Fighting Extremism in Iraq or Political ‘Free-Riding’?
August 18, 2014
By Dr David O’Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. As America seems once again pulled into the mire in Iraq, President Barack Obama has hit out at what he describes as China’s ‘free-riding’ in that beleaguered land. Not surprisingly this had provoked an angry reaction in China, …
Horn Honking in China
August 13, 2014
By Nathan Cheuk, Student at Nottingham University Ningbo Summer School. There has been little doubt that recent years in China have been associated with an astounding rate of economic growth. Naturally, there has been, and will continue to be, an increase in the number of motorists on the roads as China continues to grow. Perhaps …
How Edward Snowden became China’s new best friend
August 6, 2014
By Kjetil B. Alstadheim, Student at Nottingham University Ningbo Summer School. It was from Chinese territory Edward Snowden’s revelations about American massive spying on the internet came. Snowden fled to Hong Kong from Hawaii before leaking documents about the operations of The National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden did not stay in Hong Kong for long. …
Changing Chinese TV channels
July 30, 2014
By Elizabeth Henriette Schenderling, Student at Nottingham University Ningbo Summer School. In comparison to the West, television has grown to be a popular form of entertainment very quickly in China. In 2005, Chinese television made 242,146 hours of television every week and 12.6 million hours per year. From the 50’s until the middle 80’s, education was …
文艺青年 – China’s Emerging Hipsters
July 23, 2014
By Aimee Strang, Student at Nottingham University Ningbo Summer School. Wenyi Qingnian – aka the Chinese expression used to describe a hipster. The term hipster has become increasingly popular over the past decade to describe those who belong to a certain subculture and are predominantly from Generation Y. The idea of hipster has primarily been …
E’gao: Online parody as political commentary
July 16, 2014
By Gareth Shaw, PhD Candidate in Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Nottingham, UK. China’s regulatory environment has spawned a culture of online jokes and entertainment known as 恶搞 (e’gao), which often spoof political activity and
Travelogue: A Critique of Hong Kong
July 6, 2014
By Flair Shi, Graduate of the School of English University of Nottingham Ningbo, BA in English Language and Literature. 1. The Suppression of (Post-)Colonial Politics by Postmodern Commercialism Before this trip into the heart of the city, I had passed by the international airport of Hong Kong many times. Each time I just could not …
Cruelty or culture?
June 28, 2014
By Dr. David O’Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. China’s animal right’s activists were on the march this week as opposition continues to grow towards an age-old custom. A small but vocal group of protestors travelled to the city of Yulin, in southern Guangxi to protest the …
Changing Misperceptions and Easing Misgivings
June 18, 2014
By Dr David O’Brien, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is in Britain this week hoping to boost trade, strengthen cooperation and in his own words “change misperceptions and misgivings“. Premier Li arrived on Monday for a three day visit – the first by …
Translation and Modernity: Rethinking the Semantic Shift of “Civil Society” in the Chinese Context
June 5, 2014
By Meixi Zhuang, Studying a PhD in Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus. What does it mean to translate Western ideas into the Chinese language on the basis of hypothetical equivalences? What happens in the process of intercultural interpretation and how do translated concepts impact Chinese people’s perception of their own society? …