Hottest Travel Destination in China -- Jiuzhaigou Valley (九寨沟)

This place ranks No.1 in the Travel Destination category on Yahoo China almost everyday, and it is also one of the places that I really want to go personally.

(www.dabaoku.net)

Jiuzhaigou Valley, meaning "Valley of Nine Villages", is a natural reserve located in the northern part of Sichuan province. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, it covers 240 km² and consists of broad-leaf forest and woodlands, mixed mountain and highland systems. It is particularly renowned for it's numerous colorful lakes. The water contains high concentration of calcium carbonate and possesses high degree of clarity and the most beautiful turquoise blue I have ever seen.

Five Flower Lake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuzhaigou_Valley)

Pearl Waterfalls

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Waterfall)

Strangely, it is not the No.1 destination for most foreigner visitors in China. Most of us will just go see things like the Great Wall or the Forbidden City when we go to China for the first time. I only learned about Jiuzhaigou Valley when I was watching the weather forecast on TV (you know how they show pictures of different touristy spots when doing the weather forecast) on one of the local channels. Guess it's because the location is  not as accessible. As for myself, I will go one day when my fear for long-haul bus rides and public toilets is overcome.

Five-Color Pond

(http://www.ycccf.com/html/china/23/2/2/3948.html)

Thanking Your Party

The No.7 most searched keyword on Yahoo China today is "Henan Coal Mine Workers Rescued". 415452 searches in one day.

If you haven't heard about it, one state-owned coal mine in Henan province in Central China experienced flooding 4 days ago and 69 mine workers were trapped inside the coal pit.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK283457.htm

Fortunately, all of them have been rescued yesterday. News reports described that the miners "want to thank the Party and the Government for their rescue effort!"

 

(http://www.dahe.cn/xwzx/zt/hnzt/sxmk/index.htm)

(Photo of government officials giving their welcomes to one of  the rescued mine workers. Note the huge red banner declaring the rescue action, I though it was quite funny, it's just such a show.)

I probably make a very lousy Communist since if this happened to me, the first thing I would like to do is to sue somebody's ass off (instead of thanking my Party). Then maybe write a book about it, sell the exclusive interview right to a tabloid magazine. Yes, I admit it, I am a selfish product of the ever-so decadent Capitalism.

But I really genuinely feel sorry for the mine workers in China. With all that impressive economic growth, China's coal industry is the deadliest in the world. On average, 13 people died everyday last year. I don't think this risk is appropriately compensated for, either. And it doesn't look like it's going to improve in the near future since the two most important factors, business ethics and stringent government regulation, are both missing in China. All of a sudden the toxic toothpaste and chemical laden fish look quite insignificant now compared to dying  in a coal pit.

Natural Body Odor

Actually this is not a keyword you will find on Yahoo China, it is my personal experience. However, as the temperature hits record high on a daily basis, I feel compelled to talk about it.

When you go to China the first time, you may be mesmerized by all the nice and tall buildings, sighting of expensive cars everywhere and fashionably dressed women. You think: wow, China is so advanced! In big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, things can be even more expensive than back at home. But soon, especially in summer time, you realize that no one, and I mean absolutely no one, uses deodorant.

This really puzzles me. If you look at the market, Chinese women are not hesitant about spending huge dollars on expensive imported cosmetics and high end fashion accessories. But they don't care about how they smell. I tried to search for the word "deodorant" on Chinese search engines with very dismal results. The summer time has become more and more unbearable for me, someone who is hypersensitive to all olfactory stimulations, both good and bad. Just imagine this: 38 degree Celsius + huge crowds + high humidity + bad ventilation in subway + people raising arms to hold onto rings = you get what I mean.

What puzzles me even more is that no deodorant companies are interested in this huge uncontested market. Come on, I know a lot of business people read this blog, I beg you, please start selling deodorant in China. With the right marketing strategy, I am sure it can be quite profitable. If hamburgers and fried chicken can beat dumplings, and if carbonated drinks and coffee can sell better than soy bean milk, then one day deodorant will beat natural body odor in China!

