Although some of China’s history has been lost to time, here’s a fascinating look at how life was at Shanghai’s Jiaotong University during the 1920s.

This historical footage was unearthed by CCTV and features footage taken at the university in 1926 for the school’s 30th anniversary. Shot by an unnamed school alumni, the black and white silent film shows students and teachers at Jiaotong going about their classes and taking part in sports like rugby, tennis, basketball, swimming, and ping pong.

What’s notable about the footage is that even though students are seen wearing both Western and Chinese attire, all men are seen with their hair cut short and worn in a long queue as was the tradition during the Qing Dynasty. This distinction also points out that of all the footage from the school, not one woman is seen.

Here’s the video:

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The documentary revealed the “United States’ double standards on human rights-related issues, whereby the US pokes its nose into other countries’ internal affairs while leaving many of its own problems unsolved.”

The show said human rights are a diplomatic tool used by the US to get what it wants on the international stage, and not actually something important to itself and its citizens. The show is devoted to testing the USA’s commitment to human rights, summed up in the title “The Human Rights Record of the ‘Human Rights Defender'”.

The CCTV documentary puts the blame on US exceptionalism, saying that the US thinks of itself as a superior country that needs to “police” the world. The show quotes John Withrop’s 1630 “city upon a hill” sermon for being the inspiration for US exceptionalism.

Liu Huawen, executive director of the Human Rights Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), casts the first stone in doubting the US’s true intentions:

Looking at the records of the US’s human rights diplomacy, it has given itself a voice to pass judgment on other countries outside of the framework (and procedure) of the UN.

Chang Jian, deputy director of the Human Rights Research Center at Nankai University, said the US is only speaking out for its own self interests when accusing a country like China of human rights abuses:

When it speaks of human rights, on the surface it says that human rights are higher than sovereignty, higher than anything, but in reality, the interests of the US are higher than anything.

But as the show continues with a deluge of facts and statistics meant to embarrass the US for its human rights abuses, the bias of the CCTV “documentary” becomes more evident.

Testimony by “human rights expert” Antonio Ginatta:

I expect the US to look at its own domestic record and improve its own domestic record. It is hypocritical to say to other countries that it should improve their own records while it does not improve its own.

And yet, even though Ginatta’s words echo that of China’s authorities, the organization he belongs to regularly criticized China for its human rights violations as well.

The CCTV documentary fails to mention that Ginatta is a member of Human Rights Watch (HRW), a group focused on protecting human rights throughout the world. Besides having a blocked website, HRW is not particularly respected in China. Just last month, an op-ed in the China Daily blasted Human Rights Watch for “subjective bias and prejudice” for criticizing the lack of freedom of religion in China.

The documentary again makes a self-referential criticism when it calls out the US on its wealth inequality. CASS Institute of American Studies researcher Ji Hong said, “The wealth is concentrated in the hands of even fewer people. This inequality between rich and poor is very serious in the US.”

Meanwhile, China’s own wealth inequality is veering dangerously out of control with reports that the country’s top one percent own up to a third of all property in China. As well for the first time ever, China has the most billionaires in the world at 568 while some estimates put the number 50 percent higher.

As well, the documentary takes the USA to task for the proliferation of police brutality inflicted on minority communities, bringing up cases like Tamir Rice, a 12 year-old boy who was gunned down by police while playing with a toy gun in a park. The show points out that racism has become systemic in police departments around the country, going largely unchecked by US authorities.

However, Chinese news media aren’t as quick to condemn police brutality when dealing with the case of Peter Liang, a former NYC police officer who has been convicted of manslaughter for having accidentally discharging his firearm, killing an innocent civilian. The Beijing News reported “Liang is being made a scapegoat for a series of police killings of African-Americans” while a China Daily op-ed points out that even though white police officers have enjoyed the laxness of the law when it comes to police brutality, “non-whites are not treated equally in the country”.

The documentary digresses the furthest away from the topic of human rights when it delves into US gun control. As convoluted as this topic is, what with the high number of victims shown by the documentary, firearm ownership in the US remains a protected right of all citizens under the second amendment.

The documentary highlighted the ability of a free press to expose corruption within a country. Not only did it credit the Miami Herald for exposing the human rights abuses of the Lowell Correctional Institution in 2015, it also noted that CBS was brave enough to report on US troops destroying villages during the Vietnam war. China, by contrast, does not have a free press.

Here’s the video:

The post China Blasts “Hypocrite” USA on Poor Human Rights Record appeared first on The Nanfang.

