Snow brings Double Happiness

SNOW DAY in HuaiYa!

These last few months have brought an intensifying drought of no snow. I listened with envy and longing to parents' and friends' tales of snow days and blizzards at home in Northern Illinois. Record snowfall there; drought here.

But forget about my sentimental attachment to snow. The drought is very real and very severe in fact. The grim truth is that it hadn't snowed, but it also hadn't rained. I think the last time I used my umbrella here in Shaanxi was probably September. In January I was beginning to wonder if something serious was going on in this region when one day 2 weeks ago I happened upon a news story informing me that in fact there was a genuine drought and that it was spread across a wide area of northern China, east and west. Some reports say the drought brings desperate conditions that haven't been seen in China since the late 1950s. Severe, eh?!

Side note. The late 1950s were Great Leap Forward times... what a double misfortune that such a disasterous policy initiative coincided with disasterous weather conditions, including drought. This 2008-2009 drought has also been a double misfortune.... regional drought and global economic crisis collide!.... unemployed migrants workers from Shenzhen returning to drought-struck land in their hometowns. It wasn't looking good...

But that began to change yesterday. Yesterday it rained. It caught almost everyone by surprise (but not me... because I watch the Weather Channel feeds like it's a hobby... ha! we Americans love our weather news!). There was a variety of responses from students. Some were annoyed because the rain caught them at a time when they didn't have appropriate clothing or an umbrella. Others were overjoyed. These were the farmers' children. They knew what came with the long-awaited rain. Cold, wet clothing? Yes, but also income, employment, and stable food prices. Everything.

And now today the precipitation came in the form of snow. And you know how I love snow. Usually in Chicagoland I would not get excited about this kind of snow. I need snow that rises above my waist to get me excited. I like snow that breaks the budget of the city snow removal department. I get a sick pleasure out of snow that terrifies me as I drive in it! But this! This is a paper-thin accumulation. And it will probably all melt within the hour. Usually I use the word "pathetic" to describe this kind of snow fall. But here and now, I am letting this snow lift my spirits quite high as it lifts Shaanxi out of drought. Plus, any amount of snow falling on Chinese rooftops is boss!

I spy only one student playing with the snow... taking time to appreciate Mother Nature's art... three other students don't know whether to work or play... so they stand around with brooms in hands (who told these kids to sweep the snow?!). And the rest of the school studies feverishly in classrooms. Snow day without the hope of 'no school.'

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hmmm, I also spy... a SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!! Now this is what you do with snow!

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And I take pictures of people's houses; I feel like a creepy Soviet spy!

UPDATE1: I just now received a text message from a student (yes, my students text me!). Here is what he wrote...

"It's snowy! The school yard is full of snow! How romantic it is!!!"

Indeed, indeed!

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UPDATE2: At 10:35, the students get a 25 minute break to rest. First they do 5 minute eye exercises and then they get the remaining 20 minutes to stretch, walk around, jog, take potty time at the W.C., etc. They are free for 20 minutes! Well what do you think they did today? Pandemonium!

All I heard was the sound of 3,000 people playing. It was a massive, complicated snowball fight. As student A throws a snowball at student B, student X tucks a snowball down the back of student A's shirt. Everywhere snowballs were flying. Snow at people. Snow at trees. Some students even threw snowballs through the windows of their classrooms... devilish! Oh, and the big story on campus was about how the students in grade1, class 4 threw a snowball at their teacher (and she liked it!)... scandalous!

Some clever students came into the teacher's compound to get their ammunition.

a little action from the Snowball Riot right beneath my window

After the break, the school leaders put a stop to it. Would the students obey? Well they had no choice; by the time of their next break 40 minutes later the snow had melted beyond grasping potential. By the afternoon it was all water.

UPDATE3: At 11:00, the Snowball Riot was instantly squelched by the sound of circus music summoning the students back to the discipline of their textbooks. Safe from the thousand crosshairs of flying snow, I left my apartment to snap some photos of HuaiYa in snow.

HuaiYa Main Street

aint it quaint?

This one makes me feel 'Christmasy'

A Catch-up Effect Anomaly

A 'Catch-Up Effect' Anomaly:

How Do Cassette Tapes Survive in China in 2009?

