Year of the Pig 2019

[GeneChing]

Stuffed pigs used in drill to instruct Hong Kong agricultural officials in how to cull sick animals in event of African swine fever outbreak (https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2176783/not-so-cuddly-stuffed-pigs-used-training-drill)
Photos of the exercise, which were posted on health minister Sophia Chan’s Facebook page, proved to be a surprising social media hit
PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 December, 2018, 8:31am
UPDATED : Friday, 07 December, 2018, 12:52pm
Ng Kang-chung

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2018/12/07/3c3d2f4a-f924-11e8-93b8-bdc844c69537_1280x720_125204.JPG?itok=fipQ6ZZe

Toys pigs, with a price tag of up to HK$700 (US$89) each, were enlisted to a drill this week to help train Hong Kong agricultural officials in how to kill sick animals in the event of African swine fever spreading across the border to Hong Kong farms.

Whether it is a bargain or not is a matter of opinion, but taxpayers have been told the toy pigs will cost them a total of about HK$20,000.

The surreal scenes of officials, in full protective gear, playing with the pink fluffy toy pigs – sending them to the cull one by one – quickly attracted the attention of the public after the pictures were posted on the official Facebook page of health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee.

The post, uploaded on Tuesday night, quickly became Chan’s most popular post in at least the past month, attracting over 43 comments and 156 “shares” in two days, compared with her usual Facebook posts that draw only a few comments.

One comment read: “The pigs are so cute.” Another read: “Can I adopt one?” Some were not too amused though, questioning if it was a waste of taxpayers’ money to buy toy pigs.

https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/12/07/3c75e2fe-f924-11e8-93b8-bdc844c69537_1320x770_125204.JPG
Agricultural officials conducting a swine fever culling drill using stuffed pigs. Photo: Facebook

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had conducted a “drill” two days earlier “to strengthen the preparedness of [the department] in case of an outbreak of [African swine fever]” on local farms.

The department did not elaborate on the mood of staff or the atmosphere during the training exercise, or who had first raised the idea of buying toy pigs for the drill, only saying that “more than 30 staff members, all of whom were from [the department], were involved in this drill”.

“A total of 28 big prop pigs (around HK$700 each) and two small prop pigs (around HK$80 each) were used during the drill. Prop pigs have not been disposed of but are currently stored away for reuse,” the statement read.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/12/07/3d275c78-f924-11e8-93b8-bdc844c69537_1320x770_125204.JPG
Marching the pigs to the cull. Photo: Facebook

How useful using toy pigs in a pig culling drill is, is anybody’s guess. The department statement also noted: “In reality, the method to be adopted for pig culling is subject to various factors, including the environment of the farm concerned, the number of pigs within the farm, the health conditions and size of the pigs, etcetera, and international guidelines on the culling of animals.

“Under objective conditions, [the department] will primarily make use of carbon dioxide for pig culling.”

Chan said in her post that she was there to oversee the drill, including inspecting the method employed to kill pigs. She was also briefed by the officers on their plans for a possible outbreak of African swine fever in Hong Kong farms.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/12/07/3cb1aa6e-f924-11e8-93b8-bdc844c69537_1320x770_125204.JPG
Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee with health officials during this week’s swine fever drill. Photo: Facebook

African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease that infects pigs. It does not affect other animal species or humans.

China reported its first outbreak in August in the north-eastern province of Liaoning. A total of 81 cases of the disease had been reported in 21 provincial regions as of December 3. Officials claimed the outbreaks were generally under control in China.

In her Facebook post, Chan said the government would take “decisive action” to minimise the impact on local farms if African swine fever were to spread to Hong Kong.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung

THREADS
Best remedy for Swine Flu? H1N1 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53888-Best-remedy-for-Swine-Flu-H1N1)
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

DECEMBER 18, 2018 / 3:59 AM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
China agriculture ministry confirms new African swine fever outbreak in Chongqing (https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFB9N1WP020)
1 MIN READ

BEIJING, Dec 18 (Reuters) - A new outbreak of African swine fever has been confirmed on a small pig farm in southwest China’s city of Chongqing, the country’s agriculture ministry on Tuesday.

The virus was detected on a farm with 23 pigs in Chongqing’s Bishan district, infecting eight animals and killing three, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.

China, home to the world’s biggest pig herd, has reported around 90 outbreaks of the highly contagious fever since August and earlier on Tuesday launched a campaign to crack down on illegal hog slaughtering to contain the spread. (Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by David Evans)


THREADS
Best remedy for Swine Flu? H1N1 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53888-Best-remedy-for-Swine-Flu-H1N1)
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

China to mark Year of the Pig with Peppa Pig movie as ‘subversive’ cartoon rehabilitated (https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/12/30/china-mark-year-pig-peppa-pig-movie-subversive-cartoon-rehabilitated/)
30 December 2018 08:00 AFP 2 min read

China is set to mark the Year of the Pig with a film starring “Peppa Pig,” the popular British cartoon character that fell foul of its censors earlier this year.

A government document listing upcoming movie projects shows a new film in the works titled “Peppa Pig celebrates Chinese New Year” to be released in February 2019 during the Lunar New Year holiday.

https://www.hongkongfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Peppa_Pig.jpg
Photo: Wikicommons.

The film includes Chinese New Year customs such as a dragon parade and fireworks, state-run China Daily reported.

Co-developed by Alibaba Pictures and Canadian media company Entertainment One — which currently produces Peppa Pig — the film includes the entire “Peppa Pig” cast and two new characters named Dumpling and Glutinous Rice Ball, two popular Chinese new year delicacies.

The series, introduced in the mid-2000s in China, has become extremely popular through episodes dubbed into Mandarin.

This fervour intensified at the end of 2017 among a young adult audience. Many internet users including stars sported temporary “Peppa Pig” tattoos in selfies, and cups, watches and clothes appeared bearing the image of the heroine Peppa.

A Chinese internet platform in May gave “Peppa Pig” the chop as state media lamented the series had become a “subversive” icon for slackers and anti-social young people.

https://www.hongkongfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/chrome_2018-05-02_10-36-36.jpg
Peppa the Pig. Photo: Wikicommons.

At least 30,000 clips of the British cartoon were removed from the popular Douyin video-sharing platform, while the #PeppaPig hashtag was banned from the site.

People who upload videos of Peppa Pig tattoos and merchandise and make Peppa-related jokes “run counter to the mainstream value and are usually poorly educated with no stable job,” state-run Global Times said after the ban.

“They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”

I've never watched Peppa Pig. Now I'm thinkin I should, just to get a handle on this. Anyone seen it?

[GeneChing]

This is really bad.


JANUARY 2, 2019 / 3:21 AM / UPDATED 9 HOURS AGO
African swine fever hits huge, foreign-invested Chinese farm (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-swinefever/african-swine-fever-hits-huge-foreign-invested-chinese-farm-idUSKCN1OW0RB)
4 MIN READ

BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported an outbreak of deadly African swine fever on a huge pig farm part-owned by a Danish investment fund, showing the spread of the virus to modern industrial farms expected to have the best levels of disease prevention.

http://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20190103&t=2&i=1341606068&r=LYNXNPEF0209Q
A vendor prepares pork for sale at a market in Beijing, China December 26, 2018. Picture taken December 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The outbreak occurred on a farm in Suihua city with 73,000 pigs in northeastern Heilongjiang province, owned by the Heilongjiang Asia-Europe Animal Husbandry Co Ltd, a company established in 2016.

The farm’s herd included 15,000 breeding pigs, according to its website, and it was aiming to produce 385,000 pigs for slaughter a year. Some 4,686 pigs had been infected and 3,766 animals died, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said late on Wednesday. All animals on infected farms must be culled under current rules.

The farm is the largest yet to be hit by the disease, which has infected almost 100 farms across China since August 2018, spreading faster than in any other country to date.

More than 200,000 pigs on infected farms have been culled, according to a Reuters tally of official figures, while hundreds of thousands more in the vicinity have also been put down.

China has the world’s largest hog herd and the rapid spread of African swine fever has roiled the country’s trade in pork, the nation’s most popular meat, disrupting supplies and pushing up prices in some areas.

Neither Heilongjiang Asia-Europe Animal Husbandry nor its majority owner, state-owned Zhejiang Rural Development Group Co. Ltd, responded to calls for comment.

Steffen Schiottz-Christensen, vice president for North Asia at Denmark state fund IFU, confirmed the outbreak but declined to comment further as he had yet to be fully briefed.

IFU, which provides risk capital and advice for investment in developing countries, invested 28.4 million DKK ($4.32 million) in the farm in 2017, according to its website, although its shareholding has since been diluted, Schiottz-Christensen said.

“The African swine fever situation is only getting worse. Small farms, big farms, slaughterhouses, feed - the whole production chain basically all got hit,” said Yao Guiling, an analyst with consultancy China-America Commodity Data Analytics.

Beijing has banned feeding kitchen waste to pigs, and restricted transport of live pigs and products from infected areas.

But the virus has now reached 23 provinces and municipalities across China. The disease is deadly to pigs but does not affect humans.

“The policies are good, but the increasing outbreaks show that there might be some problem with execution at the local government level,” said Yao.

China’s agriculture ministry also said on Wednesday that slaughterhouses will need to test their pork products for African swine fever before selling them to the market.

Slaughterhouses must slaughter pigs from different origins separately, and can only sell the products if blood from the same batch of pigs tests negative for the virus.

If the virus is detected, slaughterhouses must cull all pigs to be slaughtered and suspend operations for at least 48 hours, according to the regulation, which will go into effect from Feb. 1.

(For a graphic on 'Swine fever in China' click tmsnrt.rs/2QMhmzL)

Reporting by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton; editing by David Evans and Richard Pullin

THREADS
Best remedy for Swine Flu? H1N1 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53888-Best-remedy-for-Swine-Flu-H1N1)
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhQTjWJ0UjE

[GeneChing]

It's Zhao Wei again, with her huge spiritually-damaging billionairess gorgeous eyes. :eek:


Netizens creeped out by Burberry’s new Chinese New Year ad campaign (https://shanghai.ist/2019/01/07/netizens-creeped-out-by-burberrys-new-chinese-new-year-ad-campaign/?fbclid=IwAR1HWJp6RctxfFh-uTlrMOUpo3kFdUiiTEVtwKydcU4IxhCr-9DmcF-9Keg)
Elegant or ominous?
by Alex Linder January 7, 2019 in News

https://shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny10-1024x570.jpg

A Chinese New Year ad campaign from the luxury British fashion house Burberry has failed to strike the right chord with its intended audience who have criticized the campaign as being something straight out of a horror movie.

The campaign, directed by American photographer Ethan James Green, stars a pair of famous Chinese actresses, Zhao Wei and Zhou Dongyu. In one shot, the two are seen posing in a “family photo” with other models dressed in signature Burberry styles but failing to wear their smiles.

On its social media accounts, Burberry describes the shot as being a “portrait of togetherness, gathering the cross generations of family for a seasonal celebration.”


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dv-1jweX0AAKojA.jpg
View image on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Burberry/status/1080782073445666817/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwte rm%5E1080782073445666817&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fshanghai.ist%2F2019%2F01%2F0 7%2Fnetizens-creeped-out-by-burberrys-new-chinese-new-year-ad-campaign%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1HWJp6RctxfFh-uTlrMOUpo3kFdUiiTEVtwKydcU4IxhCr-9DmcF-9Keg)

Burberry
✔
@Burberry
Introducing our new collection, curated for #BurberryChineseNewYear

A portrait of togetherness, gathering the cross generations of family for a seasonal celebration. Starring #ZhaoWei and #ZhouDongyu; directed and photographed by @EthJGreen
http://brby.co/7j8

239
3:05 AM - Jan 3, 2019
65 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
However, on Weibo, while some referred to the shots as “elegant” and “beautiful,” many failed to pick up on the alleged festive vibe of the photos, instead calling them downright “creepy” and “strange.”

“This looks like a family plotting against each other to kill their wealthy grandma for the inheritance,” reads one popular comment. “Is this an image from Zhao Wei’s upcoming horror movie?” wondered another.

https://i0.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny9.jpg?w=640&ssl=1

Check out more photos from the campaign below:

https://i1.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny2.jpg?w=640&ssl=1https://i1.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny3.jpg?w=614&ssl=1https://i2.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny4.jpg?w=614&ssl=1
https://i2.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny5.jpg?w=614&ssl=1https://i0.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny6.jpg?w=614&ssl=1https://i2.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny7.jpg?w=614&ssl=1
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://i2.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/burberry-cny8.jpg?w=614&ssl=1

On the bright side, at least none of the models are trying to eat a pizza with chopsticks?

THREADS
Vicky Zhao Wei (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71084-Vicky-Zhao-Wei)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[David Jamieson]

I've never watched Peppa Pig. Now I'm thinkin I should, just to get a handle on this. Anyone seen it?

Yes! It is an awesome and positive show.
Obviously, it's for little kids, but still, it is great to watch. All the littles giggling is a kick. I put it on for my dogs when I go to work and they love it. :D

[GeneChing]

I put it on for my dogs when I go to work and they love it. :D Haaaaaaaaaaa! FTW David! I wonder what your dogs would think of Vicky Zhao Wei? ;)

I'm a little annoyed with the article below because it stole my 'dirty pig' line that I'm using for the title of my upcoming 2019 CNY article. Next year is the earth pig, thus dirty. Then again, I used it last year for the Year of the Dirty Dog. (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1400)


“You dirty pig”: Chinatown’s “hideous” Chinese New Year decor draws flak (http://theindependent.sg/you-dirty-pig-chinatown-hideous-chinese-new-year-decor-draws-flak/)
By Jewel Stolarchuk - January 9, 20194059

http://media.theindependent.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/chinatownpigs_shinmin-696x493.jpg

The annual Chinese New Year Decorations have drawn flak from visitors for looking “dirty” and hideous”.

2019 is the year of the pig, according to the Chinese zodiac calendar, but an installation of pigs at the centre of the enclave has drawn the ire of several Singaporeans who feel the pigs neither look festive nor spread cheer, like the installations of years past.

This year, Chinatown features almost 180 lighting fixtures of piglets for their festive decor. The main attraction is a group of 9.5-meter-high, 7-meter-wide pig-shaped giant lights, located near Upper Cross Street. It is this attraction that has drawn criticism for not being aesthetically pleasing.

One couple who spoke to the Chinese daily excoriated the design of this year’s installation. The retired couple who are in their sixties went to Chinatown specifically to see this year’s Chinese New Year decorations but were left disappointed.

Noting that the pigs at Chinatown look grimy instead of cute, clean and adorable, the couple told reporters: “The colors are not powdery (pink), and those browns look dirty, like ‘dirty pig’.”

Several others online have chimed in and criticised the installation. One netizen called this year’s design “worse than previous years” and “hideous,” while another asked: “Who is the designer? Who is the consultant? I would like to have a word.”

Another netizen noted that the large pigs look as though they are “ready to be slaughtered”:


Palace Maid (Latrine in-charge)
@ToxicConsort (https://twitter.com/ToxicConsort/status/1081389711434776576/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwte rm%5E1081673366212206593&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheindependent.sg%2Fyou-dirty-pig-chinatown-hideous-chinese-new-year-decor-draws-flak%2F)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwHeM1qVsAAB6Ql.jpg

SCREAMING
Have you EVEN seen the new decorations they have put up for the Year of the Pig at Chinatown?????

Who is the designer? Who is the consultant? I would like to have a word.

7:19 PM - 4 Jan 2019
21 Retweets 34 Like
http://media.theindependent.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/aoiun2.jpghttp://media.theindependent.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/aoiun1.jpg


Actually, the reported didn't pick up on the earth=dirty angle, so we good. :cool:

[GeneChing]

7 million Chinese tourists expected to travel abroad this Spring Festival holiday (https://shanghai.ist/2019/01/11/7-million-chinese-tourists-expected-to-travel-abroad-this-spring-festival-holiday/?fbclid=IwAR2mktj32_hSMF1J8kuiw1cIAwJ7dBw4U-zGhT-4WuEB60o6xCSx0s3RWuA)
Look out, world!
by Alex Linder January 11, 2019 in News

https://i1.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/chinese-tourists4.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1

Over this year’s upcoming week-long Spring Festival holiday period, some 7 million Chinese tourists are expected to head abroad, escaping the travel hell that their country becomes.

Once again, Thailand is the top destination for Chinese tourists traveling overseas, followed by Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam, according to an annual report compiled by the China Tourism Academy and Ctrip. Last Spring Festival, 6.5 million Chinese ventured abroad. Back in 2014, it was only 4.73 million.

The annual exodus is always a big boon for many countries’ tourism sectors. For six years running, Chinese tourists have been the world’s biggest spenders. Of course, they also tend to bring along a fair share of chaos as well.

Recently, a flight was delayed in Anhui province after a passenger apparently tried to throw coins into the engine for good luck. Somehow, this is the third time this has happened.

