night has run its course and the sky is alreadly dim
After experiencing all the vicissitudes of life
How eager I am
To once again see the mountains and rivers of my homeland
And the brilliance of the Sun and the Moon there

臺灣電影《血濺歸鄉路》主題曲，原錄於1982年出版的【你來了】專輯。

鳳飛飛 -《歸鄉路》
詞/晨曦 曲/劉家昌

望斷天涯路茫茫　無語問穹蒼
雲海深處雖有千層浪　難阻我歸鄉

夜已盡　天已亮　世事歷滄桑
迢迢山河　日月重光　切切在寄望

And the words in the last shot are from Chinese blogger Zhai Minglei’s article “To not let Feng Zhenghu return home is China’s national shame, ” translated by CDT:

“A real man does not say the word ‘love’ lightly. Once he says it, he needs to have the courage to die for this love, whether the object of the love is your country, or your woman.”

“一个男人，千万别轻易说爱。一旦说了，就要有为爱而死的勇气，无论爱的是你的祖国，还是女人。”

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Post tags: Feng Zhenghu, videos
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© Sophie Beach for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dissidents, petitioners, psychiatry, videos
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Da Shu Xian, or Big Tree Country, in remote Sichuan Province is the site of a large sulfur mine, which produces up to 12,000 tons of sulfur a month. In the 14 years since the mine became operational up until this film was produced in 1992, pollution from the sulfur mine wiped out the area’s trees that had given the county its name.

Fallout from the mine has affected the villagers’ health, their fields, homes, families, and the lives of their children.

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Post tags: industrial pollution, mines, Sichuan, sulfur, videos
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A quick visual tour of some of the world’s highest glaciers on the Himalayan Mountain Range and other regions on the Tibetan Plateau. With the match photography contrast, let’s trace back what these giant ice sheets looked like 80, 40 or 20 years ago and how much they have thinned down, or melted up into the air. These images document glaciers at the foot of Mt. Everest, those in eastern Qinghai Province and in Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, and also expanding lakes due to accelerated glacial meltdown and shrinking lakes thanks to a drying and desertifying trend in some areas at lower altitudes. The picture is bleak and alarming.

And from “On Thinner Ice: Disappearing Glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau”:
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Read the rest of Video: On Thinner Ice: The Tibetan Plateau in Peril (114 words)

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Post tags: glaciers, global warming, Tibet environment, Tibetan plateau, videos
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© Sophia Cao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
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Thirty years of reform and opening up brings to China as much prosperity as pollution resulted from industrial development. Industrial wastewater led to polluted river, allegedly the root cause of the drastic rise of cancer cases in Wuli Village. Wai Dongying, a barely educated villager, recorded the death cases one by one in her “Diary of Death”.

Zhang Changjian, a bare-foot doctor in Xiping, Fujian, witnessed the rising number of cancer patients in his village. As the regional officials turn a blind eye to the crisis, Zhang joined forces with more than 1,700 fellow villagers suing the chemical factory in their neighbourhood. Winning the case, Zhang found himself becoming a marked man…

The plight of the two “cancer villages” reveals the harm to the Chinese people brought by water pollution. China should have by now realised the price to pay for over development and that “good” is more important than “fast”.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

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Post tags: cancers, documentaries, environmental protection, Hangzhou, videos, water pollution
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The one-child policy has left some families with only one daughter. Feeling the need to carry on their family lineage, women now look for men who are willing to marry into their families so that their children could take up the mother’s surname. Meanwhile, men from other provinces are finding it hard to make ends meet in the cities, not to mention supporting a family. Because of this, some men are willing to do what it takes for a better life. With supply and demand in place, matchmaking agencies dedicated to this type of marriage are a thriving business.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

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Post tags: documentaries, Hangzhou, marriage, traditional culture, videos, youth culture, Zhejiang
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Fifty years after the Dalai Lama fled Tibet, the spiritual leader said his people’s culture, religion and identity were “nearing extinction” under Chinese rule, as security forces blanketed ethnic Tibetan areas to prevent unrest linked to Tuesday’s anniversary of a failed uprising against Beijing.