Rock Valley College. Fall 2004. Macroeconomics with Professor Youngblood. The lesson: the Catch-up Effect. A lesson grounded in economics, flowing with uplifting and optimistic predictions for the potential futures of the developing countries of the world.

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Here's the lesson in summary. The lesser and least developing countries of the world have problems. Maybe the problems are health-related--malaria, AIDs, tuberculosis, etc. Maybe the problems are conflict related--war, terrorism, sanctions. Maybe the problems are money-related--deficits, government debt, inflation, etc. Maybe the problems are infrastructure-related--roads, plumbing, electricity, etc. Maybe the problems are resource-related--lack of freshwater, poor soil, uneducated labor force, etc. In most cases, such countries likely have a combination of all these problems. They are stuck in a poverty trap.

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By that point in the semester, the professor had lectured how with sound government and economic policies, such countries could escape from the poverty trap. That's uplifting, right? But then there's the catch-up effect.

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The professor explained that in it's initial stages of economic growth coming out of the poverty trap, the economic growth of developing countries is often steep and exponential. In other words, people's standards of living can increase rapidly... doubling in less than a decade... the developing countries catch-up with the developing countries like the hare spotting the tortoise in front of him.

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How? Technology! They get all the most recent and productive technology all at once.

Imagine that one surving caveman forever unaware of the modern world around him lives somewhere on this planet. He lives by hunting animals with his club. Maybe he only manages a kill once every two days. One day some NRA activists find him and show him how to use an AK47. Takes a few hours to teach him, but he gets the hang of it after awhile. Now he can get a kill every hour. Look at the growth of his productivity!!!!

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The cavemen-to-neocon line who developed separately from him developed more slowly and gradually. They innovated and adopted the arrowhead, then the arrow, then Zhuge Liang's rapid-fire crossbow, then the rifle, then the rifle that actually hits the target, then the sniper rifle, then the nuclear weapon, then the weaponized virus in Season Three of the tv show 24. These innovations happend over thousands of years... growth was slow... but this caveman instantly accessed them and his growth was NOW!

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This is something like what happens to developing countries that break out of the poverty trap. Suddenly they get cellular phones, satellite TV, mp4 players, PS3s, George Forman Grills, the Magic Bullet with EZ smoothie accessories... oh, and sliced bread. Together, these things enhance productivity tremendously... the people in the countries can do more with less time... their economy runs like the Gingerbread Man.

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Another advantage is that they eliminate a lot of waste. They have PS3s, so there are no Ataris, SNESs, Dreamcasts, or PS1s sitting around unused. They don't have to build landlines if they only need to build cell phone towers. It saves resources.

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The catch-up effect is the invisible hand's little miracle. It makes people lives better faster, and it happens all the time. Sometimes the country merely catches up. Sometimes the country catches up and then takes the lead. I think it's fair to say that colonial and infant America 'caught up' using technology initially developed in Europe--particulary England--and then took the lead in the 20th Century. And China's economic growth in the last few decades is nothing if not a model of how well the catch-up effect works. Who knows if China will catch-up or take the lead? But that's not my question. I want to know...

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Why are there cassette tapes in China in 2009?

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My memory stretches back to the late 1980s, so I remember the retirement years of the cassette tape era. I remember buying them. I remember listening to them... having to flip them over to the other side. I remember the painful rewinding and fastforwarding process. I remember those unique sounds of an aging or damaged cassette. I remember the 'piracy' technique of recording from the radio onto the cassettes... and getting barely acceptable quality audio! Cassettes, may they be forever dead...

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But they're not! China has them?! Not everywhere... in fact, in only one place that I've seen: textbooks. The Chinese textbooks come with cassette tapes. Textbooks published in 2005 and printed in 2008 come with cassette tapes! Why?!?!?!?!!??!!?

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On the one hand, the fact that China has cassette tapes is consistent with the theory of the catch-up effect. China's development really took off in the 80s--the cassette tape heyday. So we can expect there to be some remnants of the technology. But CHina should have--like the U.S. phased them out more completely. And I must reinforce that in most ways China has. You'll never find Chinese people to listening to music on cassette. And you'll be hard-pressed to find them listening to music on CDs. They all listen to digital music. So again, China's experience is mostly what we expect. The textbook w/cassette anomaly is just one small, but puzzling variation from the trend.

