Japanese Demons and Crotch Bombs: The Tense State of Asian Cinema
Movies from South Korean, China, and Japan have become increasingly nationalistic, thanks to ongoing territorial disputes and the 70th anniversary of World War II.
Culture
09.09.15
The Met Goes to China
In July, while in New York, I toured The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s much buzzed about “...
‘Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation’ Revs to Record Opening Day in China
The Tom Cruise movie scored the top opening of all time for a 2D Hollywood title with $18.5 million on Tuesday.
China Accused of Fraud as Government-Backed Film Outperforms Terminator: Genisys
The state allegedly offered money for bogus box-office data for "The Hundred Regiments Offensive."
I’m with the Banned: China Blocks Bon Jovi Gigs
U.S. group were due to perform first China shows next week, but previous use of Dalai Lama image may have prompted officia intervention.
Not for Kids: Forbidden City’s Adult Coloring Book
Psychologists have hailed coloring as a good relaxation technique, and some have likened it to meditation.
Warner Bros. in Talks to Make Movies in China
The joint venture would produce local-language films for Asian audience.
Science-Fiction Prize Is Awarded to Chinese Writer for First Time
The Chinese writer Liu Cixin has won the 2015 Hugo Award, the first time the prestigious prize has gone to a Chinese writer.
Culture
08.18.15
Has Chinese Film Finally Produced a Real Hero?
“This Is an Era That Calls for Heroes”—the boldface Chinese characters scream from a publicity poster for the Chinese animation film, Monkey King:...
Alibaba Names Former Goldman Sachs Executive as President
Alibaba on Tuesday named J. Michael Evans, who already serves on its board, as its president.
The Melancholy Pop Idol Who Haunts China
Teresa Teng’s influence is particularly powerful in China, which her parents had fled after the revolution.
China’s Film Industry Is Gaining on Hollywood
Chinese audiences are growing, more theaters are being built, and the movies are getting better.
Media
07.23.15
Why Taylor Swift’s 1989 Merchandise Is Not Going to Get Her Banned in China
On July 20, one of China’s largest e-commerce websites, JD.com, announced that it is partnering with popular American singer Taylor Swift...
Chinese Art Curator Admits to Faking Masterpieces
A prestigious art institute in Guangzhou has discovered that it had forged artwork in its collection — faked by none other than one of its curators.
This Instagram Account Offers a New Perspective on China
Some photographs show the surprisingly mundane moments in the life of regular Chinese, such as Albertazzi’s image of a group of men playing cards in their swim shorts on a hot summer afternoon in Beijing; others are images from long-term...
China Box Office Booms with $284-Million Week; Foreign Films Remain Shut Out
The depth and variety of local films suggests growth in China’s domestic production.
'The Autobots' Hits Theaters, and Many Chinese Say They've Seen It Before
Many expressed outrage over the newest animated children’s movie, “The Autobots,” which bears an uncanny resemblance to Disney's "Cars.”
Local Filmmakers Must Raise Their Game to Compete With Hollywood
Chen Kaige says that while the movie industry booms in China, local filmmakers need to raise their standards to compete with Hollywood.
Foreign Films Rise Again at China’s Box Office
China’s movie market is booming, with $3.3 billion worth of ticket sales in the first half of the year, up nearly 50% from the same period in 2014.
'Ghost Fleet' Depicts War Between China, U.S.
Peter Singer and August Cole expand their research as analysts into the realm of imagination about a future that could find the U.S. at war with China.
Dalai Lama at Glastonbury Music Festival
The Dalai Lama praised the Pope's recent comments on climate change before Patti Smith and attendees sang "Happy Birthday" ahead of his 80th birthday
Rare Access to China's Restive Far West
Raphael Fournier's "Around Taklamakan," is a series of photographs from China's Xinjiang province which emphasize cultural tensions and daily life.
Books
06.25.15
City of Virtues
Throughout Nanjing’s history, writers have claimed that its spectacular landscape of mountains and rivers imbued the city with “royal qi,” making it a place of great political significance. City of Virtues examines the ways a series of visionaries, drawing on past glories of the city, projected their ideologies onto Nanjing as they constructed buildings, performed rituals, and reworked the literary heritage of the city.
China's Alibaba Pictures Investing in Paramount's 'Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation'
Alibaba Pictures says 'Mission: Impossible 5' will be its first Hollywood investment.
CAA China’s Leader on Censorship, Why China Needs a Global Hit and Translating for Spielberg
The first U.S. talent agency with full-time representation in China marks 10 years in Beijing.
‘Jurassic World’ Speaks A Universal Language
Jurassic World was No. 1 last week in China, where only about 30 Hollywood movies may screen officially each year.
China Blacklists 38 Cartoons, Violence, Porn Cited
Among the banned are a 2014 animated TV series set in a Tokyo after a terrorist attack has destroyed the city.
Tencent Customers Come for the Music, Stay for the Perks
Internet giant tries to pull off something few have achieved in China: get people to pay for digital music.
