Karaoke Anyone?

Hey Chinese 102 Students! I'm giving extra credit for an in-class karaoke performance tomorrow. Here's some potential material:

一无所有的歌词 Lyrics to "Nothing to My Name"

我曾經問個不休　妳何時跟我走
可妳卻總是笑我　一無所有
我要給妳我的追求　還有我的自由
可妳總是笑我　一無所有
喔　妳何時跟我走　喔　妳何時跟我走
腳下這地在走　身邊那水在流
可妳卻總是笑我　一無所有
為何妳總笑個沒夠　為何我總要追求
難道在妳面前我永遠　是一無所有
喔　妳何時跟我走　喔　妳何時跟我走
(腳下這地在走　身邊那水在流　腳下這地在走　身邊那水在流)
告訴妳我等了很久　告訴妳我最後的要求
我要抓起妳的雙手　妳這就跟我走
這時妳的手在顫抖　這時妳的淚在流
莫非妳是正在告訴我　妳愛我一無所有
喔　妳這就跟我走　喔　妳這就跟我走
(腳下這地在走　身邊那水在流　腳下這地在走　身邊那水在流)
喔　妳這就跟我走　喔　妳這就跟我走
喔　妳這就跟我走　喔　妳這就跟我走
喔　妳這就跟我走　喔　妳這就跟我走

Pomfret on Post May 35th, 1989 China

A friend told me that during the time around the recent twentieth anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen incident, Chinese netizens used "May 35th" to refer to June 4th in order to avoid online censors. John Pomfret's article in last Sunday's Washington Post answers the question that many have wondered about, namely how has China managed to turn the tides of angst that were washing over the country in 1989. Having had opportunity over the past twenty years to personally witness the changes Pomfret discusses has been fascinating.

I still feel emotional when I listen to Cui Jian's "Nothing to My Name" (Yi wu suo you 一无所有). Sometime I'll write about seeing him play live in early 1990 on a concert tour that was cancelled just weeks after I saw him. I need to figure out how to digitize my bootleg of that concert...

In the meantime, here is a video of a more recent performance of arguably one of the most important songs in twentieth-century China.

Darfur, Sudan, and China

I don't feel that we had enough time in my developing world class today to finish our discussions on Sudan, China, and the US. Here are a few more resources I dug up this evening.

A BBC news article from March 2009 that gives an excellent three-minute read on background and current status of the conflict in Darfur.

This March 2008 NY Times article discusses China's ties with Sudan prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. There was increased attention to to this issue as the world watched Beijing last year.

For the more voracious reader, this chapter, focusing on the relationship between China and Sudan, is part of a larger work by Human Rights Watch entitled Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights.

Yu Hua on June 4

A couple posts ago I linked to a series of NPR reports, one of which featured contemporary Chinese novelist Yu Hua. Yu shares his recollections of May-June 1989 in a New York Times op-ed piece on May 30. I remember those days vividly, if only from memories of the 24-hour live CNN coverage I watched while attending university in Provo. At the time I had been hired by Continental Grain to work for a year as a tutor for the children of an American businessman in a large provincial Chinese city. Everything was on hold due to the May-June activities in Beijing, however. I ended up going over in late August, one of the first foreigners back into China after the events of June 4. It was a very interesting time to be in China. Many of my experiences are better shared personally than written about online.

English Fever

I've witnessed the rise of English Fever (英文热) over the last two decades in China. In this short segment from Jay Walker's TED talk, one can witness the great heights to which the pursuit of English language skill has risen. He also gives a nice short summary of the importance of the university entrance exam in China (gaokao 高考).