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So why do the textbooks come with cassettes? They were printed and released in 2008! CDs would have been cheaper, lighter, less bulky, and more convenient to transfer to digital format for increased used. Do the students even have cassette players?

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I'm going to let my mind wander over some possible explanations:

(1) cassette tapes are less easy to pirate?... and the textbook companies are concerned about piracy of their intellectual property rights? (but who would pirate textbook audio?! most of the students would be happiest if they never had to listen to the robotic voice of that British woman... I estimate less than 1% listen to the audio outside of class... no market for piracy!)

(2) the textbook company is concerned that some poor students don't have CD or mp3 players? (but I'd be concerned about the rich and middle-income students who don't have cassette players)

(3) the textbook company is concerned about poor, rural classrooms that don't have and can't afford CD players? (but CD players can't be more expensive than cassette players... when the cassette player breaks, the school will likely have to pay even more money to find and purchase this defunct technology. CD players are cheap!)

(4) the textbook writers are a bunch of dinosaurs who still live in 1987? (but how then do these dinosaurs manage to have 'hip' topics like "Book 7, Unit 3: Safe Sex"... yeah, the students learned English words about how to have sex safely)

(5) textbooks have always come with cassette tapes, and so they always must?

(6) the textbook company wants to give me something to blog about

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Seriously, I really want to know... why do the Shaanxi Senior High School English textbooks published in 2005 and printed in 2008 come with cassettes? Is there an explanation that I am missing?

China has no scientists

CHINA HAS NO SCIENTISTS

I've heard it 100 times, so now I have to blog [rant] about it

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man: "So, what do you think of China?"

me : "Oh, I like China very much."

man: "Oh no, China is not very good. China is 30 years behind the U.S."

me : "Ummm... I don't think so..."

man: "Oh yes it's true, in the U.S. people don't ride trains. In China we still do."

me : "Ummmm..."

man: "China has no famous scientists."

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I've encountered variations of this conversation too many times to count. I'd love to debate these people and knock some sense into their skulls, but I don't speak Chinese well enough to do this. All I can do is say "no," "not true," "I don't agree" and "I'm leaving." So since I can't explain my responses to them, you get to listen to them.

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'30 Years behind'

30 years. That's the magic number they've all settled on. China is 30 years behind the U.S., I guess. Where did this number come from? It's been 30 years since U.S. and China re-established relations and China began to reform, so China will always be 30 years behind? Who knows where 30 years comes from. There's absolutely no standard for it.

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It's true; Americans don't take the train from Chicago to New York like Chinese people take the train from Chengdu to Shanghai. But the answer has as much to do with population, geography, economies of scale, and culture as it does with development (certainly development and standard of living does play some role).

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There are millions of people between Chengdu and Shanghai... great opportunities to sell out all the seats and beds. And culturally, Chinese people don't seem to mind the cramped spaces that come with the effort of fitting them all in. This drives the cost of the fare down significantly. Also, China's population is clustered, which puts many cities within roughly 15 hours distance of each other. So China's rail system can afford to have night trips whereby people board in the evening, sleep on the train, and arrive at their destination in the morning. It's called 'free' hotel room with the price of transportation. In other words, it seems trains are more convenient and cheap comparatively speaking in China. And it's not uncommon to see well-to-do businessmen--people who could certainly afford airfare--travelling trains. This suggests they cannot ignore the low prices and covenience. And finally, the cultural associations with riding trains are bound to be different between China and the U.S. I'm not sure that we Americans look down on riding trains, but our tolerance of mass transportation versus private commute is certainly different. Chinese don't seem to mind being crammed up against millions of people... that's how they live their daily lives.

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So because Chinese people ride trains and Americans don't reveals little about differences in development. It's a poor standard. By other standards, we could argue vastly different conclusions. China and the U.S. both have cell phones. So they are equal? In fact, China gets the newer, better cell phones earlier than the U.S. does. So China is more developed than the U.S.? Ridiculous!