Princess Hours (Goong)

This is the No.8 most searched keyword in the TV drama category on Yahoo in China today. It is the hottest Korean TV drama in China right now.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hours)

Princess Hours (宮 in Chinese or 궁 in Korean) is a light romantic comedy about a bunch of good looking kids and their lives around the fictitious royal family in Korea (South Korea is a Republic if you must know, the royal family has been long gone since 1911). The main character (played by Yoon Eun Hye) an ordinary high school girl who for an unrealistic reason marries the crown prince (played by Joo Ji Hoon) who also goes to the same school. The production was a huge hit in Korea: it was once of MBC's most popular dramas in 2006. And it became yet another successful entertainment export product for Korea. The show cashed in a lot of foreign currencies from other Asian countries.

If you haven't notice, Korean pop culture is the "in" thing now in Asia ("Korean Wave" or "韓流"). It used to be Japan that was the center for young pop idols manufacturing and exporting, but the tide has all of a sudden changed since a few years ago. These good looking Korean pop idols have now taken over. For a lot of young kids, it is now more trendy to like a Korean idol than a local one. Compared with local Chinese pop idols, Koreans idols are better looking, styled more fashionably, sing cooler songs and have more mesmerizing music videos. Language is not a problem and the Koreans don't have the historical baggage like the Japanese. I must admit that I watched Princess Hours, too, and I liked it, although I am outside the show's target demographics.

Goong S (Goong' sequel): a totally different story but with the same royal family theme.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goong_S)

Naruto vs. Harry Potter

Naruto is the hottest manga/cartoon in China now. It has been the No.1 most searched manga keyword on Yahoo China ever since this blog started.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto)

Naruto is a Japanese manga about a bunch of teenage ninjas and their lives in a ninja academy. Is it just me or it sounds a lot like Harry Potter? Naruto, the main character, is also an orphan, just like Harry. When Naruto was a baby, the leader of his village sacrificed his own life to seal the nine-tailed demon fox inside Naruto. Therefore, Naruto has become the containment vessel for the demon fox. Doesn't this remind you of the business between Harry and Voldemort?

(http://www.buzzparadise.com/en_article.php3?id_article=358)

Harry has a girl best friend, Hermione, and a boy best friend, Ron; Naruto has Sakura Haruno (the girl with pink hair) and Sasuki Uchiha (the dark-haired one). Naruto and these two friends form a learning team together with the assigned leader, Kakashi Sensei. There are other three-people teams as well, and different teams compete and interact with each other much like the different Houses at Hogwarts.

Personally, I think the degree of similarity exits that can be achieved through random coincidence, but then again, how does that matter? In the world of business, Japan's Naruto and U.K.'s Harry Potter are both big winners. Geez, I wish I could come up with a story like that.

Secret That I Can't Tell (不能说的秘密)

This is the most searched keyword on Yahoo China today (360346 searches in one day).

It is the name of Jay Chou's new movie, which he directed himself, and the title song of the same name. Check out this music video from YouTube.com

Jay Chou is undoubtedly the king of pop music in China today (he is nicknamed by media "President Chou" or "周董"). This 28-year-old from Taiwan has one unbeatable advantage over most other young pop idols, that is, he has real musical talent. Jay composes all his songs himself  and has done a lot of work for other singers.

Maybe Jay felt that he wasn't getting enough challenges since it was just all too easy for him (yes, sometimes this kid does seem a little snobbish), he has started to get involved in movie production in recent years. Last year, he played Prince Jai in the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower" ("满城尽带黄金甲") alongside experienced and award-studded Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li. I saw the movie, and I thought Gong Li was brilliant, Jay was mediocre but his role did not require much acting anyway. The story was thin but hey, what the heck, just watch it for it is the most expensive Chinese  movie ever made. Jay composed and sang the highly praised theme song for the movie. This clip below is the music video of this song, "Chrysanthemum Terrace" ("菊花台") and it's got bits of the movie trailer in it.

L'Oreal

This is the most searched cosmetic brand in China according to Baidu.com  (http://data.baidu.com/).

I was actually a little surprised when I first went to China. L'Oreal is known as a high-end brand there, and they have counters next to brands such as Clinique or Lancome in posh department stores.

Where I grew up, L'Oreal is certainly not a premium brand. You normally see it on the shelves in supermarkets and pharmacies, next to brands such as Maybelline and Neutrogena. I almost feel that it's more like a brand geared towards customers of middle-age and above. The package is old-fashioned and unattractive. I think the only L'Oreal product I have ever used was a face wash, and I wasn't that impressed. Honestly, Neutrogena has better cleansing product for the same amount of money.

However, it is positioned as a premium brand in China. You can see L'Oreal TV commercials during prime time almost on a daily basis, huge posters in crowded shopping districts, and nice advertisements in glossy magazines that target young white-collared females. This new positioning seems to work well in opening up the China market for L'Oreal, but if it wants to expand it's market share in China by entering the rural areas, L'Oreal will need to come up with plan that won't risk it's image while capturing the lower end of the market.

In fact, a lot of the foreign brands face similar challenges. I remember at my ex-company, almost every meeting about marketing strategy was a discussion of "how to make the poor people buy our stuff without cheapening the image which will piss off the existing rich customers in the big cities". If you have a smart answer, then you can have a really brilliant career in China.

"Japanese Audience Hitting Chinese Athlete!"

This is the title of the hottest forum topic on Yahoo China today.

This YouTube clip below shows what happened. It was filmed during the Cup of China figure skating competition held in Nanjing in 2006. Japanese player Yukari Nakano was hit in the head by an unidentified object thrown from the audience. She came second in that game.

(source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCQniouuzxE)

But someone extracted a small part of the clip (the part where she was getting hit) and re-labeled it as "Japanese audience hitting Chinese athlete! Very angry!" and put it on Youku.com (another Chinese equivalent of YouTube). The clip below is what the Chinese people see on their Internet:

( http://www.youku.com/v_show/id_ca00XNjM1MDYxNg==.html)

This clip was viewed 17,687 times and copied and pasted onto Yahoo forum on Sunday, July 22, using the same title "Japanese Audience Hitting Chinese Athlete! Very Angry!"

Naturally waves and waves of anti-Japanese comments were generated on this topic. Despite of several responses saying that this is in fact the other way around, people continued with the rude and demeaning comments. Follow the link below to read these posts (Chinese):

http://cn.bbs.yahoo.com/message/read_%CA%D3%C6%B5%C2%DB%CC%B3_4790.html

Although I know a little bit about the historical background (Nanjing massacre and Comfort Women), I find it extremely unsettling that some people actually think it is okay to manipulate facts to suite a collective hate purpose. I know the South Koreans are anti-Japanese, too, but will they do something like this?Today's story really sends chills down my spine.

Private Brothel

This is the most searched keyword on Yahoo China today (301,804 searches in one day).

It in fact refers to the recent exposure about Henry T. Nicholas III's attempt to build an underground hideaway at his Laguna Hills estate to indulge in drugs and sex with prostitutes seven years ago.

The secret lair, reportedly called "Nick's Cafe", started to cause trouble when a construction crew complained that Nicholas, co-founder of Broadcom,  failed to pay them millions of dollars for work performed between 1998 and 2002. The case was since settled but now there is a man seeking a large share of the settlement and hence the recent exposure.

Read more about this news:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289899,00.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nicholas18jul18,0,7022711.story?coll=la-home-center

I hardly find this news surprising or interesting, but I do find it surprising and interesting that the Chinese people like it so much. All the English reports I found were dated July 18, so it means it only took a couple of days for it to reach China and become the hottest topic. Bad news does travel fast, especially anything to do with sex.

Chu Pui-hing's Sex Scandal

This is the No.5 most searched keyword on Yahoo China today, and the name "Chu Pui-hing" tops the rank in the "People" category, too.

(Source: Mingpao)

Yup, that guy hiding behind the woman is Chu Pui-hing (朱培慶). He was the Director of Radio Television Hong Kong until a few days ago when he had to opt for an "early retirement" due to the scandal.

(Source: Mingpao)

Last Thursday (July 12), Chu was unfortunately spotted by media reporters and photographers (they were there to interview a pop singer who was holding a private concert in a nearby pub) emerging with a heavily made-up woman, arm in arm, holding a wig in his hand, from a Karaoke club ("Must Kara"). He reacted by dodging behind the woman and then dashing into a toilet of a nearby restaurant whilst still holding the wig. This clownish behavior immediately became the talk of HK, and now the entire China.

