:: taken on the MagLev train, returning from Shanghai’s Pudong international airport. // AjS

:: taken in Shanghai, China, in a neighborhood near People’s Square.  // AjS

:: in this video short, 93 year old Teacher Gui (Ms. Gui Biqing, 桂碧清) tells two short stories from the Cultural Revolution era in China; one about a son taking the punishment for his family’s capitalist ventures and bourgeoisie background while they were abroad, and another about the good children of academics / intellectuals going bad and rebelling against their parents and society.

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China.

The “teacher gui” video series will be sharing short excerpts from ongoing interviews with Teacher Gui, who is working with Chen Yi (陈怡), a reporter at the Shanghai Service Platform for Science & Public (上海科普资源开发与共享平台), to write her memoirs; a yet-to-be titled autobiography published sometime in 2009.

Teacher Gui has been a resident of Shanghai since she was a teenager. Born in 1917, she spent her early years growing up in Beijing on the campus of Qinghua University where her father was a professor. When the Japanese came too close for comfort, Teacher Gui and her family fled south to Shanghai, where shortly thereafter they were again inconvenienced by the Japanese.

Teacher Gui has lived through some of modern China’s most turbulent and interesting times. Through it all, including an 18 month stint locked up during the cultural revolution for being accused of espionage, she’s never stopped working. She was a radio news broadcaster with the Soviet Union broadcasting station in Shanghai, a kindergarten headmaster, and Chinese language teacher. She’s been teaching Mandarin to foreigners in Shanghai since the early 1940’s, and she still teaches to this day.

For more on Teacher Gui, feel free to Baidu or her; there are plenty of interesting articles, interviews, etc. from over the years.

// AjS

:: listen below for a recent interview with Aric S. Queen (of , Chinesepod.com, CurrentTV’s “Shanghai Diaries” fame, ) on the University of Victoria’s CFVU 101.9 (host, Louis Yu). Aric shares some thoughts on indie music in China, traveling Southeast Asia, his new book deal, and good (and bad) times in Shanghai before an apparent “deportation.” You can follow Aric on Twitter at .

:: Danwei TV presents The Shanghai Beat, “Gay Shanghai.” In this episode, host Adam Schokora (小石) spends an evening exploring all things gay in Shanghai with local scene queen, Comrade Yutian, a self-proclaimed expert on queer Shanghai. This episode also features a performance by the Shanghainese garage-rock band Banana Monkey, shot in their rehearsal studio.

Note: this video was produced and originally post on Danwei in October, 2007.

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China.

credits ::
produced by Adam J. Schokora & Ginger Xiang

contacts ::
email & msn IM:

special thanks ::
Yutian, Chi Heng Foundation, Hot Water Bottle, 刘向飞, 丝丝 and Jimi.

// AJS

:: this video is the sixth in a Danwei series of short interviews conducted at this year’s Chinese blogger conference (cnbloggercon 2008, Guangzhou, November 15 & 16th).

In this interview, Wen Yunchao (温云超), also known as Bei Feng (北风), a well-known blogger, activist, and independent / grassroots reporter at the forefront of current social and political events in China, online and off, talks about the growth of online social networking over the past year, increasing control over and censorship of online debate, and the speed at which Chinese netizens use their blogs / microblogs to work together, organize, and “report on” major happenings.

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China.

To see other interviews from this series, link here.

Filming, editing, and interviewing: Adam J. Schokora
Subtitles: Alice Liu
Music: B6

:: in this short, 93 year old Teacher Gui (Ms. Gui Biqing, 桂碧清) talks about her experiences with customer service in the times of government-assigned jobs and the “big rice pot,” a cousin of the “iron rice bowl.”

The “teacher gui” video series will be sharing short excerpts from ongoing interviews with Teacher Gui, who is working with Chen Yi (陈怡), a reporter at the Shanghai Service Platform for Science & Public (上海科普资源开发与共享平台), to write her memoirs; a yet-to-be titled autobiography published sometime in 2009.