The 14-minute black and white footage, uploaded to Sina Video, shows street scenes of Beijing during the 1920s. While the footage was taken after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the fashions of the time remained feudal as men still wore their hair in queues. Rickshaws and horse-drawn wagons fill the streets of Beijing while bystanders turn and gawk at the camera, probably the most advanced technology at the scene.

The video shows some familiar Beijing sights such as the city’s massive gates. There are also some familiar Chinese traditions, including hawkers selling their wares on the street, and open air diners.

One of the most interesting parts of the video comes at the end when we get a taste of Beijing culture almost a hundred years ago. Although there isn’t any audio, Beijing residents greet each other with a double curtsy by bending at the knees as well as bowing, customs that don’t exist anymore.

Check it out for yourself. Here’s the video:

[h/t GoHiroki of reddit China]

The post Watch: What Beijing Was Like in the 1920s appeared first on The Nanfang.

While many of the scenes in the film appear to be staged, it’s still a welcome bit of nostalgia. With the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution still to come, life in 1955 seems to reflect a simpler time.

A Sunday in Peking also shows that despite the rapid urbanization that defines modern China, some things haven’t changed. Beijing’s parks are still packed with people enjoying their time off, while city avenues are still jammed with tiny stores and alleys that lead to the city’s hutongs.

Most surprising however is that face masks worn by residents were about as common in 1955 Beijing as they are today. While there doesn’t seem to be as much air pollution and haze judging by the city’s blue skies, the city was still prone to sand storms. Perhaps least surprising, is the city’s love affair with military parades, which as the photos suggest, were just as popular 60 years ago as they are today.

Seeing face masks make an appearance in the documentary had a big impact on many Chinese netizens. One person wrote, “The smog back then was also severe,” while another said, “So back in 1955, Beijing already had smog?!!!”

Sunday in Peking recently had its Kodachrome film stock fully restored.

Here’s the video on Youku, with full English narration:

And here it is on Youtube:

The post Documentary Depicts A 1955 Beijing In Vivid Imagery appeared first on The Nanfang.

The film, currently banned in India, focusses on the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder of a young medical student, Jyoti Singh. India’s Daughter will also be shown in four other Chinese cities in the next few weeks, including Xi’an, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

The documentary was banned in India by authorities who argue the film is “a one-sided, seamy picture about the condition of women in Indian society”. Indian authorities blocked its scheduled March BBC television broadcast by obtaining a court order, and later ordered Youtube to block the video in India.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh defended the ban, saying the government “will not allow any attempt by any individual, group or organisation to leverage such unfortunate incidents for commercial benefit.” During the same parliamentary debate, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu spoke of “a conspiracy to defame India.”

As reported by the Times of India, the Chinese screenings of India’s Daughter address the issue of censorship:

The festival is also expected to see a discussion about the film and India’s decision to ban it. [Director Lindsee] Udwin, who has been listed as a speaker at the festival, is likely to take up the issue to an audience of people connected with the film industry across the world besides the Chinese.

2015 has seen a number of films in India get banned or be refused a rating from the Censor Board, necessary for public broadcast. Reasons for banning these films include provoking “unnatural passions” and causing sectarian violence, sexual content, and concerns from the country’s intelligence bureau.

Meanwhile, over the past year, China has banned a number of Western televisions shows from broadcast over the internet while prohibiting the depiction of smoking, sexual content, or even actors associated with drug use in real life.

The post Controversial Rape Documentary Banned in India Will Be Screened in China appeared first on The Nanfang.

The BBC documentary Secrets of China is making waves in the UK for showing what it’s really like to live in China these days, but it’s also become controversial inside China after translations of the show circulated online.

One of the flashpoint surrounds an interview with 27 year-old Western-educated Wang Sicong, the owner of a large online gaming company in China. Wang was unusually frank in his replies to the BBC over the state of Chinese society. Wang admits that video games made by his company serve as a temporary escape from society, but that Chinese are stuck within this construct because “there is really no way of succeeding outside the system.” When asked about how Chinese adults become individuals, Wang answered:

The state chooses what’s mainstream, and you have to conform to that. If your ideals are not mainstream, then you’re wrong. But of course, everyone has their own ideas, so what they do is they put on a mask and they go forward in life with the mask. Why is online gaming becoming so popular in China? Because once you go online you can take off that mask and say whatever you really think instead of what is mainstream.

