In an earlier comment I talked about the importance of “国家,” and having just watched this music video by Jacky Chan (成龙) in duet with MEI He (美和) paying homage to that same idea made my day. Without a strong enough country, there is no freedom.
Following is a rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” in Chinese. It’s a delightful performance. The Chinese performance struck me for having taken the music (in my opinion the great part) and replacing the lyrics (in my opinion the not so great part) with something that is much more palatable. While China has many problems to overcome, she is also benefiting from experiences in societies abroad. The benefit of coming from behind is you have the luxury to pick and choose. Not to mention, who would imagine there’s a connection between Lady Gaga and grandma’s and grandpa’s in China!
Some poetry buffs may want to offer a translation for the following song. My take is it is about ‘departure’ between a couple. The mood of it might resonate with some of you, perhaps over those who departed in the recent train crash and bus accident. The song is neat in combining modern pop and traditional Chinese opera. I have always appreciated Chinese artists who bridges the past with the new, linking the older generation with the young. (Another example here.)
I dare say, I think I like the boy’s version more than Barbra Streisand’s. Zhong Chenle says he found the song on his own over the Internet, and his older brother taught him the lyrics.
Following is a story of triumph about 高逸峰 (Gao Yifeng) on the wildly popular “中国达人秀” (“China’s Got Talent”) show. According to the Baike page, Gao once owned a very large business. Through mismanagement, his company went bankrupt. He re-emerged into a much more modest endeavor. Below is my translation of his conversation with the judge before he performs, “从头再来.” This song is one of my favorite, and with Gao bearing his battle scar while performing it, I can see how he was able to move his audience to tears.
Judge: What are you performing?
Gao Yifeng: Sing a song
Judge: Where are you from?
Gao Yifeng: Anhui
Judge: How old are you?
Gao Yifeng: 49
Judge: Your hair is very special. It looks great. Did you color it or is it naturally that way?
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Remember “the Shaolin Temple” mega hit in 1982 starring Jet Li? Following is “牧羊曲” (“Mu Yang qu”) performed on a 古筝 (Gu Zheng) by 张璐 (Zhang Lu).
The video below is about the 青藏铁路 (Qingzang railway) connecting Tibet Autonomous Region’s Lhasa and Qinghai Province’s Xining. Much of the 2000km railway is an engineering marvel. One, for it’s 5000 meter elevation and rough terrain and another for where the tracks have to work on top of permafrosts (where the ice could melt depending on the time of the year). It opened in 2006 connecting the autonomous region to the rest of China’s railway networks. Singers 阿兰达瓦卓玛 (Alan Dawa Dolma, or simply known as Alan or 阿兰) and 韩红 (Han Hong) performed “天路” (“Heaven Road”) in tribute to this important project that Dr. Sun Yat-sen had first proposed around the turn of the century.
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Serenade Chairman Mao and pay homage to the Communist Party as Nigerian born Uwechue Emmanuel (in Chinese, 郝歌 (Hao Ge)) managed to do on CCTV through popular Chinese song, “草原上升起不落的太阳.” Chinese people love their motherland and harmony. Intonation must be impeccable. Race is irrelevant.
“南海姑娘” (“Girl from South China Sea”)
赵聪 (Zhao Cong) on 琵琶 (pipa)
秦万民 (Qin Wanmin) on 吉他 (guitar)
徐子巍 and 姚贝娜 are incredible vocalists. I love their voices. Great looking duo too. Here, they sing “中国之最,” about various geographies making China special. How about that? China is able to cherish such things; why won’t the West reach within and find few things to celebrate? To me, this is a big cultural difference.
Below is a performance by the Gorlos Band (郭尔罗斯组合), entitled “Great Khan” (“大汗颂”), at a music competition carried on CCTV. There is a mixture of throat singing and the Mongolian morin khur. It’s a really neat composition to say the least. The thing that struck me while watching this video is the fact that China’s continued lifting of millions of people out of poverty means more people will be freed to pursue other activities like music and art. More Chinese becoming more affluent means there will be greater demand and thus market for things uniquely whatever China is a composite of. Mongolian, Tibetan, Han, or whatever the inspiration, we are certain to see the ongoing explosion of things to come that is of China.
About a year ago, I wrote, ““Father’s Prairie, Mother’s River” – the feelings of one billion people on the move.” I estimated China in few decades will have moved about one billion people from the country side into cities. Yes, that’s one billion people! This is a stressful but necessary transformation as China continues to industrialize. Below is that same video I used in the original post to help illustrate one of the feelings of this transformation – that of longing for childhood home (for lyric and meaning follow link to my original post):
Few weeks ago I made a brief intro to armless pianist Liu Wei on “China’s Got Talent.” Liu Wei has now won. Lyndsey Parker has followed the competition, and here she continued her coverage, “Armless Pianist Liu Wei Wows & Wins On ‘China’s Got Talent’.”
And this past weekend, Liu won the entire competition with a tear-jerking and inspiring performance of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”–complete with English-language singing–in front of a capacity audience at Shanghai Stadium.
中秋節, Mid-Autumn Festival (or Moon Festival) is one of the most widely celebrated holidays in China, perhaps second only to the Spring Festival (or the Chinese New Year). For 2010, it falls on September 22nd. It coincides with a full moon on the 15th day of the 8th month on the Chinese calendar, so there is no fixed date according to Gregorian. That has been the way mid-autumn was figured since ancient times.
“Mid-Autumn” first appeared in “Rites of the Zhou”, a collection of ritual matters of the Western Zhou Dynasty some 3,000 years ago. During the Tang Dynasty (618AD – 907AD), this tradition took a strong foot hold. It celebrates harvests and family reunions. This same tradition exists throughout the rest of Asia today.
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“月滿西樓” is a poem written by 李清照 (Li QingZhao, 1084AD ─ 1155AD), regarded as one of the most prominent female poets from the Song Dynasty. The poem is about Li’s longing for her husband’s return from travels. Here is a song of the same name with lyrics entirely based on the poem, performed by singer 童丽 (Tong Li).
There is no particular point in this post. I recently came across a number of videos I thought entertaining. Below is a performance in the 2007 CCTV National Dance Competition; a bit of hip hop, break dance, and street dance. “Dreaming Back to the Wa Village” – “梦回佤乡.”
Younger Chinese are getting into it as well. Here is a 7 year old Chinese girl dancing to hip hop followed by a 5 year old Chinese boy performing break moves. (Somebody needs to tell the girl’s parents the lyrics are inappropriate for her age though. Okay, maybe somebody ought to translate the lyrics and that’d be the end of it – tongue in cheek.)
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