Throwing coins in the engine for good luck. :rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

UPDATE 1-CHINA URGES PIG FARMS TO RESTOCK AMID WORRIES OVER PORK SUPPLY, SWINE FEVER (https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/update-1-china-urges-pig-farms-to-restock-amid-worries-over-pork-supply-swine-fever)
1/15/2019
* China pork prices "very likely" to rise in H2 -govt official

* But does not expect them to climb in run up to Lunar New Year

* Wants pig farmers to restock quickly

* China battling African swine fever, has culled 900,000 pigs (Recasts; adds comment, detail)

BEIJING, Jan 16 (Reuters) - China's pig farmers should quickly replenish their herds, a government official said, as the world's biggest pork producer looks to curb price rises for the meat expected to bite later this year in the wake of African swine fever outbreaks.

Pork prices in China are "very likely" to rise in the second-half of 2019 as the number of pigs has been falling, Tang Ke at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Wednesday.

"We recommend most farmers adjust their production and increase replenishment in a timely manner," said Tang, even as they carry out steps to prevent and control African swine fever.

The comments come as China battles the world's fastest spreading epidemic of African swine fever, which has now reached 24 of its provinces and led to the culling of more than 900,000 pigs. The disease is deadly to hogs, but does not affect people.

The outbreaks have not yet hit national pork prices and supplies are currently "sufficient", said Tang, who expected no major volatility ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday beginning in early February when the meat is widely consumed.

However, measures implemented to control the spread of the disease have kept live pig prices in some parts of the country at loss-making levels, leading to liquidation by small farmers and slow restocking.

National pig stocks in December were almost 5 percent lower than the previous year's level, said Tang, while numbers of breeding sows were down by more than 8 percent. He did not give total numbers for the herd size.

"For three consecutive months the drop was more than the 5 percent warning level, meaning that in the second-half of this year, the number of live pigs to reach the market will be lower and the likelihood of pig prices rising is very big," he said.

The ministry would work to ensure production and supplies by smoothing the transport of pigs and making sure animals can be sold, he added.

The average weight of pigs in the country was at a record of around 124 kg (273 lb) in December, said Tang, indicating difficulty in selling pigs in key producing regions.

CONSUMER CONCERNS

For now, live pig prices are still low, and may even be slightly weaker in the run up to the Lunar New Year, Tang also said.

The average price of live pigs in the second week of January was 13.65 yuan ($2.02) per kg, down 1.6 percent from the previous week, and has dropped for four consecutive weeks, he added.

Pork prices have also declined in the last week by 0.9 percent to 23.55 yuan per kg, and are down almost 8 percent versus last year.

"The volumes of pork traded at monitored farmers' markets has dropped by 14.4 percent, consumer demand is weakening," Tang said. ($1 = 6.7684 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Dominique Patton; Editing by Joseph Radford)

THREADS
Best remedy for Swine Flu? H1N1 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?53888-Best-remedy-for-Swine-Flu-H1N1)
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

New for 2019! Year of the Pig T-shirts & Hoodies! (https://www.martialartsmart.com/new-apparel.html)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxNc2XkU8AA7FaR.jpg

Monkey King (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50181-Monkey-King)
Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

Biggest migration in human history kicks off, 2.99 billion trips forecast for Spring Festival travel rush (https://shanghai.ist/2019/01/21/biggest-migration-in-human-history-kicks-off-2-99-billion-trips-forecast-for-spring-festival-travel-rush/?fbclid=IwAR2xgjC6gN-5qkKRfG0JbAVlBeGHzDTBZ7-mXsDFW1bWmUDb7jqPCH-DRKs)
CNY is coming
by Alex Linder January 21, 2019 in Gallery

https://shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/travel-rush9-930x570.jpg

That most wonderful time of the year is here once again as millions upon millions of people journey home to spend the Chinese New Year holiday with their families in what will become the largest migration in human history.

This year, the annual Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun (春运), officially kicked off on January 21st and will continue on until March 1st. During that time 2.99 billion trips are expected to be taken, 0.6 percent more than last year.

Broken down that means, 2.46 billion trips by road, 413 million by train, 73 million by air, and 43 million by boat, according to China’s state-run media.

The first day of the Chinese New Year is February 5th and people across China will get February 4th to 10th off from work (though they’ll have to make up for that by working on Saturday and Sunday). Over the next two weeks, expect to see more and more people heading for the train station as China gradually slips down through the circles of travel hell.

Well, I certainly don't get off work. In fact, I work more. :o

[GeneChing]

https://www.sftravel.com/sites/sftraveldev.prod.acquia-sites.com/files/styles/sft_1170x375/public/field/image/25173736715_9a4066b6af_k_0.jpg?itok=MmO4Wv7l&timestamp=1515784942

JANUARY 3, 2019 Photo by Louis Raphael
By Cindy Hu
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHINESE NEW YEAR IN SAN FRANCISCO (https://www.sftravel.com/article/everything-you-need-know-about-chinese-new-year-san-francisco)

On Feb. 23, 2019, San Francisco will welcome the Year of the Pig. Or if you prefer, it’s the year 4717 on the lunar calendar. In San Francisco, as in other Chinese population centers, the first days of the Year of the Pig will be celebrated within the immediate family circle. While most of the festivities will be concentrated in Chinatown and San Francisco’s downtown area, there are activities scheduled throughout the city. For more details, check out our handy guide to this year’s events.

Year of the Pig
According to lunar new year pros, the Year of the Pig is one in which many good things can come your way: greater wealth, exciting career changes, and even new love! Just be sure to exercise the better qualities that the pig is known for in Chinese tradition (responsibility, optimism, and generosity) and don't, well, wallow in the lesser ones.

According to several astrological sources, people born in the Year of the Pig are easy-going, sociable, and independent. Famous individuals born in the Year of the Pig include authors Ernest Hemingway and Stephen King, singers Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, actresses Julie Andrews and Lucille Ball, one former American president (Ronald Reagan) and one former First Lady (Hillary Rodham Clinton).

Dim Sum and Then Some
There is little doubt that Chinese food as we know it in America started in San Francisco in the mid-1800s. The adaption of Chinese cuisine has gone through countless transformations and has produced some of the best restaurants on the West Coast.

Explore Chinatown and Union Square
Most Chinese New Year activities will be in Chinatown, the oldest and one of the largest of its kind in the United States. The parade will start on Market Street, snaking around downtown with the end of the parade route in the heart of Chinatown. Join Linda Lee as she navigates the neighborhood on a video tour of this community.

Night Moves
No New Year’s celebration is complete without nighttime libations. Find the best places to have a drink in Chinatown or any other San Francisco neighborhoods with our guide to the city.

Walking Tours
Chinatown’s rich history is difficult to condense. Luckily, San Francisco City Guides, Wok Wiz Tours and All About Chinatown Tours are reliable ways to get educated about this storied neighborhood as you explore with all your senses. Be sure to include a visit to the Chinese Historical Society of America in your plans for a deeper understanding of the community, too.

Here Be Dragons (And Lions)
Be sure you know the difference between a dragon and a lion when you’re talking about lunar wildlife. The dragon mascot of the annual Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year parade measures more than 200 feet long and takes a team of more than 100 men and women from martial arts group White Crane to propel along the parade route. While there are some smaller versions, there’s no mistaking the behemoth that climaxes the parade amid a fusillade of firecrackers. Lions, on the other hand, usually only require two performers – one to handle the head and another for the tail; in most cases, the tail extends about 12 feet.

What’s All the Noise About?
Firecrackers, beating drums, gongs and crashing cymbals drive away evil spirits. Throughout the Chinese New Year celebration—and especially on parade night—the festivities will be preceded by a loud outburst of firecrackers. Bring earplugs. There's actually a lot more to know. This ain't everything, unless you're just another tourist.

[GeneChing]

Shaw Brothers’ Kung Fu Movie Marathon to Stream on Twitch (https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1030387-shaw-brothers-kung-fu-movie-marathon-to-stream-on-twitch)
MOVIE NEWS SHAW BROTHERS STREAMING TWITCH
BY KYLIE HEMMERT ON JANUARY 23, 2019

https://cdn1-www.comingsoon.net/assets/uploads/2019/01/crippledavengers.jpg
Shaw Brothers’ kung fu movie marathon to stream on Twitch

GammaRay (presented by Skybound Entertainment) and Celestial pictures have announced they will stream a Shaw Brothers movie marathon on Twitch from February 4 to February 8, 2019. The marathon will include 44 full-length features from the Shaw Brothers’ extensive library of kung fu titles, including iconic films such as King Boxer, Crippled Avengers, and Five Deadly Venoms. This viewing event will be streamed globally and exclusively on Twitch, marking the first time Twitch has featured kung fu films.

After the marathon airs from February 4-8, there will be double feature movie nights on Thursdays and Fridays at 5:00 pm PT for four weeks. The marathon is also the first time GammaRay has hosted full-length features on Twitch.

“We’re excited to introduce cult classic movies from the 70s and 80s to our fans on Twitch for the first time,” said GammaRay COO Do Duong. “Kung fu has influenced filmmaking, hip hop music, and pop culture, so we’re thankful to Celestial Pictures for access to their Shaw Brothers action titles, and to Twitch for using their service to introduce a larger audience to the kung fu phenomenon.”

“The Twitch community has lots of interests, with martial arts and film-based marathons among them,” said Jane Weedon, Director of Business Development at Twitch. “We’ve seen it in the games they play, their cosplay outfits, and the programming they watch, with the Shaw Brothers’ kung fu films being the perfect pop culture combo of these fandoms. Thanks to GammaRay, we get to livestream over 40 of the Shaw Brothers’ seminal movies with an interactive global audience.”

Celestial Pictures is the owner of the Shaw Brothers library of over 760 digitally remastered classics. The custodian of the Shaw Brothers legacy, Celestial Pictures continues to keep the love for peak kung fu cinema alive by presenting it to loyal enthusiasts and new-found audiences across the globe.

“We’re thrilled to bring the quintessential Shaw Brothers films to a new generation of fans through this collaboration with GammaRay,” said Agnes Cheung, Executive Vice President of Celestial Pictures. “Interactive streaming will open up a new horizon for the passionate fandom of kung fu cinema. The marathon will allow the audience to be immersed without interruption in the everlasting Shaw Brothers magic.”

44 Titles will be featured during the Twitch livestream including the following kung fu classics:

–King Boxer (1972): A student (Lieh Lo) of kung fu meets resistance on his way to a major Chinese tournament.

–Crippled Avengers (1978): After the death of his wife, warlord Dao Tian-du (Kuan Tai Chen) turns evil and holds a town in thrall to his reign of fear with the help of his sadistic son. Four of the villain’s victims — a blind man, an amputee, a deaf-mute, and an insane fighter — seek the help of a wise kung fu master as they train to eliminate the tyrant for good.

–Five Deadly Venoms (1978): A dying master sends his last student to check up on five former pupils, who each know a special style of kung fu.

Twitch streamers will also be able to co-stream the marathon. Co-streaming is a feature unique to Twitch which allows a streamer to share another channel’s video feed, but with their own commentary and community. The result is a more personalized, social experience.



THREADS
Shaw Brothers Celestial Film Library (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?36995-Shaw-Brothers-Celestial-Film-Library/page4)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

'Startles' isn't the right word for this article's title - a sure indicator of a Chinese-to-English translation. This company needs to work on their PR.


Chinese Kungfu Startles French “Kung Fu Spring Festival Gala”, Ctrip Helps Promote Henan Kung Fu Brand to the World (http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4131118)

On January 27th, a Kung Fu Spring Festival Gala named "Dance, Poetry and Martial Arts" came on stage in Paris to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations, promoting the cultural exchange and profound friendship between China and France. At the party, Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu, two representative programs of Chinese Kungfu, showed the beauty of different forms of martial arts and condensed the thousand-year tradition and history of Chinese Kungfu.With consummate skill and superb performance, these two programs offered a stunning visual and cultural feast of Chinse Kungfu to the world.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/295d98aae3d04e5aa0292f0243c015a0.jpghttp://www.getnews.info/uploads/3e89d104f5c353e2876172c49b8fd253.jpg

Shaolin Kung Fu and Taijiquan are excellent representatives of Chinese Kung Fu and high-quality cultural resources of Henan Province. As a symbol of Chinese Kung Fu, Shaolin Kung Fu was formed in the specific Buddhist cultural environment of Shaolin Temple in Songshan, and fully reflects the traditional Buddhist cultural system of Zen wisdom. The outstanding representative of Chinese Kung Fu, Tai Chi, also originated from the land of ancient civilization in Henan. In the middle of the 17th century, Chen Wangting from Chenjiagou, Wen County, Jiaozuo City, inherited boxing from his family, absorbed the strengths of other boxing forms, integrated the concepts of Zhouyi academy and Chinese medicine, and created the world-famous Tai Chi.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/89b12cbe718fb5a618bd504e6fd26237.jpg

As a sacred place for Chinese and foreign Kung Fu devotees and readers of martial arts novels, Henan Province, has also established a Kung Fu brand in recent years to promote the Henan Kung Fu brand around the world. From Kung Fu culture tour, Kung Fu culture experience to Kung Fu technique teaching, Kung Fu has become a new business card for Henan tourism. In 2018, Culture and Tourism Department of Henan Province also cooperated with the Office of Chinese Language Council International to set up a serious of courses about Chinese Kung Fu in Confucius Institute, such as Tai Chi, aiming to help Henan become a world-class Kung Fu holy land and cultural tourism destination.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/2cd6ea3ea006a289f94c03c7bc91326e.jpg

Across the five continents in today’s world, nearly 100 countries have established martial arts associations and two branches of Chinese Kungfu (Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi) also attract numerous fans all over the world. Take Europe as an example, more and more Europeans are fascinated by Chinese Kung Fu and we can find thousands of Chinese Kung Fu fans in France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and other countries. Forefathers-Shaolin Temple and Taiji Holy Land-Chenjiagou have become two must-see places for Europeans to visit China and experience Kung Fu culture.

To better promote the gold medal of "Chinese Kung Fu" to the world, Culture and Tourism Department of Henan Province signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Ctrip Group in 2018 to promote the Henan Kung Fu brand to the world with Ctrip's leading strength in the overseas market. Ctrip has 350 million members worldwide and has strong capability in integrating abundant marketing resources.

Ctrip will also cooperate with Henan Province to build and promote the IP of “Henan Kung Fu Cultural Trip" and help Henan grab the world’s attention with its irresistible charm of Kungfu. In the promotion, “Kung Fu Life, Hometown Henan”, a global marketing plan for Henan Tourism, will be implemented with multi-channel promotion and innovative marketing campaign worldwide.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/3f9dcc17a86fcfb91448fc82a81bda71.jpg

Till now, Ctrip Government Resource Cooperation Department has partnered with more than 300 destinations and has accumulated rich experiences in promoting destinations to different targeted markets at home and abroad. In the future, Ctrip will further cooperate with Henan Province on Kung Fu brand promotion, products designing and other promotion forms to comprehensively enhance the popularity and reputation of “Kung Fu Tour in Henan” and promote Henan Kung Fu brand to the world.

Media Contact
Company Name: Ctrip.com International Ltd
Contact Person: Alice
Email: Send Email
Country: China
Website: www.ctrip.com



Maybe it sounds better in French.

THREADS:
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuBDq80hWI

[GeneChing]

This is weirdly impressive.


Underwater lion dance in Malaysia before Chinese New Year (https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/underwater-lion-dance-in-malaysia-before-chinese-new-year-11184840)

https://cna-sg-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/image/11184856/16x9/670/377/4ea8cc4d18f8b5cfdfa55824d14417ce/TH/lion-dances-are-traditionally-performed-to-mark-the-lunar-new-year-but-usually-not-underwater-1548840273394-3.jpg
Lion dances are traditionally performed to mark the Chinese New Year, but usually not underwater. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

30 Jan 2019 05:44PM (Updated: 30 Jan 2019 05:50PM)

KUALA LUMPUR: Divers performed an underwater lion dance in a Malaysian aquarium on Wednesday (Jan 30) as fish and sharks swam around them, putting a new twist on the traditional Chinese New Year performance.

Two people put on the multi-coloured lion suit and performed in one of the tanks at Aquaria in Kuala Lumpur, as musicians played cymbals and drums outside.

The lion lumbered around in front of a rock formation, while a shark and some colourful fish glided past.

https://cna-sg-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/q_auto,f_auto/image/11184854/16x9/670/377/7c9a798d4df710c205842df3322415fe/iK/the-divers-performed-a-traditional-lion-dance-inside-an-aquarium-at-the-aquaria-klcc-in-kuala-lumpur-1548840273394-4.jpg
The divers performed a traditional lion dance inside an aquarium at the Aquaria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

Aquarium manager Daryl Foong said it was no easy task performing a lion dance underwater.

"One of the most important things for them is their buoyancy control and to still perform the movements underwater without knocking themselves off balance, hitting any of the exhibits or any of the animals," he said.

Lion dances are traditionally performed in China and among ethnic Chinese communities all over the world to mark the Chinese New Year.