Then he was asked if the lack of freedom in China makes people unhappy:

I think at some point you just accept it. That’s why you don’t see many people protesting in China, I suppose… because they realize… some point in time, some point in (their social) class, that even by protesting they can’t change much. They could arrest you for that, so it’s… I mean, in China, where the line is really quite questionable. We don’t really know where the line is. The laws are not very explicit.

Chinese netizens got a taste of Wang’s brutal honesty through translated videos and screengrabs of the interview. But while Wang was discussing the core of what it means to be living in China today, it’s his status as the son of one of China’s most powerful men that has drawn the most attention.

Wang is the son of China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, the head of China’s largest property developer, the Dalian Wanda Group. Many netizens focused on his position as a fuerdai (富二代), meaning a “second-generation rich child” and a term that has a negative connotations in China, rather than the controversial remarks he made in the interview.

Here’s some of what netizens had to say:

断背山下的百合花：
European and US reporters are always criticizing from their high horse, talking about universal values.

离Dream的Dream：
He spoke truthfully without an extreme tone, and wasn’t lead on by the BBC reporter. And yet, people still think that he is this successful just because of his father’s money?

Ys_凹凸蔓：
Don’t just say he is just a basic fuerdai. This guy is an exceptional fuerdai, he has his own company with its own high salary. Some people are saying that he would be nothing without his father. Please! Without his dad, this guy would be the father to a fuerdai of his own. Terrifying…

本命年也要求好运：
Having money is not as good as having rights.

凤乙：
This reporter is not professional. Her questions are so subjective and biased. You can see she has already made her mind up about China, and that she is looking for answers that she wants to hear. And the questions she asks are so long, how can the interviewee remember what she asked in the first place? 

要成为跟卡咩一样好的人：
I really feel that Wang Sicong is a talented and capable fuerdai.

鹏鹏鹏蓬蓬蓬：
All those people saying that Wang Sicong is only successful because of his father being rich is just a case of sour grapes. I’ll give you RMB 500 million, and lets see if you can pass the national examination. Would you set up your own online gaming platform? Would you invest your money? He did, and what’s more he was a poor student that attended Oxford on a scholarship. Have you done it? If the father and mother aren’t able to do it, you won’t be able to do it either. All those people who have come here to voice their grievance at Wang Sicong, what are you going to do, beat the computer screen in front of you?

琼999999999：
I just wanted to say that the foreign reporter (spelled with the characters for “prostitute”) is a stupid cunt! It’s does not make a lick of difference to foreigners if we have freedom, or how we are doing! Always coming to China to interview Chinese, can you handle it?

曳火流明：
My cultivation is not high enough, apparently. I don’t think his answers are all that illuminating.

凯爷的王大源儿：
Even though it’s clear that (Wang) is a thoughtful man, I still have the feeling that his words are the result of a trap set by the BBC.

娱桑：
Quit kneeling and kissing ass. Why is it I get the feeling that this malicious reporter has set a trap for Wang Sicong, and that he’s fallen into it face first?

一枚小宝器：
This is why among entertainment circles, you can only trust Sicong. His stature and position are fixed, and so there’s no need for him to lie whatsoever.

–赵航–：
After watching, I have no idea what he’s talking about… 

懒_人_张：
Actually, Wang’s thinking is quite clever. 

Biubiuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu：
This reminds me of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

愿为你L：
How ironic. However, what (Wang) said is a fact. If you don’t want to comply, there’s no way for you to not comply.

monodramabecky：
Just listen to (how good) his English is. 

耶路撒冷的呼召：
He is, in fact, saying the truth.

橙橙橙橙橙橙陈_：
I think that for some of these commenters, the only proper reply Wang Sicong could have answered with is: ‘Screw you! China is great! Ask me again, and I will beat you! Also, Chinese video games are the best, as are their physiques! Long live China!’ Only an answer like that would constitute a proper response.

共济会驻京办：
There was a scene from the movie The Shawshank Redemption in which the librarian of the prison discovered that he wasn’t able to leave the system of the prison when he was to be set free… and so he killed himself by hanging.

欧阳澄璧：
You can choose freedom, but the government is able to define what “freedom” means.

ACCCF：
This guy has enjoyed the prosperity of the system. And going by his words, I’d reckon that the Wang family is going to go the way of the Qing Dynasty and have their lineage terminated just two generations in. Hey, Wang Junior: I hope you had a blast when you were young so that you’ll have something to remember when you’re old and have no money.

lson_lson：
This is something that all rational and mature adults know. However, there aren’t many willing to say it in a public forum.

