Sunday, September 26, 2010

Places in China...中华大地...中国の名所.....

There are a couple of places which I have either visited and fell in love with or which I would like to visit. The following, with a short explanation of why I like these places, are places which I'd like to visit (again) in China:

1) Hong Kong
Of course, what's not to like about HK? It's China's most well-recognised and international city with a unique and interesting history as well as have been the representative Chinese city since 1949. I fell in love with Chinese culture, especially contemporary Chinese culture, from my growing up years in the 90s watching Hong Kong TV series and movies. Hong Kong taught me what being modern as well as Chinese means and it'll always have a special place in my heart. (Not to mention Hong Kong retro 1950/60s cheongsams,Hey you didn't think I could just forget to mention the cheongsam rite? )

2) Beijing
Beijing also somehow has a special place in my heart and imagination and I don't know why..it just draws me and is especially attractive to me despite not having visited since 1996 and not remembering that much about that trip given my young age then. I just know I will like this city if I were to return now, given its historical place in Chinese history, the countless important Chinese cultural venues/destinations there such as the Great Wall and Forbidden City, Summer Palace,etc as well as it being known as the cultural capital of China with contemporary Chinese modern art as well as ancient Chinese antiques at the antique markets of Beijing all congregated there...and lets not forget to mention the wonderful hutongs and delicious Peking Duck...

3) Shanghai
Shanghai with its modern history and retro chic of the 30/40s would surely attract anyone..I can walk down the lanes of Huaihai Lu just imagining that I was back in the heydays of the 1940s..hahaha..i loved the old French Concession area when i was last there in 2004 for a Winter Chinese Law School...

4) Ningbo
This small city south of Shanghai captures my imagination given how close it is to Shanghai so giving it a smaller city-feel as well as how HK Star Stephen Chow Sing-Chee has Ningbo roots and made his 'CJ7' movie in Ningbo precisely for this very reason. I also love tangyuan, and Ningbo tangyuan is arguably the most famous in China.:-)

5) Hangzhou
Hangzhou is probably THE most beautiful Chinese city I have been to with its splendid gorgeous West Lake area which simply captures your breath away.. And i'm not kiddin either:) I didn't expect much when visiting Hangzhou during my Winter Law School excursion trip to Hangzhou bck in 2004 but it was simply amazingly breathtaking..it was just like the China you saw in the movies set in the 30s/40s..the Chinese-style sampan boats as well as newer restaurant floating boats flowing along the West Lake and you can hop on and off the numerous 'islands' floating in Westlake and visit the chinese gardens,etc. The Hangzhou people also seemed more sophisticated and the entire atmosphere of Hangzhou was just less gritty and industrial than other Chinese cities of comparable size..the streets are well-paved and quite clean,etc..I'd DEFINITELY RECOMMEND Hangzhou...

6) Suzhou
Suzhou which is very famous and popular with tourist for being the epitome of classic Chinese scenery and water painting, being known as the Venice of China, with its meandering waterlanes and bridges all around the city, has alot of older Chinese architecture intact. It would prob be well-suited for making movies set in the past, as unlike numerous Chinese cities under redevelopment, Suzhou has retained (at least back in 2004) alot of its 30s chinese houses,etc...i was expecting to like Suzhou more than Hangzhou but I found that Hangzhou captured my breath away whilst Suzhou was kinda alright, maybe i had too high expectations for Suzhou..but it definitely has a small 1930s chinese feel to it for a large city of its size...

7) Northeast China/Dongbei (Former Manchuria)
I've been wanting to visit the Northeast in recent yrs as being a modern Chinese history buff, especially of the 1930s and 1940s in China as well as during the Japanese Occupation period in China, the Northeast has always represented that era for me. I've always been filled in my imagination of the cold Siberian winds blowing across the faces of Chinese women in cheongsams with large scarfs wrapped around their hair travelling on the Chinese trains across the Manchurian plains, and this has always been my image of China during my younger days when China seemed a distant land away...this is as the Northeast people are 'Northerners' unlike people I came into contact with bck in Malaysia whom were all Southerners like from Hokkien province, Guangdong province, HK, Taiwan, Macau,etc...people from the north seemed like mainland Chinese people, so different from us..I hope to be able to visit soon...during winter and indulge in my fantasy looking out of the (now super fast chinese trains) windows imagining what it would have been like in the 40s in Dongbei...