In the traditional art form, two or more performers put on a colourful head and cloak, and try to mimic a lion's movements, accompanied by music - although not usually underwater.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/image/11184858/0x0/768/516/e0ff40ed8d0effa7217ae8f0c3d2e48c/AX/chinese-people-believe-that-the-lion-dance-can-help-ward-off-evil-spirits-and-bring-good-luck-1548840273394-2.jpg
Chinese people believe that the lion dance can help ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)

Chinese people believe that the dance can help ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. Aquaria has put on the underwater dance several times over the past 10 years.

About a quarter of Malaysia's 32 million inhabitants are ethnic Chinese, while the majority are Muslim Malays.

Source: AFP/zl



THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

[GeneChing]

In celebration of Chinese New Year, enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for a Ninja Stress Warrior from Well Go USA (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/sweepstakes-ninja-stress-warrior.php)! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 2/14/2019.

http://www.kungfumagazine.com//admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/images/ezine/6607_Ninja-Stress-Warriors-Sweepstake.jpg

THREADS:
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Ninjas! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?44568-Ninjas!)

[GeneChing]

Panda Express Will Give Away Red Envelopes for Chinese New Year (https://www.foodandwine.com/news/panda-express-chinese-new-year-red-envelope)

https://cdn-image.foodandwine.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium_2x/public/1549043864/panda-express-lunar-new-year-2-FT-BLOG0219.jpg?itok=AE-zIcRh
Rachel Murray/Getty Images
Plus, the chain has opened a Lunar New Year-themed installation at L.A.’s Westfield Century City mall.

ANDY WANG February 01, 2019

On Thursday night, Panda Express started its Chinese New Year celebrations with a party for its "House of Good Fortune" installation at L.A.’s Westfield Century City mall. Andrea Cherng, Panda’s chief marketing officer, talked about how her family opened Pasadena’s Panda Inn more than 45 years ago and ended up creating a Chinese-American fast-casual chain that now has more than 2,000 locations. Then a panel, including actor Harry Shum Jr. of Crazy Rich Asians and Glee, discussed Chinese New Year, family, identity, and food.

Following the panel, Cherng opened an installation that aims to put a different spin on Chinese New Year traditions. The interactive experience is pure Instagram bait, but it doesn’t focus on rainbows and glitter like the scourge of new food “museums” opening around the country.

Reservations for the free "House of Good Fortune" installation, which runs from noon to 8 p.m. through February 5, are fully booked, but you can still try to walk in to catch a red envelope, pull “noodles” in the “room of longevity,” be the star of a lion dance, throw around giant mandarin-orange balls, and put a wish inside a lantern. That last part involves a lantern-festival room that might remind you of being inside a Yayoi Kusama exhibit.

“It’s a beautiful way of almost creating a new Lunar New Year experience for the public,” Cherng says. “We talked about the sights and the sounds of a Lunar New Year parade. What is the modern equivalent? You get to be a part of it. Instead of watching a lion dance, you get to actually be in the lion head.”

Even if you don’t manage to make your way inside the House of Good Fortune, you can still celebrate the Year of the Pig with Panda Express. On February 5, customers will be given red envelopes to celebrate the official start of Chinese New Year. There won’t be any cash inside the envelope, unfortunately, but there will be coupons for a free chicken egg roll and a free Dr. Pepper. There will also be a fortune-teller game to answer questions about what the Year of the Pig might have in store for you.

https://cdn-image.foodandwine.com/sites/default/files/1549047805/panda-express-lunar-new-year-envelope-FT-BLOG0219.jpg
Andy Wang

We also learned that the pleasantly mouth-numbing Sichuan hot chicken that Panda Express recently tested will return in a big way. The goal is to roll it out nationwide, says Cherng.

“We will introduce new dishes all the time,” Cherng says. “We want to introduce a new shrimp dish soon. A lot of is because we want to help people experience different culinary flavors from different parts of China.”

Every year, Panda Express chefs visit provinces in China. They recently returned and are now spending a month dedicated to working on new dishes.

THREADS:
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Panda Express (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69669-Panda-Express)
Crazy Rich Asians (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?70914-Crazy-Rich-Asians)

[GeneChing]

Am I going to have to make a separate thread for Peppa Pig here?


JANUARY 31, 2019 7:15PM PT
‘Peppa’ Goes Viral Ahead of China’s Year of the Pig
By REBECCA DAVIS


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOUJGYzHQY

With a helping hand from e-commerce giant Alibaba, China has succumbed to Peppa Pig mania. And following a recent agreement with STX, North American audiences will also get a taste of Chinese New Year swine fever.

As the lunar new year approaches – the year of the pig, according to the Chinese zodiac – there’s no way to escape Peppa or her upcoming movie, “Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year.” Shopping malls, grocery stores and restaurants across China are plastered with her image, despite the happy cartoon character having been banned on social media last year for being too “gangster” and a potential “negative influence.” Now, the pink porker appears to have the blessing of no less than the ruling Communist Party.

“Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year” comes out in theaters Feb. 5, the first day of the new year holiday period. An official co-production between Entertainment One and Alibaba Pictures, Alibaba’s film investment and distribution arm, it faces stiff competition from 12 other films opening the same day, including two other pig-themed animations: “The Legend of Pig Warrior” and “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past.” But Peppa’s prospects look promising, owing to her popularity not just with kindergartners but with ironic Chinese teens who have adopted her as a symbol of self-mockery and rebellion.

The Peppa Pig show was an immediate hit among youngsters when it landed in China in 2015. Two years later, the character became immensely popular with post-’90s kids who identified with the “shehuiren,” or “gangster,” youth subculture but who didn’t have the money to dress the part (think tattoos and gold chains). To poke fun at themselves, they took on innocent Peppa as their emblem, painting on fake Peppa tattoos, wearing toy Peppa watches, and remixing images and videos to make her, say, sport sunglasses, chains and a reefer.

Alarmed at the trend, Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, deleted more than 30,000 videos hashtagged #PeppaPig. The government-aligned Global Times newspaper warned: “The popularity of Peppa Pig in China shows a spirit of innovation, but it could also bring negative influence to the young generation if they overindulge in such a subculture.”

Now, the beloved British toon star has gone viral once again, but this time in a much more state-sanctioned manner.

Earlier this month, the film’s director, Zhang Dapeng, released a five-minute, live-action promo that has brought viewers to tears and worked state media into a tizzy of praise. The adorable short, which both encourages family togetherness and promotes the Peppa movie, is perhaps one of the most successful examples of the localization of foreign content in China in recent memory, and has been viewed more than 200 million times.

“Tell Grandpa what you need [as a new year’s gift] and I’ll prepare it for you,” an old man tells his grandson in a thick provincial accent on his dodgy mobile phone, while standing alone on a desolate hilltop to catch a signal. “Peppa? What’s Peppa?”

The phone signal cuts, sending grandpa on a goose chase to figure out what a “Peppa” is. He tries looking it up in a dictionary, asking his village over the loudspeaker system, and hassling everyone he knows before ultimately fashioning a gift out of a metal fan painted pink to look like Peppa’s face. The short video ends with the message: “On the first day of the new year, don’t accept gifts; instead, go with the whole family into the city to watch Peppa.”

The short has been praised by the Communist Party’s highest anti-graft body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, and its official mouthpiece, the People’s Daily. “It was the emotional resonance of this uniquely Chinese feeling [of longing for family reunion] that made this video a hit,” the newspaper said. “As a cultural phenomenon, ‘What is Peppa?’ has brought a good beginning to 2019.”

Thanks to the short’s success, California-based STX Entertainment announced Thursday that it plans to release the “Peppa” film in 32 U.S. markets. It will play in 65 theaters across the U.S. on the same day that it debuts in China, subtitled in English.

“I got a phone call from Alibaba a week and a half ago, shortly after the marketing materials for Peppa in China had gone super-viral… And it was clear to us that the virality was extending far beyond the mainland to Mandarin-speaking U.S. populations,” STXfilms chairman Adam Fogelson told Yahoo Finance. “There certainly could be – not on the Marvel level, of course broad interest. Depending on what happens in the first week or two, anything is possible.”

STX is targeting cities with large Chinese American populations, including Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, with family-friendly matinee and early screenings. Profitability “is likely to be limited,” Fogelson acknowledged, but said the goal of the partnership is to deepen ties with Alibaba. The company is already partnered with Alibaba Pictures on upcoming animated film “Uglydolls” and on “Steel Soldiers,” to be directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Two new Chinese New Year-themed special TV episodes of “Peppa Pig” will also hit the airwaves on Feb. 5, Entertainment One announced Monday. They will be aired by Nickelodeon and free-to-air broadcasters in regions including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada and South Africa, and will play in Mandarin in Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.


Yes! It is an awesome and positive show.
Obviously, it's for little kids, but still, it is great to watch. All the littles giggling is a kick. I put it on for my dogs when I go to work and they love it. :D
David, I did watch a little Peppa Pig. Honestly, it wasn't working for me and I couldn't make it through a single episode. I guess I'm not as gangster as you. :o

[GeneChing]

Here we go! The Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig) film rush race and it's White Snake (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71053-White-Snake) in the lead from the starting gate.


FEBRUARY 3, 2019 9:58PM PT
China Box Office: ‘Snake’ Steals Win as Pre-Holiday Slowdown Deepens (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/china-box-office-snake-win-pre-holiday-slowdown-deepens-1203127463/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/bumblebee1.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Chinese animation “White Snake” slithered to a weekend win, as theatrical box office in China, ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, slipped to the lowest total of the past two years. “Snake” scored with just $9 million.

The film has now accumulated $64.5 million since its Jan. 11 release, according to data from entertainment consultancy Artisan Gateway. That makes “Snake” the biggest film to date from producer Lightchaser Animation Studios, and one of the top-performing Chinese-made animation films.

In the absence of competition from new releases, “Once Upon a Deadpool” and “Bumblebee” kept going. The expurgated version of “Deadpool 2” earned $7.3 million for a cumulative of $41.8 million, while “Transformers” spinoff “Bumblebee” earned $5.2 million, to advance its total to $170 million and confirm its status as the biggest film released in 2019 in China. “Escape Room” added $5.2 million for a $33.9 million total. Chinese-made “The Big Shot” added $2.7 million to its total, lifting its cumulative to $56.3 million.

Nationwide, Chinese theaters earned only $32.7 million between Friday and Sunday, the quietest weekend since September 2016. Artisan Gateway points to a year-to-date total of $535 million, down 32% from the $790 million accumulated at this point last year.

Even though businesses have been on slowdown since Friday, distributors avoided putting out new releases this weekend. They preferred instead to wait for the official first day of the holidays Tuesday.

Whether that strategy was a wise one will become clear over the next week. From Tuesday, more than a dozen new films will compete for screens and viewers, ranging in genre from comedies to animation to Jackie Chan in costume targeting family audiences.

Word-of-mouth promotion, driven by social media, is hugely important in China. Last year it took viewers just two days to switch from the early favorite (“Monster Hunt 2”) to Dante Lam’s well-made patriotic actioner, “Operation Red Sea.” But the scores that can be obtained in those few days may dwarf the past weekend’s total.

[GeneChing]

FEBRUARY 3, 2019 / 7:14 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO
Stop pigging out and save the planet, Chinese told ahead of Lunar New Year (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lunar-newyear-climatechange/stop-pigging-out-and-save-the-planet-chinese-told-ahead-of-lunar-new-year-idUSKCN1PT04O)
Beh Lih Yi
3 MIN READ

http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20190204&t=2&i=1352974144&r=LYNXNPEF13038&w=1200

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As Chinese people celebrate the new Year of the Pig this week, environmental campaigners are urging them to eat less pork and help save the planet.

Men perform a dragon dance called Liong ahead of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year during the Grebeg Suro ceremony in Solo, Central Java province, Indonesia, February 3, 2019 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Mohammad Ayudha/via REUTERS. A
China consumes more meat than any other country and accounts for half the world’s consumption of pork, which is used in everything from dumplings and stir-fries to hotpots.

That has helped make it the world’s biggest emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases - according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), livestock are responsible for about 14.5 percent of global emissions.

“Chinese emissions can be reduced by almost 10 percent in the next decade if Chinese people just ate half as much meat,” said Jen Leung, China climate director at the U.S.-based charity WildAid.

“So just try eating a little less pork in honor of a healthy Year of the Pig,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Twelve animals make up the traditional Chinese zodiac and this week marks the transition from year of the dog to year of the pig.

The week-long holiday starts on starts on Monday, the eve of the new year, and is the most important in the Chinese calendar, when millions of people travel home.

Many restaurants have special menus to mark the festival, which is celebrated by Chinese communities around the world.

In Hong Kong, famous for its dim sum and barbeque pork, one company is partnering with restaurants to promote Lunar New Year dishes cooked with its “vegan pork” made with ingredients including soybeans and peas.

“Traditional belief dictates that we should not eat the same animal during their year in order to bring good luck - so pig year don’t eat pork,” said Alvin Lee, marketing manager at Green Monday, a social enterprise that promotes sustainable living.

“But more importantly it’s to address the issue of food safety and to mitigate climate change,” he said, referring to a recent outbreak of deadly African swine fever on pig farms in China.

On Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, animal rights group PETA has launched a campaign to honor the “playful” animal with the hashtag #PigYearDontEatThem.

“Animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined,” PETA Asia campaigner Jason Baker said.

China issued dietary guidelines in 2016 recommending people halve their meat consumption - a move lauded by environmentalists as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions as well as boosting public health.

Experts said people were unlikely to give up on their pork dumplings any time soon in China, where meat is still associated with wealth and status.

“It’s quite challenging because culturally there are quite a lot of values attached to being able to eat meat,” Beau Damen, an expert on climate change at the FAO in Bangkok, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“But one thing consumers do have to keep in mind is that choices about what we eat do have a direct impact on the environment,” he warned.

Reporting by Beh Lih Yi @behlihyi; Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit news.trust.org

Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
WildAid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57416-WildAid-Tiger-Claw-Champion)

[GeneChing]

What does the Year of the Pig hold for you? See our 2019 Chinese Zodiac Horoscopes (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/info/horoscope/index.php).

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Zodiac (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?40462-Chinese-Zodiac)

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/5741_Horoscope-wheel.jpg

[GeneChing]

Next up for Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) - The Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth) - my money is on this one to win out this year, mostly because of the momentum of Wu Jing. My second pick is the New King of Comedy.


The Wandering Earth could be the film to spark China’s science fiction moviemaking (https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2184706/wandering-earth-could-be-film-spark-chinas-science-fiction)
The film, starring Wolf Warrior’s Wu Jing, is a sci-fi movie of epic scale that rivals Hollywood blockbusters like Interstellar and Gravity
Hopes are high that it will inspire more quality Chinese sci-fi blockbusters after a frankly embarrassing line of substandard productions
PUBLISHED : Monday, 04 February, 2019, 7:02am
UPDATED : Monday, 04 February, 2019, 7:01am
Elaine Yau
https://www.facebook.com/elaine.yau.3152
https://www.weibo.com/u/6450432252

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2019/02/01/92f7d2d0-25e4-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_image_hires_182426.jpg?itok=zfmwKtC7

Laden with an extravaganza of special effects, The Wandering Earth (out in China on February 5) is a Chinese science fiction movie of epic scale that rivals Hollywood space blockbusters like Interstellar and Gravity.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by renowned science fiction author Liu Cixin – the first author from Asia to win best novel at the Hugo sci-fi and fantasy literary awards, for The Three-Body Problem in 2015 – the film has created a large buzz in China, with a series of screenings generating rave reviews.

Movers and shakers in China’s scientific community are singing the film’s praises, saying it heralds a new dawn for Chinese sci-fi cinema.

While China’s movie industry has enjoyed spectacular growth since the country’s opening up 40 years ago, science fiction is a genre that has been left mostly underdeveloped due to huge technical costs and the deep philosophical depth often involved in plots.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8LAwozrXPo

Ji Shaoting, co-founder of the Future Affairs Administration, which promotes Chinese science fiction writers and is the film’s official promoter, told ifeng.com last year that many Chinese TV and movie companies eager to make science fiction productions lack basic understanding of the genre.

“For example, Resident Evil and Interstellar are totally different works,” she said. “The stories by [science fiction authors] Han Song and Liu Cixin are also different.”

The history of Chinese science fiction movies is an embarrassing mixture of substandard productions and lacklustre box office results.

According to a 2018 report on China’s science fiction industry released by the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, the total China box office for science fiction movies in 2017 was 13 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion), but Chinese productions accounted for only 1.3 billion yuan, or 10 per cent. In the first half of 2018, the total China box office for science fiction movies was 9.5 billion yuan, of which only 890 million yuan, or 9 per cent, was chalked up by Chinese productions.

Foreign science fiction productions like Interstellar, Gravity and Lucy were blockbusters in China and account for one-third of all foreign movie imports since 2012.

In comparison, Chinese science fiction fare like Future X-Cops (2010) and Metallic Attraction:：Kungfu Cyborg (2009) are embarrassing productions where science fiction elements do not even constitute the main plot.

Meanwhile, a much-hyped movie adapted from Liu’s critically acclaimed The Three-Body Problem has been shelved, leading commentators to say that China’s movie-making standard does not measure up to the epic scale portrayed in the book.