The tough remarks, in a speech delivered in Dharmsala, India, seat of Tibet’s self-proclaimed government in exile, underscore the strained relations with Beijing after talks last year made no apparent progress.

The Dalai Lama said China’s communist government had subjected Tibet and its people to “untold suffering and destruction” over the past five decades, turning the Himalayan region into “hell on earth.” He also called for “meaningful autonomy” for Tibetans.

Related video report:
AlJazeera English’s video report:

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With a population of 1.4 billion, the People’s Republic of China is vitally important to the planet. China’s rapid growth impacts the environment locally and globally. In a world affected by globalization, China embodies the phenomenon in both positive and negative ways. China’s modern society provides a better life for many but also brings with it a loss of cultural tradition and natural resources.

To uncover some of the mysteries of China, Charles Annenberg Weingarten and the Explore team set out on a three-week fact-finding mission through Beijing, Shanghai, Tibet, Wolong, Xi’an and beyond. Each stop brings them closer to grasping the complexities of the country’s ancient culture and the implications of modernization. Meeting with some of the most innovative minds and leading non-profit organizations across the country, the Explore team delves into issues such as the environment, human rights, public health, social change, philosophy and education.

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Post tags: documentaries, education, philosophy, public health, Tibet culture, videos
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Rob Luxton’s adventure on a three wheeled recumbent tricycle will take him 25,000km all around China, passing through every province on the mainland. The expedition will also help raise awareness and money for two Charities. Sowers Action and Care For Children . Both dedicated to improving the lives of children in poor areas throughout China. Beginning near Hong Kong the journey is estimated to last two and half years taking him from busy cities to remote mountain villages, deserts to great plains, deep lush valleys to the the scary heights of the Tibetan plateau and finally into the jungles of the South, before returning to Hong Kong in August 2009.

China Wheelie Promo Video from rob luxton on Vimeo.

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Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

Part Five:

© Sophia Cao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: documentaries, forbidden city, Great Wall, Hanging Monastery, history, Leshan Buddha, Mount Wudang, Shi Bao Zhai Temple, Terracotta Army, videos
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In the second part, it indicates that for foreigners who are really interested in China, especially Chinese culture, 798 Art Zone in Beijing is on the must-go list besides the Great Wall. Huang Rui, a famous artist, said in the interview that 798 has become an icon of Chinese contemporary art.

In the final part of the documentary, Li Xianting, who is considered “the godfather of Chinese contemporary art” and a well-known art critic, said Chinese art is trying to create its own identity and elements. In Songzhuang, Li met many unknown Chinese artists who persist in their dreams of making art while struggling to make a living. Many of them hope that paintings, as their spiritual satisfaction, may draw respect from others and also help them make a living.

Youtube link here.

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An article in USA Today also reports that climate change is on the table for Clinton in China:

“The new team in Washington, D.C., is really starting to give the international community some hope in dealing with climate change challenges,” says Wu Changhua, the China director for The Climate Group, an independent advisory group. “It’s crucial for the U.S. to start to demonstrate the leadership that’s been missing for the past eight years.” U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu co-produced a study released this month that urges Washington and Beijing to collaborate on climate change. “If these two countries cannot find ways to bridge the long-standing divide on this issue, there will literally be no solution,” the report said.

The Brookings Institution carries a summary of a past event “U.S.-China Climate Change Cooperation: Overcoming Obstacles” and a transcript of chair of the Brookings board John Thornton’s speech during the event, via brookings.edu:

China and the United States have many shared interests and extensive area for cooperation on energy and climate change. China is the biggest developing country in the world. The United States is the biggest developed country with advanced technologies and the rich experience in energy efficiency and the clean energy. (Inaudible) cooperation between all two countries, energy and environmental issues will enable China to respond to energy and the climate change issues more effectively while at the same time offering enormous business opportunities and a considerable return to American investors. There has been effective cooperation between China and the United States under the mechanisms of the strategic, economic dialog, the (inaudible) Science and Technology Commission, and other climate change-related dialogs, and within the frameworks of the China-U.S. energy efficiency and the renewable energy protocol and the fossil energy protocol…

China Dialogue posted an open letter from Greenpeace to urge the two countries to “cooperate on reviving the global economy without sacrificing human health or the environment.”

