From Laura Sydell at NPR’s Morning Edition:
Yao Jun prefers to get his entertainment on the Internet, where he can find the shows he likes almost immediately after they’ve aired in the U.S. Yao lives 45 minutes from the center of Shanghai, in a newly minted gated community of prefab townhouses.
In a den on the second floor sits the center of Yao’s home entertainment: a desktop computer with a high-speed Internet connection. He’s a big Lost fan — he’s just downloaded the latest episode — and he prefers American TV to Chinese television.
“I like that kind of culture, and I like that kind of lifestyle better,” Yao says in Chinese as he excitedly watches the opening scenes. “I don’t like the Chinese shows. They are often pretentious. They don’t look real.”
Unfortunately for Yao, the Chinese government will not allow American companies to broadcast their shows on Chinese television.