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/01/c4459fde-25e4-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_1320x770_182426.jpg
A still from The Wandering Earth. Photo: Future Affairs Administration

Alex Li, co-founder of the Future Affairs Administration, told chinawriter.com in 2016 that it might take a decade for local science fiction productions to enjoy the same popularity at the China box office as Hollywood productions.

“Science fiction accounts for a very high proportion of the box office,” he said “It’s impossible for local industry players and capital to just cede the profits generated from the sector to Hollywood. But the process might last up to a decade. We believe in local science fiction productions and we are willing to wait.”

The long wait might be over prematurely with the release of The Wandering Earth.

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/01/ab18af56-25e4-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_1320x770_182426.jpg
Wu Jing in a still from The Wandering Earth. Photo: Future Affairs Administration

The film portrays how a group of intrepid Chinese astronauts save the world from the brink of annihilation due to the imminent destruction of the sun. Like Hollywood space movies where Americans are portrayed as the only ones capable of saving humanity, here Chinese astronauts are the sole adventurers among the global space community determined to complete the arduous task of fending off the apocalypse.

In spite of such overt patriotism, the film is spectacular for its ceaseless stream of hair-raising close-shave encounters and apocalyptic landscapes oozing desolation and despair. There is also a touching subplot involving family bonds at the centre of the mission to save the earth.

data-original="https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/01/ef4e0a0e-25e4-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_1320x770_182426.jpg"
Qu Chuxiao in a still from The Wandering Earth. Photo: Future Affairs Administration

Wu Jing – who directed and starred in the hugely patriotic Wolf Warrior blockbuster series – plays the father in the family, a Chinese astronaut stationed in space who has been away from his family for years.


The Chinese have landed on the dark side of the moon. No humans have done this before. Such scientific achievements and development have set up a solid foundation WU JING
Wu told huanqiu.com recently that 2019 is the “inaugural” year of Chinese science fiction movies due to the release of The Wandering Earth.

“When director Frant Gwo first came to me to explain all the physics data, I didn’t understand it at all,” he said. “However, in him, I saw traces of me when I made the first Wolf Warrior, when I went everywhere telling people how the helicopter, tanks and explosions worked. Like him, I was close to breaking down then.

“I told him, I can help you as long as you will help young people involved in new film genres after you become successful. Later, capital for making the movie became tight, so I told him I didn’t need to get paid. I shot the movie for 31 days. Later, money ran out. I told Gwo that we are in the same boat and I don’t want to regret putting effort into the movie, so I became an investor as well.”

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/01/b7bd88e4-25e4-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_1320x770_182426.jpg
A still from The Wandering Earth. Photo: Future Affairs Administration

Although Wu is not a big fan of science fiction movies, he said the making of The Wandering Earth helped him understand the genre.

“Chinese science fiction fans have seen all the world-class science fiction movies and they have waited for a long time with patience [for good] Chinese science fiction movies,” he said.

“The Chinese have landed on the dark side of the moon. No humans have done this before. Such scientific achievements and development have set up a solid foundation. No Chinese filmmakers have made anything like The Wandering Earth. Seven thousand people worked on the movie. It has at least nurtured 7,000 people’s basic knowledge in science fiction movies.”

https://cdn3.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/01/3dc340da-25e2-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_972x_182426.jpg
Frant Gwo, director of The Wandering Earth. Photo: Xun

In a discussion session after a recent screening held at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing, Gwo said he has been a fan of science fiction since childhood and has now realised his dream of making a science fiction movie.

“When making the movie, we learned from Hollywood production flow and methods. We have overcome many unimaginable difficulties to make it. I hope this movie will prompt more directors to try the genre and boost investors’ confidence in it.”

[GeneChing]

The New King of Comedy (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71021-New-King-of-Comedy) is another contender for the 2019 Spring Festiva (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)l box office.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr-ErwHSEKk

[GeneChing]

I called Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth&p=1312567#post1312567) for the Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) winner, not Crazy Alien (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71198-Crazy-Alien). It's now ahead of White Snake (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71053-White-Snake).


FEBRUARY 5, 2019 4:21AM PT
Ning Hao’s ‘Crazy Alien’ Leads $200 Million Day at Chinese Box Office (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/ning-hao-crazy-alien-heads-200-million-dollar-day-at-chinese-new-year-box-office-1203128600/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/crazy-alien-movie-poster-copy.jpg?crop=2px%2C0px%2C1083px%2C610px&resize=1000%2C563
CREDIT: COURTESY OF DIRTY MONKEY FILMS

“Crazy Alien,” a comedy caper by hit-making director Ning Hao, led the box office in China on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. By 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the film had earned $55 million in mainland Chinese cinemas.

The top eight movies earned a combined $200 million (RMB1.35 billion) by 7:30 p.m., according to data from China Box Office.

“Crazy Alien,” in which two brothers hope to make a fortune from an alien who lands in their lap, is the third film in Ning’s “Crazy” franchise. It follows 2009 black comedy “Crazy Stone” and 2006 title “Crazy Racer.” Once again it stars Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.

The early score, and a 28% market share, is a solid start for the film, which is backed by Huanxi Media, the stock market listed vehicle in which Ning and Xu are major owners. The company announced last year that distributors had provided a minimum guarantee that “Alien” would achieve $415 million (RMB2.8 billion) in China.

“Pegasus,” by celebrity blogger-turned-film director Han Han, was in second place with $42 million (RMB282 million) at 7 p.m., for a 21% market share. “New King of Comedy,” a remake of Stephen Chow’s 1999 title, was third. It had earned $36 million (RMB243 million) for a 19% share of the early evening pie.

“Wandering Earth,” heralded as China’s first genuine sci-fi movie, earned $24.8 million (RMB167 million) in fourth place and a 13% market share. “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past,” the sixth film in a Chinese animation franchise, earned $10.9 million on its first official day of release. But with previews, it has already amassed $16.8 million. Its producer, Fantawild has gone on record to forecast a result of more than $100 million.

Jackie Chan-starring family friendly historical adventure, “Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” was in sixth place on Tuesday with $9.3 million by 7 p.m. It was narrowly ahead of Chinese-British animation “Peppa Pig,” which had raked in $9 million. In eighth place was “Integrity,” stuffed with a cast of Hong Kong veterans, which had earned $7.9 million (RMB53 million).

Cinema attendance could increase on subsequent days, following family get-togethers on the first day of celebrations. The Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival) holidays run through the whole of the week in mainland China.

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RJ-K1-xz6Y

THREADS
Tagou (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?23563-Tagou)
Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR! READ Chinese New Year 2019: Year of the Dirty Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1469) by Gene Ching

http://www.kungfumagazine.com/admin/site_images/KungfuMagazine/upload/4196_20190606-PIG.jpg

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
9 teeth rake (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?27034)
Monkey King (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50181)

[GeneChing]

Bummer. I wasn't even close with my Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth&p=1312567#post1312567) for the Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) winner. It's all about Crazy Alien (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71198-Crazy-Alien). I haven't seen any of the Crazy trilogy yet. :o


FEBRUARY 5, 2019 4:21AM PT
Ning Hao’s ‘Crazy Alien’ Leads $200 Million Day at Chinese Box Office (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/ning-hao-crazy-alien-heads-200-million-dollar-day-at-chinese-new-year-box-office-1203128600/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/crazy-alien-movie-poster-copy.jpg?crop=2px%2C0px%2C1083px%2C610px&resize=1000%2C563
CREDIT: COURTESY OF DIRTY MONKEY FILMS

“Crazy Alien,” a comedy caper by hit-making director Ning Hao, led the box office in China on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. By 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the film had earned $55 million in mainland Chinese cinemas.

The top eight movies earned a combined $200 million (RMB1.35 billion) by 7:30 p.m., according to data from China Box Office.

“Crazy Alien,” in which two brothers hope to make a fortune from an alien who lands in their lap, is the third film in Ning’s “Crazy” franchise. It follows 2009 black comedy “Crazy Stone” and 2006 title “Crazy Racer.” Once again it stars Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.

The early score, and a 28% market share, is a solid start for the film, which is backed by Huanxi Media, the stock market listed vehicle in which Ning and Xu are major owners. The company announced last year that distributors had provided a minimum guarantee that “Alien” would achieve $415 million (RMB2.8 billion) in China.

“Pegasus,” by celebrity blogger-turned-film director Han Han, was in second place with $42 million (RMB282 million) at 7 p.m., for a 21% market share. “New King of Comedy,” a remake of Stephen Chow’s 1999 title, was third. It had earned $36 million (RMB243 million) for a 19% share of the early evening pie.

“Wandering Earth,” heralded as China’s first genuine sci-fi movie, earned $24.8 million (RMB167 million) in fourth place and a 13% market share. “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past,” the sixth film in a Chinese animation franchise, earned $10.9 million on its first official day of release. But with previews, it has already amassed $16.8 million. Its producer, Fantawild has gone on record to forecast a result of more than $100 million.

Jackie Chan-starring family friendly historical adventure, “Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” was in sixth place on Tuesday with $9.3 million by 7 p.m. It was narrowly ahead of Chinese-British animation “Peppa Pig,” which had raked in $9 million. In eighth place was “Integrity,” stuffed with a cast of Hong Kong veterans, which had earned $7.9 million (RMB53 million).

Cinema attendance could increase on subsequent days, following family get-togethers on the first day of celebrations. The Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival) holidays run through the whole of the week in mainland China.

[GeneChing]

Why It's The Year Of Peppa Pig In China (https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/05/691501906/why-its-the-year-of-peppa-pig-in-china)
February 5, 20196:09 PM ET
Maureen Pao, photographed for NPR, 17 January 2019, in Washington DC.
MAUREEN PAO


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOUJGYzHQY
YouTube

It's the Year of the Pig — Peppa Pig, that is. The popular porcine British cartoon character is being boosted to new heights — in part thanks to an unusual movie trailer that's become a runaway viral hit in China.

A British import, the Peppa Pig TV show debuted in China in 2015 and follows the exploits of plucky piglet Peppa, Mummy, Daddy and brother George Pig, and her menagerie of friends. Kids have gone crazy for her; her likeness gracing toys, watches, backpacks, temporary tattoos and, eventually, memes that temporarily sullied her reputation in China (more on that later.)

And now, in the Year of the Pig, Peppa is on her way to becoming a full-fledged movie star. Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year opened in China on Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

But for now, people are talking about the promotional trailer more than the film.

Titled "What Is Peppa?" the five-minute live-action trailer tells the story of a grandfather in rural China and his quest to find the perfect gift for his city-dwelling grandson to celebrate Lunar New Year. It's the most important holiday in China, and one that is, above all, about family. For some, it is the only time of year they are able to travel back to their hometown.

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/02/05/gettyimages-1093169572-5e338b17c1c95370c6edd4060a6ed74a52ca97b9-s1700-c85.jpg
People walk past a Peppa Pig pop-up shop in the Yu Yuan gardens, a popular tourist spot in Shanghai.
Matthew Knight/AFP/Getty Images

"What is brilliant about this video is that it changes Peppa into a certain feeling, of bringing people together," says Manya Koetse, an Amsterdam-based Sinologist and editor-in chief of What's on Weibo, a website that reports on social media trends in China. "More than just the pig being the film or a toy or a commodity, it shows the gap between the Chinese urban areas and rural areas."

The trailer opens on a hillside with an elderly man, Li Yubao, talking on his cellphone with his 3-year-old grandson about the upcoming New Year visit. The man's simple clothes immediately signal that he's one of China's more than half-a-billion rural citizens. The grandfather wants to know what the boy wants as a present. He answers, "Pei Qi" — before Li Yubao's outdated phone cuts out when the antenna — yes, antenna — falls off.

Thus Grandfather Li's quest begins: What is Pei Qi? (That's Peppa's name in Chinese.) His devotion to answering this question is at the emotional heart of the trailer.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXscAme1Kok
A father spent hours creating a Peppa Pig out of snow for his young daughter.
YouTube

He looks in the dictionary. He uses the village P.A. system to ask if anyone has a clue. (He repeats the announcement to be sure everyone heard, you know, as grandpas often do.)

In Chinese, Pei Qi sounds similar to other words: Is it a shampoo? A kind of Chinese checkers? No one knows — until, finally, a breakthrough: A neighbor's wife worked as a nanny in Beijing. She'll know.

And she does. She describes the little pink pig to Li, who at first literally tries to paint a live pig. That will not do.

So he makes a gift ... and waits. Awakened by firecrackers on New Year's Day, he gets ready for his family to visit. He wraps dumplings, alone. As others greet their returning relatives, the man sweeps his courtyard, alone. Waiting.

Nonspoiler alert: you'll have to watch it to find out how it ends.

With over 1 billion hits since its Jan. 17 debut on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, the trailer is clearly a hit. But there were some who criticized it for being unrealistic or romanticizing rural life.

"That's nonsense," says Koetse. Director Zhang Dapeng has said he used nearly all nonprofessional actors for the trailer, which was filmed in two days in a Hebei province village. The locals wore their own clothes. The story was set in their own homes.

"So it couldn't be much closer to the truth," Koetse says.

That realism is part of why Chinese audiences loved the trailer — and extends to how the mini-drama hits hot-button social issues.

"There is a gap, and it's not just an urban-rural gap but also a gap between young people and older people, in a time where the digitalization of China is going so, so fast," Koetse says. "And especially the older people, and especially those in rural areas, are quick to be left behind if they don't catch up with the latest technology."

But perhaps the trailer's greatest strength is the pull of nostalgia — and of family. In China, grandparents traditionally play a prominent role in raising their grandchildren.

"Now with the rapid urbanization of China, you see that this is not always possible anymore," says Koetse, as younger generations leave for the cities — and more opportunities — leaving their elders behind.

To Koetse, another part of the genius of "What Is Peppa?" is how it takes the idea of quintessentially British Peppa and wraps her up in Chinese traditions and values about familial bonds.

"Peppa has never been this Chinese before," Koetse says.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-xmBLmaxyU
Peppa fever extends even to China's People's Liberation Army, as soldiers in Hong Kong assume a pig formation.
YouTube

It's not been all muddy puddles and spaghetti for Peppa. (Those are two of her favorite things.) She made headlines, and not in a good way, when she was co-opted by the Chinese youth subculture known as shehuiren -- which literally means "society person" but actually refers to anti-authority slackers.

Koetse explains that this subculture took Peppa as their symbol — and in memes and unauthorized videos, depicted her smoking cigarettes, wearing sunglasses, "making her into something different" and, in the eyes of Chinese authorities, undesirable. As a result, some 30,000 unofficial videos of Peppa were removed from Douyin, a popular short-video platform in China, last year.

But that hasn't stopped the #WhatIsPeppa juggernaut. Social media users opined that it made them homesick and want to treat their grandparents better.

Some pig, indeed.

Wanyu Zhang contributed reporting to this story.

Peppa Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71200-Peppa-Pig) gets its own thread, independent of our Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) thread.

[GeneChing]

I'm still pulling The Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth) to win the box for Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)


http://image5.sixthtone.com/image/5/16/175.jpg

Chinese Sci-Fi Blockbuster Draws Crowds on Opening Day (http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1003543/chinese-sci-fi-blockbuster-draws-crowds-on-opening-day)
‘The Wandering Earth’ — a big-budget adaptation of a Liu Cixin novel — is expected to spark deeper interest in homegrown science fiction.
Yin Yijun
Feb 06, 2019 3-min read

JIANGSU, East China — Chinese film fans ushered in the Year of the Pig with a new single-day box-office record on Tuesday, with the country’s first big-budget sci-fi blockbuster, “The Wandering Earth,” contributing a significant share.

In all, eight movies were released yesterday, garnering total box-office takings of 1.46 billion yuan ($207 million), breaking the previous record of 1.28 billion yuan set on the first day of Lunar New Year 2018. The much-anticipated “The Wandering Earth” took an estimated 186 million yuan ($27.5 million), according to ticketing site Maoyan.

Based on a short novel of the same name by Liu Cixin — China’s first science-fiction author to win the prestigious Hugo Award — “The Wandering Earth” has been four years in the making and cost around $50 million to make. The story takes place in an apocalyptic future where, as the sun dies, the world government decides to physically move Earth away from destruction and embark on a centuries-long voyage to a new solar system. But humanity is threatened with annihilation almost immediately, when scientists discover that Earth is on an apparent collision course with Jupiter. In the end, it is left to a rebellious young man named Liu Qi — played by up-and-coming actor Qu Chuxiao — and his father, a Chinese astronaut, to come to the rescue.

“The Wandering Earth” has attracted attention both at home and abroad for being China’s first big-budget sci-fi blockbuster. Science fiction as a whole is becoming increasingly popular in China, partly thanks to the success of Liu Cixin’s award-winning trilogy “The Three-Body Problem.” But although the country’s domestic movie industry is growing rapidly — churning out around 1,000 titles per year, according to consulting firm Askci — Hollywood films still constitute the bulk of the country’s sci-fi releases.