8) Yunnan Province
If I want to visit the very northend of China, I also want to visit the very southend of China, or the place poetically named by the Chinese as 'South of the Clouds'; Yunnan Province. This province has the most minorities in the whole of China and is also the most popular tourist destination in China apparently for its unique interesting minority culture as well as warm weather all year thru. (Hainan Island is also another extremely popular tourist destination in China in recent yrs) My family has visited Yunnan already, going to Lijiang, Dali, and Kunming. I'd like to visit Lijiang and Shangri-La...

9) Fujian Province
This is the province which most influences my upbringing and my contact with Chinese culture given that Penang, where I grew up, is a Hokkien immigrant area with the Malaysian-Chinese living there mostly coming from Fujian province ancestrally. Taiwan, my other country, is also Hokkien-dominated in its people and culture. Thus, this is my 'real' ancestral province and I'd like to see what the people and culture there are like..I've been fascinated are they similar to Penang and Taiwanese people given that the roots are the same?? Or do they look different and speak Hokkien differently from us? I've heard from two people I know whom have visited Fujian on vacation recently, and both have highly recommended it. (Sidenote: As a sign of how much China and its tourism has developed in recent yrs, I was taken abck that two ppl i know had visited Fujian Province recently as i always thought it wasn't a popular tourist destination for foreigners at all so i was surprised.)

10) Hunan Province
If Fujian province is my 'real' ancestral province, then Hunan province is my 'official' ancestral province. This is as Chinese people follow their father's ancestry in determining their 'ancestral province' and so given that my paternal grandfather (whom is still alive and living in Taipei) came from Hunan, and my dad thus is of Hunan ancestry, then ,I'm also officially of Hunan ancestry.

However, in reality, I know nothing about Hunan, besides that Chairman Mao comes from Hunan, and also eating the Hunan Cured Smoked Meat which my grandfather's (now my uncle's) business makes and which are occasionally brought back to Malaysia for us..in reality, Malaysia and Taiwan, both of which are arguably Hokkien societies, have shaped me completely...but then, I'd still like to visit my 'official ancestral' province...

11) Chongqing
I would like to visit Chongqing due to Chongqing being the wartime capital of China during WW2. Haha..me and my 'Japanese-Invasion-during-WW2' obsession...

12) Nanjing
I would also like to visit Nanjing because of historical reasons, it being the site of the infamous 1937 'Rape of Nanking' massacre whereby the invading Japanese troops raped,pillaged and massacred 300,000 Chinese people in the span of roughly 6 weeks.

13) Xinjiang Province
I'd like to visit Xinjiang as its the most different province of China I think, with almost half of the population being central Asians...it'd be very interesting...its also like the wild west of China and i'd like to have a look at it...

14) Qingdao
I've heard that Qingdao and the coastal areas along Shandong province are amongst the most beautiful and I'd like to see that for myself..I saw a movie by Karrina Lam before many yrs ago and the scenery shot in Qingdao of the wide blue sea was magnificent..its also the home of many former German mansions as well as China's famous Qingdao beer..so that's another reason to visit it.:-)

Dear Readers, Where'd You Like to Visit, in China or elsewhere in Asia, if given the opportunity?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Overseas Chinese Part V..海外华裔华侨...世界の中国系、華僑たち..

This is the last and final post of the 'Overseas Chinese' post series, which form part of the 'Year of China' theme for this yr.

This final post deals with the Chinese in Japan, Korea, and India.

The Chinese in India number roughly only 20,000. This number does not include Mainland Chinese students, visitors, businessmen,etc but refers to those Indian-Chinese with Indian nationality. They mainly concentrate in Kolkata (Calcutta) and currently own tanneries, restaurants, sauce-making factories, and dentistry. At the height of Chinese migration, during WW2 (to escape the Japanese invasion of China at that time) there were around 50,000 Chinese living in Kolkata. But then numbers dwindled after the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Many Indian-Chinese migrated to countries such as Canada, UK, and Australia. I have met someone whose mother had migrated from India to Canada before, when i was volunteering at the Sydney Intl' Film Festival...

The Chinese in South Korea number only around 20,000 most of whom hold Taiwanese passport due to the fact that South Korea only established ties with China in 1993. However, the actual total number of Chinese people, including the new immigrants from China since 1993 totals over 600,000! This comprises, workers, students, businessmen, and other long-term residents. Most of these are however not ethnic Chinese but Korean-Chinese from China. Apparently 71% of the over 600,000 Chinese passport holders in South Korea currently are of ethnic Korean descent (China has the world's second largest overseas Korean population, numbering roughly 1.5 million, after the United States, which has the largest overseas Korean population, but in front of Japan, which has the third largest overseas Korean population.)
There is only one Chinatown in South Korea, being at Incheon, where there once was a large Chinese community until the oppressive and discriminatory policies brought in during the 1960s/70s which limited foreign ownership of property, targetting the Chinese minority then, which led to an exodus of Chinese to the US and Taiwan.

There are about 10,000 Chinese passport holders living in North Korea. They are allowed greater freedoms than the average North Korean citizen, being allowed foreign travel, ownership of an unrestricted radio, and being allowed to be involved in the profitable import-export China trade.

The Chinese in Japan number roughly 650,000 including newer immigrants from China and old residents from the former Japanese colony of Taiwan. Like in South Korea, the older Chinese residents tend to have links with Taiwan, whilst the newer and more numerous Chinese residents tend to have links with mainland China. There are Chinatowns in several Japanese cities such as Osaka, Nagasaki, Kobe, and the most famous one, Yokohama Chinatown. There are also Chinese schools whereby the medium of instruction is Chinese. There have been quite a few influential Japanese figures of Chinese descent, such as the famous Momofuku Ando, whom was the president of Nissin Foods. He was apparently the inventor of instant cup noodles (ramen) in the 1960s. I was very surprised! This means that the world-famous Asian cup noodles currently sold everywhere was not invented by an ethnic Japanese but actually by an ethnic Chinese...Ando was from Taiwan originally. Then , there's also Sadaharu Oh, the famous baseball player as well as Renho, a current Cabinet Minister and the first Japanese Cabinet Minister to have foreign ethnicity. Her father was from Taiwan and she held Taiwanese nationality until 18.

Hope this post series has been informative,interesting, and helpful in going towards some understanding of the overseas Chinese around the world, of which I'm one too:-)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Overseas Chinese-Part IV...海外华裔华侨...世界の中国系、華僑たち..

This is part of the continuing posts on the 'Year of China 2010' theme...

This time, we shall be discussing briefly on Chinese in Africa. Apparently, recent research has shown that there are at least 500,000 (which is half a million!) Chinese people residing on the African continent currently. A surprise isn't it? Given that we hardly hear of Chinese in Africa, or for that matter, any other nationalities living in Africa actually..haha..

These Chinese are overwhelmingly mainland Chinese labourers as well as contractors and engineers whom go over to Africa with Chinese companies to build roads, schools, hospitals, buildings,etc as part of Chinese government policy and plans or on a private commercial basis.

There are also Chinese whom have lived in South Africa for decades and speak the language there as well as are politicians,etc. This was really cool to find out as i found out that most of the 'old chinese south africans' are of Taiwanese origin given that Taiwan had diplomatic ties with South Africa all the way up to the end of apartheid.

My current apartment mate is Congolese (I live with 3 other people currently in Pyrmont.) She has some Belgian blood in her as apparently her granddad has some Belgian relations. She is the first person from Congo that i've met and she surprised me when she told me that there are thousands of Chinese in Congo, owning all the big stores and supermarkets and being able to speak the local language as well as some French/English! I was like...WHAT, there are Chinese, and I mean LARGE numbers of Chinese living and owning businesses in Congo.... of all places?!! Wow..the Chinese literally are upwardly mobile and everywhere:-)

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

All About Love:-)....得闲炒饭:-) (2010)...



Above: Posters and Pics from the movie 'All About Love'. The words 'Happy Together' refers to homosexuality indirectly in the Chinese context given that its often used in contemporary popular chinese culture since the late 90s (at least in taiwan and hk, maybe not so much mainland china) to refer to a positive connotation of gay relationships.

The movie which I was looking forward to by my childhood and adolescent growing up yrs fav comedic star Sandra Ng and recent fav Vivian Chow has screened recently:-) It's called 'All About Love'. I have mentioned this film before and it is Vivian's 13 year absence comeback film.;-) Can't wait to catch it. Another lesbian film of interest, which I found out about recently is the UK/South African film 'World Unseen'; trailer here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlD3EprZp5M It is set in 1950s apartheid era South Africa about the lovestory between two Indian women (there is a substantial Indian minority in SA), one liberal and open and the other conservative and traditional. Looks interesting judging from the trailer alone:-)
Below is an article about the movie 'All about Love' which i found on the Wall Street Journal online version:
Hong Kong: A Love Story
By
ALEXANDRA A. SENO
With her latest film, "All About Love," director Ann Hui On-wah writes another heartfelt letter to her home, Hong Kong. Like her other works, this story, a romantic comedy about a pair of bisexual women who are pregnant, highlights aspects of the island's current social issues and is set in Hong Kong's upwardly mobile Mid-Levels neighborhood.