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China (and without the disappointing “skip” in the YouTube version above).

Fortunately, Teacher Gui was kind enough to allow one of her students (i.e. me) to sit in and film these sessions. Unfortunately though, the invitation came a bit late in the process, as she has already finished talking about most of the cultural revolution period in China (1966 – 76).

Teacher Gui is 93 years old and has been a resident of Shanghai since she was a late teenager. Born in 1917, she spent her early years growing up on the campus of Qinghua University where her father was a professor. When the Japanese came too close for comfort, Teacher Gui and her family fled south to Shanghai, where shortly thereafter they were again inconvenienced by the Japanese.

Teacher Gui has lived through some of modern China’s most turbulent and interesting times. Through it all, including an 18 month stint locked up during the cultural revolution for being accused of espionage, she’s never stopped working. She was a radio news broadcaster (with the Soviet Union broadcasting station in Shanghai), a kindergarten headmaster, and Chinese language teacher. She’s been teaching Mandarin to foreigners in Shanghai since the early 1940’s, and still teaches to this day.

For more on Teacher Gui, feel free to Baidu or her; there are plenty of interesting articles, interviews, etc. from over the years.

// AjS

:: originally published in an Analysys International instant messaging marketing report (Q2, 2008), and also shared in CIC’s recent white paper, “The Chinese Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) Landscape” (view / download the paper in English or Chinese), the chart below shows market share for instant messaging software in China.

Tencent’s QQ still dominates China’s instant messaging market. Active QQ user accounts reached 341 million in the second quarter of 2008, giving QQ 80.2% of market share, followed by Fetion with 4.2%, and Microsoft MSN with 4.1%.

// AjS

:: taken in Shanghai at Yuyintang; local garage-rock band Banana Monkey’s “return” show. Link to this video short for more Banana Monkey; shot in their rehearsal studio (summer of 2007). // AjS

:: this video is the fifth in a Danwei series of short interviews conducted at this year’s Chinese blogger conference (cnbloggercon 2008, Guangzhou, November 15 & 16th).

In this interview, Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原), a well-known blogger and lawyer at the forefront of fighting injustices in both the Chinese legal system and society, talks about two major Internet events that occurred over the past year; 1) the Guizhou, Weng’ An incident, and 2) the “Yang Jia attacks Shanghai police” case; a case in which he served as Yang Jia’s legal counsel.

The Deutsche Welle’s International Weblog Awards recently honored Liu Xiaoyuan’s blog won a “BOB” (Best in Blogs) as the best Chinese blog for 2008.

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China.

Filming, editing, and interviewing: Adam J. Schokora
Subtitles: Alice Liu
Music: B6

// AjS

:: taken in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia // AjS

:: as a follow-up to part one and two, here is some more on Chinese net-speak, courtesy of a recently published CIC white paper titled “The Diversity of Chinese Net Language.” View / download the paper in English or Chinese.

If everything below is “old hat” for you, try taking CIC’s Chinese net-speak test. If you get every question correct, Sam Flemming, the founder and CEO of CIC, .

1) The word “ke” / “客” is used all over the place online, for example:

• shai ke / 晒客 – Netizens who “shows off” online via pictures and videos; “Shai ke” typically “shai” things brand-name goods / products, personal collections, recent purchases, decorations, pets, new haircuts, and…well…just about any thing else worth shai’ing
• shi ke / 试客 – Netizens who love samples & freebies; “Shi ke” are professional samplers happy to participate and join activities for free stuff in return; you can find hanging out on sites like iTry and Try2u
• pai ke / 拍客 – Netizens “reporters” who use digital video or photo to capture and share interesting (i.e. cool or hot) stuff with the online community; sites like Ku6 have tapped into this culture by organizing “bounty hunter” type competitions and campaigns
• bo ke / 博客 – Netizens that write blogs, i.e. blogger(s); nterestingly the word for blog and blogger in Chinese is exactly the same
• bo ke / 播客 – Netizens that create and upload user-generated content; this phrase also can refer to netizen “podcasters,” as bo (in this case “播”) means to broadcast
• huan ke / 还客 – Netizens who barter for goods or products online
• ji ke / 极客 – Netizens who could be considered tech / IT / Web geeks; in some uses the term can mean “hacker” (黑客)
• shan ke / 闪客 – Netizens who use the multimedia software Flash to create animations, videos, etc.
• zhui ke / 追客 – Netizens who are up-to-date on all the latest online trends such as online novels, online TV series, hot memes, etc.
• wei ke / 威客 – Netizens who receive payment for sharing knowledge and exchanging services / information