The early signs indicate that “The Wandering Earth” is a hit. At a series of promotional screenings before its official release, critics praised its visual effects and gripping storyline. And on Douban, the movie currently has a score of 8.3 out of 10 points, higher than most other movies in the same genre.

On Tuesday afternoon at a movie theater in Lianyungang, a coastal city in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu, a near-full house flocked to see the first screening of “The Wandering Earth.” Thirty-seven-year-old Qiao, a self-professed fan of science fiction and Liu Cixin’s works in particular, took his wife and 10-year-old daughter to see the movie. He, too, lauded the plot and eye-catching special effects.

Qiao is familiar with smaller-budget Chinese attempts at sci-fi, such as 1980’s “Death-Ray on the Coral Island,” but claims that “The Wandering Earth” is “the first true Chinese sci-fi movie.” He added that “The Wandering Earth” held its own against movies like “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” — two of the best-known examples of overseas sci-fi in China. “But we shouldn’t compare ourselves with movies from previous years, now that filmmaking technology is developing so fast,” he said, adding that he was cautiously optimistic about the future of homegrown sci-fi.

Not all reviews of “The Wandering Earth” have been positive, however. On Douban, certain netizens complained about what they perceived as the film’s overly patriotic tone, and about their dislike of Wu Jing, the actor who plays Liu Qi’s father and also stars in the bombastic “Wolf Warrior” action movies.

With a host of other homegrown sci-fi movies set for release this year, some Chinese film critics and media outlets have dubbed 2019 “year one” for the genre’s development in the country. Another Liu Cixin adaptation, the sci-fi comedy “Crazy Alien,” was also released yesterday, taking 404 million yuan on its opening day. And further examples of the genre are scheduled for screening later this year, including “Shanghai Fortress,” which sees the eastern megacity defend itself against invading aliens, and “Pathfinder,” about an interstellar adventure on a desert-like planet.

Contributions: Wang Yiwei; editor: Matthew Walsh.

(Header image: A promotional poster for the film “The Wandering Earth.” From Weibo user @电影流浪地球)

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFx-jn-J11o

[GeneChing]

Next up for Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) - The Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth) - my money is on this one to win out this year, mostly because of the momentum of Wu Jing. I love to say 'I told ya so' :cool:


FEBRUARY 10, 2019 11:48AM PT
‘Wandering Earth’ Sci-Fi Film Earns $300 Million Chinese New Year Victory (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/wandering-earth-sci-fi-film-earns-300-million-chinese-new-year-victory-1203134882/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/the-wandering-earth.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C566px%2C319px&resize=1000%2C563
CREDIT: COURTESY OF JINGXI CULTURE AND MEDIA

China’s first large-scale sci-fi film, “Wandering Earth” came to dominate the box office over the Chinese New Year holidays – though it started from behind.

Over the full six days of the holiday, the picture earned $304 million. Some $187 million of that came over the Friday-Sunday period, making “Wandering Earth” far and away the top scoring film worldwide over the weekend.

In comparison, “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” earned $38.2 million in six international territories. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” topped the North American charts with $34.4 million.

Eight locally-made films opened in Middle Kingdom cinemas on Tuesday (Feb. 5), the first day of Chinese New Year. The initial leader was Ning Hao-directed comedy “Crazy Alien” with $60 million (RMB405 million,) according to data from tracking service, China Box Office. “Wandering Earth” placed only fourth with $27.8 million (RMB188,) behind “Pegasus” and “New King of Comedy.”

The following day, “Crazy Alien” kept the lead, but with a score diminished to $42.3 million (RMB284 million). “Wandering Earth” increased its score, to $38.2 million (RMB257 million).

On Thursday, “Wandering Earth” snatched first place and did not relinquish it. Its daily scores improved in each session until Saturday, when it took $61.6 million.

Giant screen operator, Imax played three Chinese films on its 604 commercial screens in the Middle Kingdom, and adjusted its schedules over the period as audience preferences became easier to read.

“Imax’s record performance during this year’s Chinese New Year is proof that demand for Imax’s premium entertainment experience is alive and well in China,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO, Imax, in an emailed statement. “’Wandering Earth’ is the first blockbuster sci-fi film to be made in China. As China makes more high quality, blockbuster content, we believe audiences will continue to seek out the Imax experience.”

Over the full six-day period, “Crazy Alien” scored $215 million for second place. “Pegasus,” directed by celebrity blogger and race driver Han Han, earned $156 million.

“New King of Comedy,” a remake of Stephen Chow 1989 title, fell well short of the RMB1 billion ($148 million) milestone that these days marks a blockbuster in China. It earned only $78.6 million (RMB531 million) for fourth place, ahead of animation franchise title “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past” which earned $69 million (RMB466 million).

Jackie Chan-starring “Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” faded quickly, as “Wandering Earth” prevailed. “Knight” earned only $19.1 million ($129 million) over six days. Still, that was marginally better than much hyped animation “Peppa Pig,” which despite being timed for the new Chinese Year of the Pig, earned only $16.6 million (RMB112 million).

“Integrity” brought up the rear, earning $14.1 million (RMB95 million) over six days. No Hollywood titles received new releases during the period and none broke through to figure in the chart.

[GeneChing]

There is an astonishing amount of pig news on the web. Who knew?


Russian woman 'eaten by pigs' after collapsing (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47161035)
7 February 2019

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/83BD/production/_105552733_039943697.jpg
SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Media reports say an investigation into the incident has been launched. File image

A 56-year-old woman has been eaten by pigs after collapsing in their pen, Russian media report.

After venturing out to feed the animals in a village in the central Russian region of Udmurtia, the farmer reportedly fainted or suffered an epileptic seizure.

Her husband later found the body. She reportedly died of blood loss.

Their farm is in a village in the Malopurginsky district of Udmurtia, east of the city of Kazan.

Local media say the husband had gone to bed early the day before as he was feeling unwell.

After waking to find his wife missing, he came upon her body in the pen.

Media reports say an investigation into the incident has been launched.

Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

Tourists visit Shaolin Temple in China's Henan during Spring Festival holiday (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/c_137807907.htm)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-02-09 07:34:15|Editor: mmm

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/137807907_15496686675341n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/137807907_15496686675791n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/137807907_15496686676261n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/137807907_15496686676741n.jpg
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-02/09/137807907_15496686677231n.jpg

CHINA-HENAN-SHAOLIN TEMPLE-TOURISM (CN)
Tourists visit Shaolin Temple, the cradle of the Chinese martial arts, during the Spring Festival holiday in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Li An)




THREADS
Happy New Year Shaolin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?56081-Happy-New-Year-Shaolin)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/2000x792/public/images/methode/2019/02/08/e55c06d4-29fb-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_4000x1584_160131.JPG?itok=9bDOffDd

LUNAR NEW YEAR
GOING, GOING, GONG: WHY IS LION DANCE DYING IN SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG, BUT ROARING BACK TO LIFE IN CHINA? (https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2185286/going-going-gong-why-lion-dance-dying-singapore-and-hong)
The lion dance has a storied history of more than 1,000 years and is a regular feature of Lunar New Year celebrations by the Chinese diaspora
But troupes are struggling to attract young talent, due in part to tough training regimes and parents who prioritise education over arts and sport
BY DEWEY SIM
10 FEB 2019

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/landscape/public/images/methode/2019/02/08/2e969bc2-29fa-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_image_hires_160131.jpg?itok=MGFgFC5G

With small, steady steps, Samuel Sim sauntered towards the stage in downtown Singapore, just as he had in his first lion dance competition two years ago. But unlike his previous attempts, in which he fell from the high poles multiple times, Sim was not prepared to fail.

Clad in the same fur-lined pants illuminated by hundreds of gold sequins, Sim thrust himself into the air as his partner, Ang Junming, tugged tightly at his waist. With each beat of the drum and sound of the gong, the 19-year-old performers executed their well-rehearsed hoists, drawing a roar of appreciation from the home crowd.

The young lion dancers were one of seven teams that took part in an annual international lion dance competition held at Kreta Ayer Square last month, in the city state’s bustling Chinatown.

Sim and Ang are part of an increasingly rare group of people in Singapore, where a growing lack of interest for the traditional Chinese performance, especially among young people, has led to a recruitment crisis.

https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/08/aeaa800e-29f9-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_1320x770_160131.jpg
Members of Singapore’s Nam Sieng Lion Dance Troupe cheer on Samuel Sim and Ang Junming, both 19, who were representing Singapore at the 12th International Lion Dance Festival. The duo were runners-up. Photo: Dewey Sim

The number of troupes had fallen from 323 in 2016 to 265 by late last year, according to the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation.

Sim, who trains at the Nam Sieng Dragon and Lion Dance Activity Centre, picked up lion dancing after watching a competition.

But he said many of his peers were “not interested in traditional dances like these”.

Calvin Loke, who coaches Nam Sieng’s 60-member troupe, said there were only five new members last year in what was the smallest enrolment since its formation in 1990.

“We used to have about 20 to 30 new members every year in the past,” he said.

A REGIONAL PROBLEM

The lion dance has a storied history of more than 1,000 years, and is performed at auspicious occasions to usher in good fortune and wealth, and ward off evil spirits. It is a regular feature of Lunar New Year celebrations in Singapore – as well on the mainland, in Hong Kong, and regions where Chinese communities have settled – and is also performed at the launch of new businesses or at housewarming events.

https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/08/d5a04df6-29f9-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_1320x770_160131.jpg
Lion dance performances in Singapore often draw a middle-aged crowd. Photo: Dewey Sim

Lion dance groups like the Sheng Hong Lion Dance Athletes Troupe said they tend to be busiest during the Lunar New Year, with performances lined up back to back.

Co-founder Threuno Goh said the troupe books an average of 60 performances over the two-week festive period every year. They can earn anywhere from S$688 (US$500) to S$2,888 for each show, depending on factors such as the number of performers and the difficulty of the stunts involved.

Performances range from basic acts with only four dancers to those involving high poles and flags, Goh said. But he admitted he has found it a challenge to recruit youth. “Not a lot of young people like traditional things such as lion dance.”

Singaporean troupes are not alone in their struggles to recruit young people. Declining interest is a regional phenomenon, said Philemon Loh, who is part of Chinatown Festivals, a government-backed body that organises events to promote Chinese culture in Singapore.

“It is worrying to see how youths around the world are not participating as much in the traditional dance as they were in the past,” Loh said. “As more and more younger people turn away from the dance, it is going to be a challenge passing the culture down.”

In Hong Kong, lion dance can be hard to promote because it is seen as an art form rather than a sport, said Ivan Wong, founder and coach of Team-A Sports Association. He added that Hongkongers’ focus on education was also a factor limiting its popularity.

“Education and school [are] the priority for many parents here in Hong Kong, with sports and the arts taking a back seat,” Wong said. His association, once 160 members strong, now has just 80 members.

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/08/544c6950-29fa-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_1320x770_160131.jpg
Lion dance troupes in Singapore are holding annual competitions to engage and attract young dancers from as young as eight. Photo: Dewey Sim

Joseph Low, secretary general of the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, said the gruelling training regime causes many young people to lose interest because they see it as tedious and strenuous.

Dancers train four days a week on average, and sometimes as often as six days a week if there is a competition, said 20-year-old lion dancer Jarrell Tock, whose father is the founder and coach of Yiwei Athletic Association.

“Training can be extremely tiring, but if you treat you as a hobby, you will get used to it and will make time for it,” he said.

Funding challenges also stymie attempts to grow troupes.

Lau Ming Fung, founder of an eponymous lion dance association in Hong Kong, wants the government to do more to support it.

“There is also a lack of venue and spaces for troupes to train at and troupes face a lot of restrictions,” Lau said.

Low, of the Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation, said its lion dance arm has not received funding from Sport Singapore, an agency under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth tasked with developing a national sports culture. Sport Singapore did not respond to questions on funding.

In the absence of top-down support, the federation is trying to actively engage children from as young as eight through activities such as holding annual lion dance competitions for different age groups.

The initial stages of these competitions are typically held in residential areas, Low said. “By doing so, we are bringing lion dance to the heartlands for residents to watch.”

https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2019/02/08/f4436fd8-2aba-11e9-8864-9e8ab15a22ca_1320x770_160131.JPG
Divers perform an underwater Lion Dance to celebrate Lunar New Year in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AP

continued next post

[GeneChing]

C’MON KIDS

China has managed to overcome the youth problem with a combination of government and community initiatives. Guo Qian Rong, who heads Nam Sieng’s China arm, said: “Compared to a decade ago, the lion dance scene in China is more vibrant, robust and professional now, with more troupes joining the trade.”

Exposing children to lion dance and cultivating interest from a young age is key to promoting it, said Guo, who is based in Guangdong Province, where the lion dance originated.

What the mainland has done, as part of a broader push to promote tradition to the masses, Guo said, is to incorporate lion dance as part of the curriculum in primary and secondary schools, with some kindergartens also introducing it to children through targeted activities.

In Hong Kong, some troupes have introduced new, creative elements to modernise the ancient tradition.

Tiffany Au Yeung, the founder of Ha Kwok Cheung Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe, said her troupe worked with Swarovski to put together a lion made of crystal.

“We also tried to introduce different music genres such as hip-hop to the dance,” she said, adding that about half of the troupe’s 300 members were recruited in the past few years.

In Singapore, the Wenyang Sports Association has incorporated sports such as football and other team-building activities as part of its training programme, while the Yiwei Athletic Association has planned occasional overseas welfare trips, chalet stays and bowling sessions.

Other Singaporean troupes are bringing in non-Chinese dancers to preserve the tradition in the multicultural nation.


WE CAN TRY AS HARD AS WE CAN TO ATTRACT YOUTHS, BUT IF THEY ARE NOT PASSIONATE ABOUT LION DANCE, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TIE THEM DOWN FOREVER
Kiefer Teo, Yiwei Athletic Association
The Teng Yang Lion Dance Troupe has attracted youths from the Indian community, while the Kuo Chuan Arts Cultural group has more than 40 members ranging from the ages of eight to 38, all of whom are Malay.

“I started this troupe because I wanted my friends from the Malay community to learn something new and benefit ... even though the dance is a Chinese custom,” said Jamsairi Kamaruddin, Kuo Chuan’s founder.

“During the Chinese New Year period, members of the troupe can also earn some extra cash and use the money purposefully such as paying off their school fees,” he said, adding that the troupe has more than 150 performances lined up during the two-week festive period this year.

“We follow the traditional way of lion dance, but we try to be creative by adding in a bit of freestyle.”

There is little promotion, and recruitment is mostly done through word of mouth.

The troupe gets one or two new members every month, Jamsairi said. He isn’t bothered by concerns whether groups such as Kuo Chuan are seen to be wrestling for business with its traditional Chinese counterparts amid a dying trade.

“Singapore places a strong emphasis on our multiracial society,” said Jamsairi. “The art of lion dancing is a passion to us.”

For new recruits, sustaining the passion is the challenge, said veteran Singaporean lion dance coach Hiew Yun Cheong. Few can endure the hours of training. Many drop out within their first year.

“Most of them join out of initial curiosity, which can die down very quickly,” he said.

Kiefer Teo, an assistant leader at Yiwei Athletic Association, said: “We can try as hard as we can to attract youths, but if they are not passionate about lion dance, we will not be able to tie them down forever.”

Sim, the 19-year-old performer, admits his passion for the tradition has been tested many times.

He has sustained injuries such as a sprained ankle, a bruised tailbone, and a chipped tooth during training.

But the teenager is now flying the Singapore flag high – his team came second in the lion dance competition, and he will head to Thailand later this year for another international competition.

“I hope that by winning such competitions, it will inspire younger Singaporeans to take up lion dancing,” Sim said. “And hopefully we will be able to revive this dying tradition and proudly pass it on.” ■


THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

[GeneChing]

ASIA FEBRUARY 18, 2019 2:43AM PT
China Box Office: ‘Wandering Earth’ Reaches $557 Million in Second Week (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/china-box-office-wandering-earth-557-million-second-week-1203142117/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/wanderingearth3.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1
CREDIT: THE WANDERING EARTH

The winning films during China’s Lunar New Year holiday period remained on top of the local box office in their second normal weekend of release. Locally made sci-fi film “The Wandering Earth” pushed its total to $557 million.

“Wandering Earth” earned $88.8 million between Friday and Monday, according to data from Asian film industry consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was more than half of the $160 million of the entire market.

“Wandering Earth” surpassed “Avengers: Infinity War” on Saturday to become the highest-grossing Imax release ever in China. After adding $7.2 million from 603 Imax screens over the four-day weekend, the Imax cumulative for the film now stands at $43.7 million in China, and $44.7 million globally.

“Crazy Alien” was unchanged in second place. It earned $25.8 million over the weekend, and advanced its 13-day cumulative to $292 million.

Han Han’s “Pegasus” was similarly unchanged in third place. It earned $23.6 million, for a cumulative of $219 million.

“Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past” held on to fourth place, earning $9.5 million. That takes it to $94.7 million, and puts its $100 million reported target in reach.

