Acupuncture

Acupuncture, as with massage, is often misunderstood by the West. Although Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining popularity, this procedure looks more like a painful circus act than anything truly healthful. With a little bit of belief, it actually serves many purposes for both repairing your body and staying healthy.

But even if you wanted to try acupuncture for whatever reason, where would you get it done? A flight to China isn’t exactly in the cards for most people… Here’s a map that might help you get started.

Recently an American friend of mine in China started going to a local acupuncturist in Zhuhai for weight loss. A combination of weekly acupuncture and massage has helped him lose 20 pounds in the past 4-5 weeks. The long-term strategy with acupunture, he learned, includes two parts: 1) Processing the food you eat better by restoring balance in your system. 2) Control your appetite, and develop the habit of drinking water as opposed to sugary or caffinaited drinks.

It sounds straight forward but it is not a quick fix. Not everyone is starting at the same place or has the Asian-style eating culture around them. For instance, it is much easier to lose weight while running his trade company and living in China, as opposed to the fast-paced, car-driving life in much of the States. But with consistent treatment and support, acupuncture should make a big impact on your healthy dieting goals.

Game show Preview Ad

Last month I was invited to Hubei TV to participate in a major talent/game show in China called 挑战女人帮 or something like “Challenge (with a girl’s help?)” in English. It was a lot of work but extremely fun. From Zhuhai, it was a couple hours flight to Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Since my girlfriend is from Wuhan I felt especially comfortable there because the people are cool and the food is awesome. But what happened when I got to my hotel was a completely different story…

After my driver left me at the hotel, I was greeted by new-hires (let’s call them) and they were very friendly. They showed me my room and began to tell me the schedule for the next day. Although it was near 1am, they wanted to get me “ready” to start at 8am. That was when one of the young assistants gave me about 3-4 paragraphs of Chinese to memorize!

My jaw dropped, but I already knew that in China this script meant nothing. I could easily get out of half of it… but still, that’s almost 2 paragraphs of natively written chinese which, given my homegrown language abilities, was still a lot of work. Anyway, I got to bed by 2am and starting thinking about how I could survive the next day…

The next morning I was driven to the Hubei TV station, across from the Hubei High Court (yikes).  Before tapping, they taught us how to play the games we might select during the show. I kicked a lot of ass in all of the practice games… but it was during the real tapping that I began to suck.

After the taping of the dancing girls started I was led into a windowless room to meet the director and hosts. They were getting into massive details about how to ask and answer questions from the “Mama Tuan” (Group of Moms). More lines came from that room… and my brain began to swell… Luckily, the paragraphs of Chinese were reduced to about 10 lines at this point, along with the new Mama Tuan skit.

When I first got on stage I was asked to sing a very crappy song, so I improvised! You’ll see that in the full version of the show. Yikes! Everything else went fine to plan except for me losing so many games. Actually, the director said that if the last girl beat me in the ball-ring game, the show would be over. SO, she dropped it on purpose hahaha!

One of the last things I had to do on stage was teach S4 to the models on stage. It was actually quite good, but they cut it in final edit… it probably seemed like a promotion for my books about S4 Native English Speaking. (It’s ok, I can plug on my blog: )

That night my “Dui shou” (competitor) and I took some of the models out for BBQ and beers. It was a lot of fun and very cheap food. My competitor was from Nanjing and a bit of a dancer/model himself. A bit of a hustler but still cool.

When the show finally aired I had been back in Zhuhai for about 4 weeks, I think. It was awesome being on TV in China and I would never take it back. I would probably avoid doing that kind of show in the future, only because it was a lot of work! Students coming to China to learn Chinese should try it – maybe you’ll like it! Who knows? You might just have the time of your life!