"I make films because I really want to find out what Hong Kong is like at the moment," says the 63-year-old Ms. Hui.

When two former lovers—30-something Macy, a lawyer, and Anita, a banker—meet at a counseling session for expectant mothers, they fall in love again in a tale that plays out against familiar Hong Kong backdrops: offices, bars and restaurants near trendy Hollywood Road; gyms and yoga studios. The overhang of personal financial insecurity and the local penchant for political and social demonstrations make their way into the film, too. Along the way, the couple's story touches on sexual politics, ostracism and the idea of a Hong Kong identity.
"It is a serious film but it is also very commercial," says Ms. Hui, a graduate of the London International Film School. "Sometimes it is better to make serious issues more acceptable to audiences, by making it a comedy and having big stars so that people will come watch the movie." In the movie, Hong Kong's top comedian Sandra Ng Kwan-yue plays Macy; Anita is played by the pretty 1990s pop singer Vivian Chow Wai-man.

"This is a movie about relationships," adds Ms. Hui. The topic was an obstacle for some.
"It was not easy to make this film happen," says Yeeshan Yang, an anthropoligist-turned-screenwriter who wrote the film. "Ann has [a good] reputation, so she has a lot of independence with what she does."
Ms. Yang credits the director with making the male-female relationships in the story much more accessible: In the film, Macy's old boyfriend—and father of her baby—is a former client who beat his wife; Anita's baby was fathered by a much younger man she met online.

Ms. Hui, who was born in Anshan (northeast China) but grew up in Hong Kong, made her name with socially conscious dramas such as 1982's "Boat People," about the aftermath of the Vietnam War, starring pop god Andy Lau Tak-wah, and "Ordinary Heroes," a 1999 drama about Hong Kong political activists with Anthony Wong Chau-sang. With the critically acclaimed "The Way We Are" (2008) and "Night and Fog" (2009), she looked unflinchingly at life in Tin Shui Wai, the Hong Kong housing estate that is home to hundreds of disadvantaged families.

Many producers might have shied away from "All About Love" because of its lesbian theme. Homosexual films are banned in China, so it eliminates any chance of distribution there. Indeed, even Ms. Hui says she was surprised when film financier Wong Jing agreed to back her movie.

"All About Love" marks their third film together, but it's an unlikely partnership. Mr. Wong is the king of Chinese B-movies and a savvy entertainment-industry investor, known for churning out soft porn and schlocky action flicks. Ms. Hui's work doesn't fit that mold, and she certainly doesn't churn out films, having been known to take five years on a single project.

For years, Ms. Hui and Mr. Wong even publicly traded barbs. After watching her semi-autobiographical "Song of the Exile," which was released in 1990, Mr. Wong wondered—in a statement that went viral in Hong Kong media—why anyone would pay to see a film about an unattractive middle-aged woman. Aware of the public perception of their history, Ms. Hui chuckles. She says: "Actually, we work very well together. He doesn't bother me, and he has made my work rhythm better, faster."

Some may wonder why Ms. Hui has not made a film in China, but she says she would if it was the right project, one with a Hong Kong point of view that's fitting with her own.
"All About Love" opened last weekend in cinemas around Hong Kong.
Hope to see it in Australia at some cinema or film festival soon!;-)

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Overseas Chinese-Part III...海外华裔华侨...世界の中国系、華僑たち..

This is a continuing post of the 'Year of China' theme for this year. This post shall focus on the Chinese in Latin America.

Apparently, you can find Chinese-Latin Americans as well! There are large numbers in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. Apparently, Peru has over 1.5 million Chinese-Peruvians (many of mixed descent) living there...there is even such things called Peruvian-Chinese cuisine which is also known as 'chifa' which is not some unique exotic food but widely known amongst Peruvians and very popular too:-) This popularity in Latin-American style Chinese food from Peru has spread to other latin American countries too such as Argentina.

I also saw in the news earlier this yr that many recent Chinese immigrants have immigrated to the border between Mexico and America on the Mexican side as a means to eventually cross over and live in America. They apparently go into Mexico on tourist visas or other temporary visas and overstay illegally. Thus, like the trend in so many other regions of the world, the Chinese population is continually expanding since China opened up to the outside world meaning that the current overseas Chinese population in Latin America (and other parts of the world for that matter ) will only continue to increase with the tide of mainland Chinese immigrating by various means in the three decades since China opened up and reformed. This will add to the already existing Chinese populations which immigrated pre-1980.

Cool hey? This means one can go to Peru, if you're of Chinese descent, and the people there probably wouldn't even think too much given that they have seen Peruvian-Chinese people as well..haha..:-)