The week’s only significant new release, New Classics Media’s “Fall in Love at First Kiss,” opened in fifth position. Including its earnings from Thursday – Valentine’s Day – the film earned $19.2 million in four days.

This is playing in the U.S. via AMC

Wandering Earth (https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/wandering-earth-59399)
Wandering Earth
2 HR 5 MIN NR
Based on a short story by Liu Cixin. In the future, Earth's survival is threatened, so large thruster engines are built to propel the planet through the solar system toward another sun-like star.

https://amc-theatres-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/c_fill,f_auto,fl_lossy,g_auto,h_900,q_auto,w_1600/v1548965518/amc-cdn/production/2/movies/59400/59399/MovieStills/283202R5.jpg




THREADS
The Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth)
Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: Ninja Stress Warrior from Well Go USA thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71212-WINNERS-Ninja-Stress-Warrior-from-Well-Go-USA).

THREADS:
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Ninjas! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?44568-Ninjas!)

[GeneChing]

This is so random that I can't resist posting it.


Frozen pork chop as blunt instrument: woman arrested after hurling hunk of solid meat at her Valentine (https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-news-pork-chop-woman-hit-boyfriend-arrested-20190214-story.html)
By THERESA BRAINE
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
FEB 14, 2019 | 6:44 PM

https://www.nydailynews.com/resizer/WZyKUH7OM9BXTTNVp9EwXALjirA=/800x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5c65f9fd/turbine/ny-1550187000-o54ghqj1by-snap-image
Jennifer Brassard (Pasco County Sheriff's Office)

A Florida woman was charged with domestic battery after hurling a frozen pork chop at her boyfriend’s face, hitting him above the eyebrow.

Jennifer Brassard, 48, got into an argument around 9:45 p.m. on Feb. 1 with her beloved, WFLA reported.

She flung the meat and hit him in the eyebrow, giving him a half-inch laceration, WFLA said, citing the arrest report. Brassard left the home soon after and was arrested the next day.

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

INSPIRING
The Sorrow and Sacrifices of Lion Dance Performers That Most People Don’t Know (https://www.worldofbuzz.com/the-sorrow-and-sacrifices-of-lion-dance-performers-that-most-people-dont-know/)
Published 6 days ago on February 15, 2019 By Ling Kwan

https://www.worldofbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/lion-dance-featured-image.jpg
Source: Facebook

Chinese New Year wouldn’t be the same without the ear-deafening drumming and gong-playing that happen during the lion dance performances. However, did you know that behind those colourful lion dance costumes, there are a bunch of exhausted youngsters who don’t get enough recognition and appreciation?

https://www.worldofbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-sorrow-and-sacrifice-of-lion-dance-performers-that-no-one-talked-about-world-of-buzz-3.jpg
Source: The Star

On 15 February, a netizen who’s a lion dance performer in Negeri Sembilan shared a heartfelt confession on Facebook about how their community has always been associated with many negative stereotypes. Here’s the brief translation of what he wrote.

“Due to various reasons, many lion dance performers are often perceived negatively by the society and are often labelled as trouble-makers who smoke, fight or have tattoos. But what you don’t see is that these ‘trouble-makers’ are the ones who sacrificed their reunion time with their family on Chinese New Year to perform at your house.
“They perform under the hot sun while sweating profusely. Their hands are blistered from moving the heavy lion head around; their legs are tired and sore from too much dancing. Some get injured by the firecrackers while others are left gasping for air after inhaling the smoke from the firecrackers.

https://www.worldofbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-sorrow-and-sacrifice-of-lion-dance-performers-that-no-one-talked-about-world-of-buzz.jpg
Source: Facebook


“On the first day of CNY, when you are playing cards and eating cookies in the air-conditioned room, they are working under the hot sun with empty bellies. You scold them when they didn’t arrive on time, but do you know how little ang pau they get?
“You can dress up in your new clothes and take a family portrait with your loved ones, but lion dance performers will miss this opportunity as they are going from house to house to perform. They won’t even have the chance to visit their friends and relatives.”

The netizen added that the only reason why these performers stay committed to this back-breaking role is that they want to preserve this precious culture that has been around for 1,000 years so that the next generation will have the chance to see it in real life. “If you come across any of these performers, please don’t be stingy. Buy them some drinks or cheer for them. Be more understanding when they’re running a little late because nobody likes to be shouted at during CNY,” he added.

https://www.worldofbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-sorrow-and-sacrifice-of-lion-dance-performers-that-no-one-talked-about-world-of-buzz-2.jpg
Source: Facebook

These are the unsung heroes during CNY as they sacrifice their precious time with their family to give us a cheerful celebration. Honestly, without lion dance performances, the atmosphere will never be the same. Don’t you guys think so? #Respect!


I wrote a little about my Lion Dancing sacrifices in Chinese New Year 2012 YEAR OF THE DRAGON: She Takes Her Fan and Throws it in the Lion's Den (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1023)

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Lion Dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance)

[PalmStriker]

This is so random that I can't resist posting it.



THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

:):D:) Heartwarming to hear that she didn't get away with her temper tantrum which was probably one of her trademark personality traits.. What a bone-head, time for that guy to make himself scarce around her or he's a glutton for punishment. She has that crazy look in her eyes. I'm sure she wouldn't like being knocked over the head with a frozen turkey leg.

[GeneChing]

China’s box office takes world-record US$1.66 billion in February as Lunar New Year hits like The Wandering Earth pack cinemas (https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2188591/chinas-box-office-takes-world-record-us166-billion-february)
Chinese theatres generated 11.1 billion yuan in ticket sales, with space-exploration film The Wandering Earth proving the biggest draw
Pearl Liu
Updated: Tuesday, 5 Mar, 2019 6:03am

https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/images/methode/2019/03/04/914e6b4a-3e7d-11e9-b20a-0cdc8de4a6f4_image_hires_214127.JPG?itok=McPsRxuz
A scene from Chinese sci-fi movie The Wandering Earth. Photo: China Film Group Corporation

China’s box office receipts soared to a world-record 11.1 billion yuan (US$1.66 billion) in February as film fans flocked to cinemas to catch The Wandering Earth and other blockbusters during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The sales figure, provided by Maoyan Entertainment, China’s biggest movie ticketing app, is the highest ever recorded in a single month anywhere, and beats the previous record of 10.1 billion yuan set by China in the same month a year earlier.
It was well over three times the total revenue of North American theatres in February, which was US$478.5 million (3.2 billion yuan) according to Box Office Mojo.
The ticket revenue was generated by 12 films during the month, with by far the biggest boost coming from the holiday period from February 4 to 10. Traditionally a time for friends and family to come together, the Lunar New Year has become something of a golden period for film releases in China.
The total box office during the festivities, contributed by eight movies, reached 5.8 billion yuan, inching up slightly from 5.74 billion yuan in 2018, according to data from Maoyan.
By far the biggest draw was the Chinese space-exploration film, The Wandering Earth, a surprise box-office hit, which has raked in 4.45 billion yuan since its Lunar New Year debut.
“The success of the film signals that Chinese audiences have become more discerning, which has elevated the Chinese movie market to a more diversified and mature stage,” said Wu Chaoze, an analyst with China Securities who expects to see healthy growth of the market.
The movie, adapted from a novella by Hugo award-winning sci-fi author Liu Cixin and produced by China Film Group Corporation, became China’s second highest-grossing film after the 2017 action movie Wolf Warrior 2, which earned 5.68 billion yuan.
IMAX to show more Chinese-language films after sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth sets box office record
Starring popular comedian Huang Bo and Glee actor Matthew Morrison, Crazy Alien ranked the second most popular film in February, taking 2.18 billion yuan. That was followed by Pegasus, directed and written by the famous
China is already the second largest movie market in the world after the US, with box office proceeds reaching 60.98 billion yuan in 2018, up 9 per cent from the previous year.
China’s box office takings in January came to 3.37 billion yuan. By comparison, North American cinemas took US$385.6 million in January (2.6 billion yuan), according to Box Office Mojo.

THREADS
Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth)
Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chollywood rising (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57225-Chollywood-rising)

[GeneChing]

HK Wild Boars for Year of the Pig



To confront a wild boar invasion, Hong Kong turns to birth control (https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-hong-kong-wild-boars-20190319-story.html)
By ALICE SU
MAR 19, 2019 | 3:00 AM
| HONG KONG

https://www.latimes.com/resizer/QiUZplT6nmj1dDBP_VscelvnQWg=/800x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5c86a3b2/turbine/la-1552327598-gcafmzws30-snap-image
A man walks past wild boars in Hong Kong's Aberdeen Park in January. (Anthony Wallace / AFP/ Getty Images)
Out of the darkness appeared a snout.

“Fei zhu! Fat pig!” 8-year-old Shino Chen shouted to her younger brother as she jumped up and down and pointed at a wild boar.

The hairy black pig, which must have weighed at least 150 pounds, grunted and snuffled through a flimsy, old fence along the sidewalk. The children tiptoed toward the animal then sprinted back to their father’s side.

Kenneth Chen, 44, and his children visit the boars almost every night. All they have to do is step out of their apartment here in the neighborhood of Tai Wai, located on the fringes of an ever-expanding metropolis.

“I bring my kids to see a natural habitat because they seldom get to see live animals in Hong Kong,” Chen said.

Hong Kong’s 7.4 million residents spend most of their days rushing between high-rises, metro stations, tiny apartments and air-conditioned offices. People occupy less than a quarter of the 426-square-mile region, making its urban core one of the most densely populated places in the world.

The rest of Hong Kong belongs to monkeys, snakes, porcupines, boars and other wildlife.

The city is a concrete jungle in the middle of an actual jungle.

Now, as urban areas sprawl into the surrounding hills, Hong Kong is struggling to contain a wild boar problem.

https://www.latimes.com/resizer/0gKc-nE20MCAB_dHsSFWHC392l8=/fit-in/800x600/filters:fill(black)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/QORLZLXWBNCJVJ3J7XC2ANYGGI.jpgA man walks past a wild boar in Hong Kong's Aberdeen Park. (Anthony Wallace / AFP / Getty Images)

The pigs are everywhere: sprinting down the highway, digging into dumpsters, falling through the ceiling of a children’s clothing store, sauntering into metro stations, taking over barbecues, confronting police at the airport, even swimming across the balmy bays of Hong Kong Island.

No one has conducted a census to determine the actual number of wild boars in Hong Kong. But encounters reported to local authorities have more than doubled in the last five years, from 294 in 2013 to 679 in the first 10 months of 2018 alone.

There have also been injuries: A 70-year-old man was hospitalized last week after he threw a stone at a wild boar and the animal retaliated by biting him.

The classic solution for boar overpopulation in most places, including California, is hunting. Hong Kong once licensed hunters to kill boars, especially in rural areas where farmers often complained about the animals uprooting their crops.

Boars have also provoked anger for lurking around cemeteries, waiting to eat food that people leave on graves to honor deceased relatives in accordance with Chinese tradition.

But Hong Kong’s government suspended boar hunting in 2017 in response to an outcry by animal rights activists.

Roni Wong, the 35-year-old founder of the Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group, has spearheaded public confrontations with hunters, shouting at them to desist from harming the pigs.

“It is very cruel, not civilized behavior to do that,” Wong explained.

He says that humans and boars can peacefully coexist as long as people follow a few basic rules: “We always educate the public, don’t feed the wild boars or make them angry. Just leave them and they won’t attack.”

On the other side of the debate are activists who say defenders of the boars are naive.

“They actually have absolutely no idea how dangerous these animals are,” said Wesley Ho, spokesman for Feral Pig Hong Kong, a group formed last year to demand stronger action against the pigs.

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Hong Kong residents take a photo in front of a wild boar at a park. (Vincent Yu / Associated Press)

Killing boars isn’t wrong when it’s necessary for protection, he said.

“They may not attack 100 times, but the 101st time, they could, and those attacks could be fatal,” Ho said. “No matter what, human lives are the most precious thing. They come first in any case.”

He said many Hong Kongers are afraid to go camping or have picnics, because gluttonous boars are encroaching on human space and stealing food. “Looking at them, they’re so fat,” he said. “How hungry can they be?”

Searching for a compromise, politicians have suggested different tactics for the boar problem, including introducing natural predators into Hong Kong or sending the boars to nearby islands.

But wild boars are strong swimmers, and their predators — tigers and wolves, among other carnivores — wouldn't exactly fit the urban landscape either.

For now, the city’s solution is birth control.

A team of veterinarians recently launched a two-year pilot sterilization program that starts with tracking down boars and shooting them with tranquilizer darts.

It takes 15 minutes for the darts to kick in, giving the hogs ample time to freak out before they collapse.

“Sometimes it’s in the middle of the city center, like a big pig in a small area and it’s very challenging,” said Karthi Martelli, one of the vets.

Then the females are injected with a 3-year contraceptive and, along with the males, released back into Hong Kong’s country parks.

It’s not a perfect system, Martelli acknowledged. But so far nobody has invented a more humane option.

“Can you imagine caging a [330-pound] wild boar?” she said. “They have tusks. There is no real cage that can hold them for a few days. So we need to come up with a method of sterilization that’s minimally invasive.”

The biggest problem in Hong Kong is not that boars or humans are hurting each other, she said, but that too many people find the pigs adorable and decide to feed them.

It doesn’t help that 2019 is the Chinese Year of the Pig and that some consider boar sightings a sign of good luck and prosperity.

“It was really cute once upon a time, but I mean, wild pigs running loose in a city center is not very exciting anymore,” Martelli said.

Her husband, Paolo Martelli, who is also a veterinarian, pointed out that the invading species is the human, not the boar.

“They’ve always been here,” he said.

Now the boars are eating more, reproducing more, and living an unhealthy urbanized life, Karthi Martelli added: “It’s a man-made problem but the pigs are paying the price.”

Her advice: The best way of protecting animal and human alike is to disengage.

But that is becoming harder as development presses into the wild lands.

With more people moving to Hong Kong from other parts of China, developers built 21,000 new homes last year, the most in 14 years.

Many were in the New Territories, a largely rural area that stretches north to mainland China. New train routes are also under construction, carving deeper into areas once inhabited only by wildlife.

Tai Wai, which is in the New Territories, was a farming village until the late 1970s. There are signs warning people not to bother the animals, but not everybody obeys.

As the Chen family marveled at one boar, another local resident, 36-year-old Wai-ling Tang, came walking down the street when she was startled by another boar wiggling toward the fence, which was only about 50 feet long and had a boar-sized hole at the bottom.

Tang gasped and jumped to the side, arcing wide around the sidewalk.

“They’re too close,” Tang said. “They should move back up the mountain.”

The boars seemed to be getting bolder every day, at times wandering into the road.

It didn’t help that her husband occasionally fed them cheap apples from the supermarket. Tang was not happy about that.

“He treats the pigs better than he treats me!” she said.

[GeneChing]

Pig Steals Campers Beer, Gets Drunk & Starts a Fight With a Cow (https://www.outdoorrevival.com/featured/pig-steals-campers-beer-gets-drunk-starts-a-fight-with-a-cow.html)
By Doug Williams
Publish Date: Apr 24, 2019

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Some folks get extra cheerful when they’ve had a few too many pints of lager, and some folks get a little cranky or downright depressed. Still others lose all sense of propriety and good manners, and get sloppy and silly with anyone in their midst.

But who knew that pigs – yup, that’s right, pigs – could be among the ranks of those who get ill-mannered and mean spirited when they’ve had a few?

That’s exactly what happened in Australia in 2013, when a pig, a wild pig that is, got into the sauce, got drunk and started a fight with a barnyard buddy – a cow.

It all started when some careless campers left out their supply of hooch – 18 cans of beer, to be precise – and the errant pig decided to help himself to the sudsy stash.

The campers at Port Hedland, near the DeGrey River, were tucked away in their tents for the night when, the next thing they knew, the feral porker was snout-deep into their beer.

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“Swino” Following his rampage he decided to swim out into the middle of a river before collapsing drunk under a tree and falling asleep. Credit Merida

It soon started exhibiting bad manners and loutish behaviour, including picking on a nearby cow. After slurping down the liquid gold, this little piggy went to the garbage bins and began rooting around for a late night snack.

When he was finally finished boozing it up, eating, and generally causing pandemonium at the campsite, he took a dip in the river and then passed out for a post-gorge snooze under a nearby tree.

One stunned camper told ABC News, “It was in the middle of the night, and it was these people opposite us (who) heard this crunching of the can, and they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was, crunching away at their cans.”

Furthermore, the witness to these porcine shenanigans said, “Then he went and raided their rubbish…then there were some other people camped right on the edge of the river, and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow. Apparently, the pig showed up several nights in a row, causing chaos and helping himself to anything he could find to “pig out” on.

“It was coming…for a couple of days, but we didn’t see it this morning or last night,” said the witness, who gave only her first name, Merida, to the TV station.

But while the beast was showing up, it was very entertaining, the camper said. “It was going around and around, and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle… the people that were camped on the river went across and crept up on it, and it was hiding, and sleeping under a big log right on the edge of the water.”

