For our first podcast back after Spring Festival, we talk about notable bits of news, soccer in Chengdu, a Reddit post about Chinese soft power efforts, and a couple of interesting posts on the Chengdu Living forums.
Topics discussed:
- Under the Dome pollution documentary video on Youtube
- Under the Dome discussed on the Sinica Podcast
- Xi Jinping’s Push to Popularize and Improve Soccer in China [link]
- Government seizure of golf courses [recommended reading]
- Playing soccer in Chengdu and the Chengdu International Football League
- ADI Sports in Chengdu [link]
- Exporting soft power Reddit post [link]
- Chinese-Hollywood co-productions [recommended reading]
- The Confucius Institute and the pitfalls of Chinese soft power initiatives [recommended reading]
- Mark Zuckerberg speaking Chinese
- Chengdu Living Forum
- Johnny 5’s Ask Me Anything [link]
- Johnny 5 on Chengdu Places
- Free For One Year Contest
- The Bookworm Literary Festival
- The Bookworm Website
Download & Stream Links
Download Podcast #7
Or click below to listen to the podcast now through your browser.
You can also search for the podcast in your favorite podcasting app (mine is Overcast, which I highly recommend for iPhone users).
If you have any comments or feedback on this podcast or on topics you’d like us to discuss in the future, leave a comment below. If you enjoy the podcast, please share it! We look forward to recording more of these and continuing to chronicle and share the story of life in Chengdu.
The golf course thing’s interesting. Recently met a guy who’s worked as a rep for various golf brands in China over the past 20 years. He had a lot to say about golfing and it’s nefarious link with corruption and the Party’s hidden flow of money. Was also saying it’s made business a bit tough.
Golf was growing like crazy in Chengdu just a few years ago, there must be an enormous amount of money in that industry here. I remember around 2012 they had a gold tournament here with a prize on the order of something like $1 million. With Xi Jinping fighting for the “everyman” though, industries like this are increasingly being interpreted as disruptive to China’s social agenda.
It’s amazing how after phones and tablets eliminated the need for having a watch to tell time and to wake us up, we now find ourselves being made to go back to wearing one. Not me personally. I have never owned nor possessed an Apple product, and I don’t plan to. I don’t think the Apple Watch will be a great success. Unless they keep coming out with new versions. Whatever happened to the iPod? Sucked into the iPhone?
This is something I have read and thought about a lot. I read an interview the other day about user interface which discussed a theory that we are at “peak screen”, which means that we spend more time than ever looking at screens, mostly mobile phones.
We should be moving toward spending less time looking at screens, and that is what the Apple Watch is about. It’s about glances of 2-3 seconds spread throughout the day to provide vital information rather than always pulling your phone out of your pocket, getting distracted, and spending more time on your phone.
Before the iPod, iPhone, and iPad were released they were commonly panned as unnecessary devices. It wasn’t until they were released that we learned how different and meaningful they really were. I think the Apple Watch might be similar in this way.
Also, although you haven’t owned an Apple product, I’m willing to bet that you use decedents of Apple products everyday. Every smart phone is a descendent of the iPhone, every tablet is a descendent of the iPad, etc. The iPod was subsumed by the iPhone, yes, the iPod Touch and iPhone are virtually identical except for the ability of the phone to make and receive calls.
Yes, I do own an Android device. I’m just not into following trends 😀
Staring at screens for large amounts of time is reducing our ability to verbally communicate with one another.
Debate!
Wait, that’s my next lesson topic haha!
Iron Man 3 definitely panders to China. Disney released two versions of the film abroad: the international version, and the PRC version. What makes the PRC version unique is a 3 minute scene starring mainland actors Fan Bingbing and Wang Xueqi as surgeons getting all scrubbed up before they operate on Iron Man. You can watch the scene on youtube. The whole things seems out of place and silly, but it does demonstrate the lengths an American studio will go to to reach Chinese viewers and their wallets.
I agree, Devin. It really seems like pandering to us, but I also realize that we (non-Chinese) aren’t the targets of that initiative. I would be curious to hear how Chinese movie fans feel about this, or if they think that a clearly bolted-on scene of Iron Man being operated on by Chinese celebrities is contrived.
Charlie, I’m curious about that too. I was reading an article on Kotaku that featured several Chinese people’s opinions about the scenes. One Beijing based writer described the scene as offensive and says that it “undermines Chinese people’s intelligence and movie savvy.” A talk show host on Liaoning TV says, “It’d be better if they added more to the movie. A good way to get Chinese on board is just make a good movie.” I think that guy is right. Of course, I’ve never actually asked someone in person, haha!
This is the Kotaku article:
http://kotaku.com/why-many-in-china-hate-iron-man-3s-chinese-version-486840429
Nice, I hadn’t read this article before. I think I would personally find it patronizing. It’s basically just a gesture to give China face which does not improve the film in any way.