2) Mars language (火星文):

• created and used mostly by China’s post-90’s generation (九零后), this “language” combines symbols, pictographs, and English letters / grammar, together with rare and traditional Chinese characters; post-90 netizens have created dedicated sites, manuals, and even software / input methods for Mars language
• to the right is a letter composed completely in the Mars language (link)
• English translation: “Dear Jing: I didn’t make a draft of this letter before writing to you, but I will make an exception this time. Without you, my life resembles a piece of paper filled with black and white letters. I am missing the time we spent together laughing and hanging out at home. Although you haven’t answered my letter, it’s ok.”

3) Jiong / 囧, discussed in part one, has evolved into an entire “family” of related net terms:

• 崮 / gu – 囧国国王, the king of the Jiong empire
• 莔 / meng – 囧国皇后, the queen of Jiong empire
• 商 / shang – 戴斗笠的囧, Jiong with a bamboo hat
• 回 / hui – 没眼睛的囧, Jiong without eyes
• 四 / si – 没嘴巴的囧, Jiong without a mouth
• d 囧 b – 百事可乐“爱中国”的手势, the Pepsi’s “Love China” gesture
• T囧T – 鄙视你的囧, Jiong looking down on you
• 囧rz and ssr囧 – 下跪的囧, kneeling person with Jiong face
• 囧囧有神 – 十分囧, 囧到“有神,” very Jiong
• for more on Jiong, link to the official Jiong Web site.

:: CIC has published an insightful four-part white paper series on Internet word of mouth (IWOM) development in China, series topics include:

1. The Chinese IWOM Landscape – An overview of the development, the architecture and the impact of Chinese IWOM. (EN / CH)
2. Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics – An introduction to some examples of community measurement indexes to display the dynamics of the Internet environment. This introduction will help brands and community owners systematically understand the impact and importance of community and IWOM from a third party perspective. (EN / CH)
3. The Diversity of Chinese Net Language – A look at the importance and uniqueness of Chinese net language and how it has become an integral part of netizens’ life online. (EN / CH, or on 56minus1 here)
4. Reshaping the Relationship between Brands and Consumers – Exploration of the power of the community and how the Internet Community is redefining the relationship between brands and consumers by leveling the playing field. (EN / CH)

Stay tuned, 56minus1 will be highlighting content from these papers with upcoming posts.

To learn more about CIC, link to its homepage here, its English blog here, or its Chinese blog here.

// AjS

:: this video is the fourth in a Danwei series of short interviews conducted at this year’s Chinese blogger conference (cnbloggercon 2008, Guangzhou, November 15 & 16th).

In this interview, Zhai Minglei (翟明磊), a citizen journalist and blogger who previously wrote for Southern Weekly (南方周报) and later founded 1Bao.org (壹报) and Minjian (民间) magazine (since “shut down”), talks about how he is pleasantly surprised that the Internet in China has become a platform for the traditional Chinese concept of “jianghu” (江湖) to re-emerge, in the face of “miaotang” (庙堂).

This video is also available on Tudou for faster loading in China.

Filming, editing, and interviewing: Adam J. Schokora
Subtitles: Alice Liu
Music: Sulumi

// AjS