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What they don't know is that China and the U.S. are more comparable than they think. There are no famines in either culture. Both cultures have overwhelming access to cell phones (I even saw a Chinese beggar person on a cell phone one day, no lie!). Both cultures have ready access to computers and Internet, especially in the cities but even more and more in the countryside. Both countries can produce spectacular movies... the U.S makes 'I am Legend' and China makes 'ChiBi.' Both countries have news shows, sitcoms, documentaries, and sleazy reality TV. Living in my home in China and living in other Chinese homes, I never feel materially deprived of anything. I'm hard-pressed to note the differences. Certainly not 30 years behind like I'm living in America's 1970s!

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Having said that, I know China and U.S. are not equal. No doubt. I want to tell these people that a much better way to judge differences in development is GDP and GDP per capita. Other standards... such as doctors per person or hospital beds per person are also revealing. But we certainly don't measure differences in standard of living in years! Anyways, I don't know how to say GDP or GDP per capita in Chinese.

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I also want to tell them a more important lesson. Happiness is the purpose of life. If Chinese and Americans both have enough food, water, and shelter from extreme temperatures... if we both have opportunities to laugh and smile... if we both can live comfortably... what's the difference? Are people chatting up laughs via wireless Internet access in 2009 better off than Li Bai laughing over a cup of wine with Du Fu 1,000 years ago?

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'China has no famous scientists'

Um... I don't know what to say... again, where do they get this? And I've heard it so many times. Is there a book out there somewhere with this 'fact' in it that the Chinese people all read? Or did they hear in a speech? "China has no famous scientists."

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First, we can get rid of the word 'famous.' It's an irrelevant adjective, even if Chinese people think it's critically important. The truth is, the unfamous scientists are as important as the famous ones. Did Einstein work alone in a vaccuum? Come on now! Discoveries, inventions, and developments in standards of living come by the hard work of millions of scientists. And 99.9% of them are not famous.

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In addition, MANY of them are Chinese! The U.S. has many Chinese scientists. China has many Chinese scientists. They produce results every year.

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Finally, it's true. The U.S. does have a special claim to the advancements in science of the 20th and 21st century. Here's the lesson: education, culture, investment capital, and the protection of intellectual property rights produce more great scientists. If Chinese people really wants to have a 21st Century science revolution of their own, they will need to target these things. It's a simple recipe. The protection of intellecutal property rights might be a hurdle for a Chinese scientific revolution.

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Why these conversations worry me:

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NATIONALISM: Flowing from their 'woe is China' speeches are the dangerous currents of nationalism. They feel shame. (Why?!) And shame is just the dark shadow of pride. I think nationalism is stronger in China than in the U.S. The Chinese people take on China's successes, failures, accomplishments, and embarrassments as their own. "China has no scientists... China is bad... I am bad." I don't know, it's just the way it seems when they speak about it. Or a more telling example from 2008. "The French diss China... the French diss me... I'm going to go throw rocks through the storefront window of that French-owned department store."

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I wish all people all over the world would remove their own personal identity from their national identity. Bush was a pretty bad president. But I'm still an okay guy! The U.S went to war with Iraq, but I didn't! I genuinely think China is a great country. The Olympics were wonderful. That doesn't mean all Chinese people are wonderful! Some work hard, some are lazy. Some are honest, some would steal from their mother. I am not the U.S., you are not China. But you can do your own personal best to make yourself, China, and the world better. Re-align yourself!

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But, as I said, I worry that China has some issues with nationalism. And that's why it is imperative that Western loud-mouths be careful. When Nancy Pelosi and Lou Dobs flap thier gums about how bad the Chinese government is... you know who is really upset about it? Not the CCP (they already know Nancy Pelosi and Lou Dobs are a pair of dim wits). The ones who are really upset are the 1.3 billion Chinese whom these two dolts thought they were defending. That's nationalism, and it's a potent cocktail. Be careful.

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DEVELOPMENT: Their concern about development is also troubling. Is it development for development's sake? Just to catch up? Just to be better or best? That is unhealthy and unsustainable.

