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LUAN DUNMARCH 2012{ }

“Welcoming the Year of the Dragon”

2012 marks the beginning of the year of the dragon, the most auspicious zodiac that symbolizes power, strength and luck.

Families get together at this time to catch up on each other’s lives, however, bizarre stories have also made their rounds across dinner tables making the New Year more festive than ever.

This March issue is our first issue of the year, bringing you up to date with social and pop news.

Our feature designer of this month is Ryan Hu, who based his theme around the dragon, infused with traditional calligraphic elements which he himself has handwritten. No surprises there as he is also born in the year of the dragon.

We hope you enjoy this issue and wish you a happy Chinese New Year full of fortune, prosperity and luck.

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My eMployee is hotter than yoursFor many white collars in China, annual dinner is one of the most important event of the year. During the dinner, employees not only enjoy a big and festive meal but also lavish prizes and bonuses from their employers.

And with the rise of Weibo, peo-ple began sharing photos of their annual dinner online , which naturally became a game of comparison – which company gives more red pocket money, which company gives better an-nual gifts, etc. However, this year, the comparison was focused on attractive female colleagues.

It all started with a picture of an HR specialist named Liu Dong from Baidu, China’s search gi-ant, making her debut at the

company’s annual dinner fash-ion show. Her picture soon be-came widespread after her col-leagues uploaded them onto the internet, within a day her fan base increased from 20,000 to 130,000.

It didn’t stop there. Rumors started spreading that Baidu used this as a stunt to attract more male technicians into the company, creating much con-troversy over the picture. Soon enough, other major tech com-panies started sharing pictures of their own female employees, starting a battle that marked the beginning of 2012.

Baidu Tencent

NETEASE

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Getting home is the hardest and toughest thing to do at this time of the year, where up to 2billion people try to make their way home for the new year.

Understanding this migration being difficult for many who arrive in their city late at night and missing the bus back into town, local police of Wanzhou city joined forces with local businessmen to offer free rides, ensuring a safe and happy reunion for all.

Audi, Mercedes, even limousines waited outside Wanzhou train sta-tion with welcome home banners. Talk about community love!

Free riDe hoMe

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The Lunar New Year, though festive, is also the time when the biggest migration of the nation happens, where people try to make their way through the bus and train stations to get home.

With such an amount of crowd comes a business opportunity for some.

In the recent months, police have been arresting women dealing drugs around the area, but having been caught a few times, they’ve decided to outsmart the police by using their children instead. Not the most clever nor moral thing to do…

innoCent stash

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a DiFFerent sort oF Milk sCanDalMilk producer San Yuan is in the hot seat after a consumer was delivered a San Yuan milk bottle on the 17th stamped to be produced on the 18th. San Yuan responded by saying that it may likely be that “16” was mistakenly seen as “18” due to fading ink. San Yuan announced that it will switch from ramjet to inkjet milk bottle stamping as soon as possible to avoid future misunderstandings. (Talk about a great PR save).

However, last December, Sanyuan were also sued after customers said they gave out-of-date milk as free gifts in a Jingkelong supermarket in Fengtai district, according to the Beijing Times on December 27.

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China’s unoFFiCial liFe CoaChA Weibo account boasting with over 200,000 fans have been providing tips and guidance to way of life for Chinese youth. Calling itself the “Youth Lunar Calendar”, the account claims to be made up of 300 scientist that are ready to answer any questions regarding life, love, education, family, etc.

Tips and advice from this account are often sarcastic and humorous, and speaks directly to the attitude and mindset of today’s youth.

For example:@Joosir: Who set score 60 as a pass?@Youth Lunar Calendar: The name can’t be found, but he must be an asshole.

To this day, the person behind this user account has not been identfied and it seems like people are happy with the way it is.

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FeMale boDyguarDs in DeManDFemale security have recently been in high demand across China, especially among female entrepreneurs and celebrities.

About 30% of all millionaires in China are now women and they increasingly select female bodyguards for protection of their families and children instead of male bodyguards.

Female bodyguards go through a special training program, which includes stamina training, martial arts, reconnaissance, escorting skills, language, driving, and business etiquette. After graduating, they can look forward to a well paid career, a salary of up to $45,000USD a year.

Candidates are willing to go through harsh training, to prove and break stereotype that women are strong and can also protect others.

SOURCE: REUTERS

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NewTermsof

TheMonth

Vacation-Style Treatment

Vacation has been a hot topic on Weibo since the end of Chinese New Year celebration. But a week later, the word took on a new twist.

Around 11.00am Wednesday morning of Feb1, the government of Chongqing said on its official Weibo account that Wang Lijun, the city’s former top cop and an ally of powerful Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai, was on “vacation-style treatment” due to stress and “long-term overwork.”

Rumor has it that Wang Lijun, who had helped Bo Xilai crack down on Chongqing gangster (hot topic of 2010), decided to betray Bo Xilai by allying with the Central Government for reasons unknown, and knowing that Bo will be hunting him down, Wang fled and sought refuge in the US Consulate in Chengdu city.

After much drama, Wang was relieved of his position hence the term ‘vacation-style treatment’ that has now become a humorous meme used by netizens.

The post, suggestive of old-style Communist Party dissembling around the fate of purged leaders, was reposted more than 44,000 times and had attracted more than 14,000 comments within two hours, spawning a “vacation-style treatment” hashtag along the way.

休假式治療01

A current trend on the social space right now is the classification of China’s youth.

They are classified by: Ordinary, Artistic and 2B, based on their life-style. 2B is a term derived from SB, a curse word, used to ridicule people for their stupidity.

This is how it works, for example:Ordinary youth will use Windows. Artistic youth would use Mac. 2B youth would use windows supported by a Mac OS.

