Zhengzhou Posting - 1
Monday afternoon (Sept. 6, Labor Day) Macy was delivered to waiting arms. Pretty chaotic, Macy pretty upset. Good lungs. I was running Jeff’s video camera so didn’t get much of a chance at a good Gotcha picture. More to come.
We had Malia most of the day as Jeff and Valerie got Macy fed and comforted. Here are a couple of hotel room scenes.
Google is doing strange things on pictures that have been rotated. Tilt your head to look at this one: Malia colors a picture on the floor while standing. Can you do that?
She's also a photographer. Here's her Portrait of Grandparents.
I think Malia is a born blogger. One of her favorite things is to set at the computer keyboard and randomly hit keys. Prefers a Word document, ALL CAPS, BLUE, BOLD, LARGE FONT.
Tuesday morning, very early. I was just scrolling through the Google news website and happened to see this headline in the local news section: "The duck's-neck seller who loved his wife so much he pretended to be a pig." (The adjacent world news headline: Iran on brink of nuclear weapon, warns watchdog. Quite a contrast.)
The pig reference is to a YouTube video of an entrant on the TV show, China’s Got Talent – another Simon Cowell talent-search TV show, just launched here in China. The author of the item was formerly a correspondent in China. He writes about the Henan province which is where we are now, and provides some interesting info. Here’s the item:
“Foreign readers should know that Henan, where the duck’s neck sellers come from, is looked down on as one of the poorer, tougher parts of China, and workers from there are often accused of being low-life. Occasionally, it has to run campaigns to say not all Henanese are thieves. Needless to say, despite this prejudice and despite or because of its poverty, when I lived in China I had some of my most memorable moments in Henan, meeting some overwhelmingly generous-spirited and brave people – like this pair.
The social status of sellers of that uniquely Chinese delicacy, the duck’s neck, is fully clear from the clip itself. I love the sentimentality of Chinese audiences. Did Simon Cowell know that, or is his encounter with the Chinese people just serendipity? Kudos to China Smack- a brilliant website that brings contemporary China alive for English-speakers and is highly recommended – for adding the subtitles to the Youtube clip.”
The caption says: “A husband acts like a pig being slaughtered for a chance to fulfill his wife’s dreams of singing. Audiences are moved to tears but netizens disdain the judges.”
Here's a picture from the China Smack website:
I couldn't get the video to play (at the time this report was written), and I don’t know if this thing is going to go Susan Boyle (or maybe it will have by the time you read this), but here’s the transcript of the video. It’s long, but stick with it; I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Maybe even a tear.
A transcript of the video:
Judge Zhou: Is that a pig I see?
Contestant: Yes
[laughter]
Host: That’s one big pig
Judge Gao: What’s your name?
Zhou Yanfeng: Zhou Yanfeng, from Henan province, from a county called Huaibin.
Judge Gao: You’re a Henan person.
Judge Zhou: What do you do for a living?
Contestant Zhou: We sell duck necks [for a living].
[cheers]
Judge Gao: So you sell duck necks. So what are you going to perform for us now？
Contestant Zhou: Uh, I’m going to perform a pig slaughter for everyone today.
[laughter and applause]
Judge Zhou: You mean the one you’re holding in your hand?
Contestant Zhou: Yes yes, that’s right, I am going to kill myself.
Judge Gao: Alright, let’s have it.
[Contestant Zhou performs as seen in the video; the judges unanimously reject him, and some audience members copy the "X" sign using their hands; the audience is loud in their amusement and rejection]
Judge Gao: Is the performance over?
Contestant Zhou: Yes, it’s just like that
Judge Zhou: This isn’t a show, it looks more like a crime!
[laughter and shouting]
Judge Gao: I feel that on the big stage, this kind of thing doesn’t qualify as a complete program, therefore I must say: NO
[shouting]
Contestant Zhou: Thank you, Judge.
Judge Yi: I also must say no.
[shouting]
Judge Zhou: Because it was a program without beauty, I can only choose “NO”; Sorry to say but you have been eliminated.
[shouting]
Contestant Zhou: Judges, can I add a couple more comments.
Judge Zhou: At most a couple more comments.
Contestant Zhou: Actually, the reason I came here today is because of my wife.
Judge Zhou: Eh?
Contestant Zhou: My wife has a particular hobby, she especially likes to sing. One day around three in the morning after I had closed up shop and was going home. When I reached the area below the Tibet Road overpass, I saw my wife singing. At that time when I saw her my heart was especially heartbroken. I wanted to go through this competition, get a good result [win some money], so I can go back and give my wife a small modest karaoke room, no matter how small, so my wife can sing to her heart’s content. But I was rejected by you three judges, and likewise our dream has been destroyed. I want to ask you three judges, can you give my wife just one chance, to stand on the stage of the Shanghai Music Hall and let her sing a couple of words, even just one word would do. I beg you judges, please.
