News on Entertainment & Culture in China

Family values
The most talked about TV show in China is about bad parenting
Mar 22, 2019 (WiC 445)

While it is hardly news that parents will go to great lengths to give their children the best education possible, a major scandal at some of the leading universities in the United States has exposed helicopter parenting at a whole new ...

All the rage
Vogue’s choice of Chinese superstar needles netizens
Mar 22, 2019 (WiC 445)

Last week American Vogue unveiled its two April covers, featuring a total of seven “superstars” from around the world, including Scarlett Johansson, Deepika Padukone from India and South Korea’s Doona Bae. Yang Ying, who goes by the ...

Heroes and mortals
As Captain Marvel soars, a formerly high-flying Marvel partner struggles
Mar 15, 2019 (WiC 444)

Captain Marvel, which stars actresses Brie Larson and Gemma Chan in the latest Marvel franchise, has opened to a strong reception in China. The Disney blockbuster took well over Rmb550 million ($81.91 million) in its first three days, ...

Her most revealing role?
Why Zhang Ziyi has chosen to take part in a reality television series
Mar 8, 2019 (WiC 443)

Zhang Ziyi shot to stardom when director Lee Ang cast her in his unconventional martial arts-cum-love story Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. After starring in the Oscar winner, Zhang won more roles in Hollywood. In 2005 she played the ...

Rockets at the ready
Tencent’s latest hit TV show sees its girl band go on world endurance trek
Mar 1, 2019 (WiC 442)

Back in 2017, E!, the cable network owned by NBCUniversal, inked a three-year contract with the Kardashian-Jenner family to keep the world’s most famous reality show going for five more seasons. The deal for Keeping Up With the ...

Holiday blues
Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan blockbusters prove lunar new year flops
Feb 22, 2019 (WiC 441)

The notion of he sui pian, or a Chinese New Year Film, first came about in 1997 when filmmaker Feng Xiaogang’s Party A, Party B set a box office record over the holiday period. The movie made Rmb36 million ($4 million) in ...

Finally, China saves the Earth
Chinese New Year astronaut blockbuster set to break the box office record
Feb 8, 2019 (WiC 440)

Last year, Chinese cinemas took in Rmb5.8 billion ($913 million) in ticket sales during the first seven days of the Chinese New Year holiday – the most ever in a single week. This year promises to be no different. Two of the frontrunners for ...

Not quite the ticket
Why did Maoyan’s IPO debut so poorly this week?
Feb 8, 2019 (WiC 440)

Cats might be colour-blind, but they can see incredibly well in dim light and have a wider visual field than humans, thanks to the many ‘rod cells’ in their retinas. For investors in Maoyan Entertainment’s initial public offering in Hong ...

Staging a retreat
Girl band SNH48 downsizes from 200 members as cost pressures take toll
Feb 1, 2019 (WiC 439)

Last August, South Korean K-pop sensation BTS broke Taylor Swift’s record for the biggest YouTube video debut, racking up 45 million views for video Idol in just 24 hours. In October, the seven-member band completed the North American leg of ...

The messiest break-up of all
Rights and wrongs debated as top actor’s jilted mistress is jailed
Jan 25, 2019 (WiC 438)

Some people sulk or binge-eat after a break-up. Others use being ditched as an excuse to pick up a new hobby. But in China it’s not unknown for for ex-girlfriends – and sometimes, ex-boyfriends – to ask for money. Break-up fees have ...

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