American culture: loud & proud
By Jon Bollom
Photos by Yao Fan

美国红杉行进管乐团是一个有着百年历史、享誉美国的大型管乐团.对于许多厦门观众来说,观看这样气势恢弘的数百人管乐队演奏还是第一次.5月25日,嘉庚体育馆内的演出是红杉首次世界巡演中国之旅的一站,乐团很多队员都希望能给厦门观众带来更多的美国音乐风格与交流.
It would be difficult to find a more representative example of US culture than a marching band; big, brash, loud ... and impressive.
These guys (and gals) usually perform on American football pitches to entertain the spectators while they are waiting for the game to start, so it is usually an outdoor entertainment. Last Wednesday, however, it was indoors at the Jiageng Gymnasium. This had its upsides and downsides. Downside— we didn’t get to see the band actually marching as they played, which was a shame; but actually if we had been outside we would probably have got very wet! So a good job there. But, for this member of the audience, the greatest advantage was that the sound was not dissipated into the sky. Instead, the auditorium held the power of the music. The drumming, in particular, had an increased intensity that, quite literally, made you ‘feel the music’—you could feel your chest vibrate! And if you needed to see some movement you could watch the bevy of buxom American beauties that made up the ‘Auxiliary Band Members’, i.e. the dancers, baton twirlers and cheer-leaders.
The icon of American culture strutting its stuff on this occasion was the University of Georgia Red Fir Marching Band. This consists of two hundred and forty-two musicians (plus cheer-leaders) playing a variety of wind instruments ranging in size from the very biggest (sousaphone) down to the smallest (piccolo), and also a range of sizes of drums. This is an award-winning band that has been in existence for over one hundred years (since 1905) and who are touring China on a cultural exchange visit organised by the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation. All the members of the band are students (or staff) of the university and they have each paid towards the cost of the trip ($1654, to be precise).
The repertoire was quite wide-ranging and included Disney themes, Chinese folk music, American folk, film themes, classical music and a pop song (Hey Babe: Won’t You Be My Girl, which went down particularly well). But the piece de resistance was, most definitely, the marching songs and battle hymns and the drumming.“When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Stars and Stripes of America”were performed with a rousing crispness and clarity that stirred the soul (and the vibrating chest).
The band has already performed their marching music in several Chinese cities. Xiamen is just one stop on their world tour. Though they may not have understood the conductor as he introduced the pieces, the audience lapped up the inspiring sight of the band and their electrifying performance. When they heard the melodies of three Chinese songs (Huangyang Biandan, Jasmine and Song & Smile), they clapped their hands in time and nodded with appreciation.
Members of the audience said that it was great to hear such a different kind of music. “It’s not easy for such a big band to perform in such harmony. They were really impressive and Xiamen should get more American bands.”

 

 

 

Entertainment Gossip
娱乐“星”闻

Faye Wong gives birth to baby girl
王菲剖腹产女婴

Hong Kong singing sensation Faye Wong has given birth to a 4 kilogram baby girl. The baby was born May 27 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The thirty-six year old singer and actress had a caesarean section to give birth to her second child. Both baby and mother are in a stable condition.

Armani and Red to catwalk in London
阿玛尼发布07女装潮流

Giorgio Armani will stage an unprecedented multi-collection runway show during London Fashion Week in a joint effort with Red, the Bono-led African AIDS initiative. Armani will debut his capsule collection for Red and present elements of his haute couture Privé and signature lines. The core of the show will be Armani's spring summer 2007 Emporio collection, which will skip the Milan season. 　

Jackson in 1st appearance since acquittal
杰克逊被控后日本首演

Michael Jackson made his first public appearance since being acquitted on child molestation charges, choking up as he thanked Japanese fans at an awards ceremony last Saturday. The pop star was to visit orphanages, tour Tokyo and meet with businessmen during his trip to Japan.

Gong Li voted China＇s most beautiful star
巩俐当选中国最靓明星
The results of a survey called "The Top 50 Most Beautiful Chinese Stars" were published by The Beijing News recently, with Gong Li beating popular actresses Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi to win the title. Super-girl Li Yuchun was in second place, followed by Zhou Xun, this year's Best Actress winner at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. Zhang Ziyi was fourth.

　

 

Culture week

May 31-June 6：lunar calendar 5/5-10/5
May 31: Dragon Boat Festival 端午节
June 1: International Children’s Day 国际儿童节
June 5: International Environment Day 国际环境日
June 6: “Mangzhong” 芒种

每年的芒种节气在6月6日或7日, “芒”是指麦类等有芒作物收获;“种”是指谷黍类作物播种.芒种是表征麦类等有芒作物的成熟,是一年中最忙的季节.
“Mangzhong” falls on June 6 or June 7 every year. “Mang” refers to the harvest of barley, while “Zhong” is the planting of grains. “Mangzhong” is the time when rice ripens and is the busiest time in a farmer’s year.

Coming events

June 1： Xiamen Jewellery and Accessories, Homeware and Hotel Supplies Exhibition
厦门珠宝首饰工艺品家庭用品及酒店用品博览会
Venue: Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Centre
June 2: First West Straits Motor Expo
海峡西岸首届汽车博览
Venue: Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Centre

Vocabulary
brash 急促的[ji(2),cu(4),de(0)]
dissipate散发[san(3),fa(2)]
strut昂首阔步[ang(2),shou(2),kuo(4),bu(4)]
lap up应和[ying(4)he(2)]
caesarean剖腹产的[po(1),fu(4)chang(3)de(0)]
barley 大麦[da(4),mai(4)]
haute couture女式服装式样[nv(1),shi(1)fu(2),zhuang(1)shi(1),yang(4)]
electrifying震撼的[zheng(4),han(4),de(0)]

 

Life Style
Gorgeous rhododendrons draw crowds
Translated by Phil
Photos by Yao Fan

blossoms as big as plates
2006年浙江天台山云锦的杜鹃花开得比往年繁盛,称得上是百年一遇的奇景.开花的树叫云锦杜鹃,它以“苍干如松柏,花姿若牡丹”而成为《中国高等植物图鉴》中记载的377种杜鹃花中的佼佼者,为我国特有的珍稀树种. 5月30日刚刚结束的2006年杜鹃节上,中外游客在海拔1000多米高的华顶山国家森林公园不仅可以流连于繁花似锦的杜鹃花海,而且欣赏到了独具特色的民族风情演艺、“超女”演唱.

Super girl Yao Xue	rhododendron festival	visitorsing

Since the middle of May, a rather special bloom has been attracting hordes of visitors to the Huading mountain national forest park in Zhejiang. The park, at an altitude of over 1000m, is host to one of the most spectacular trees in the country, a Rhododendron Fortunei (family: Ericaeae; genus: Rhododendron), which is described as being “like a great pine covered with peony flowers.” The park has over 200 hectares of rhododendron trees, in groves of up to 20 hectares each. There are over 200 trees more than a century old. The flowers they produce are as big as plates, bright scarlet, delicate pinks, ghostly silvers and deep purples.
The spectacle of the trees flowering in May is truly extraordinary, a riot of color and texture. The largest specimen, dubbed the Rhododendron King, has a trunk a meter across at the base and stands 10m tall. Rhododendrons are found in many parts of China, but only in Zhejiang are there mature forests in which they grow in such profusion and create such a rich display.

 

Vocabulary
spectacular 壮观的[zhuan(4),guan(1),de(1)]
peony 牡丹[mu(3),dan(1)]
rhododendron杜鹃[du(4),juan(1)]
specimen种类[zhong(3),lei(4)]
blossom 花冠[hua(1),guan(4)]
profusion茂密[mao(4)mi(4)]