普通青年 文藝青年 2B青年02 Ordinary Youth/Artistic Youth/2B Youth

女星接客 [nv xing jie ke] literally means, female celebrities escort guests.

The term became one of the top searched terms on Baidu Search engine after an unnamed Hong Kong celebrity was exposed for accepting 1 million HKD to spend one night with a HK billionaire. The HK media using this latest sex scandal to call attention to the fact that a great deal of celebrities in both China and South Korea are involved in the sex trade or are serving as paid mistresses to rich businessmen.*Disclaimer: images to show examples of Hong Kong celebrities, not intended for

actual accusation.

女星接客03 Female Celebrity Escorts

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Chen Sheng (Bobby Chen): Home In The Arctic Village

A mellowed Bobby Chen, Taiwan’s wild man of pop, released his second album Home In The Artic Village during the winter holiday period.

Unlike the usual “holiday-type” songs, the album brings the listener through Bobby’s beautiful memories of the cold weather with his mellow tracks.

The highlight of the album includes several tracks featuring Yisa Yu, China’s SuperGirl contestant, who also starred in his first single Music Video debut.

All in, the album demonstrated phenomenal vocal performances, so if you’re in the mood for a pleasant tune while cozying up at home this winter, be sure to play a few of his tracks.

陳升-家在北極村

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After 3 quiet years, Mayday launched their eighth album, Second Life, on the last month of 2011. The theme of the album is about the ‘end of world’ – no surprise there.

But the message is more optimistic than you think. It’s meant that if the ‘end of the world’ didn’t happen, you have the chance to begin a new life.

Mayday: Second Life五月天-第二人生

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Towards the end of 2011, Singaporean Mandarin-pop singer JJ Lin has launched a 100-hour countdown to his new album Lost N Found.

Prior to the album’s release, the single Never Learn has already become the most requested song in more than 200 radio stations and ranked first in major video Web sites in China.

“I am quite satisfied with the new album. It is a collection that I’ve been working on during two years of songwriting and composing. I injected deep feelings and emotions into the music as well as sensitive impulses. I have tried some music genres for the first time, such as jazz, electronic dance, rock-and-roll, and also a combination of classic and modern sounds.” says JJ Lin.

JJ Lin: Lost N Found林俊傑-Lost N Found

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Directed by Zhang Yimou and shot over 5 1/2 months in the most extensive production ever undertaken in China, the film recreates the reality of Nanjing after Japanese troops invaded the Chinese city, setting off one of the most shocking episodes of civilian suffering in the modern history of war. Yet The Flowers Of War is not so much about the deadly battles in the street as it is about all the life that continues to go on behind the closed doors of a city in hiding.

The Flowers of War金陵十三釵

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Based on a novel, You Are the Apple of My Eyes tells the story of five young teenage boys, one of them being the portrayal of the author Gidden Ko’s teenage years, who strived to win over the heart of classmate Shen Chia Yi, played by Taiwanese actress, Michelle Chen.

The film is split into three parts: high school, university and the aftermath. Each part illustrates a different phase and level of the relationship between Giddens and Shen Chia Yi.

A typical yet touching movie of love in the adolescent years.

You Are the Apple of My Eye那些年我們一起追的女孩

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Director Tsui Hark’s 3D extravaganza The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate leads the Sixth Asian Film Awards nominations with seven nods.

First martial arts film to be shot entirely in 3D, the film opens with Jet Li’s character, Zhao Huai’an, introduced as a crusading warrior, fighting for justice against the corrupt eunuchs who terrorize the country without adequate governance during the Ming Dynasty. The fearful Western Bureau, led by Commander Yu Huatian (Chen Kun), is tearing the land apart in search of Su (Mavis Fan), a palace maid whom the Emperor has impregnated and must now be executed to preserve the bloodline.

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 龍門飛甲

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A Tale of Two Cities depicts a story of love between 2 with differences in culture, lifestyle, custom, personality, feeling, language and way of communication. Wife from Beijing, husband from Shanghai, father-in-law in Beijing, mother-in-law in Shanghai...

The series bring to life the tension between Beijing and Shanghai, China’s 2 major metropolises known for being ‘rivalries’.

Despite struggling with the differences, the couple fights hard to make things work.

A Tale of Two Cities雙城生活

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Say Yes Online is China’s first home-made inter-net series by QiYi (online video site). It is said to be the most “love-ful” story that depicts love be-tween co-workers in internet companies.

QiYi invited the popular and controversial porn star Aoi Sora as guest in this series. The story is based on the real life of Baidu staff.

Say Yes Online在線愛

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Sanguosha, although not a recent game, is still by far the most popular board game in China and is now also available online).

Sanguosha is based loosely on the Romance of Three Kingdoms, one of the four classics of Chinese literature. Literally, SanGuo means Three Kingdoms (a period of Chinese history when China was divided into three, roughly equally matched, kingdoms), and Sha means Kill.

Similar to Bang!, Sanguosha is a great combination of history, literature and art, and can often be seen played by young Chinese teens in board game bars (refer to first Luan Dun issue).

Killer of Three Counties(Sanguosha)三國殺

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Also known as Farting Panda King in Chinese, Me Want Bamboo, although launched early last year, continues to top the charts on iTune’s app store since the new year.

Me Want Bamboo is a platform jumping game where you can make the panda single or double jump, and you can also get the panda to fart for extra boost, though you can store one fart at a time, replenish with eating bamboos.

Created by Shanghai-based game developing company, Camigo Media, (which is also co-founded by one of Taiwan’s famous pop singer Will Pan), Me Want Bamboo is celebrated as a local creativity that has gone global.

Me Want Bamboo熊猫屁王

Writers:Charinee Chairasmisak

Leon Linsue Wu

tata Zhang

Designer:ryan Hu