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These people are upset because Chinese people still ride trains and Americans don't. Or if they take my advice and track GDP, they'd be upset about the numbers. Yet neither of these things amount to a hill of beans against the 'happiness' measure that should be the primary concern. If there's anything to be upset about, it's pollution and environmental degradation. These things can seriously affect happiness, and unfortunately further development is only likely to intensify these problems. If they must find something to complain about, I suggest they stop worrying about how many Chinese people ride trains and worry about the purity of the air and water!

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Finally, they should make efforts to appreciate what China does have already... what they and their family have gained and accomplished in their lifetimes. After all evelopment is worth nothing if you can't stop to smell the roses.

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CONCLUSION

Okay, so this is rant is over, but I feel uneasy. The entry contains a strange mix of China praising and China bashing, so let me set the record straight and neutralize the rhetoric. I like China. I like Chinese people. I like living here. I think China has done amazing things, and prospects for the future only look brighter. Some Chinese people feel shame that I don't understand. Chinese people have nothing to feel ashamed about. I hope all people can abandon pride, shame, and nationalism in favor of individual identities based on individual lives. And I hope all people seek development that makes the lives of the individuals in society better.

Raise the Red Lanterns!

PingYao: a Dream of Red Lanterns

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I spent a week in the ancient city of PingYao (山西,平遥) during my winter vacation. I had only planned to stay 3 days there. I ended up staying 7 days. The city stole my heart at first sight. --Brick buildings and brick streets, curved rooftops of the traditional style, a towering wall to protect the city from the forces of cultural accommodation and modernization--
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PingYao sang to my heart's passions: history, culture, economics, and art in every glance. By daylight, PingYao sings sweet songs. By nightlight, PingYao sings siren songs. The siren songs of a thousand red street lanterns lured me through biting cold winds to the precipice of frostbite each night. --temporary cold for permanent memories of the PingYao lantern dreamworld--
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In honor of the upcoming Lantern Festival, I have decided to post this special photo gallery of PingYao's red lanterns. Let this get you into the 'lantern mood.' Let it also inform you of PingYao's magic. You haven't seen PingYao until you've spent a night wandering her streets.

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元宵节快乐!

Happy Lantern Festival!

ChiBi Must See

What is the pride of China? The Great Wall? Yeah, perhaps. Indeed there is saying that 'you haven't been to China unless you've trekked the Great Wall.' Chinese people love their Great Wall. But now there's a new contender: the 2008 Beijing Olympics. When Chinese people talk about it, their hearts bleed through their clothing. And you have to admit, the Opening Ceremony was spectacular, the Chinese athletes' performances were impressive, and China's safety and security obligations were met responsibly. China should be proud. But if I were Chinese, I would be most proud of John Woo's new epic film ChiBi. Since 1993, my favorite movie has been Jurassic Park. In 2009, now I've found a new #1. ChiBi!

History Background

Before I can talk about the movie, I must give a little history info. ChiBi is arguably the most famous and most dramatic battle in Chinese history. ChiBi was the stage-setting battle of the Three Kingdoms period.

You know, 2008 was a bad year for all of us, right? Well it was much worse in the year 208 (and the two decades preceding it). By 208, the long-reigning Han Dynasty had collapsed into the Hell of corruption, rebellion, puppet-leadership, famine, disease, and constant warfare. Instead of uniting, all the brightest minds of China had divided against and fought with each other to restore order and prosperity under their own leadership. Rebels, bandits, generals, and warlords had carved the vast empire into numerous tiny kingdoms.

An empire divided is an elimination game. Some leaders are better than others; the strong rise at the expense of the weak. In this game, one leader was particular competent. His name was Cao Cao. Cao Cao was intelligent in all things, including politics and warfare. And he was ruthless. By 208, he had eliminated most of the warlords and united northern China under his often tyranical control. By title, he had become the Prime Minister of the Han Emperor. In reality, he himself was the playmaking emperor of an incipient dynasty. With his political power and overwhelming military strength, in the year 208 Cao Cao began his campaign to wipe out the remaining warlords of the South.