田中-谦介：
I have to applaud a fuerdai product made by the system that is speaking the truth to a foreign audience.

The post BBC Documentary Saying Chinese Accept Their “Lack of Freedom” Incites Lively Online Debate appeared first on The Nanfang.

As captured in the documentary Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School by the BBC, the experiment tried to determine if doing things the Chinese way can turn around a British education system with lagging students. However, what mostly happened was a clash of cultures in which teachers and students complained about each other.

Many of the Chinese teachers complained about the undisciplined and unfocused nature of the British students. Science teacher Yang Jun was completely flummoxed when a teenage girl left the classroom in tears upon reading tabloid news about a boy band. “In China we don’t need classroom management skills because everyone is disciplined by nature, by families, by society. I found it difficult to understand such emotional behavior over a pop band,” said Yang.

Meanwhile, 15 year-old Rosie Lunskey also expressed frustration with her new Chinese teachers. “I’m used to speaking my mind in class, being bold, giving ideas, often working in groups to advance my skills and improve my knowledge. But a lot of the time in the experiment, the only thing I felt I was learning was how to copy notes really fast and listen to the teacher lecture us.”

But the controversy didn’t end there. The Chinese teachers also pointed their criticism at the UK social welfare system for causing apathy among its students.

Mandarin teacher Wei Zhao said cuts to the welfare system will motivate students to learn. “Even if they don’t work, they can get money, they don’t worry about it,” said Wei. “But in China, they can’t get these things so they know ‘I need to study hard, I need to work hard to get money to support my family’. If they (the British government) really cut benefits down to force people to go to work, students might see things in a different way.”

Widely available on the internet in China, the BBC documentary caused a lot of discussion among Chinese netizens who looked upon their own experiences with the Chinese education system. Here is some of what they said:

舞者的武者：
Looking at it from another aspect, Chinese students are better able to suffer in silence than students in the UK. 

HHHHHH学院:
It’s like as though by using English-style teaching, the results are supposed to be more innovative. This is just a bunch of crappy students trying to find excuses, and it’s hilarious.

好大一只_蚊：
Actually, I really like the Chinese education system. If it were to become as open and free as the UK system then I think it would turn to rubbish, exploiting the nation’s welfare system.

瓜田澄思：
After the documentary aired, a person from the UK made a post on Twitter saying the vast majority of the students in the film have self-discipline problems, have trouble with comprehension, don’t respect the authority of teachers, and are a disgrace to the UK by losing face. This comment said the UK education system has spoiled these children rotten. If the future of their country is within the hands of these people, then a catastrophe is awaiting. The Chinese and UK systems of education are completely different from each other, and yet they both give rise to a similar concern that they both don’t work.

See Also: 8,000 Chinese Students Expelled from US Schools as They Struggle to Adjust

斯坦福桥的BlueSky：
Chinese and Western education systems each have their own pros and cons, and it’s hard to distinguish who is better or worse at whatever. But there is one thing that is for sure, and that is no matter which system they’re in, lazy people will always be losers!

徐欣V：
It really is just as the teacher said, we don’t have any way to learn the same way as UK students due to the way the things are right now in China. The pressure upon Chinese students to compete with each other is fierce. The population is high. If you don’t work hard, you will get eliminated.

十多年熬一锅粥：
Comparing the two to each other, it’s not a bad idea to use the strengths of others in order to make up for your own shortcomings. So if I were to have incorporated farming techniques as part of my education, I would have become the worst of all students.

古三界：
One way is to perform rote memorization, the other is individualized teaching. One way is to cultivate students to become obedient slaves, the other is cultivate their hobbies and interests.

斑马先生随行笔记：
Many people say that there’s no use to learning mathematics. They say, ‘Do you need to use algebra when buying vegetables?’ I just want to tell these people that upon learning mathematics, you won’t even need to look at the price of vegetables anymore.

大西北的吕先生：
To all the people who say that the Chinese education system has failed, I have to tell you that all the people that have passed through this system will go on to become the cornerstones of society. It may even be that they will become the leaders of China will come from these so-called failed education system. At that time, what are you going to do? Are we all going to die, then?

小小鹿汤圆：
I don’t understand why there are so many Chinese criticizing their own education system as being completely worthless. Other countries find merit and redeeming quality in our education system. Why can’t we be more tolerant and friendly towards our own country?

