The document provides an overview of recent popular culture and current events in China. It discusses the severe heat wave China experienced in June, the college entrance exams that dominated June and July, and the ghost festival in August according to the lunar calendar. The designer of this issue drew inspiration from a Japanese folklore about ghosts. Other topics summarized include people being rejected from jobs due to their zodiac signs, an elderly gay couple facing controversy after coming out publicly, parents sleeping over at schools when their children start college, a university website that went viral for featuring an attractive student, an online challenge to show valuable possessions that was won by displaying a father's wealth, new popular terms related to obsessive fans and cramming for exams, recent

2. 你好
AHUNDREDGHOSTS
PARADETONIGHT
China started it’s summer in June
with the worst heat wave in more than
100 years.
June & July became an exam-
obsessed period where most of
China’s focus was on the Gao Kao -
China’s most intense national college
entrance exam. August then turned,
according to the Lunar Calendar, into
a ghostly month where it’s believed
deceased ancestors rise from below
to visit their living families. With so
much happening, September could
not be a better month to share with
you the weird and wonderful stories
that make up the ever chaotic China,
as well as the latest in popular
culture.
Our designer in this issue, Jok Jiang,
draws his design inspiration from
Japan’s folklore “Hundred ghosts
parade tonight” as a tribute for the
ghostly festivities that we have
recently just celebrated.

3. China
snapshot

4. 1
REJECTED
BYTHESTARS
Star signs has become an
increasingly popular topic for
Chinese people in various aspects
of lives. Parents look at star signs
when matchmaking their children,
girlfriends discuss star signs to try
to get to know each other better.
Couples look at star signs for
compatibility. But when we see the
work place judging you based on your
star signs, we know the society is
taking it to the next level.
Recent job hunters, as many graduated
in June, have found themselves getting
rejected by companies simply because
they were not born in the correct sign.
Companies go as far as recruiting
employees specific to certain horoscopes
– Gemini, Libra, Aquarius, etc, perhaps
more of their balanced, easy-going trait.
Unfortunately, for many workplaces in
China, Virgoeans and Scorpions are not
highly welcome, most likely because of
their difficult, almost on-the-edge anal
traits. But then again, wouldn’t they make
good bosses?
“Sorry, we do not hire Virgo & Scorpio’s...”

5. 2
COMINGOUT
ISSODAMNHARD
In china, Two elderly gay men living
in Beijing find themselves in the
center of controversy after their
high-profile coming out on the web
is as much censured as praised.
Their unofficial wedding ceremony
on January 30 was streamed online,
but according to the couple, it was
going smoothly until the son of the
teacher, who has been estranged
from the father for years because of
his homosexuality, crashed it, chased
The couple held their ‘wedding
ceremony’ in Beijing and invited
internet users over to their reception.
Images taken from Weibo
their guests away and cut off the
streaming. “It made us so humiliated,
so painful … Why even a stranger
can wish us happy and my own son
cannot?”
However, in recent years there are
signs of growing acceptance and
tolerance towards homosexuals
amongst the younger generation
which is largely influenced by
Japanese comics that portray
beautiful looking male characters.
Many young women who fantasizes
about male-male romance are
usually obsessed with beautiful faces
and ripped bodies that when they see
real-life plain-looking gay couple,
they are disappointed by the gap
between the ideal and the reality.
It is estimated that there are nearly
30 million homosexual men and
women in China. 16 million women
are desperately stuck in fake
marriages to gay
men who are still in
closet due to family
pressures.

6. 3
It’s that time of the year that we just have to talk about how crazy
it is when parents sleep over at schools as a way to send their
children off to university. Every year in September when the first
school semesters begin, college students leave home for the first
time to embark on a new life journey, and parents drop everything
just so they can accompany their only child on this journey.
So, do not be surprised when you begin you freshmen year with
the school’s largest auditorium filled with parents who are unable
to find nearby hotels to stay in. This annual phenomena has
become a norm, to the point that schools now prepare mattresses,
fans and other accommodations for parents every September.
CAMPUSSLUMBERPARTY
Images taken from Ministry of Tofu.

