Wenchuan Earthquake makes people’s minds mature

Chinese people were shocked after the devastation of the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake. To relieve their sorrows, professional writers, poets and even the public wrote poems to express their feelings and encourage earthquake survivors.

Poetry is an ancient literary style of China which can be a cultural symbol to freely express the nation’s feelings. Written from the heart, poems are still an effective way to reach out to the people in this utilitarian and fickle society.

The 30th Anniversary of Opening-up Policy

2008 is the 30th anniversary of the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy.

China has got great development during the 30 years, to recall the wonderful memories of past days, official and business medium shot a series of documentaries to report the changes of people’s life and mind. Old songs and movies ignited people’s passion to retrospect and numerous of people express their feelings and thoughts by joining reminiscent activities and writing blogs and giving comments on internet.

Shanzhai Culture

Initially derived from Cantonese, Shanzhai may be the hottest word in 2008, which originally means a civilian IT industry with the traits of imitation and popularity. The Shanzhai IT industry was developed from small factories which were good at imitating famous IT products including cell phones, video game consoles and so on. This phenomenon quickly swept across China and was extended as Shanzhai culture, which widely refers to all kinds of imitations involving Shanzhai stars, Shanzhai movies and even Shanzhai Spring Festival Galas. CCTV and many other mediums presented a series of reports about Shanzhai culture, which makes it more popular among the masses.

Four Chinese characters in pasteboards mean Shanzhai Spring Festival Gala

Shanzhai culture as a subculture is not only a challenge to traditional culture but also a complement to it. This “grass roots” culture inspire more people to do more creative things.

On the one hand, this “grass roots” culture inspires people to express their ideas in their own ways. On the other hand, if Shanzhai culture just simply copies famous brands without innovation, it is no different from pirated products.

By  Feng Hui