WorldToChina

      In the past three days, I paid a visit to my birth place– the Old Town, Luodai City. When the bus arrived, I couldn’t even believe it is the town I grew up in. The traffic jam was serious. Thus we had to get off the bus one stop in advance and walk to the gate of the town on ourselves.

      The town is distincted and famous for its characteristic Hakka Culture. In Chinese, it is called “kejia” culture. Kejia(guest family) in Mandarin is a concept of ethnic group and also a cultural concept indicating “to be guest in hometown of other people”. And it is pronounced as Hakka in English.

      Hah, I wanna to publicize my hometown here. Yep, let me say more about the mysterious Hakka Culture.

      Origination of Hakka: Most experts concluded that Hakka are the inhabitants at junction of Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangxi Province due to the continuous immigration of Hakka ancestors from the north to the south China in many years.      

      Development of Hakka: in the late years of South Song Dynasty, due to a new tide of immigration and increase of population, inhabitants in south Jiangxi and west Fujian started moving toward east Guangdong where were unpopulated. Especially, the invasion of Mongolian resulted in terrible turmoil in south China again. Some of the thousands of officers and soldiers, after defeated by the Mongolian armed forces, moved into west Fujian and east Guangdong. Since then until the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, many inhabitants in south Jiangxi and west Fujian kept immigrating to east Guangdong. In the later period of Ming Dynasty, some inhabitants in east Guangdong once again returned back south and central Jiangxi, even moved to Zhejiang, Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou, and some of them moved to Taiwan, southeast Asia and other regions in the world.

      The Hakka dishes have their own series. The most known dishes include Jiudouwan (nine big bowls), brewed bean curd, salty chicken, and the special dishes including the smoked goose , the wild fungus dishes , the crisp and flour soup are well known. Especially in summer, when the wild funguses (the local people call it as chicken foot mushroom) that can not be planted by manpower get harvested, many tourists come to this town to taste it.

     If you haven’t been to this magical place, welcome!

     Last night, I went to the cinema again. Maybe it is because I have been captured in that isolated college for too long a time that I just can’t help do excessive relaxation after the release.

      Last night, there was a movie called Help Me. At the first glance I took it for granted that it must be an American movie. However, when the light all went off and the screen on, I came to know it was a Chinese mainland product Then I felt a little bit disappointed, cuz’ it seems a sterotype that Chinese mainland product is always dull and cliche.

      Beyond my expectation was how the movie turned out to be. As the plot went on, I found it was not a horror movie with mere blood and scream. To a larger extent it was a psycho movie told with suspicion.

      Though this kind of movie has already numerous successful works in Hollywood, Help Me can also be called a forward step of mainland movie products, cuz’ from this movie I can see the producers are trying hard to improve mainland movies towards connotational and delicate. We cannot have too high expectation towards the growth of mainland movies. Or we will restrain the fresh imitations and innovations.

     What? You mean I spelled the word “happyness” wrongly? Oh, you haven’t seen the new outcome of Will Smith right? Its title is “The Pursuit of Happyness“. I watched it last night after my long sleep. It’s quite good. At least it is encouraging and spurring to me. I would like to enterprete the title as “the pursuit of dream”.

      Based on the true story of Chris Gardner broadcast three years earlier, this film takes us through seven months in the life of Gardner and his son, which includes his wife abandoning them, the loss of more than one domicile, and an attempt to complete a six-month internship that comes without a salary. After enduring many hardships, including homeless and living in shelters, story comes to a predictable ending of Chris becoming a successful stock broker (millionaire).

      It is a viral blast of the American Dream. His efforts embody certain American virtues like determination and idealism and hope.

      Smith portraits Gardner with a stoic sense of revolve, and Jaden Smith (Will’s real life son) gives an exellent performance as Gardner’s son Christopher. Together we can see them deal with situations that would push many beyond their capacities to cope with.

      However, no matter what the situation is, Gardner’s parenting skills remain sterling. On encouraging his son to live his dream, he said the line “Do not let anybody tell you can’t do something……”        As to the question why the movie’s title spells as “happyness” deliberately, I have no idea.
  

     Little Miss Sunshine is an American comedy whose plot is mainly developed when a family is driving on the road.The film introduces audiences to one of the most endearingly fractured families in recent cinema history:

      Richard (Greg Kinnear) is a motivational speaker on a career downslide yet stubbornly committed to his “Refuse to lose” philosophy. His wife Sheryl (Toni Collette) barely disguises her impatience with his canned claptrap, hinting at deeper marital disharmony. Their teenage son Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a Nietzsche devotee maintaining a vow of silence until he’s old enough to become a fighter pilot, while Grandpa (Alan Arkin) is a profane old horndog with a heroin habit. Newest addition to the household is Sheryl’s suicidal brother Frank (Steve Carell), a renowned Proust scholar who lost both the male grad student he loved and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant to a rival academic.

     However, Olive (Abigail Breslin) is a slightly chubby, with a questioning nature and a fixation on beauty pageants. Having been taught to pursue her dreams, Olive has been privately rehearsing her talent routine with Grandpa; her shot at the Little Miss Sunshine crown is the engine that drives the comedy.