7. 4
While June is the time of the Gao Kao (national
college entrance exam), it’s also the time for
universities to start recruiting. On June 23, Renmin
University’s (one of China’s top university) launched
their newly designed website featuring a beautiful
young female student with a welcoming smile
on her face and caused quite a stir, bringing so
much traffic to the website that the server crashed
temporally. The university’s website is a contrast to
most Chinese educational website as it is usually
quite boring and dry.
THE‘WAITINGFOR
YOU’MEME
Renmin University website “I am at University of Electronic science waiting
for you”
“I am at southwest University waiting for you” “I am at Fujian Normal University waiting for
you”
The student’s picture then became widely circulated
online, starting what we now see the “waiting
for you” trend where good looking students from
different universities post pictures of themselves
with a piece of paper that says “I am waiting for you
at my university.”

8. 5
One Weibo user recently started
an online challenge by asking
other users to show off their most
valuable item and the competition
became a hot topic for quite a period
of time. Since the competition is
WHO’STHE
RICHEST?
not limited only to the rich, other
‘poorer’ netizens started taking part
by showing off what they consider
valuable or premium, amongst which
include Louis Vuitton toilet paper,
invisible Nike shoes, ‘jade’ pendant
made of green juice, emerald M&M’s
ring.
Unfortunately the winner of the
competition goes to a young boy who
reposted his dad’s wealth of around
14.2 billion RMB with one word “OK”.
Who can compete against a father
who might possibly be in Forbe’s top
100 rich list?

9. New terms
of the month

10. 7
学霸Xue Ba was always used to describe
a type of student that can always be
found sitting in the front row of the
class room, concentrating in class
and almost always get the highest
grades. However, the term is now
being used to describe those who
suddenly started cramming their
studies right before exams times.
When you are in a state where you do
not want to be disturbed, when you
prioritize studies over anything else,
you can tell your friends that you are
going to switch into a ‘Xue Ba’ mode.
xue ba

11. 8
腦殘粉
nao can fen
When fandom becomes an obsession,
you will be officially classified a
Nao Can Fen, which literally means
“brand damaged fans”. The word is
used to describe people who have
extreme obsession for certain a
brand or a certain celebrity. You will
always find them screaming for their
celebrities, or react immediately to
any advertisement, or campaigns
their celebrities endorse, or find them
dressed head to toe in one brand.
The reason one it made into our
new terms of the month is because
China recently released a hot box
office movie called Tiny Times based
on one of China’s famous modern
novel which turned out to be of huge
disappoint, however the fans of the
book were too obsessed that they
were unable to tell how bad the movie
was.

12. Pop China

14. 11
HelloGoodbye
DavidTao
再見你好吗
{陶喆}
David Tao is back again after
‘disappearing’ for 4 years. Known
as the king of R&B, as well as a
respected singer-songwriter, David
Tao has returned with his latest
album “Hello Goodbye”, this time with
greater appeal as he cooperates with
other pop singers across Asia. The
special part about his recent album is
his tribute to his late father.

15. 12
Blooming
CharleneChoi
{蔡 卓妍}
Charlene Choi, also known as A-Sa,
was once a member of Hong Kong’s
famous pop duo Twins. Having
become solo, her latest album
“Blooming” shows the mature, more
feminine side of Charlene that we
have never seen before. Her tracks
are mainly about love, perhaps which
explains her discovery of love having
matured from the teen pop identity
she once was with Twins.

