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Mian Mian 棉棉 – Candy 糖

dreamon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:15:37 +0000

Mian Mian 棉棉 is one of China’s most controversial contemporary authors, famous for covering topics that were once off-limit to China’s literary world. Her semi-biographical novel ‘Candy’ 糖 became famous for portraying a dark, underground, post-reform China where life of the country’s young generation is ruled by sex, drugs and violence. Candy has received a lot of attention in the Western world, so I naturally wanted to know what the buzz was about. Since the book had been banned in China, I wasn’t able to get my hands on a copy until I returned to Europe, though.

Candy manages to get off on a good start. The first half of her book is a quite compelling read. The story is emotional, but well structured and the insights into Mian Mian’s dark underground world are fascinating. But after a while you can’t help but feeling like walking in circles. Mian Mian keeps writing about the same issues over and over again, which may be an attempt to make the reader feel her emptiness, but stylistic means like that just don’t work. What is even worse, her book kind-of ‘deteriorates’ after the first half. Her writing looses focus. She discusses things which don’t seem to be of any relevance to the main storyline and she constantly switches the perspective of the narrator, which gives her book a rather immature feel.

The book doesn’t read so much like a novel, but rather like a diary. And with all the drug-related stories I wondered if Mian Mian has written parts of Candy when she was high. Nevertheless, I still liked her book. I just hope her future works will have more substance.

Emperor Guan 關帝 (Guan-di)

admin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Something you cannot evade as a Sinologist is that you will notice different things and different details in China and Asia than a normal person would. This can be quite tiring, and from time to time I envy those people who get to experience China without any prior knowledge. In many ways, ignorance can be a bless. On the other hand, knowledge of traditional Chinese culture brings many benefits. Something I would have not noticed without studying Sinology in the first place is the worshipping of Guanyu 關羽, a former general of the Shu Han 蜀漢 kingdom of the Three Kingdoms Period 三國時期. Guan Yu was a general serving under Liu Bei 劉備 and has been worshipped since the Sui Dynasty 隋朝. Although the story of his life has been largely fictionalized and idealized, he is seen as a symbol of loyalty and righteousness.

I first learned about Guan Yu in Chinese History lectures and later in more detail in Chinese Philosophy classes at my university. Guan Yu, or Emperor Guan, as he became to be called, is worshipped in Buddhism and Daoism alike. His most distinguishing features are his red face and long beard. He is usually portrayed carrying a special weapon called “crescent blade” 偃月刀, enabling him to figh demons and other deities. He holds a special status in Hong Kong, where he is, among others, the semi-official city god 城隍 and is worshipped by common people as well as police men, soldiers and even triad societies. There is also a temple errected in his honour in Yokohama’s China Town, Japan.

China Unicom 中国联通: The Second SIM

admin — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:00:00 +0000

After buying a Chinese Dual SIM phone, I tried using China Unicom since I was interested in the differences between the two main mobile service providers in China and rumors on Wikipedia suggesting that you could get a native Hong Kong number with them. This was a mistake. The network coverage is bad, even in downtown Shanghai. Although your phone shows you a strong signal, you will have a hard time understanding what the other person says. The service is bad. You can only check your account balance by calling a service number, for example, not by SMS, and there is no English. After thoroughly studying their prices, I couldn’t see a difference to China Mobile. I don’t see why you should use them. Eventually, my SIM was deactivated as I hadn’t charged any money to it within 30 days, so I didn’t even get to use up the money left on the card for sending short messages. Great job. Try to stay away from them.

Update (2009/05/21): China Unicom SIM cards with native mainland Chinese and native Hong Kong numbers are indeed available, but only common in Southern China, especially Guangdong province 广东省. However, China Mobile also offers this type of SIM card, so there is no reason why you should resort to China Unicom’s bad customer service and network coverage.

Welcome to China Part 1: Hong Kong

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:20:00 +0000

Hong Kong is my first destination in China — a stopover on my way to Shanghai, where I’ll be attending Jiaotong University for the next year. Hong Kong is a marvelous place and a city full of energy, mystery and definitely one of the most important cities in East and Southeast Asia. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves …

Photos: pic01 pic02 pic03 pic04 pic05 pic06 pic07 pic08