[instant applause]
Judge Yi: Uh…it is very difficult for us to reject that part of your performance.
Judge Gao: Other contestants can all only perform one time.
Judge Yi: You can prepare again. You can come back and register again next time.
Judge Zhou: Do you feel your wife is a better singer than you? Then why did you come out pretending to be a pig?
[laughter]
Contestant Zhou: Because for my wife, I am willing to act like a pig. For my wife, I’m willing to act like anything.
[applause]
Judge Zhou: Wow, isn’t that very much like Shanghainese men [known to do anything for their wives]? For their wives, even willing to be act like a pig? What does everyone think?
Audience: Yes [applause]
Host: Hey, now is not a good time to cry.
Judge Zhou: I feel that we should give her a chance; let your wife come out!
[applause and shouting throughout]
Host: Go on!
Judge Zhou: Wife, no, excuse me… Are all the things your husband previously said true?
Mrs Zhou: Yes, they are true.
Contestant Zhou: My wife, with me in Shanghai, selling duck necks in a cart. It’s very difficult/tiring work. Every day we sell until 3am in the morning, then go home, and after just a bit of sleep, we have to wake up again to prepare duck necks. It’s really really difficult/tiring. The entire year, all four seasons, we have never stopped even for a day. I feel that I really haven’t done right by my wife. My wife likes singing so much but I can’t give her the means [to pursue/enjoy singing]. I beg you, judges, let her sing a couple of words, even one word would be good.
Judge Zhou: Then let’s make an exception, shall we, Judge Gao?
Audience: YES (repeated) [shouting]
Judge Gao: Music does not distinguish between high and low, because music treats everyone equally because it doesn’t belong to any one social class, or something. You must sing for us to hear.
Judge Zhou: If your wife really sings so well, then we will count her result, not your result, and you can go back to being a pig.
[laughter and applause]
Contestant Zhou: Alright.
Judge Zhou: Show us the singing voice from under the overpass!
Host: Can she hold it together? At all costs, don’t get nervous!
Mrs Zhou (singing “Cheers, My Friend”, a song sung by Tian Lei):
Friend, today you’ll be going far away, finish this glass of wine.
Forget the worry of the bitterness of traveling to the ends of the world, drunk to the very ends of Heaven.
Perhaps from today you will start to drift, and you will never stop/rest again.
Let us together raise our glasses; cheers, my friend.
Cheers, my friend.
Cheers, my friend.
Audience: YES（repeated; sounds like “YEA”）[cheering and shouting]
Host: Yes! Yes!
Judge Zhou: Everybody, quiet down, quiet down. I feel that this is really very, very moving. Here we have a very ordinary husband and wife pair, living a life not worth mentioning, working a job that could not be any less worth mentioning, and still we can see the hopes they have in life, especially their love for each other, so…
[crowd cheering, chanting yes]
Judge Zhou: Judge Gao…
I will give you a YES answer!
[applause and cheers]
Judge Gao: I especially want to thank the people who write these song, bringing to every ordinary person, regardless of whether or not they have hope in their lives, this kind of beauty/wonder. I will say YES.
[applause and cheers]
Judge Yi: I think the best thing about “China’s Got Talent” is that it gives ordinary people great dreams; that it proves the saying, that mankind is great because of its dreams. I feel that your love is very great, I can see that he really loves you, that you really love him, therefore both of you need a hearty “YES” decision.
[applause and cheers]
Mrs Zhou: Thank you, thank you!
Judge Zhou: Congratulations you two, you have advanced [to the next round]!
Mrs. Zhou: I deeply thank my husband. For my dream, he is willing to spare nothing. With his words, even if I have to live a lifetime of hardship, it is worth it. At this moment I feel very satisfied. I am just a seller of duck necks, but I too can have such a large earnest audience listen to me sing. So long as we two have a dream and are together, we will be happy.
End Transcript.
Quite the story, don’t you think. As this is written (Sept. 24) I haven't been able to find out whether the couple has performed in the next round and if they're still in the contest.
Tuesday morning. Macy slept well, ate well at breakfast. Our big event of the day is a trip to Wal-Mart this afternoon. It has rained steadily the last two days and we’re feeling a touch of cabin-fever. Will be good to get out.
Later.
Cheers,
Susie and Rob
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