The woman in the photo is self-named "Coco" (due to her resemblance to singer Coco Lee) and is a stripper/call-girl/table-top dancer from China (illegally, of course). Apparently Chu, who is 59 years-old and married with two kids, paid a hefty 10,000 HKD (1,250 USD) to "take Coco out" after she performed a sexy all-nude table-top dance (wearing that wig) for Chu at the club. They were on the way back to Coco's place when Chu was caught by the camera.

Chu resigned not because of corruption. I must say he is an honest man. He forked out money from his own pocket instead of allowing the accompanying business men to pay for him (which would be a "gift" and the ICAC would be all over him by now). I guess this is why the Chinese people find this news interesting; you hardly see "happy ending" like this on the Mainland. Things like this will never get directly exposed by the media.

As for Coco, she is now a celebrity. Tabloid magazines that interviewed her were immediately sold out. Although she had to go back to China for a while to wait for things to cool down a bit, especially when her work status in HK was illegal, she said this in the interview: " I am definitely going back to HK and one day I shall become the No. 1 Mama-san in the entire Hong Kong!"

Chu's career is totally finished but Coco's bright future has just begun.

Read more about this:

Sex scandal forces out RTHK head

Coco's blog (Chinese):

http://65251701.blog.163.com/

Zhang Liangying

This name is the No.1 most searched keyword on Yahoo China today.

Zhang Liangying (aka Jane Zhang) is a young female singer (22 yrs) and many regard her voice as one of the best amongst the young pop singers in China today. She has a very wide vocal range and some of her fans call that "dolphin note" (her favorite singer is Mariah Carey).

See some of her performances on YouTube.com

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OmPycXjkQQw

If you read my blog entry about the Chinese Idol Li Yuchun, you would know that Li became hot because she won the "Super Girl" contest in 2005. Interestingly, Jane Zhang was at the same contest, but she only came third. The YouTube clip above is her performance at the contest.

She actually looks a little like A-Mei, a pop singer from Taiwan and according to one on-line survey result, 11.5% people like her because of the resemblance. 17% likes her "I don't give a damn" attitude and an overwhelming 71% likes the voice. By the way, she sings mostly English songs and it's very well taken by her fans although most of them don't understand the meaning of the words.

Jane had a personal concert in Pasadena, Los Angeles at the end of March this year. There was quite a lot of media hype prior to the concert. People thought this was going to be a national pride: a Chinese pop singer standing on the American stage singing to the Americans! It turned out to be more like a gather together dinner party of the local Chinese people, and the venue and the stage was embarrassingly unattractive. Then no one talked about it anymore. I kind of feel sorry for her as it's not her fault. People are just too hooked on the "gaining face internationally" thing.

Jane's Official Website:

http://www.janezhang.com/index.aspx (Chinese)

Stinky Tofu

This is the No. 7 most searched keyword on Yahoo China today (280229 searches in one day). Actually, I omitted some part of the keyword because it was too disgusting. I wanted to give you a warning before you continue reading.

If you thought my recent blog entry about Beijing's fake pork buns was rather shocking, then please be mentally prepared for something that is 10 time worse.

This time it's Shenzhen's stinky tofu. The tofu is not fake, unlike the pork buns in Beijing. However, the tofu is made under extremely unhygienic conditions.

Stinky tofu is basically fermented tofu. The tofu is soaked and fermented in a special brine to give it it's strong odor. It really tastes much better than it smells. Think Limburger cheese.

Although I quite like stinky tofu personally, I never bothered to find out how it is made. Now I know.

One report from Singtao reveals that in the Nanshan district in Shenzhen, illegal tofu manufacturers use chemical powder, kitchen waste water/oil, snails, dead flies and rotten meat to make that special brine. One proud owner says that in order to increase the product differentiation of his stinky tofu in the competitive market, he adds a little fecal water for the extra touch. The investigators were so disgusted they vomited while doing the search.

I don't think I will ever eat stinky tofu again, at least not in China. Yuck! By the way, the complete keyword is "Stinky Tofu Fermented with Shit Water".

Read this original report from Singtaonet.com (Chinese)

http://www.singtaonet.com:82/society_focus/200707/t20070717_577665.html