Getting in tune with China
By Jen Foster


Singing is big business in China.

英国人Jen Foster从剑桥大学毕业后来福建任教. 在英国, 要找到像中国一样的KTV场所并不是件容易的事, 人们大多到酒吧边喝边唱. 而且, 越是跑调越能取悦别人. 也许正是这种原因, 使得Jen在英国的时候从来不K歌. 但是, 来华以后, 似乎就和唱歌脱不了干系. 给其学生推荐英文歌曲, 和中国朋友去K歌, 即使走调她也乐此不疲, 她说这让她觉得和中国更"合拍".

I have never been able to sing, but I've always wished I could. I was asked to sing in the school choir once, but when it came to the concert my teacher told me to mime. I think everyone, in their own way, likes singing. It's relaxing, it's life-affirming and, if only for a few moments, it makes us feel like we're on top of the world. If we close our eyes, there could be TV cameras pointing at us and a road to fame and fortune opening up ahead of us. With a bit of imagination, even the humblest of singing venues - a bedroom, a shower, a car stuck in traffic - can be transformed into an international arena bursting with adoring fans. With a microphone in hand, we can be anybody we want to be. Singing, for better or worse, has played an important part in my life in China.

Language teaching seems to go hand in hand with songs. Harnessing the buzz that we get from singing makes new vocabulary far easier to remember. I loved introducing 'Old McDonald had a Farm' and its accompanying animal noises to my junior classes. It caused even the most bored faces at the back of the class to brighten up and listen. A few weeks ago, a Junior 1 student volunteered a solo of 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas'. This was not only a relief as I didn't have to sing it, but a surprise as this would just not happen in a British classroom. On the whole Chinese people not only sing much more readily than British people, but much, much better. Studies have suggested that speakers of tonal languages like Chinese are far more likely to develop an ear for music. In fact it is estimated that only about 1 in 10,000 people in Britain have perfect pitch, whereas in China that number is closer to 1 in 1000. Ability, then, seems to account for these entirely different approaches and attitudes to singing.

Anyone hoping to find KTV in a British city might well be disappointed. Should they find a pub or occasion when people were offering karaoke, they might well wish that they hadn't. British karaoke rarely takes place without a beer in one hand and a few shots of vodka waiting at the bar. The entertainment of British karaoke is not enjoying people sing, but rather enjoying them sing badly. If the voice is not loud and out-of-tune, there's no fun in it. Most people don't even take part, they simply go along to sit at the back and snigger. Perhaps it says something about how much we take satisfaction from other people's humiliation. At a memorable karaoke event during my university Freshers' Week, one guy's performance saw him parade around the bar in such an ego-driven, idiotic fashion that people were still sneering about it four years later. Probably out of fear of such judgemental whispers, I have never sung karaoke in Britain and I don't ever intend to.

In China the story is quite the opposite. KTV presents an opportunity to shine. Proud friends and family glow as their loved one is handed the microphone. The choice of song is also not the British 'sing-along' kind, it is almost inevitably a mournful ballad, or love-lost pop song. The atmosphere is much calmer and far more appreciative of a good voice. I've even been invited to KTV at 10:30 on a Sunday morning, where I've been served green tea and not beer.

On some occasions in China, I have loved singing to a happy crowd of friends who like to hear me try my best with some of my favourite English songs. On others, I have cringed as I have been able to hear quite how bad my voice can sound. On New Year's Eve, I was singing 'My Heart Will Go On' to a sea of smiles and applause and I was beginning to feel great. Just at that moment, a Chinese acquaintance actually took the microphone off me with the words 'You're completely out of tune'. Still, at least for a moment there I was able to nurture my own dreams of pop superstardom.

Spring Festival in London
By Lucy Buckland in London



传统的中国年即将到来, 远在伦敦的Lucy Buckland给本刊来稿与广大读者分享伦敦的"年味". 一起来看看那里的人们是如何过中国年的.

With millions of Chinese living right across the globe, Chinese New Year has become a global celebration. London is no exception. This New Year promises to be the UK capital's biggest celebration of Chinese culture yet.

London's celebration for Chinese New Year of the Dog begins with a morning parade from the famous Chinatown to central London. The parade features The Gold Sail Dance Group from Beijing's Number 2 Middle School and London based Chinese performers such as Jun Ho.

The main event takes place in London's Trafalgar Square with dragon and lion dances and the best of local and international Chinese arts and entertainments on stage. As well as the parade there will be two spectacular fireworks displays in Leicester Square. Vendors will also be selling some traditional celebratory food for everyone to try.

This year's celebrations in London are part of an initiative called ‘China in London', celebrating and promoting Chinese film, language, literature and history. As well as parades and fireworks one of the most prestigious galleries in London, the Royal Academy of Arts, is holding an exhibition displaying treasures of the Chinese court, drawn mainly from the Forbidden City in Beijing. The works include the artistic and cultural riches of imperial China during the reign of three of the most powerful emperors of China's last dynasty, the Qing. This is a triumph for London as many of these works have never been seen outside China before.

The celebrations for Chinese New Year in London show the increase of interest in Chinese culture spreading throughout England. It is hoped that this year's celebrations will involve everyone, be they young or old, Chinese or English.

A traditional Chinese lion dance performance on a street in Trafalgar Square, central London, Feburuary 13, 2005. London held a large parade and performance to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival.


Vocabulary
mime 对口形
harness 利用
pitch 音调
vodka 伏特加
snigger 窃笑
sneer 嘲笑
balad 民谣
cringe 畏缩