Pop Culture: New Year's Lion Dance

Today, February 14, 2010 is the Lunar New Year (also called the Chinese New Year), celebrated broadly across Asia in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, as well as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam, Korea, Tibet, Mongolia, and Bhutan. It is also celebrated elsewhere in Chinese overseas communities. One of the most characteristic festivities of the day (besides lots of feasting and merry-making) is the lion dance.

The lion dance is typically performed by a pair of brightly-attired dancers, one of whom wears the lion's head and the other who brings up the rear. (There is also a dragon dance in which multiple dancers make up the winding body of the dragon.) Accompanied by percussion instruments and firecrackers, the movements of the dancers are rooted in the martial arts and the dancers themselves often represent different martial arts schools. The lion dance has different meanings: to bring good luck or to frighten away evil spirits.

Here are some links to YouTube videos of lion dance performances. The last link is an example of an updated hip-hop version of the lion dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svz-n3QRymI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYMA07ud6VI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-L8cSGMYTA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-jy7Htq5nQ

Happy Year of the Tiger!

Pop Culture: Over the Moon

In belated recognition of the Mid-Autumn Festival, traditionally celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calender (celebrated this year on October 3), here are photographs of luscious mooncakes, the delicacies associated with the festival, from Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mooncake&w=all#page=0

The Mid-Autumn Festival commemorates the autumnal equinox, when the moon is roundest and brightest, and was historically celebrated as a harvest festival. A legend associated with the festival is that of the valorous Hou Yi and his beautiful wife Chang'e. One variation of the tale posits that Hou Yi was an archer who shot down nine of the ten suns in the sky, thereby saving the earth's crops from being scorched by the extra suns. As a reward, Hou Yi was subsequently gifted with an elixir for immortality. However, unbeknownst to him, his wife Chang'e swallowed the elixir, which promptly caused her to float up to the heavens and onto the moon. Only on the days when the moon is fullest is Hou Yi able to visit his wife.

Therefore, eating the round delicacies known as mooncakes commemorates the reunion between Hou Yi and Chang'e. Mooncakes measure between 3-4 inches in diameter and are about 2 inches thick. They consist of a thin, dense crust filled with sweet fillings such as red bean paste or lotus seed paste. The skin is then imprinted with characters or decorative motifs. New-fangled mooncakes may be filled with green tea or coffee-flavored fillings, and even ice cream. Their popularity and ubiquity in China is such that they can even be ordered at Starbuck's alongside a cup of joe.

Pop Culture: Ikea, Here and Abroad

Consumers in China really, really like Ikea. They just don't like to buy things there. A stroll through Ikea Beijing, which opened in 1999, reveals consumers walking through displays, handling merchandise, even taking naps on the furniture, but rarely making major purchases. Some are merely there for the refreshing air-conditioning or for the inexpensive cafeteria meals.

Sound strange? Not at all, from the perspective of young parents who frequent Ikea stores in the United States for the free play centers, wallet-friendly cafes, and even free wi-fi. More bang for the buck (or for no buck at all) is certainly a marketing strategy that consumers both in China and the United States can agree with.

For an article on Ikea Beijing, go here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-ikea25-2009aug25,0,3900096,full.story

And for an article on Ikea in the U.S.:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/garden/11ikea.html?_r=1

Pop Culture: Jump Around

Strictly for weekend chuckles, a creative interpretation of a dance sequence starring the Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai in "Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam" (Straight from the Heart), released in 1999. Note: the intricate carving on the pillars is characteristic of Rajasthan and Gujarat, where the film was shot. Serious posts to resume shortly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7HZf7k2gTo

Pop Culture: Le Parkour en Asie

The following article from the BBC about the Barclaycard World Freerun Championships in London made me wonder whether le parkour, or free-running, is popular in Asia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8203262.stm
http://www.worldfreerun.com/ (official website of the championships)

Le parkour originated in French military training of the first half of the 20th century and was systematized into a form of urban gymnastics by David Belle in the early 1990s in the suburbs of Paris. (In fact, the parkour scene in the film "Casino Royale" was performed by a childhood friend of Belle's.) Traceurs and traceuses, as they are known, practice their sport in urban environments, using buildings, stairs, walls, and railings in a manner similar to the ways in which artistic gymnasts use the balance beam, parallel bars, pommel horse, and springboard.

Below are some videos of traceurs from all around Asia. What information do they give you about the differences in urban environments?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXaOf5fXQSU (from China)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJsoQKcyB9U&feature=fvw (from Japan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVUbuLAtl7I&feature=related (from India)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRNZ6aH_Mi4 (from Vietnam)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJwGUyjd3Hg (from Singapore)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg!