11 minute read
COURTING CANTON
World’s Largest NBA Store Opens in Guangzhou
By Ryan Gandolfo
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Spend a day walking the streets of Guangzhou, and you’ll see Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, Lebron James and Brian Scalabrine jerseys worn with pride. (Okay, maybe a few less Scalabrine jerseys.)
It’s part of the big basketball culture in Guangzhou and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) that’s led to a growing number of NBA fans in the region. And now, there’s a brand new store that gives fans the ultimate NBA experience – aside from going to a game, of course.
Last month, the NBA’s largest flagship store in the world opened in Guangzhou’s Yuexiu district. The store was launched in partnership with the NBA, Top Sports and Nike.
The store celebrated its opening ceremony with speeches from Wayne Chang, NBA China’s chief financial officer, as well as a recorded video message from former NBA all-star and current CBA coach Stephon Marbury, currently working in Beijing.
“NBA Guangzhou Flagship Store will definitely be the ideal place for every fan to buy all the NBA products they want, a variety of NBA series and commemorative merchandise,” said Marbury, who mentioned he plans on visiting Canton to check out the store.
An autographed Marbury Timberwolves jersey will be on display in the store, along with memorabilia from several other NBA all-stars and Hall of Famers.
The three-story venue covers 2,680 square meters and is split into different sections, including athletic wear on the first floor, a museum-like collection of NBA memorabilia (worth a visit) and customized apparel and gifts on the third floor.
In addition to selling NBA-related products, the shop has plans to give NBA fans a better overall experience with VR basketball activities and a massive 5-meter screen for fans to catch NBA games in the upcoming season.
While we can’t confirm anything, the shop opening could be a good sign for an NBA game in Guangzhou in the near future...
For more China news, scan the QR code below:
THE
RANDOM NUMBER
5,000
… is the number of foreign nationals who have been busted for illegally crossing China’s borders so far in 2020. As you can imagine, it’s not easy getting into any country given the current state of world affairs, with China border authorities handling more than 700 illegal bordercrossing cases since the start of the year. According to Xinhua, the crackdown on illegal border crossings has been effective in halting inbound COVID-19 cases via illegal entry channels. Yin Chengji, deputy head of the administration, said at a press conference last month that China has closed 46 land points of entry and 66 border crossings since the start of the epidemic.
BUZZ
DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
Chef Wang Gang
The internet celebrity chef from Sichuan faced backlash from viewers last month after being accused of posting a politically charged cooking tutorial (we know, it’s as crazy as it sounds). Known for clear-cut and precise cooking videos of Chinese cuisine, Chef Wang posted a fried rice tutorial in late October which happened to fall on the same day as the death anniversary of Mao Anying, Chairman Mao’s eldest son. According to Sup China, Mao Jr. “broke air defense protocols and cooked egg fried rice in the Chinese HQ” during the Korean war, which compromised his position and led to a US bombing that ended up taking his life. Some netizens accused Chef Wang of 辱华 (disgracing the country) because of the timing of the video. Chef Wang responded to the criticism by saying he apologized if he offended anyone.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
said one Weibo user after news outlets projected that former Vice President Joe Biden had beaten incumbent President Donald Trump in early November. The Chinese internet was glued to the election outcome, garnering nearly 13 billion views for the Weibo hashtag ‘US Election’ (＃美国大选＃). While netizens debated what a new US president could mean for US-China relations, one person had an optimistic outlook, tweeting a line that read, “If Biden is elected, I am really sure that relations between China and the US are gonna be normalized. Because Beijing has the ForBiden City.”
MANDARIN MUMBLES
2020 Chinese Slang
With 2020 winding down, we decided to compile some Mandarin slang phrases and euphemisms that rose to popularity – according to those we asked – this year. If you are looking for some witty one liners to impress your local friends, then look no further…
To learn more fun phrases, scan the QR code:
Dongsi No. 78 Boutique Apartment is located close to Dongsi Station (Line 5) and Wangfujing Commercial District and is within walking distance of the Palace Museum.It is also close to political, economic and commercial landmarks such as the CBD International Trade Center, the Embassy District and Financial Street. The 14 units of exquisitely designed Chinese- and Western-style apartments are simple and pleasant and show the blended style. Spacious studio, one-bedroom suites and a two-bedroom penthouse, with a comfortable layout, can meet the diverse needs of different people.
Go get ’em 盘他 Pán tā
I’m jealous 我酸了 Wǒ suānle
Loosely meaning ‘go collect them’, pan ta is a versatile phrase that has different contextual meaning. For instance, if you are angry at someone then you can instruct your goons to go and beat them up by saying pan ta. However, if your friend is expressing interest in a good looking man or woman then you can encourage your friend to go talk to them by using the same phrase.
Suan means sour and, like the other phrase for jealousy chicu (eat vinegar), you can use this verb to express that you are jealous of someone or tired of their boasting.
I saw it with my own eyes 确认过眼神 Quèrènguò yǎnshén
This phrase was made popular by famous Chinese singer JJ Lin (林俊杰) and it means ‘confirmed it with my own eyes’. It is often used for things that cannot be physically seen, but more as a way of expressing one’s certainty.