In the autumn of 208, Cao Cao's campaign found successes that not only expanded his territory to the Yangzi River but also gifted him a sizeable navy. By the winter of 208, he stared down at ChiBi--the Red Cliff at the opposite side of the river. Cao Cao with his army of (supposedly) 800,000 was prepared to annihilate the two local warlords who between both of their kingdoms had 50,000. 800,000 versus 50,000! The evil Goliath versus two righteous but puny Davids! How could they possible withstand Cao Cao's onslaught? Well that is the story of ChiBi!

Movie Review

ChiBi is a war movie. So it has action. It has blood. It has death. Indeed it has all of these things on an epic scale. The cinematography here is incredible! And a brilliant soundtrack to peddle with your emotions. No wonder this is the most expensive movie ever produced in China. This is the kind of movie you must watch in the theatre before you buy the DVD.

But if ChiBi was only a war movie, there's no way I would unseat the sacred Jurassic Park to promote ChiBi as my favorite movie. ChiBi is so much more than a war movie. It is the art of war. This is about how to win a war with your mind. This is a movie about how to problem solve. And oh my are these people smart! Imagine, for example, that your army is desperately short on arrows. How would YOU solve the problem? Watch the movie to see how Zhuge Liang solves the problem, and you may revere him as much as I do!

Guess how long this movie is? Five hours. Five hours! (split into two parts; currently part 2 is playing in the theatre). In total, five hours! Not long enough!!!!!! Seriously, it's not long enough... they left some things out of the book! The history of the Battle of Red Cliffs (ChiBi) is recorded in the historical account of the Three Kingdoms. But it is also recorded in a Ming Dynasty epic novel called Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This novel is the source of all my knowledge and curiosity about the Three Kingdoms period. This novel and its stories are well known by nearly all Chinese people and in addition many people in the Koreas, Japan, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia. These stories of heroes from the Three Kingdoms period as recorded in this novel are famous in East Asian culture. Indeed I have heard that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the second most widely read book in world history after the Bible. And the popularity of this novel are even spreading to the West as video games series based on the Three Kingdoms like Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a strategy game) have become popular.

What does the above tangent have to do with my review of the movie? Well, it leads to an appreciation. The movie could have dropped major subplots on account of the fact that the Chinese audience already understands the progression of events. Yet the movie doesn't drop any major subplots! All are illustrated. The story is as I remember it from the novel. And that's definitely a good thing! THANK YOU!

The movie does, however, change and add to some of the subplots. I'm okay with this. Certainly we all know that the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms changed the history when he wrote his novel, and yet we adore his novel. ChiBi also changed some of the history and some of the events from the novel. I still adore the movie. In fact, I think in some ways the movie improves on the novel in the department of character development. In fact, character development is where the movie really shine

ZHUGE LIANG

Zhuge Liang is my hero. Zhuge Liang is my favorite character in the novel and my favorite character in this movie. And let me repeat, Zhuge Liang is my own personal hero. In the movie, he is well acted. He is brilliant. He is humble. And he is humorous. Zhuge Liang makes the movie.

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ZHOU YU

Some argue that Zhou Yu is the main character of the movie. I can see their point. He is a central person in the movie. And his place in Three Kingdom culture has shifted after this movie for this movie attempts to revolutionize the character of Zhou Yu. In the novel he is intelligent; but in the movie he is as brilliant as Zhuge Liang. In the novel, he is a petty, jealous 'friend' of Zhuge Liang; but in the movie, their friendship is genuine and deep. In the movie, he sets the standard for moral warfare. In short, Zhou Yu is a different person than the man you know from the novel. Where I despised the Zhou Yu in the novel, I respect and admire the Zhou Yu in this movie.

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CHANGBAN ZHAO ZILONG!!!!

Zilong is another one of my heroes. My Chinese name is Zilong in fact! In the novel, he is a well-rounded hero with numerous virtues. In the video game Dynasty Warriors, he is the central hero. In 2008, there was another movie produced just focusing on the story of Zilong. So Zilong is very important. But in this movie he gets very little airtime. But he still gets his famous scene of rescuing Lord Liu Bei's son and fending off Cao Cao 800,000 strong army! He also plays again in the final battle scene.

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CAO CAO

There is one word for Cao Cao in this movie. INTENSE! The actor portrays Cao Cao's brilliance, ambition, ruthlessness, and charisma as though he himself were Cao Cao. Bravo!