Unfortunately, the pig, whom Australians had nicknamed “Swino,” came to an inglorious end not long after his drunken outburst at the campground. A roadwork employee confirmed for the website Gawker that he had been found dead, the victim of a collision with a vehicle.

He was found not far from the campsite at which he had created such havoc. The worker, Fionna Findley, was sure it was “Swino” because of the unusual markings he had on his ears.

It’s an all too common fate for wild pigs in Australia, who are considered an invasive species and are not usually welcome, their amusing antics notwithstanding.

According to an article in the Guardian, “feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in many parts of Australia, owing to the diseases they carry, which can infect livestock. They also damage crops and compete with natural species for food.”

Poor “Swino” may not be mourned by officials in Australia, but his drunken rampages will live forever online. All the little guy wanted was a cold brew and a wee snack, but when the pig tried drunkenly to cross the road, the cars were just too much for him.

This is how we should all approach the Year of the Pig...:D

[GeneChing]

JULY 12, 2019 / 4:06 AM / UPDATED 6 HOURS AGO
China vows to tackle dead pig scam amid swine fever epidemic (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-swinefever/china-vows-to-tackle-dead-pig-scam-amid-swine-fever-epidemic-idUSKCN1U71CN)
2 MIN READ

https://s3.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20190712&t=2&i=1407211595&w=1200&r=LYNXNPEF6B0SO
FILE PHOTO: Piglets are seen by a sow at a pig farm in Zhoukou, Henan province, China June 3, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - Criminal gangs in China are faking outbreaks of African swine fever on farms free of the disease and forcing farmers to sell their healthy pigs at sharply lower prices, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.

The gangs are taking advantage of a highly contagious disease that has spread across much of the country and disrupted the world’s biggest pork market.

The scam involves dumping dead pigs on farms and then spreading rumors that the farms are infected with African swine fever, which is often fatal for pigs but harmless for humans.

The gangs then pressure farmers to sell their hogs at lower prices, violating farmers’ rights and affecting normal pig production, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement.

The ministry did not give more details but it urged anyone who witnessed such activities to alert the authorities.

“All localities should be vigilant and actively guard against it,” it said.

Up to half of China’s breeding pigs have either died from African swine fever or been slaughtered because of the spreading disease, twice as many as officially acknowledged, Reuters reported last month.

Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Darren Schuettler

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

A miserable Year of the Pig for China’s hogs is godsend for American farmers (https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3023181/miserable-year-pig-chinas-hogs-godsend-american-farmers)
Outlook for China’s hog farming sector is bleak, as the overall herd size is forecast to fall 20 per cent this year and a further 10 per cent next year
US pork exports to China doubled in the second quarter to 60,898 tonnes from a year earlier
Eric Ng
Published: 2:30am, 17 Aug, 2019

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Illustration by SCMP

In China, pigs symbolise wealth. And 2019, being the Year of the Pig, was supposed to be a great year to make money. Instead, the nation’s 26 million hog farmers are battling the deadly African swine fever epidemic that is in its second year now.
The virus, harmless to humans, has spread across 32 of the nation’s 34 administrative regions since the outbreak was first reported in August 2018, affecting a large portion of the nation’s 348 million strong swine inventory, according to Rabobank.
“We estimate China’s current herd loss is 40 per cent year on year, which may expand to over 50 per cent by year-end,” the Dutch bank said in a report last month. “We expect an additional 10 to 15 per cent decline in both herd and pork production in 2020.”
The outbreak, which has wiped out 20 per cent of the planet’s hog herd, is pushing the Chinese government to look for imports from the US, Europe and Brazil, and substitutes such as beef, poultry, fish and even plant-based protein.

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Piglets at a farm in Yiyang county, in China’s central Henan province. Photo: AFP

The highly contagious disease that kills all pigs and wild boars it infects was originally restricted to Africa. In 2007, it was first seen in Georgia at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It has since spread westwards to eastern and central Europe and eastward to Asia, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
After infecting hogs in China last year, it has moved this year into farms in Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. There is no cure.
While vaccine candidates are being evaluated in laboratories in several nations including China, a cure is still several years away, said Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor at City University’s Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences in Hong Kong.
Mainland China had lost 26.7 per cent of its breeding sows by the end of June from a year earlier based on the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ tally.
The effect of a major decline in new pig births began to surface this summer, after hog supply initially rose and suppressed pork prices before sick pigs were culled to contain the epidemic.
Hog prices have risen 80 per cent this month from their lows in February to around 19 yuan a catty (US$2.70 for 600 grams). The prices are up some 46 per cent before the epidemic broke out.
As pork – a staple in China – is the leading driver of food prices, consumer price inflation rose a higher than expected 2.8 per cent last month and could breach 3 per cent in the months ahead, Nomura economists said in a note.

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SCMP Graphics

This complicates the task of policymakers in Beijing who are already dealing with slowing economic growth amid an escalating trade war with the US.
China, which produces and consumes roughly half of the world’s pork, has been largely self-sufficient before the epidemic.
But the Chinese hog farming sector’s outlook is bleak, as the overall herd size is forecast to fall 20 per cent this year and a further 10 per cent next year, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture.
A 6.2 per cent year on year fall in domestic hog supply in the first half meant the slaughtering and meat processing industry imported 818,702 tonnes of pork – 26.3 per cent higher year on year – to meet demand, according to government statistics.
Even the US, the world’s second largest pork producer and the largest exporter that is in the midst of a trade war with China, has helped to plug the supply gap in the past few months. Exports to China in the second quarter doubled year-on-year to 60,898 tonnes, according to the US Meat Export Federation.

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SCMP Graphics

This was made possible by a sharp increase in prices in China and depressed US prices because of excess supply, which helped to offset a 62 per cent import duty slapped by Beijing on US pork exports.
Meanwhile, US production is expected to grow 5.5 per cent year on year in the second half, thanks to a large breeding herd and higher productivity, according to Rabobank’s forecast.
This is bodes well for Hong Kong-listed WH Group, the world’s largest pork producer, which has been caught in the middle of the trade war.
Besides controlling China’s largest hog slaughtering and packaged pork facilities, WH also owns Virginia-based Smithfield Foods – the top US hog producer and pork processor – which it acquired in 2013.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/08/17/ab252cde-bfe7-11e9-8f25-9b5536624008_1320x770_115842.JPG
WH Group chairman Wan Long (centre) said his company would increase pork imports from Europe and South America to hedge the risk of Chinese tariffs on US exports. Photo: Jonathan Wong

WH Group chairman Wan Long said on Tuesday to ensure it has enough supply to meet Chinese demand, the firm would increase imports from Europe and South America to hedge the risk of Chinese tariffs on US pork.
At the same time, Smithfield’s chief financial officer Glenn Nunziata said that while rising Chinese price premium over US prices is favourable for more fresh pork exports to China, the firm will also work on expanding sales to Mexico, Japan and South Korea as a backup.
A de-escalating of tensions would certainly help WH Group and other US pork suppliers.
But the trade appeared to have hit a massive hurdle this month when Beijing retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s move to impose 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion by suspending purchase of US agricultural products.

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Some of Smithfield Foods’ pork products, which is owned by Hong Kong-listed WH Group. Photo: Reuters

David Ortega, an agricultural economist with Michigan State University, said that the US, as the world’s top pork exporter, could nevertheless help satisfy Chinese demand.
“The rise in domestic Chinese pork prices can offset some of the tariff’s impact, but there is a lot of uncertainty as the trade negotiation is fairly fluid … other pork exporters like the EU and Brazil are positioning themselves to meet Chinese demand,” Ortega said.
Canada, another major pork exporter, has sent 217,193 tonnes to China in the first six months, up 50 per cent from last year, according to Canada’s Agriculture and Agri-Food Department.
However, since June 25 China has stopped accepting meat from Canada after a pork shipment was found to contain ractopamine, a banned feed additive.
The Canadian government said the shipment probably came from a third country and the certificate might have been falsified.

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Relations between China and Canada have cooled since Huawei Technologies’ CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver last December. Photo: The Canadian Press via AP

Relations between Canada and China rapidly soured last December after Huawei Technologies’ chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was detained on US charges relating to alleged violation of sanctions on Iran.
Other nations have also cashed in on opportunities.
Exports from the European Union – led by Germany, Spain and Denmark – in the year’s first five months surged 52 per cent year on year to 432,293 tonnes, while exports from Brazil in the first half gained 28.9 per cent to 92,188 tonnes, according to Darin Friedrichs, a Shanghai-based analyst at commodities brokerage INTL FCStone.
He expected the US to be the biggest potential source of additional pork supply to China as Canada has been banned and Europe only has limited extra supply, adding that negotiations for more supply from Brazil were ongoing.
However, even as China increases pork imports, he said there were bottlenecks that need to be addressed.
“A lot of the infrastructure isn’t built for frozen or chilled pork … it is for live hog that is killed close to the market,” he said.
Besides pork, China has also lifted chicken and beef imports by around 50 per cent in the first half from a year ago.
Friedrichs said that in the long term, small pig farms were expected to be phased out, while larger ones will deepen vertical integration into downstream slaughtering and processing so that hogs can avoid exposure to the virus.
This was likely to speed up industry consolidation, he added, noting Beijing has been offering farmers in northeast China subsidies to build larger facilities integrating breeding and slaughtering.

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Darin Friedrichs, a Shanghai-based analyst at commodities brokerage INTL FCStone, says China’s pig farming sector will see consolidation. Photo: Handout

For leading Chinese companies that have capacity to expand, the future looks bright.
Shenzhen-listed Muyuan Foodstuff, China’s second largest pork producer that sold 11 million heads of hogs last year, said in July that it expected to post a net profit of between 376 million yuan and 396 million yuan in the second quarter on the back of higher prices, after a loss of 145 million yuan in the first quarter.
The epidemic has not derailed its aggressive target to boost production to 14 million heads this year, according to a report from brokerage Changjiang Securities.
Still, Pfeiffer of City University, said it will be a long road to recovery for the industry because of the sheer density of farms in China and poor biosecurity behaviour in the entire chain right from farmers to slaughterhouse staff.
“It would be a miracle if African swine fever can be controlled, let alone eradicated, within the next five to 10 years,” he said.

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Trade War (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71299-Trade-War)

[GeneChing]

Thought this was the year of the earth pig...:rolleyes:



Opinion
The year of being water – a Chinese astrological reading of Hong Kong in a challenging hour (https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3024004/year-being-water-chinese-astrological-reading-hong-kong-challenging)
It has been a turbulent Year of the Pig for Hong Kong. But believe it or not, an era of tender loving governance may be just round the corner
Foong Woei Wan
Published: 10:30am, 24 Aug, 2019

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Protesters on the march during a rally in Hong Kong on August 18. The water represented by a Pig year could have been a boon for Hong Kong, a Wood Dragon, but there is such a thing as too much water. Photo: AFP

A violent storm blows through Hong Kong with an unprecedented intensity, leaving a trail of broken glass, blocked roads and traffic disruptions, and the government comes under fire for failing to manage the situation.
That would be Super Typhoon Mangkhut, which hit the city on September 16 last year – a Pig day with an unusually forceful element of water, according to the Chinese almanac. But it could as easily be the protest actions that have engulfed Hong Kong this year, which happens to be a Pig year with an underlying element of water.
I am neither a fortune-teller nor a feng shui expert. I’m just a civilian who takes a geeky interest in Chinese cosmology, its poetic possibilities and its understanding of the interconnection of all things. Much ink has been spilled on how Hong Kong should move forward, but perhaps it would be useful to start from the beginning and see the city through the prism of ba zi, the age-old practice of analysing the eight characters denoting a birth time.
In Chinese astrology, hours, days, months, years and even decades follow the zodiac cycle. Hong Kong was reborn as a special administrative region of China on July 1, 1997, a Wood Dragon day, which makes it a wood sign. More precisely, it is a tree growing in wet, fertile earth, and its birth chart is a picture of a thriving forest: trees, a little stream, soil, sparks, starlight, sunshine.
When you are a wood sign, a suitable amount of water makes your world go round – it is mother’s milk, love and luck. Wood fuels fire or light, which is your productivity, and fire produces ash or earth, which is your money.
For a tree planted in the withering heat of summer, Hong Kong is in an enviable position. Although this Wood Dragon is flanked in the ba zi chart by a Wood Rat, a lucky tree that is even closer to the stream, there is enough water to go around and keep everyone fairly happy. (Could the other tree be Singapore or some other city? Your guess is as good as mine.) Besides, Hong Kong is capable. It keeps a little ecosystem running by tapping into water, radiating heat and producing earth to sink roots into. So far so viable, right?
But we need to talk about metal: an element that is virtually non-existent in Hong Kong’s chart, yet is making its presence felt in the city’s life. Metal symbolises structure. With regard to a tree, it is a controlling element that could take the form of an axe or shears; it could be a woodcutter or a gardener; it could be a boss.
Hong Kong is, by nature, a free spirit. In the forest it was planted in, there was no danger of being cut down for firewood or even having its leaves trimmed. Moreover, the fire in Hong Kong’s chart keeps it safe. Fire has no fear of metal, just as a resourceful employee has no fear of a stressful boss.
Yet, the water in Hong Kong’s chart needs metal. Metal is the surface on which water forms, just as order becomes a support for liveability.
Here, Hong Kong faces a paradox. In the Chinese zodiac, the Monkey and the Rooster represent big and small metal objects like axe blades and shears, respectively. By the alchemical logic of Chinese cosmology, it is the Monkey, not the Rooster, that bonds with the Dragon and Rat in Hong Kong’s chart to form more water – more luck to feed into the city.
However, think again of the axe-swinging woodcutter and the tree-pruning gardener. One is efficient, the other is patient. One wants the forest to thrive so there is more wood to be cut and more money to be made; the other wants the trees to thrive. Who would be a better boss?
Hong Kong has been in a Monkey luck cycle since 2009, but is moving into a Rooster decade next year. A gentler era might be just round the corner.
And what of this year? Why hasn’t it felt like a lucky year, despite the powerful presence of water symbolised by the Pig? Well, for a tree, real or imagined, there can be such a thing as too much water. In Chinese cosmology, water is a metaphor for the fluidity of thought, but also the rush of fear. However, fear is not Hong Kong’s style. I, for one, choose to believe the city can brainstorm its way out of this year.

Foong Woei Wan is a production editor at the Post

THREADS
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Chinese Zodiac (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?40462-Chinese-Zodiac)

[GeneChing]

African swine fever: Boar with virus found in demilitarised zone (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49916065)
6 hours ago

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/8578/production/_109086143_swine-index-epa-1.jpg
EPA
More than six million pigs have been culled in Asia after the virus was discovered

A boar with African swine fever has been found dead in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.

The virus was only discovered in South Korea recently, and there was speculation it arrived via pigs crossing the heavily-guarded DMZ.

North Korea first recorded ASF in May, and the South made great efforts to keep it out, including border fences.

Despite its name, the DMZ is one of the world's most fortified places.

It is a 4km-wide (2.5 miles) strip of land, laden with landmines, that is a buffer zone between North and South Korea.

More than 10,000 pigs have died or been culled in the South since ASF was discovered. More than six million pigs have been culled overall in Asia.

What is African swine fever?

The virus is not dangerous to humans, but is highly contagious - and incurable - in boars and pigs. According to the UN, the fatality rate is "up to 100%".

It emerged in East Africa in the early 1990s, moved through sub-Saharan Africa, and has also been recorded in Europe.

In August 2018, China - which has half the world's pigs, and where pork is often a staple food - confirmed an outbreak of ASF.

Since then, more than one million pigs have been culled in China, plus more than five million in Vietnam. Farmers in China have been promised compensation for culled pigs worth a minimum of 80% of the market price.

The number of pigs is down by about 40% in China, the AFP news agency reported, and the price of pork is up by at least half.

China has sold 30,000 tonnes from its pork reserves in an effort to increase supply and hold down prices.

Mongolia, the Philippines, Laos, have also culled tens of thousands of pigs in total.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/8564/production/_109084143_38074e27-d3c4-434c-9d70-03efcfe38f33.jpgEPA
Animal rights activists in Seoul called for an end to the cull on Wednesday

What is the situation in North and South Korea?

The first case of ASF was recorded in North Korea in May. The scale of the outbreak is not known, but South Korea believes the north raises around 2.6m pigs across 14 state-run farms.

Kim Jun-young, from the Korean Veterinary Medical Association in the south, said it was possible the virus had spread through the North, either through the sale of infected meat, or vultures eating infected carcasses.

In June, Seoul said the disease was "highly likely" to enter the country from the North and ordered fences to be built at farms along the border. The South offered quarantine and medical assistance to the North, but had no response.

The South Korean military was authorised to kill any wild boars seen crossing the DMZ.

Despite the precautions, South Korea reported its first case on 17 September - with the total now at 13 - and has culled around 15,000 pigs in response. There are around 6,700 pig farms in South Korea.