Most importantly, it is the year in which the international community, meeting in Copenhagen in December, must agree on urgent and dramatic action to avert the looming climate disaster and define the path toward a more sustainable, more survivable future. Strong leadership from the US and China, acting together, is essential to reaching an agreement in Copenhagen. We are writing to respectfully urge you to demonstrate that leadership. Already, we have seen positive signs. In recent weeks, the US has developed an economic stimulus package that includes substantial investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, demonstrating that economic recovery and environmental sustainability are mutually supportive goals. At the same time, China has begun work on a new energy law that places strong emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, demonstrating that greener development is not only possible but also desirable.

In the Chinese media, Xinhua News Agency reports on the issue with confidence in the cooperation between the two countries:

Zhang Haibin noted that the governments of the two countries can establish a sustainable dialogue mechanism on energy and climate change. The United States should provide related Official Development Assistance as well as preferential treatment on loans, financing and technology transfer to China.

“At the early stage, it is important to launch some large pilot projects. The experience of successful cases can be drawn upon and introduced gradually. Both determination and patience are essential for bilateral cooperation,” he stressed.

The video clip below is a discussion about China’s growing impact on the global environment during Aspen Idea Festival 2007, between James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly National Correspondent and Orville Shell, China expert and former Dean of Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, via Youtube:

Another video carried by Youtube with the title “China’s Environmental Crisis Is Spreading” tells that about 30 percent of China’s land mass is covered by desert, and the desert is growing. See more video introduction here.

- Please also see James Fallows’ comment on this issue yesterday posting on theatlantic.com, along with an introductory video from Asia Society “A Roadmap for U.S.-China Cooperation on Energy and Climate Change.”

© Sophia Cao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: carbon emissions, environmental cooperation, environmental protection, global warming, Hillary Clinton, videos
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Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

See a slideshow of left-behind children in Qinnan, via fengniao.com:

See also CDT’s previous post As China Booms, Millions of Children Are Left Behind by Wall Street Journal and Slideshow: Migrants’ Children

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The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 200 BC – 220 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.

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Part 5:

A video with the title “Great Wall of Camping” documents a group of young Western tourists as they camp on the Great Wall of China, via Current TV:

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Below is part of her biography from her official site:

In 2008 and 2009, Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet will turn their attention to touring the US and Canada with appearances at festivals including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Merlefest, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Vancouver Folk Festival and many more. They returned to China with the full-length release for performances at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

While previewing new material at Coachella, the LA Times hailed, “”Washburn stomped and skipped through fiery Appalachian takes on the local songs of Sichuan. Her bilingualism’s no gimmick; she nails the dips and peaks of pitch while leading her band in scorching variations on simple, repetitive traditional melodies… she ended one Chinese song about the pan-ethnic subject of baby-making by saying “That’s some hot stuff from the Sichuan province there.”

“I had no intention of becoming a performer and yet under miraculous circumstances I was brought into the music industry fold,” says Abigail. “If divine powers hadn’t interfered I’d still be living in China working in some area of Sino-American comparative law.”

An interview with her and her band, which investigates their connection with China and Chinese culture:

And here’s a video of The Sparrow Quartet performing “Kangding Qingge ” live:

For more her music, please check here.

Update: Josh Chin has posted an interview with Abigail Washburn on GlobalPost:

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Dance: The Butterfly

Multimedia dance: The Music of Transition in the Cities

© Sophia Cao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: modern dance, New Year's Gala, Spring Festival 2009, videos
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