(final contest)

     Her worn-out parents gain strength from her hope, determination and enthusiastic innocence. Arkin’s grandfather has his faults, but he is devoted to Olive. The family’s bizarre experiences en route to the contest, culminating with the ultra-weird pageant atmosphere, somehow strengthen their ties.

     Though the theme of this movie maybe a little bit dark, it is a successful comedy anyway.
Most of the humor comes out of the sharply written script and arises naturally from the actions and motivations of the  characters. So, a movie really worth watching!

      In the movie “Brave Heart”, a legendary Scots warrior– William Wallace leads his nation into battle against the English in the years around 1300. It is a full-throated, red-blooded battle epic and an ambitious film, too. It advocates love, patriotism and treachery.

      According to an old epic poem, Wallace was a hero who unified the clans of Scotland and won famous battles against the English. Unfortunately, he was captured, tortured and executed as a traitor.          In the movie, when Wallace is stretched on the rack, he cried out his last word “freedom!” to the world. Even the person who has just protested against him is moved to tears, murmuring “mercy!” The last scene is the most shocking and moving scene for me personally. When it comes to the death of Wallace I was almost chocked by the sorrow. The bounded Wallace lying on the gallows make me can help thinking of the crucified Christ.     

     Huaqing Pool locates east of the city of Xi’an. In the Tang dynasty, Li Shimin (Emperor Tai Zong) ordered to construct the Hot Spring Palace, and Emperor Xuan Zong had a walled palace built around Lishan Mountain in 747. It was known as the Huaqing Palace. It also had the name Huaqing Pool on account of its location on the hot springs.

        Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought in the very remote past. Thus, by the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came at the head of eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, they lowered their guard so much that it became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Cause Way (玉堤), with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built at both ends of it respectively, to make the young dragons spout clear water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. Besides, he had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway, and obliged him to exercise control over the young. 

      Qipao is a distinctive Chinese female dress. It enjoys a growing popularity in the international fashion circle.

      It originated from the Manchu in the early 17th century. As the Mauchus call themselves “Qi people”, they named the typical royal dress to be Qipao. And modern Qipao is mostly designed on the basis of Shanghai version.

      Qipao is composed mainly of two pieced of silk textile. It calls for not much material, for there are no accessories like belts or scarves to go with it. Because of its simplicity, Qipao provides designers with vast and creative space: some short, some long, with low, high, or even no collars at all.

           Today, more and more women in China appreciate its beauty. It is suggested that this kind of dress should become the national dress for women in China.

    Have you ever heard of the unique traditional performance—face changing in Sichuan opera? Almost every tourist will be recommended to watch it in the famous Wuhou Temple, where there is a regular performance arranged to carry out on the big stage.

Face changing is the most amazing stunt in Sichuan opera. A performer in a black cap and black mantle flourishes his arm and twists his head, and his face changes into a horrible black face. He turns around and in the blink of an eye, a frivolous white face emerges. He turns around yet again, and a splendidly colored face suddenly appears!

    Can face changing be simply considered a magic trick? No! It is too vivid and striking. The essence of face changing lies in the meanings it contains and the emotions it expresses. Face changing was once a skill that was only passed on to men, but now there are some women face-changing performers who add a somewhat charming flavor to this historic art. 

  “Charlie, I’m coming. Where are you?”, Emily(Fanning) says, as she is playing the game Hide and Seek with her imaginary friend–Charlie. Craziness and split personality are filled into the plot.

   Unlike other thrillers, Hide and Seek reserved the fact to the last few minutes and made audience follow the seemingly reasonable answer to the suspense, only to find their reasoning totally turned over at last.

    The film begins with the death of Alison Callaway(Amy Irving), Emily’s mother. Fanning is deeply shocked on seeing her mother’s suicide. Her father, a child psychologist, David Callaway(De Niro), decides to take her to a suburban house to cure her mental desease, which seems to be caused by the accident of her mother. After they move into that house, Fanning acts in a very creepy way and refuses every method her father tried to engage her with others. More scaringly, she starts a friendship with an imaginary friend. From time to time, the horrible scene of her mother’s death reappears in the new house. It appears to be little Fanning’s revenge towards her father. Meanwhile, Niro seems to be a reaaly tolerant father by cleaning everything up without scolding Fanning. But she insists that all these things are done by Charlie.

   As the plot moves on, indicates begin to reveal themselves. Muddy shoes and unexpected butterfly powder on palm all suggest the split personality of Niro. But it’s hard of audience to notice those information the first time they appear. When it comes to the painful reflection of Niro between his personalities of Davi andCharlie, things turned out to be cleared up and astonishing. This unexpected, surprising and twisted ending is made more worth thinking by exposing it under our nose.

   Hide and Seek is a successful suspense movie. Both of the two main actors have done a terrific job. De Niro is a highly talented and mature actor, capable of handling all the psycho movements and tense atmosphere. Fanning is unpredictably skillful as so young an actress. She has made a creepy teen girl into life. Both the wonderful perforlmances of the actors and the twisting plot are to credit in the success of the movie.