An era ended

MJ, King of Pop

When the shocking news reached this corner of the world in the morning, I felt really sad. I was not and never expected to get emotional. The polarized image of MJ had been lingering in my head for a long time. But, that did not last any longer. I got overwhelmed by the sadness in the afternoon when I was looking through the news and the reactions of people on the internet. Those photos, music and videos are so evocative of the old days when MJ was singing. I just could not hold back the emotion and it's stirring inside! Words fail me ...

Michael，你依然是那个流行乐之王! 一路走好!

It's Barca time on Dragon Boat Festival holiday

I didn't get up at 2:30 AM this morning as planned to watch the Champions League Final live on TV. I'm a fan of attractive and attacking football. Arsenal and Barca are my favorite football clubs. So when I woke up in the morning, I was a happy man. Barcelona is the WINNER! Ha, ha ... Rookie coach Pep Guardiola outsmarted Sir Alex Ferguson. Barca beat Man. United by 2:0. I'm watching the replay of the match now. Lionel Messi had a fantastic game and he is my pick for the World's Best Player of the year. It's great news to begin with the traditional Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. I'm going to buy and eat Zongzi to celebrate Barca's win and the festival today.

The Dragon Boat Festival is widely celebrated in China. This morning, CCTV had a good coverage of the celebrations in Guangdong, Guizhou, Zhejiang and across the country. The celebration event in my hometown (actually my father's hometown), Jiaxing of Zhejiang province, was on TV for about 2 minutes. Jiaxing is well known for Zongzi with the brand name of Wu Fang Zhai (五芳斋). Various fillings are used for Wu Fang Zhai Zongzi, and they are delicious! According to the TV report this morning, over 150 million Zongzi are produced by Wu Fang Zhai and sold across China every year. I'm going to buy some in the nearby supermarket here in Beijing. Great to eat Zongzi from my hometown on Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

Barca's win is great, Zongzi is delicious and the festival begins!

China's 'angry youth'

Translation: (The words on the flags:) 'Justice' and 'Conscience'.

Chinese angry youth: 'Want to know what 'angry youth' really means? Just look at the words on my flags!'

'Angry youth' isn't 'angry youth' literally. Please, I hope some people can stop messing around with the phrase.'
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When I was criticizing western media's so-called 'balanced report' about China at a dinner with a friend the other day. He said, 'You're still an angry youth (fenqing in pinyin, or 愤青)'. Of course, he was not saying in a derogatory way. It was slightly complimentary. I assume he meant I was still challenging things that I thought was unfair.

However, the phrase 'angry youth' is always associated with nationalism in western media. Actually, Chinese angry youth are very diverse in their opinions. Two Chinese angry youth may have different, even opposit opinions about something. Calling those Chinese who stand up against western media 'nationalists' does not tell what 'angry youth' really means in China. In my opinion, 'angry youth' refers to a person who is somewhat rebellious, outspoken and would challenge the perceived unfairness, unjustice and unequality. Also, 'angry youth' is an universal phenomenon. Che Guevara is regarded as the most famous 'angry youth' by many Chinese.

Adrian Geiges from Germany, was also an 'angry youth'. He published a book entitled How The World Revolution Once Accidentally Started In The Black Forest. The Chinese version of the book is entitled 《我的愤青岁月》(literally translated as My Days As An Angry Youth). 'Angry youth' does not necessarily refer to the young, but also the middle-aged and the old. Are 'Chinese angry youth' nationlists? Some are, some are NOT. Therefore, 'nationalist' should NOT be an acronym for 'China's angry youth'.