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SUN SHANG XIANG

This is the tomboy princess Sun Shang Xiang. In the novel, she is a rather flat character. In this movie she is very dynamic. Sun Shang Xiang is another front on which the movie has revolutionized the impression of a historical figure. In ChiBi, Sun Shang Xiang is noble, brave, clever, fiesty, and funny. You will like Sun Shang Xiang. Well-acted and an important part of the emotion of the film, she is one of my favorite characters in the movie.

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XIAO QIAO

"The most beautiful woman in all of China." Many men lust for her. Zhou Yu has won her heart, but Cao Cao plans to conquer it with his 800,000 strong army. In fact, some say she is the reason that Cao Cao launched his war. For most of the movie, her character plays the role of the stereotyped Asian beauty. But then--out of nowhere (this subplot is not even in the novel)--she has her moment of brilliance... brilliance! You will worship the tea poet Xiao Qiao too!

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SUN QUAN

He is the 'boy' ruler of the Wu Kingdom. Significant character development time is allotted to Sun Quan's maturing into a leader.

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GAN NING

Of the hundreds of heroic generals present at the battle of ChiBi, this movie focuses on General Gan Ning. His intensity and selflessness are admirable. He also has a classic funny scene. You'll know it when you see it.

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What about the other heroes, you ask?

Liu Bei: minimal airtime but a few remarks of wisdom

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Zhang Fei: featured in the beginning and end but mostly ignored except when used for comic relief

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Guan Yu: same use as Zhang Fei

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Huang Gai: his subplot is changed rather significantly in the movie

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Let me return to where I began. I think ChiBi is a proud accomplishment woth even more than the Olympics and the Great Wall. Exactly 1,800 yeas ago this winter, two kingdoms allied against a powerful foe and used their wits to accomplish something incredible in a dramatic battle of great historical significance. Within a few centuries, subsequent generations of intelligent people transformed the battle and its consequences into a myriad of exciting tales ripe for poetry, plays, and literature. In the Ming Dynasty, the particular talent of one Luo Guanzhong wrote an epic novel of highest quality; his literature still marches on its campaign to win the hearts of the known world: Chinese, other Asians, and ultimately even Westerners (I am not the only Three Kingdom fanboy... we are an army like the Star Trek nerds). Then in 2008 Chinese artists used the history and culture to make a film that displays the very best of Chinese acting, directing, script writing, choreography, cinematography, and musical score. ChiBi is the culmination of nearly 2,000 years of rich human capital.

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Okay, I have pictures of the Great Wall. I have memories of the Olympics. They're a little stale to be honest. But as I watched this movie, the excitement was so strong that I was shaking and almost going to cry! And I have been whistling the theme song of ChiBi for three days straight. I took over 100 pictures of me waving Zhuge Liang's goose-feather fan trying to capture an image of his brilliance. My mind plays with the stories of Romance of the Three Kingdoms as though they are dear friends. This is culture that captivates!

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So, when can you be captivated? This movie will come to North American theatres, I'm quite sure. I just don't know when. It will be called by it's English translation--Red Cliff (not ChiBi). It will not be 5 hours long either. It will be 2 hours or 2 and a half hours. It will have English subtitles. I don't anticipate that it will have quite the same impact on you as it did me. Afterall, my heart has been steeped in Three Kingdoms culture for four or five years. But you will enjoy the action. You will appreciate the story. You will marvel at the wisdom. You will see a very good film. That's a promise.

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Here is an unsubtitled Chinese preview to appetize your interest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DmuMZfZImg

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[note: if you are in China as of this date 2/6/2009, go see ChiBi NOW in the theatre. This movie was the most anticipated movie of 2008 and 2009 and a major event in the history of Chinese cinema. Watching it in the theatre is every bit as 'significant' as watching the Olympics or taking your mug shot in front of the Great Wall. Plus, it's a damn good movie! And it will have English subtitles no matter where you see it. Choose to watch the previously released and by comparison more boring ChiBi part 1 first on DVD or not, but you must see ChiBi part 2. So go see it now in the theatre... and then tell me what you think!]