静夜之轩：
Many of the scientists in laboratories across the USA are from China. Does this not dispel the awful notion that Chinese people are not innovative? The Chinese education system is one where short-term gains can not be met. Even if you were to put US teachers into Chinese high school classes, one week would not be enough time to make an impact upon these students. As well, through the examination you can establish a sturdy base of knowledge as well as providing a way to achieve good results.

forever辰洋：
I don’t know if Chinese-style education in the UK would be at all effective, but I do know that UK-style education practiced in China would be completely useless.

哈哈公主o：
All of a sudden, I feel as though the Chinese-style education isn’t all that bad anymore.

o阿硫克o：
I feel relieved upon reading through the comments. A lot of people seem to understand, while those that don’t aren’t ever likely to understand, no matter which education system they come from. Lots of other countries are starting to study our education system. There will be those people who will invariably belittle and reject our way of learning. I completely believe that the future will belong to China.

allisonlian：
This kind of comparative test is significant. These two education models can increase their strengths through mutual advancement, and is worth exploring.

在自己的故事里成为强者：
Whatever suits the situation of their own country is best. The Chinese education system is not suitable for the UK, while the UK education system is not suitable for China.

L翘翘：
When I was younger I preferred the foreign education system, but now I find myself increasingly in favor of the Chinese system. Some people say that the Chinese education system doesn’t encourage innovation. A person who recently took the gaokao said the questions have all been reformed and don’t ask for the rote answers that were common a few years before. Now, the teacher tells us we should ask if we don’t understand something, and is more prone to discussing things with us. Students who are cultivated to be modest, understanding, and respectful of the authority of teachers will most likely become people who respect the older generation and follow order.

Related:

• Teacher in Foshan sends group text message to parents calling students “trash”
• 70 Students In Shanghai Caught Using Stand-ins To Take Their CET English Exams
• Chinese Spending Big Bucks On Housing In The Name Of Their Children’s Education

The post Chinese React to a Disastrous Experiment of Putting Chinese Teachers in a UK School appeared first on The Nanfang.

The LA Lakers guard, who also toured Shanghai and Taipei, was mobbed by throngs of basketball fans during an appearance at a popular Guangzhou sports retailer. This is Bryant’s 12th trip to China since 2001. This year’s visit coincides with Bryant’s recent collaboration with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, and web portal Sina, to promote the domestic release of his documentary, Kobe Bryant’s Muse.

Chinese viewers will be able to watch the Showtime documentary exclusively through Tmall Magic Box, at a cost of eight yuan ($1.29). The Chinese version is reported to feature extra content not seen in the US release. Alibaba and Sina will create a new social media platform in order to promote the film, while Alibaba also plans to use Alibaba Pictures, the company’s film division, to create a line of Kobe Bryant-branded products that will be sold online.

The collaboration was first announced in June when Bryant provided online commentary for Game 3 of the NBA Finals as watched on the Sina web portal. The game was watched by 65 million people, and attracted 125 thousand comments.

Kobe Bryant’s Muse features interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, and Larry Bird. Inspired to make the documentary after getting injured, the film’s star and executive producer Bryant is seen opening up about his sexual assault case among other topics.

“I believe there is power in understanding the journey of others to help create your own,” said Bryant. “This narrative is an intimate look at who I am as a person, not what I am. My dream is that others are inspired by my personal story and create epic life stories of their own.”

The post NBA Star Kobe Bryant Attracts Huge Crowds in Guangzhou appeared first on The Nanfang.

To some, foreigners are magical. They are beyond the rules and context of Chinese culture, making them a subject of fascination in China.

One Guangzhou native named Hai Bin has decided to document the daily comings and goings of foreigners in this set of photographs. All shots are taken in public places, and it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he got permission to take these snaps.

Hai’s voyeurism has made him sympathetic to the plight of the foreigner, drawing up an unflattering comparison to make a conclusion that isn’t without irony:

(These foreigners) have left their native home to come here to Guangzhou, just the same as the migrants who come here to work. They get just as lonely.

Here are more of Hai’s photographs:

Photos: Nandu

h/t: @MissXQ

The post Guangzhou Photographer Reveals the Lonely Face of Foreigners in China appeared first on The Nanfang.

The show follows three ordinary mothers as they go through all the various steps of labor: from before the water breaks, through each of the many contractions and right at the moment the baby is finally born.

However, for documenting the miracle of life, Come On, Baby has incurred online controversy and been criticized for having content that is “too strong”. Mothers are shown in varying moments of pain as they cry out in anguish and wince in pain amid blood and sweat.

For being a documentary about childbirth, people have complained that Come On, Baby is too forthcoming in its depiction of childbirth.