Warning: These photos are rather Armageddony!
(Click images to zoom in)

Rainy Season in Zhuhai

Titanic in Chinese

I watched Titanic in 3D today in Zhuhai and was a little bit surprised- I actually shed a tear. Not because of the love story, but at the view of the Statue of Liberty near the end. (Sometimes the somewhat cheesy moments in Hollywood movies catch me at a sensitive moment.) But, its ok because most of the other (older) people in the theater  were crying too.

I went with my girlfriend, who clearly remembers watching the original Titanic in 1997, and was really looking forward to taking me to the show. While we were there she noticed something peculiar. There was no voice singing during My Heart Will Go On; it was just the score. I had to think about that for a minute and then I realized she was right. “Why did they take out the singing?” she asked in Chinese. I said I wasn’t sure, but it might have had something to do with the modern audience not really caring to hear an older song. “The song isn’t popular anymore” I told her. But maybe there was another reason. Who knows. But that wasn’t the only thing different about this Chinese re-release…

Censorship of the film actually caused more attention to grow around the scenes that were deleted. Although James Cameron said on Colbert Nation that the scenes were deleted because the authorities worried men would try to reach out and touch the screen; perhaps touching the head of others and disrupting their experience. Actually, Chinese tell me that since there is no rating system here, so the sexual content in the movie would be inappropriate for children. The point was to help parents protect their kids eyes, or so I was told.

What strikes me as odd is that scenes from Flowers of War were not censored… and as I wrote last January, that film has the ability to shock and awe. It was brutal in both sexual and violent ways. I couldn’t imagine a child seeing that movie, even with parents around. So, it still remains somewhat of a mystery as to why a little bit of flesh wasn’t allowed to be shown in Titanic 3D, but the bloody body of a woman being raped while strapped to a chair, then jabbed with a bayonet as penance for biting a soldier’s ear off… was acceptable.

These kinds of contradictions are not new, nor will they be the last (this week). It’s important to understand that what is said publicly in China is usually not what the speaker means in their heart. Speaking from the heart out loud is rare over here and if you aren’t prepared for this you will probably lose your mind quickly.

I remember seeing James Cameron’s face on the Colbert Report when he described the “reason” for deleted scenes. He had a very typical look on his face which was a mix of misunderstanding and disgust. And if he decides to move forward with co-producing Avatar 2 and 3 with a massive Chinese film company, he will certainly need to remember to keep his cool.

Related articles

• ‘Titanic 3D’ Sets IMAX Record In China (m.deadline.com)
• China to “Titanic 3D” viewers – look, but don’t touch. On second thought, don’t look. (fluffrick.wordpress.com)
• Kate Winslet Reunites With James Cameron and Billy Zane at Titanic 3D Premiere (popsugar.com)
• Movie Review: Titanic in 3D (dangerouslee.biz)

A Guess from The Telegraph

A metropolis of humongous purportions is said to be in the works for southern China, although there are reports on this being false. The cities of  Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing would merge together, theoretically, amalgamating various public services, including: health care, job opportunities, communication networks, transportation, natural resources, etc. With one big city they would eliminate long-distance calling fees and reduce over-burdened facilities, such as hospitals. Merging into one unit, with a completed high-speed train network, would allow citizens to travel to other city areas when their current location is overwhelmed by local demand.

The “Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One” plan, if it exists, has actually been underway for quite some time. More than 150 major infrastructure projects will serve to bring the cities together at a cost of $300 billion.[*] But, after my conversation with some Chinese businesswomen today in Zhuhai, I realized that it would be more of a political re-positioning than anything else. Leaders’ roles and titles would change slightly and, most likely, the size of the bureaucracy would increase. This super-megacity would not be one fluid organism, although it is very exciting to think of it that way.

PRD Satellite Image in 2011

With pressure building in cities like Guangzhou (11.7m pop.) and Shenzhen (8.9m pop.), as compared to neighboring cities such as Zhongshan (2.4m pop.) and Zhuhai (1.5m pop.), there is an understandable push toward this kind of linked-megalopolis model.  But, can it actually happen? That remains to be seen…

What do you think? Please leave your comments below!