16. 13
Love×π
Yen-J
{严爵}
Yan-J is a singer-songwriter from
Taiwan and “Love x π” is his 4th
album. In his album, his music
consists of a mixture of jazz, piano
and string accompaniment as a
way to move beyond the expected
singer-songwriter template. Through
his album, he wants his fans to share
the same belief that he does: that love
always saves the day.
好的情人

17. 14
low-keylive
SandeeChan
{陈 珊妮}
Sandee Chan is a singer-songwriter,
music producer, and director from
Taiwan. Her new album “Low-key
Life” is dedicated to her ill mother,
where she expresses her sentiment
about growing up in a disadvantaged
family. She directed 2 of her own
music videos for the album where
lyrics revolve around issues of
middle class families.
低调人生

18. 15
ayalkmod
ZHANGZHENYUE
{张 震岳}
Zhang Zhen Yue is one of the most
famous rock musician in Taiwan
since the 90’s, however his recent
albums have been incorporated
with a hint of melancholy, perhaps
because of his age and maturity. His
newest album “Ayal Kmod” is a knod
to his indigenous roots called the
Ami tribes, and Ayal Kmod is his Ami
name which means sea and mountain.
我是海雅谷慕

20. 17
Blind
Detective
Directed by Johnnie To, Blind
Detective casted two popular Hong
Kong actors Andy Lau and Sammi
Cheng that reunites on screen after
their last movie together 9 years ago.
Forced to leave service after turning
blind, former detective Johnston
Chong See Tun (Andy Lau) ekes out
his living by solving cold cases for
police rewards. During a bank robbery
case, he meets an attractive hit team
inspector Goldie Ho Ka Tung (Sammi Cheng).
When Ho notices Chong’s strong sense of
hearing and smell, she enlists his help in
a personal case and he decides to take a
stab. After going through the whole movie,
you realize this is really just a romantic
comedy in a crime thriller context.
{盲探}

21. 18
The
Rooftop
The Rooftop is a candy-colored
musical, very much like “Rent” meets
“Grease”, directed and starred by
none other than Taiwanese heartthrob
Jay Chou. The songwriter-turned-
singer-turned-actor appeared in
“The Curse of the Golden Flower,” one
of Chinese director Zhang Yimou’s
clunkier epics, and played Kato in
Seth Rogen’s disastrous stoner update of
“The Green Hornet.”
The Rooftop is Jay Chou’ssecond try at
directing, and he also scripts, scores
and stars. The result is as stated by
many viewers as ‘delightful’ and ‘worth-
watching’.
{天台愛情}

22. 19
TinyTimes
Tiny Times is a Chinese romance
drama film written, co-produced and
directed by Guo Jingming, which is
based on the best-selling novel of
the same name, also by Guo Jingming
himself. The story follows the film’s
narrator and protagonist Lin Xiao, along
with her best friends Gu Li, Nan Xiang,
Tang Wanru, as they navigate between
relationship, work and friendship in
Shanghai. Despite its commercial success,
it received mostly negative reviews.
{小時代}

24. 21
weaning
“Weaning” follows a white-collar
named Anqi who crushes on a IT guy
named Li Junpeng. As they plan to
get married, Anqi’s father decides to
disapprove of the man his daughter
is about to marry. Through many
difficulties and obstacles, Jun peng
and Anqi finally get married, but
this is only just the start of a long
and trivial journey that difficult realities
are simply too hard to avoid. They have
to depend on their parents while learning
how to live together. This TV-series reflect
the life of most young couples living in
Shanghai who still have to depend on their
parents to survive.
{断奶}

26. 23
Chinese
Idol
It isn’t a surprise to see Chinese
Idol enter the China market after The
Voice’s huge success just prior. In
terms of quality, one may say Chinese
Idol has a better pedigree given the
4 judges come from the best in their fields. The final
winner was announced just 2 weeks ago concluding the
show as the top rated show on Dragon TV’s history.
{中国梦之声}

28. 25
ChangBa
With KTV (Karaoke) being one of
the most popular recreational
entertainment in China, who can
resist a Karaoke app on your own
phone? Chang Ba is a newly released
app that allows users to sing to their
phones, record it and share it with
their social networks. Within the
first 20 days of the release, the app
received nearly a million downloads
and was ranked top 5 in its category
on iTunes.
{唱吧}

29. THANK YOU
editedby
Kate Lu
Charinee Chairasmisak
DESIGNedbyJok Jiang