Media
06.09.15
Chinese Censorship of Western Books Is Now Normal. Where’s the Outrage?
In September 2014, I was commissioned by the New York-based free speech advocacy group PEN American Center to investigate how Western authors were navigating the multibillion-dollar Chinese publishing world and its massive, but opaque, censorship...
Alibaba to Invest in China Business News
E-commerce giant to pay about $200 million for a 30% stake.
Media
06.02.15
Top Chinese Authors Show Up at Book Expo, but Where Are the Readers?
Last week, 20,000 publishers convened in New York’s Javits Center for BookExpo America (BEA), the...
Chubby Blue Cat Hints at Thaw in Ties Between China and Japan
In September, three Sichuan newspapers attacked the animated cat Doraemon as a tool of Japan’s “cultural invasion.”
Should Authors Shun or Cooperate With Chinese Censors?
A PEN American Center report found some books were expurgated by Chinese censors without the authors knowledge.
The NYRB China Archive
05.27.15
China’s Invisible History: An Interview with Filmmaker and Artist Hu Jie
from New York Review of BooksThough none of his works have been publicly shown in China, Hu Jie is one of his country’s most noteworthy filmmakers. He is best known for his trilogy of documentaries about Maoist China, which includes Searching for Lin Zhao’s Soul (...
Corrupting the Chinese Language
The author fears Orwell’s prediciton: “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”
Star Wars to Screen in China for First Time Ever
The Shanghai International Film Festival will screen the original six films.
Taiwan’s Hou Hsiao-hsien Wins Cannes Best Director Award for 'The Assassin'
The Guangdong-born director’s film is a study in contemplative art despite its action-packed premise.
Conversation
05.21.15
Censorship and Publishing in China
This week, a new PEN American Center report “Censorship and Conscience: Foreign Authors and the Challenge of Chinese Censorship,” by Alexa...
PLA Daily Warns of Internet's Revolutionary Potential
The military should not only safeguard traditional national sovereignty and security, but also "protect ideological and political security on the invisible battleground of the Internet".
Liu Xiaobo Locked Up in China, Locked Out of Translation of Paul Auster Novel
Liu Xiaobo’s arrest was cut from the Chinese translation of Auster's novel without his knowledge.
‘Crotch Bomb’ in Anti-Japan War Drama Blasted by Chinese Netizens as 'Lewd, Bizarre'
When a prisoner pulls his hand from underneath the heroine's dress, he is holding a bomb, which he then detonates.
In China, ‘Breaking Bad’ is Real
Chinese police have arrested a Chinese college chemistry professor for joining forces with a drug kingpin.
Why Hong Kong is Clamping Down on Creative Writing
The decision to close City University’s MFA program is plainly intended to limit free expression.
Sinica Podcast
05.18.15
Leonard Bernstein and China
from Sinica PodcastThis week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and David Moser are delighted to host Alexander Bernstein, son of Leonard Berstein and director of the Bernstein Family Foundation, who is now in China on part of a cultural tour. Accompanied by Alison Friedman of...
The NYRB China Archive
05.15.15
Mao’s China: The Language Game
from New York Review of BooksIt can be embarrassing for a China scholar like me to read Eileen Chang’s pellucid prose, written more than sixty years ago, on the early years of the People’s Republic of China. How many cudgels to the head did I need before arriving at...
Three Days in Beijing with the Global Dissident Elite
Poitras, Oscar-winning Citizenfourdirector, came to Beijing to shoot a film about Appelbaum and Ai meeting and making art.
Wang Jianlin, a Billionaire at the Intersection of Business and Power in China -
Wang tends to present himself as the pragmatic face of big business in China.
China Film Group Takes Role in Hollywood
With a ten percent stake in ‘Furious 7’ China Film Group had, for the first time, an incentive to award an import a good release date.
Wild Pigeon
“The underlying theme I heard when talking to people was that how you interpret things is how they will be, so its best to look at the bright side of things. You don’t mention bad dreams, or you try to interpret them in a positive way. People...
The Netflix of China Is Invading the US With Smartphones
LeTV launched its Internet video streaming service three years before Netflix (2004 versus 2007).
The NYRB China Archive
04.13.15
China: What the Uighurs See
from New York Review of BooksXinjiang is one of those remote places whose frequent mention in the international press stymies true understanding. Home to China’s Uighur minority, this vast region of western China is mostly known for being in a state of...
Culture
04.10.15
A New Opera and Hong Kong’s Utopian Legacy
This year, the 43rd annual Hong Kong Arts Festival commissioned a chamber opera in three acts called Datong: The...
Books
04.09.15
Revolutionary Cycles in Chinese Cinema, 1951-1979
A comprehensive history of how the conflicts and balances of power in the Maoist revolutionary campaigns from 1951 to 1979 complicated and diversified the meanings of films, this book offers a discursive study of the development of early PRC cinema.
China Escalates Hollywood Partnerships, Aiming to Compete One Day
Chinese studios are moving up the value chain, helping to develop, design and produce world-class films and animated features.