Free-to-play online games services, instead of the fee-based model, would continue to dominate the market with an estimated 80-percent market share, the survey showed.
Beijing-based China Sexology Association (CSA) is facing an investigation from the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) for allegedly profiting from its activities.
Evidence shows it has taken part in a series of business activities, and has even compiled business contracts where the association can reap as much as 60 to 80 percent of profits from the exercises, reported the Legal Evening News.
Founded in 1994 as an academic society, the CSA is not allowed to profit from business activities.
I mention this mostly so I can use that hilariously suggestive title, but found out from the article that there there was Sex Culture Festival in Guangzhou last month. This video highlights what I assume is the “fashion underwear” portion of the festival (this is most likely not safe for work):
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) proposed new requirements for Internet construction and management.
The national Internet culture construction and management work conference was held from June 3 to 4, 2007
Websites for the first time broadcast the CPC’s five-yearly national congress
By December 2007, the number of Chinese netizens had reached 210 million, 73 million more than that at the end of 2006
Ten governmental departments jointly cracked down on online pornographic spread. A batch of criminal suspects were arrested.
The Internet Society of China opened an anti-spam processing platform (iscbl.anti-spam.cn)
The Internet Society of China released a “self-discipline code for blog services”, as China had more than 70 million blogs at that time. The code, first of its kind in China, will play a significant role for blog development in China
The country’s 188 websites jointly launched an online product contest
One million university students heard expert’s lectures online synchronously
11 China’s [sic] major websites opened online classroom for various topics. By December 2007, more than 330 lectures had been given and more than 100 million netizens hit the online classroom
Wow, what an incredibly boring, obliviously state sponsored list!
I have been attempting to catch up with some of my sci-fi reading (Harlan Ellison and William Gibson lately) and it got me to thinking about science fiction (科幻) in China. A little searching around the internet confirmed what I thought would be true; that sci-fi died out when the communist took over, and is now beginning to flourish, with some even saying that we are entering a “golden age” for Chinese sci-fi.
Twelve Hours Later bills itself as a site featuring “Chinese SF, fantasy, and mainstream fiction”, and while it doesn’t update very often it is excellent source for information. It provides reviews, and is where I found about Science Fiction World, where the above images are from. Science Fiction World is one of China’s most popular magazines, with a circulation of 500,000 (or 320,000?). At least a few sources mention that Chinese sci-fi tends to lean towards more “hard” sci-fi, perhaps to avoid crack down by censors?
And while there seems to be a lot of Chinese science fiction available to read online, I have seen very little of it that has been translated into English. The most promising thing I’ve been able to find is an anthology that was published in 1989, Science Fiction from China. I have requested this from my local library and will give a short review of it after finishing. Here is the synopsis of the book from Publisher’s Weekly:
This fine anthology of eight stories by six authors shows that, while years behind the west in terms of maturity of the genre, China is catching up as fast as the state will allow. Editor Dingbo Wu’s excellent introduction gives a historical overview of SF in China, while detailing the fluctuations of political acceptability during the past decade. If the plots are generally familiar, the stories convey the freshness with which the authors approached them, making each one more than just another variation on an old theme. Wei Yahua’s “Conjugal Happiness in the Arms of Morpheus” finds a new way to bring a robot to life. “The Mysterious Wave” by Wang Xiaoda and “Death Ray on a Coral Island” by Tong Enzheng are both classic gadget stories. Conversely, Ye Yonglie’s “Corrosion” is mostly concerned with the moral dilemma of desired fame vs. livable self-image. The chronological bibliography of Chinese SF is a valuable resource.
This sounds interesting, but what I am really interested in taking a look at is some more recent material. If anyone knows of any resources for translated sci-fi, let me know in the comments.
A story from the Los Angeles Times, Ancient pastime has some Chinese bug-eyed, details the rise of cricket raising among affluent 20-something Chinese. It is portrayed in the story as a uniquely Chinese pastime, one that is far removed from the movies, music and video games that litter the cultural landscape. There are different breeds that are used for signing and fighting competitions. Both are expensive, not counting the variety of accessories that can be purchased for your cricket. And there is probably a reason why it is primarily men that participate in this sport:
And most important: The cricket has to bed at least two or three females before he fights.
“The cricket who is most successful making love will be the best fighter,” Zhao said.
All the fighting crickets are male. So are the singing crickets, whose song, after all, is a mating call. In cricket-collecting circles, female crickets are nothing more than sex slaves to the males.
“There is a little machismo in this,” Zhao conceded. “After a while, you come to identify with your cricket.”
Perhaps this will grow larger as more and more people have disposible income. However, no matter how big of a spectacle this grows to be, it is doubtful that it will ever become as big of a deal as it was in the past, especially with regards to fighting crickets (from Chinese Cricket Culture) :
From the beginning of the Song dynasty (960 - 1278 A.D.), there are many historic references to the use of crickets within recreational fighting events. Good evidence for the age of this sport comes from three pieces of cricket transfers (special containers for moving fighting crickets between containers) were unearthed from the tomb of South Song in Zhen Jiang, Jiangsu province in 1964. (Meng, 1993)
With the same popularity that football enjoys today, cricket fighting became a popular game and sport for all people, from adults to children. China produced a famous Cricket Minister, Jia Shi-Dao (1213 - 1275), who was accused of dereliction of his duty due to his obsession with an all-absorbing passion for cricket fighting cult. China also yielded the Cricket Emperor, Ming Xuan-Zhong (ca. 1427-1464). Once the emperor favored cricket fighting, crickets became the primary tribute for the palace. Each year, thousands of carefully selected crickets were sent to capital where many people’s financial fate were placed in the mandibles of these insects. It is written in “Ming Chao Xiao Shi” (The minor history of the Ming dynasty): When he saw a good cricket, an officer of the local rice-granaries exchanged it for his best horse. While he was away, his wife opened the pot to peek at the special cricket which promptly jumped out and was instantly eaten by a cockerel outside. The lady was so scared that she committed suicide. Her husband, upon returning and seeing his dead wife along with the missing cricket, also took his life. This sad historic record apparently is the source material for the famous story of “Cu-Zhi” (Cricket) within the book of “Liao Zhai” (Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio) by Song Ling in Qing dynasty (1679) (cf. Laufer, 1927). There are numerous tragedies and comedies associated with cricket fighting.
My apologies for the lack of new content as of late, as most of my free time has gone into the redesign of www.jennifernoveck.com. Please visit and leave comments.
And for some old link housecleaning, Made in China: Hip-Hop Moves East was an interesting story by NPR about the current state of rap in China.
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