LANI LUO WRITES – With China’s booming economy and increasing standard of living, cell phone use has grown exponentially. Folks across the country are using stylish smart phones and all their fantastic features. One of which is the WeChat application offered by Tencent, a social media outfit that until now has let users with WiFi [...]
About Lani Luo
Lani Luo is a senior political science and Asian Pacific Studies double major at LMU. She is a member of Marians Service Organization, Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Fraternity, and the current ASLMU Director of Campus Community. After graduation, she will be joining Teach For America 2013 Corps in Chicago to teach middle school social studies for two years.
CHINA: Shanghai Love Market
FILM REVIEW BY LANI LUO – “Wake up. This is the new China. Things need to be planned and centrally controlled.” This quote comes from a short film written by Craig Rosenthal called Shanghai Love Market. Clearly, the title indicates that the story is not an academic critique on the governing system of Communist China. [...]
CHINA: Better Brace Yourself!
Fake it til’ you make it. Teens in Asia are taking that concept literally as they apply fake braces on their teeth as a fashion trend. This curious fad first started in Southeast Asia, and it is now taking Asia by storm, making its way into many Chinese teenagers’ mouth. With the help of promotional [...]
China Blog Blotter: Too Soon for Equal Rights?
“Gays Dare to Love” was the slogan for the Equal Rights for Gays Parade that took place in Hong Kong recently. Much like America’s own Pride Parades, Equal Rights for Gays Parade is public, loud, and flamboyant. Although parades like these have happened in the past in Hong Kong, this one was especially high in [...]
CHINA: A New Fashion Model In Town
Heels, lace, and mini-skirts! These are some of our favorite things. By “our,” I mean the possessive term for females. China’s new clothing line, Yuekou, is marketing these pieces to young Chinese fashionistas in a brand new way that is shocking to their audience, as well as the rest of the Chinese world. Yuekou’s new [...]
CHINA: Guan Xi – It’s All About Whom You Know, Reports The New York Times
If you’ve ever done business in China, you would be very familiar with the term “guan-xi,” translated as connections. Without any guan-xi, it is nearly impossible to get things done. China is a nation built on guan-xi, a business deal-making strategy embedded in the culture. From a Western democratic perspective, this type of deal making [...]
China Blotter: Basketball Grandma’s Story
China may be world’s second largest economy, but it is still nowhere close to utopia. Today, the world is dazzled by China’s booming financial freedom. However, there is not enough attention given to those who are still suffering. The government, of course, is working on pulling as many people out of poverty as fast as [...]
China Blotter: Think of the Children!
China is not known for its relaxed rules, and neither are its schools. When I attended pre-school and elementary school in China, I often came home crying. There was always something to get in trouble for: I vividly remember being scolded by teachers for eating my lunch too slowly or not having trimmed my nails. [...]
China: Defending His Country
There are a few islands on the northeast side of Taiwan called the Diaoyu Islands, if you’re Chinese. But if you’re Japanese, you call it the Senkaku Islands. Both China and Japan claim the sovereignty of these islands, not only for national dignity but also the rich deposits of natural resources. Last month, Chinese entrepreneur [...]
China Blog Blotter: Fighting to Upgrade the Status of Women
For a nation as influential and economically robust as China, its laws for the protection of women are laughable. Let’s not even get into the discussion of women’s representation in politics or business, but just the most basic rights of safety for women. As a developed nation, China is pathetically behind on its provisions even [...]
China Blotter: Netizens Against Corruption, Step One Complete
Remember back in March when the Chinese government tried to hush the scandals surrounding Communist Party Boss Bo Xilai? Well, thanks to the perseverance of free speech advocacy with Netizens at the frontlines, keeping mum was no longer an option on at least one of them. Something had to be done. In early April, Chinese [...]
An Exclusive Interview with Robin Wang, the Author of the Important and Provocative New Book: ‘Yinyang: The Way of Heaven and Earth in Chinese Thought and Culture’
One of the most important relationships in this world just might be the relationship between the two behemoth power-states: China and the United States. This is a relationship between a seasoned country with a vibrant and complicated history of over two-thousand years, and a much younger, more modern state of only, uhh, two-hundred something years. [...]
China: Is Sexy Mandarin a Foul Language?
Attention American horn-dogs! Want to learn Mandarin Chinese? Great! Now you can learn Mandarin AND be titillated by Chinese lingerie models in the privacy of your own home with Sexy Mandarin. Forget about the difficulties of this complicated language, Sexy Mandarin’s “teachers” can teach you Mandarin while also entertaining you. Soft-porn, it turns out, can [...]
ASIA INSIGHT VIDEO NO. FOUR: STEPHANIE GARCIA AND HER VIEW ON AMERICAN JOURNALISM AND SINGAPORE
Professor Tom Plate meets with South-South News
Professor Tom Plate Goes Live With South-South News to discuss his book on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Professor Plate reveals why he decided to write a book on Ban Ki-Moon -- and how the Western media stereotypes the Korean diplomat.
