What Writers Can & Can’t Write
Global Times describes the capricious demands of China’s censors and the various methods, from self-censorship to self-publishing, by which writers work around them. The manuscript of a book usually...
View ArticleChina Braces for New Year Travel Rush
The Chinese New Year sees hundreds of millions return to their hometowns, placing an enormous strain on transport networks that are frequently already stretched. Many will take home partners to meet...
View ArticlePre-Execution Reality TV Show on Death Row?
Henan Television’s legal channel has been airing the reality TV show Interviews Before Execution (临刑会见) since 2006. Due to its online availability [zh], the program has been widely viewed across China....
View ArticleTV Host Applauds “Cleaning Out Foreign Trash”
Since 2000, Yang Rui has been the host of English-language CCTV 9′s ‘Dialogue’ talk show and as such, in James Fallows’ words, part of “the face the government wants to present to the outside world.”...
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The Charms of Qing TV
The Economist's Analects blog has a post about the recent television dramas about the Qing Dynasty, such as Palace, and suggests that the popular image of the Manchus is far from accurate: Actors in...
View Article“Mad Men” Reflects Modern Life in China
As more Hollywood firms look to Asian themes or partnerships in filmmaking due to China’s rise, Chinese audiences are becoming a growing factor in the distribution of films. With the deal between...
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Sharp Arrow Operation: World War II Kung Fu
How does a Chinese television producer please viewers and censors alike? How many “Anti-Japanese War” shows can the Chinese public take before they decide to tune out for good? How much patriotic...
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Dying for a Living: Anti-Japan War Actors
Succumbing to a kung fu master: it’s all in a day’s work. SARFT demand has forced “Anti-Japanese War” film and television productions to saturate the market. Programming on the Sino-Japanese War, part...
View ArticleTV Documentaries to Need SARFT Pre-Approval
Chinese filmmakers and media experts have expressed skepticism about the practicality and motives of a new requirement for pre-approval of T.V. documentaries by the State Administration of Radio, Film...
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Censorship Vault: “Truth” About Gansu Self-Immolations
From the Censorship Vault features previously untranslated censorship instructions from the archives of the CDT series Directives from the Ministry of Truth (真理部指令). Central Gannan [Tibetan Autonomous]...
View ArticleChinese Parents Reject ‘Brainwashing’ Book List
At Tea Leaf Nation, Liz Carter surveys and translates parents’ online reaction to a list of books and films that the government will be promoting, many of which have strong nationalistic and...
View ArticleChina to Limit “Superfluous” TV Talent Shows
Xinhua reports that China’s media watchdog is making moves to limit the amount of airtime taken up by televised singing competitions: China’s TV regulator on Wednesday announced that it is going to cap...
View ArticleZombie Show Plays Into China’s Apocalypse Fears
The fourth season of an American zombie apocalypse television show, The Walking Dead, has become “the most-watched” season of any Western television show available on Youku, China’s Youtube, with...
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What Do You Know About Xinwen Lianbo?
on November 13, the web portal KDNET posted an infographic about CCTV’s flagship news program, Xinwen Lianbo (News Simulcast) to its official Weibo. China Media Project determined that the post had...
View ArticleRegulator Mutes Dialects, Foreign Languages & Slang
Global Times reports instructions for TV and radio hosts to use more “proper Putonghua”: The State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China issued a notice,...
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