#sixth tone

[inkjadestudio]

What I Learned From 10 Years Teaching Chinese Students About Gender

The author, a teacher at a college in East China, reflects on the successes and challenges of her “Gender and Media” class.

[foxghost]

China’s Newest Dating Craze: Real-Life Meetups With Virtual Boyfriends

During the pandemic, women across China became infatuated with the dashing male characters in a series of viral video games. Now, many are hiring cosplayers to bring their digital beaus to life.

Some dream girls have lost trust in men as a result. It’s no accident that the cosplayers hired for cos commission are almost always female; clients tend to prefer an all-female environment for their dates, even if the cosplayers are playing male characters.

“The men can be paper, acrylic, iron, or virtual, but they can’t be carbon-based creatures,” said Jony Lin, a 26-year-old dream girl from Shanghai. “A safe and controlled environment is all we want.”

[fyeahcindie]

The Band That Rocked China’s Internet

How a viral TV stunt thrust folk-rockers Wu Tiao Ren into the center of a debate about language, culture, and authenticity in Chinese music.

Fascinating article/interview by Yuan Ye for Sixth Tone about the band 五條人 Wu Tiao Ren =D

They are probably unfamiliar to most of our recent followers, but we have featured them twice: five years ago HERE, and 10 years ago OVER HERE. They sing in Mandarin and in the local Min dialect - the 2 guys that started the band are from Haifeng in Guangdong Province (the band is based in Guangzhou).

仁科 Xu Renke-Accordion/Elec. Gtr/Voc, 茂濤 Hu Maotao ‘Ah Mao’-Acoustic Gtr/Voc, w/ 何俊霓-Bass, 苗长江/苗長江-Drums

The 'stunt' referred to in the link above was when they snuck in a song in their local dialect instead of the Mandarin song they had rehearsed for their first appearance on The Big Band 乐队的夏天2. They were voted off the show, but brought back a few weeks later by popular demand. Not sure if this was the performance in question, but the hosts have surprised looks on their faces as the singing begins:

This tune they performed with a horn section, and Renke switched from accordion to rocking out on electric guitar:

In The Big Band season 2 wiki, you see they finished 2nd overall, with Re-TROS 重塑雕像的权利 (Rebuilding the Rights of Statues) winning the 2020 season.

五條人 Wu Tiao Ren links: Facebook, Douban, Instagram, Spotify

[richang-chinese]

Play the game: Find love at Shanghai's 'marriage market.'

How would you fare in China’s matchmaking hot-spot? 

Every weekend, parents gather along the paths of the People’s Park in Shanghai, brandishing umbrellas with the details of their unmarried adult children, hoping to secure them a future spouse. Plug your age, level of education, height, and property portfolio into Sixth Tone’s widget (mobile only) and see how eligible you would be! 

Men without a house or a car will struggle to find suitable matches, and women with a higher level of education than average may put prospective men off. 

Matchmaking Vocabulary:

人民公园相亲角 -  Rénmín Gōngyuán Xiāngqīn Jiǎo - Shanghai Marriage Market (lit. People’s Park Blind Date Corner) 

媒人 -  Méirén - Matchmaker 

婚介 - Hūnjiè - Matchmaking 

剩女 - Shèngnǚ - Leftover Woman (a term used unkindly to refer to unmarried women in their late twenties)

单身狗 - Dānshēn gǒu - Single Dog (usually used in a self deprecating manner)

门当户对 -  Méndānghùduì - Well-matched in social and economic status (for marriage)

高富帅 - Gāofùshuài - Tall, rich and handsome (i.e. Mr Perfect)

白富美 - Báifùměi - Pale, rich and beautiful (i.e. Ms Perfect)

[pagansquare]

How Taoists Found Their Way To a Young Audience

A successful Shanghai-based ceremony shows that attracting adepts hinges on mixing tradition, technology, and trade.

[inkjadestudio]

Hit Film Tackles Male Gender Preference in Chinese Families

“Sister” has emerged as an unexpected holiday hit, surpassing Hollywood heavyweight “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

A new Chinese movie is casting a spotlight on a long-debated question: Should personal values be prioritized over traditional family values?

The family drama “Sister,” which topped the domestic box office during the recent Qingming Festival holiday, tells the story of An Ran, a young woman who is suddenly faced with having to take care of her 6-year-old brother after their parents die in an accident. The movie follows An’s trajectory as she struggles to balance her own life choices while becoming her brother’s caretaker.

[inkjadestudio]

Training Our Tongues to Forget

Chinese families are losing their linguistic diversity, and with it, the threads linking them to the past.

[inkjadestudio]

It’s the Year of the Ox, So Where’s the Beef?

Beef consumption was taboo in much of China for millennia before Western missionaries began evangelizing for the nutritional and cultural value of red meat.