Photo cheater 照骗 Zhào piàn
You probably get the point from the English translation, but this hilarious phrase targets individuals who go overboard on selfie edit apps. Kind of like when Candy from sales posts a photo with her eyes three times larger than how they look at
DONGSI NO. 78 BOUTIQUE APARTMENT
the office. It’s not surgery; it’s software.
> No.78 Dongsi Sitiao, Dongcheng District 东城区东四 四条 78 号 (010-8406 1099)
A group of children playing football on South Yincheng Road, which was still a construction site, 1997.
PUDONG’S PROGRESS
Photographer Wu Jianping on Capturing 30 Years of Change
By Ned Kelly
A bird’s-eye view from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, 1997.
Last month marked the 30th anniversary of the central government proclamation that instigated the openingup and development of Shanghai’s Pudong. Photographer Wu Jianping captured the district as it transformed from a shantytown into a glass and steel world finance, trade and tech hub. We sat down with him to hear his story.
Chamber pots were used for thousands of years in China. They were commonly used in Shanghai, which was divided into social classes. One indication of class distinction is whether a family had a flush toilet. Renji Road, 1997. Packing up. Dongning Road, 2000.
Wu Jianping fell in love with photography before he even owned a camera. “I was born in 1958 in a small mountain village in western Zhejiang province, in an ordinary plumber’s family,” Wu explains. “My village was submerged by an artificial lake created by a hydropower station, and my first job was on the construction of the power station, blacksmithing, forging track pins and fasteners for bulldozers, excavators and dump trucks.”
With the money he made, Wu would travel to Hangzhou and Shanghai, visiting bookstores and buying photography books and picture albums. “However, due to economic constraints, I could not afford a camera. That was, until 1987. My younger brother, who studied in Germany, returned to China and gave me a high-end Minolta 300 camera, plus a 28-80mm zoom lens. My life as a photographer was born.”
Fast forward a decade to June 1997 and a friend invited Wu to a small gathering in Shanghai. After lunch, they visited the Oriental Pearl Tower. “When I went up the tower, I was surprised to see that, among the gradually expanding traffic avenues and the high-rise buildings rising from the ground, there remained a large number of blackening old houses, right beneath my feet.
“I preferred photographic themes of human social order, so was fascinated by this shantytown, a sea of old-style homes and communities waiting to be torn down. And all entirely invisible if you were looking over from the Bund and Puxi. I secretly thought that it should be preserved in photos.”
The very next day, Wu made his way back over the river to the shantytown. One of the first people he encountered was a middle-aged woman with a pushcart piled high with chamber pots, toilet brush in hand. Flush toilets were unheard of in the old houses; the best a resident could hope for was to be able to afford to pay someone else to wash their wooden pot.
People took baths in the open in summer because their homes were too small and ill-equiped. Bailianjing, 2006.
A bird’s-eye view of Dongchang Road, Dongning Road and Lannidu Road from Jin Mao Tower, which was still under construction, 1998.
“She was unsure of me at first, and it took several visits before she opened up,” Wu says. “I went on to learn from her that she had a mentally disabled child and, with her family entirely reliant on her income from scrubbing the pots, would work through wind and rain.”
As Wu returned to the neighborhood, more and more residents got to know him, striking up conversations, telling him their stories and inviting him in for a meal or even to stay the night. “Most people understood the purpose and intention of my shooting and were very cooperative and supportive, taking the initiative to help me and provide me with some assistance.”
The resulting photos are an intimate portrait of an otherwise forgotten Pudong. “I consider my subject the ‘Pudong Family,’” Wu says of the series. “If you compare it to a person, then each photo is like an organ or a limb of the human body. Each image is an important part of making up the whole.”
There were mixed emotions and varied responses from the residence to the changes taking place. “Of the people I encountered, most accepted the demolition and relocation; the majority were very happy to be moving to a modern apartment with running water and plumbing.
“Then there were those – many of them elderly people – who would get nostalgic and say they would miss their communities and were unwilling to leave. Others thought that, as the land would have a higher price in the future, they would never be able to afford to return to their home neighborhood.”
As for Wu, while he felt it was important to document the transition, he viewed the change as progress. “As a Chinese [person], I always hope that my country will develop and get better and better, and the lives of the people will become happier and happier. Most ordinary people understood and supported the government’s various policies and measures to develop and open Pudong.”
That said, Wu is quick to pay tribute to the residents of a now-vanished Pudong who, when they needed to cross the river, would say they were “going to Shanghai,” as they didn’t consider themselves actual residents of the city.
“What impressed me most about Pudong was not its material development, but the way people prevailed over difficult living conditions and daily struggles,” says Wu. “They were knowledgeable, open-minded and patient, and I was moved by their toughness, their generosity and their hopefulness.
Wu remembers being on the ferry over from Puxi one day and asking an ordinary Pudong resident what he thought of the development. “He spread his arm across, presenting the shiny new skyscrapers: ‘If Pudong wasn’t developed, I’d still be a country bumpkin,’ he joked. ‘This is better.’”
Wu Jianping’s book The People of Pudong and his images are for sale for as little as RMB500, framed and with free delivery in China. For more information scan the QR code:
ARTS LIFE &
Hospitality Heroes The Winners from the That's 2020 Hospitality Awards, Plus Photos p20