Officials are braced for a further spread of ASF with the arrival Typhoon Mitag, which has already led to deaths of six people in the south.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/38BF/production/_106572541_pork_consumption_624gr.png

It's fascinating how Swine Fever has flourished in the Year of the Pig. Makes me wonder what next year will bring. Year of the Rat. Black plague maybe? :eek:

[GeneChing]

China is breeding giant pigs the size of polar bears to cope with supply plunge after African swine fever (https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-is-breeding-giant-pigs-the-size-of-polar-bears-to-cope-with-supply-plunge-after)

https://www.straitstimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_pictrure_780x520_/public/articles/2019/10/06/nm-pigschina-0610.jpg?itok=2_Iw9GaR&timestamp=1570329072
A student feeds pigs at a farm next to a primary school in Xuanwei, Yunnan province, China, on Dec 22, 2018. PHOTO: REUTERS
PUBLISHEDOCT 6, 2019, 10:18 AM SGT

BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - In a farm deep in the southern region of China lives a very big pig that is as heavy as a polar bear.

The 500kg animal is part of a herd that is being bred to become giant swine. At slaughter, some of the pigs can sell for more than 10,000 yuan (S$1,900), over three times higher than the average monthly disposable income in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi province where Mr Pang Cong, the farm's owner, lives.

While Mr Pang's pigs may be an extreme example of the lengths that farmers are going to fill China's swelling pork shortage problem, the idea that bigger is better has been spreading across the country, home to the world's most voracious consumers of the meat.

High pork prices in the north-eastern province of Jilin is prompting farmers to raise pigs to reach an average weight of 175kg to 200kg, higher than the normal weight of 125kg.

They want to raise them "as big as possible", said Mr Zhao Hailin, a hog farmer in the region.

The trend is not limited to small farms either. Major protein producers in China, including Wens Foodstuffs Group, the country's top pig breeder, Cofco Meat Holdings and Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group say they are trying to increase the average weight of their pigs. Big farms are focusing on boosting the heft by at least 14 per cent, said Mr Lin Guofa, a senior analyst with consulting firm Bric Agriculture Group.

The average weight of pigs at slaughter at some large-scale farms has climbed to as much as 140kg, compared with about 110kg normally, Mr Lin said. That could boost profits by more than 30 per cent, he said.

With African swine fever decimating the nation's hog herd - in half, by some estimates - prices of pork have soared to record levels, leading the government to urge farmers to boost production to temper inflation.

Chinese Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua warned that the supply situation will be extremely severe through to the first half of 2020. China will face a pork shortage of 10 million tonnes this year, more than what is available in global trade, meaning it needs to increase production domestically, Mr Hu said.

During a recent visit to major livestock provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Henan, Mr Hu urged local governments to resume pig production as soon possible, with a target of returning to normal levels next year.

Still, many farmers are wary about restocking swine after being hurt by an earlier outbreak. Also, piglet and breeding sow prices have surged, making it more expensive for backyard farms to rebuild their herds. Increasing the size of pigs they already own may be the next best step.

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

Business
Kim Jong Un May Be Hiding a Hog Apocalypse From the World (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-12/kim-jong-un-may-be-hiding-a-hog-apocalypse-from-the-world)
By Heesu Lee
October 12, 2019, 2:00 PM PDT Updated on October 13, 2019, 2:21 AM PDT
African swine fever is said to have spread across North Korea
Virus risks becoming endemic, dispersing to neighboring states

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/ijeoocJqYIe0/v0/1200x-1.jpg
Pigs at a farm in Paju on Sept. 17. Photographer: Yelim Lee/AFP via Getty Images

By official accounts, the pig contagion wreaking havoc across Eastern Asia has virtually skipped over North Korea, with a single outbreak reported there in May. But wayward feral pigs have stoked concern that Kim Jong Un’s reclusive state is hiding an African swine fever disaster.

Five wild boars were found dead in or near border areas separating the two countries this month before being tested positive for the viral hemorrhagic disease, officials in South Korea said. The finding reflects the freedom with which animals roam the 4-kilometer (2.5 mile) wide buffer zone that divides the nations and creates an involuntary park and refuge for fauna.

It also hints at a spillover of the deadly virus from North Korea, where unofficial reports indicate the disease is spreading out of control. South Korea has deployed helicopters to disinfect parts of the 250-kilometer-long border-barrier, near which more than a dozen outbreaks have occurred on farms since the virus was first reported there a month ago.

African swine fever has spread to almost all areas of North Korea, and pigs in the western province of North Pyongan have been “wiped out,” said Lee Hye-hoon, who chairs the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, citing South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

The virus killed 22 hogs in May on a cooperative farm about 260 kilometers north of Pyongyang, near the border with China, North Korea’s agriculture ministry said in a May 30 report to the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE.

But since then, there have been no follow-up reports to the Paris-based veterinary body, and scant coverage of the event in state media.

UN Delegate

The Food and Agriculture Organization has no information beyond the report received by the OIE, said Wantanee Kalpravidh, the United Nations agency’s Bangkok-based regional manager of the Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases. The FAO is awaiting approval to send a delegate to North Korea, she said in a text message Friday.

Widespread transmission of African swine fever, which isn’t known to harm humans but kills most pigs in a week, may put North Korea’s food security in graver jeopardy.

Crop production there is forecast to be smaller than usual for the rest of 2019 due to below-average rainfall and low water supplies for irrigation, the FAO said last month. About 40% of the population, or 10.1 million people, are estimated to be food-insecure and in urgent need of food assistance, according to results from an UN assessment conducted last April.

Worse Hunger

African swine fever will worsen hunger and malnutrition, said Cho Chunghi, who fled North Korea in 2011 after spending a decade working for the government’s animal disease control program. Many North Korean households raise pigs to earn money to buy rice.

Hunger Pains

The number of North Koreans suffering from malnutrition is rising

“Pork accounts for about 80% of North Korea’s protein consumption and with global sanctions taking place, it’s going to be hard for the country to find an alternative protein source,” said Cho, who now works as a researcher at Good Farmers, a Seoul-based non-governmental organization that supports developing nations to generate profit through agricultural activities.

https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iRB9n8NwZNug/v0/800x-1.jpg
South Korean quarantine officials control a road near a farm in Paju on Sept. 17.Photographer: Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

“The virus is extremely destructive as people are now unable to make money through raising pigs, while the country’s economy is restrained,” he said.

Pigs raised by individual farms outnumber those on state-owned and collective farms, which will make it almost impossible to halt the spread, especially given North Korea’s inexperience preventing and mitigating epidemics in animals, Cho said.

Russia, China

This lack of capacity is a threat to the entire Korean Peninsula, where the virus could become endemic, or generally present. That would make it more difficult to stamp out the disease through the usual steps of quarantining and culling diseased and vulnerable livestock. From there, it could also re-enter neighboring China and Russia.

South Korea has culled 154,653 pigs at 94 farms as of Oct. 11, according to the nation’s agriculture ministry. Routine tests for the virus on wild boars were introduced before Pyongyang reported the outbreak, the Ministry of Environment said in an Oct. 9 statement. Now, streams and soil near the border are also being tested.

The country has repeatedly asked Pyongyang to join a collective effort to fight the transmission, but its northern neighbor hasn’t responded.

“The fact that North Korea has reported the outbreak to an international organization suggests the situation is probably getting out of their hands,” said Ahn Chan-il, a former North Korean soldier who defected in 1979 and now heads the World Institute for North Korea Studies. “It’s an apocalypse in the making.”

(Updates number of cases in 2nd paragraph)

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

Wild boar becomes frozen in fear after stumbling onto one of China’s infamous glass walkways (https://shanghai.ist/2019/11/05/wild-boar-becomes-frozen-in-fear-after-stumbling-onto-one-of-chinas-infamous-glass-walkways/?fbclid=IwAR3ud1M2RZe_G0eA_tv4MhJmmEbCw8cdmWgvc_5m _8e8fdat1GuJqvi_ya4)
It's not only us humans who are terrified of these things
by Alex Linder November 5, 2019 in News

https://i1.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/scared-boar.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1

A young wild boar was recently spotted regretting its life decisions after finding itself standing on one of China’s glass walkways.

In video from a scenic spot outside of the Zhejiang city of Hangzhou, the poor animal is seen lying, frozen in fear, on the transparent walkway, scrunched up as close as possible to the cliff wall, presumably trying to stop itself from looking at the ground, some 230 meters below.

Eventually, officers from the local forestry bureau arrived to rescue the boar and take it away from this terrifying invention of man.

While designed to attract and scare humans, China’s glass bridges have also freaked out animals including another wild boar outside of the Guangdong city of Qingyuan last year.

Presumably this most recent boar had been reading the news and knew that China has recently closed dozens of its transparent walkways for being “unsafe.”

Now I'm imagining being on this bridge with a wild boar...:eek:

THREADS
Chinese Bridges (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?68983-Chinese-Bridges)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

Add Another Animal to the List of Tool Users: Pigs (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/add-another-animal-to-the-list-of-tool-users-pigs/)
A chance discovery brings new interest in porcine intelligence
By Karinna Hurley on November 12, 2019

https://static.scientificamerican.com/sciam/cache/file/51126F79-1EA3-40F4-99D832BADE5D0156_source.jpg?w=590&h=800&88A09E01-E387-48C6-9C4FD2DF48D12CE1
Credit: Getty Images

Part of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, the Jardin des Plantes, on the left bank of the Seine River, hosts a collection of galleries and gardens. A couple of miles away, the larger museum also includes the Museum of Mankind, which is in part, an exploration of what it means to be human. There, like in many other museums worldwide, you can view a collection of stone tools used by the earliest humans. Tool use was long believed to be unique to our species—a defining feature, like language. Utilizing objects to achieve goals is not just a demonstration of advanced cognitive capabilities; it is largely through our symbolic and material tools that we share and transmit culture.

In 1960 primatologist Jane Goodall observed wild chimpanzees making and using tools. A connection between humans and other animals, in how we think and learn, was captivating news. Since then, scientists have gone on to establish tool use in a relatively small number of other species. And observations of learning to use a tool from other group members, rather than instinctively, have been even more rare—until now.

The Jardin des Plantes is also home to a special couple, Priscilla and Billie. Along with at least one of their daughters, these Visayan warty pigs—residents of the garden’s zoo—are the first in any pig species to be identified using tools and, even more remarkably, to apparently transmit this behavior through social learning.

The discovery was made by chance by ecologist Meredith Root-Bernstein, who was watching the family from outside their enclosure. Priscilla, working on building a nest, picked up a piece of bark in her mouth and used it to aid her digging. For six weeks Root-Bernstein frequently returned to the zoo to try to again catch her in the act. Although she didn’t do so, she did notice the digging tool moved among different areas of the enclosure and always near a recently constructed nest. Intrigued, Root-Bernstein, together with her colleagues, set up a series of observations to understand if Priscilla and the other pigs were indeed using sticks and bark as tools and, if so, under what conditions. The results from the project were published in September.

For the initial study, the researchers asked if they could observe the pigs using stick tools to help them dig and forage for food. They set up two conditions rotating over nine days: one where the pigs’ daily meals were placed next to a pile of dry leaves and one where they were mixed together with the leaves. For a third, control condition, the food was simply set out as usual. No clear instances of tool use were observed across these different feeding conditions. So the authors waited until the next nest-building season to see if they could instead observe tool use in the original context.

For two weeks, members of the research team, video cameras in hand, returned to the zoo in the afternoon (prime nest-building time) and observed the pigs for around two hours. On three occasions, Priscilla was recorded using a stick or piece of bark as a tool. Each time, the behavior was related to constructing a nest and, moreover, was specifically seen at the end of an established sequence in the building process. Once, one of Priscilla’s daughters was also recorded using a tool. After she eventually dropped the stick, Billie picked it up and also, but clumsily, attempted a digging action . Could the problem for Billie have been that the stick was hard to pick-up and/or dig with?

In the final study, Root-Bernstein and her colleagues put a variety of spatulas in the enclosure to see if perhaps the pigs would take advantage of easier-to-use tools. They also observed, more systematically, the pigs’ social dynamics, as well as the stages of nest building. Priscilla was clearly seen using a tool seven more times, two of which were with a spatula. There were also a few other possible but more ambiguous instances for both her and her daughters.

During this period, the scientists also tracked more than 70 agonistic interactions between individuals, establishing Priscilla as the least dominant female. This result is significant because in other species, it is usually not the dominant members who are credited with innovation. Across observations, Priscilla seemed to be the tool-use star, leading the authors to believe that she can be credited with first using the bark and sticks as tools, a behavior that was then social transmitted to the other family members. Of course, there are different possibilities: for example, Priscilla, who was not Parisian-born, might have learned tool use from the pigs in her original birthplace. In any case, more research is needed to see if this unique behavior can be seen in other captive and wild pigs. Despite their reputation as lazy, research has established that pigs are actually highly intelligent. And as this study shows, when it comes to our understanding of their cognitive and social abilities, the opposite of Porky Pig’s famous last line is true: that’s not all folks!

I must say that I've enjoyed this run of pig news this year and am strangely looking forward to doing the same for the Year of the Rat. I should start that thread soon...

[GeneChing]

‘Waiter, there’s excrement in my pig intestine,’ Chinese diner complains (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3042337/waiter-theres-excrement-my-pig-intestine-chinese-diner-complains)
Offered about US$70 in compensation after finding nasty surprise in rice noodles, the customer holds out for US$4,000
He challenges pork supplier’s manager to eat the offending material for the sum he was offered, after firm admits fault
Mandy Zuo
Published: 8:44pm, 16 Dec, 2019

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2019/12/16/bdfa2028-1fe4-11ea-acfb-1fd6c5cf20a4_image_hires_205302.JPG?itok=cQLNz2Pi&v=1576500787
Wang discusses compensation with restaurant staff, who are shown a piece of the pig intestine containing excrement. Photo: Handout

A restaurant customer in northeastern China is demanding higher compensation after he was served pig intestine filled with excrement at a well-known chain then offered a sum he considered inadequate, according to news video app PearVideo.
The diner, identified only by his surname Wang, was enjoying a pot of rice noodles with pig intestine on Friday when he found a piece that was tougher to chew, he said.
He complained to staff at the restaurant, a branch of Axiang Rice Noodles in a mall in Changchun, Jilin province, and it was established that there were pieces of excrement in the meal.
An unnamed manager from the restaurant’s supplier told PearVideo in Sunday’s report that the supplier’s staff had failed to clean the intestine properly and that it would take full responsibility.
The manager telephoned Wang, offering to compensate him with an amount equivalent to 10 times the value of the dish, in line with consumer rights regulations – which would give Wang up to 500 yuan (US$72).
But Wang said he felt insulted by the offer and asked for 30,000 yuan (US$4,300). “I’d like to invite their boss to come over and have a try – I can pay him a few hundred yuan for every piece of excrement he eats,” Wang said.
The supplier, a small pork business in eastern China, said it could not afford the amount Wang was asking for, especially with business suffering after an African swine fever epidemic that has decimated China’s hog herd.
“He asked for 30,000 yuan, and later 20,000 yuan,” the manager said. “This year pork prices have been so high that we have barely made any profits. Under such circumstances, such a sum of compensation would be a big blow to a small business.”
The report included a clip of Wang’s earlier complaint to a restaurant manager, alongside a piece of pig intestine containing a dark filling.
“I want an apology,” Wang told PearVideo. “And if you do apologise, you should apologise to all consumers nationwide.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Man served with pig faeces wants more compensation


There's about a month left of the Year of the Pig, then on to the Year of the Rat (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71622-2020-Year-of-the-Rat). This thread has had a good run.

THREADS
Bacon!!!!!! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?48509-Bacon!!!!!!)
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)

[GeneChing]

As we are just about to transition to the Year of the Rat (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71622-2020-Year-of-the-Rat), here's a last Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) gem at a theme park (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?62642-Chinese-Theme-Parks) no less.


Chongqing theme park apologizes after forcing pig to bungee jump (https://shanghai.ist/2020/01/20/chongqing-theme-park-apologizes-after-forcing-pig-to-bungee-jump/?fbclid=IwAR2Mbn91GHYiygqjsD-tOjD7jaBdNglv2tUWwffRhWU668lBaBhzOn3Hn6s)
The park said the pig made it out of the ordeal unscathed before being sent to the slaughterhouse
by Alex Linder January 20, 2020 in News

https://i1.wp.com/shanghai.ist/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pig-bungee.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1

The management of a tourist spot in Chongqing has issued a half-hearted apologized after causing Chinese netizens to squeal in anger by making a pig into an unwilling bungee jumper.

Video from the Meixin Red Wine Town theme park out in the city’s Fuling district shows the 100 kg porker being shoved off the 68-meter-high bungee platform and screaming in terror on the way down. Close-up footage shows that the animal was essentially hog-tied and wrapped in what would seem to be a purple cape.

While pigs may enjoy diving, it seems like bungee-jumping is not their thing.

The stunt took place on Saturday, on the bungee jump attraction’s opening day. It was evidently not merely an inhumane attempt at finally making a pig fly, but also a reference to plummetting pork prices and a commemoration for the end of the Year of the Pig.

Management offered this explanation while apologizing for failing to put enough consideration into the event, adding that the pig was not hurt in the jump and was promptly sent off to the slaughterhouse afterward.