A-Lin Prepares for Her Sold-Out Concert in Taipei Arena
With the release of her seventh and very successful album, Happy Now, Then What <幸福了 然后呢> at the end of last year, Taiwanese singer, Huang Li Ling (黃麗玲), or better known as A-Lin has been kept on her toes with the “Inspire 2013: A-Lin Vancouver Concert” last week. Now she is busy preparing for her upcoming March concert at the Taipei Arena, in which tickets are already sold out.Released for only 2 months, Happy Now, Then What? has already sold more than 30,000 copies. Album sales have been so good that the recording company has already released a “Happy Edition” of the same album, in conjunction with the Lunar New Year, to thank her fans for their support. Her songs are also so popular that they have topped the most requested songs chart in many of the radio stations in Taiwan.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, A-Lin flew to Vancouver for her concert. Not wanting to miss spending time with her parents as well as her husband, Huang Kan Lin (黃甘霖) and daughter over the holiday, A-Lin rushed back to Taiwan right after her concert. Her new year wish is to spend more time singing together with her family.
Right now, A-Lin is busy preparing for her upcoming concert “Feel-Lin” on March 9 at the Taipei Arena. In order to be physically fit for the grueling concert performance, A-Lin had recruited her cousin-in-law to be her personal trainer. She has been working out three times a week, using boxing and the TRX fitness system to keep herself toned. Even though the scale did not indicate any difference, the people around A-Lin has told her that she has lost weight. A-Lin admits that it has been tough working out and boxing has given her numerous bruises on her legs but she feels the benefits outweigh the cons as physical activity has also helped her to increase her lung capacity.
Tickets for A-Lin’s Taipei concert were sold out a week after they were put on sale. Die-hard fans even resorted to seeking the help of ticket scalpers. With the enthusiastic response, A-Lin feels the need to give her fans the best. Overseeing every detail of her concert preparation, including the costumes and dance choreography, A-Lin hopes to give fans a refreshing performance.
Source: Sina.com
Blockbuster Growth in China’s Film Industry
As Hollywood remains uneasy over the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into Hollywood companies’ practices in China, CNN reports international films swept the top ten highest grossing films in China:
Industry insiders say international influence is only set to grow, as Chinese censors loosen restrictions on foreign films and more fans make a habit of seeking out the latest blockbusters. Last year, the country’s box office receipts increased 30% to over RMB 17 billion ($ 2.7 billion), making China the world’s second-largest box officeIn an attempt to attract fans of the film, ‘Titanic,’ there are now plans to build a replica of the Titanic in China. From The Hollywood Reporter:
On the fifth episode of CNN’s monthly show “On China,” host Kristie Lu Stout traveled to Hengdian Film Studios to discover what strikes a chord with Chinese viewers. There, she asked Dan Mintz, CEO of DMG Entertainment Group, and acclaimed film directors Jin Yimeng (Eva) and Lu Chuan what Chinese filmgoers want to see.
On the surface, the script for success is not dissimilar to what works in the United States, they said. U.S. films, including “Titanic 3D” and “Mission: Impossible– Ghost Protocol” comprised seven of the top 10 highest-grossing films in 2012, according to the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. While foreign films accounted for only a quarter of the 303 movies screened in Chinese theatres last year, they took in over half of overall ticket sales (52.4%).
Easy access to theaters is also driving mainland viewers to the silver screen. China has over 12,000 movie screens and it is adding more at a rate of eight to 10 each day, Mintz said. Cinemas in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai are comparable to those in the U.S., Lu added.
According to Blue Star Line, the cruise line company Palmer founded to build and manage the vessel, the Titanic II was designed by Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin but is being built in China's Jiangsu province by state-owned Chinese shipyard CSC Jinling.Despite the success of international films in China, Stephen Chow’s latest comedy landed in the top spot in the box office during the Spring Festival holiday. From China Daily:
Palmer introduced the dinner via a video-conference call from Australia, saying, according to the Wall Street Journal: "Why build the Titanic? Why go to the moon?"
"They've really got guts. You see how many collapsing bridges there are in China and how much 'tofu-style' construction there is, and they still dare to do it," the Journal quoted one micro-blogger as writing.
"Titanic II is being built by a Chinese shipyard!! How stupid. Do you want to re-enact the original ending?" wrote another.
The takings for Chow’s blockbuster, featuring Wen Zhang, Shu Qi and Huang Bo, accounted for 66.7 percent of all ticket sales during the period, according to a posting by China Film News on micro-blogging service Sina Weibo.
The film took 76.7 million yuan on its first day of release on Feb 10 on the Chinese mainland. It also smashed the opening-day record for domestic films by beating last year’s 70 million yuan made by Chinese film Painted Skin: Resurrection.
The fast-expanding Chinese film market – measured by audience figures and number of screens – has nurtured record-breaking box-office revenue this year, said Huang Qunfei,general manager of Beijing New Film Association Co Ltd, one of China’s largest theater chains.
Huang said domestic box-office revenue has grown 30 percent on average each year, with more than 9,600 screens across the nation. he said he expects even higher growth this year.
© Melissa M. Chan for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013
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Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China
China's one-child rule is unassailably one of the most controversial social policies of all time. In the first book of its kind, Susan Greenhalgh draws on twenty years of research into China's population politics to explain how the leaders of a nation of one billion decided to limit all couples to one child. Focusing on the historic period 1978-80, when China was just reentering the global capitalist system after decades of self-imposed isolation, Greenhalgh documents the extraordinary manner in which a handful of leading aerospace engineers hijacked the population policymaking process and formulated a strategy that treated people like missiles. Just One Child situates these science- and policymaking practices in their broader contexts--the scientization and statisticalization of sociopolitical life--and provides the most detailed and incisive account yet of the origins of the one-child policy.
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