Various Weibo comments are as follows, many grouped under the hashtag #Are you brave enough to watch a mother give birth?:

耶鲁宝贝：
Watched a bit of the Shenzhen documentary Come On, Baby and was a bit horrified by it. I don’t suggest anyone to watch it. Everyone’s situation is different, but to watch this show is only to add to your psychological trauma, and it won’t match the perfect, happy way you imagine it to be.

软妺:
#Come On, Baby# I will never have the courage to watch this show about having babies. It’s too terrifying; I feel as though a shadow has cast over my heart. [pitiful face] It’s too difficult to be a woman. Men, you should treat the woman by your side nicer. Are you able to endure the pain that women go through during pregnancy? [disappointed face]

A_moment_like_this_Zzz_:
After watching the episode “Male OB-GYN Doctor”, are you brave enough to give birth to a baby? It’s just too terrifying. It’s even more horrifying than a horror movie. There’s a splatter of blood; seeing that knife cut into the abdomen scared me half to death. [pitiful face] Really, to be a mother is the greatest role of all; Mother’s Day is the most meaningful festival ever.

鄭碧華-Becky:
Come On, Baby: After watching this, I felt like I could never give birth to a baby of my own [ill face]. Simultaneously, I feel that motherhood is so wondrous and great. Today is Mother’s Day, I wish my mother a happy Mother’s Day! [heart] [heart] Now I feel bad for my past behavior of being rebellious and contradictory towards my mother. Mother, I love you! At the same time, I also wish happiness to mothers everywhere, not just today, but happiness everyday.

Jessie瑾欣:
After watching a bit of the childbirth documentary, I didn’t dare to watch anymore of it, I simply couldn’t bear it. For one thing, it was difficult to face such physical pain, and for another, I felt shame at what my parents (have done for me).

温瞳41:
After watching Come On, Baby, I really don’t dare to give birth to a baby of my own. I feel that motherhood is too great a role for me. I must dutifully love and honor my mother [love you] [love you]

阿飞家的瑶瑶:
After watching the documentary on childbirth, I really don’t want to give birth to a baby of my own, it’s too horrifying. However, motherhood is really a great thing. Husbands that don’t treat their wives well should be drowned in a pig basket!!!

独立自主牌毛毛虫补脑液:
#Come On, Baby# After watching the show I wasn’t able to go to sleep, and now I don’t dare to give birth to a baby of my own. All I want to say is: mother, you’ve had it tough. [heart]

张小花小同学:
Watched “Male OB-GYN Doctor”. I really don’t have the courage to give birth to a baby. This morning, I overheard two female colleagues chatting in the elevator who said their children had wished them a happy mother’s day, and I was suddenly very moved by hearing it, really. These women were just 45 years-old.

超级无敌左:
#Come On, Baby# The first time I saw such a documentary, I didn’t want to have a baby anymore after watching it. Watching this show one time is enough. [tears]

居有竹食有肉:
Some co-workers saw Come On, Baby and directly stated that they’re “not willing to give birth to a baby, and are even a bit scared by it.” What does everyone else think?

黄小娣617:
Watched Come On, Baby; afterwards, I’m too afraid to have a baby of my own, it’s really too painful [goofy face] [goofy face]

Finally: China’s overpopulation problem solved by a show that could be aired on the Discovery Channel, and it isn’t even Mythbusters! However, there’s more to these statements than first meets the eye.

This documentary exposes another side of Chinese culture: the influence of Traditional Chinese Medicine on pregnancy. The mother is a conduit for the unborn baby, and Chinese parents have been known to have overzealous displays of protection towards the fetus, even disabling the internet to an entire building because “WiFi is radioactive“. It is common knowledge in China that a shock from falling into a lake is enough to cause a miscarriage in a pregnant woman, as seen on countless serial dramas.

As such, contrary to practices in Western medicine, drugs are not commonly administered during labor for Chinese mothers for fear that they too may impact the baby. The screams and pained looks of this documentary are of women who are giving birth while bareback, so to speak.

It’s easy to inflate the hype over this controversy when these female commentators seem to be refuting basic human truths, whereas in fact are basically advocating female ideals.

And after all, it did just air on Mother’s Day.

Related:
Guangdong’s New Two-Child Policy Off to a Rocky Start

Photos: Sina blog, CNR via Weibo, Csxww, Mop

The post Shenzhen Documentary “Come On, Baby” Criticized for its “Painful” Childbirth appeared first on The Nanfang.