2024 Year of the Dragon

[GeneChing]

Welcome the God of Wealth! READ Chinese New Year 2024: Year of the Woody Dragon by Gene Ching

[GeneChing]

Feb 18, 2024 11:13pm PT
China Box Office: Four Chinese Films Dominate Global Cinema Revenues as Lunar New Year Haul Tops $1.1 Billion

By Patrick Frater

Courtesy of Sony Pictures


Four Chinese films dominated the mainland China and global box office charts over the latest weekend. “YOLO,” a comedy drama about weight loss and self-discovery, was crowned as the top earning film worldwide for a second weekend running.

“YOLO” took $86.5 million (RMB614 million) between Friday and Sunday, giving it a 9-day cumulative total of $402 million (RMB2.85 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

The second film by Jia Ling, who previously directed 2021 Lunar New Year smash hit “Hi, Mom”, “YOLO” released on Saturday, Feb. 10 and has retained the number one position since the second day of the Chinese New Year holidays, staying narrowly ahead of racing comedy “Pegasus 2.”

Over the latest weekend “Pegasus 2” earned $80.6 million, giving it a running total of $356 million.

“Article 20,” the Zhang Yimou-directed legal comedy, improved significantly. It climbed up one place to third in the Chinese and global weekend charts and earned $70.2 million over the weekend. That compared with an opening weekend of $47.6 million and gives it a 9-day cumulative of $207 million.

Chinese animation “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” slipped to fourth in the Chinese weekend chart and fifth globally. (On the global chart provided by ComScore, “Bob Marley: One Love” took fourth spot, earning $56.7 million from 48 territories, including North America.) “Boonie Bears” added $52 million over the weekend for a 9-day cumulative of $209 million.

A long way behind, Ning Hao’s Andy Lau-starring “The Movie Emperor” took fifth place over the weekend in China. It took $1.3 million for a cumulative of $11.9 million.

Chinese ticketing agency, Maoyan calculates that the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year holiday period brought in record box revenue of RMB8.02 billion or $1.11 billion, an 18% increase on 2023. But the agency previously said that comparison with prior years was not exact, due to the timing of the holidays this year. In mainland China, the holidays welcoming in the Year of the Dragon officially ran Saturday to Saturday (Feb. 10-17), but some folk may have taken the latest Sunday as leave, as well, making for an unusually long holiday.

In its latest note, Maoyan said that 163 million tickets were sold over the holiday period. That was a 26% year-on-year increase and implies that mean ticket prices were lower. Maoyan says that ticket prices over the holiday period dropped 6% to RMB49.1 ($6.82) apiece, reflecting both price cutting in the major metropolises and the skewing of attendance to third and fourth tier towns and cities, which this time accounted for 58% of box office business.

Artisan Gateway calculates that China’s running box office haul for the 2024 calendar year is $1.62 billion. That is some 14% behind 2023 levels, but the gap could be narrowed if the top titles have staying power or if the upcoming crop of Hollywood titles find good traction.

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Chollywood-rising

[GeneChing]

Pork flavored coffee is Starbucks’ newest China pitch

By Jessie Yeung and Hassan Tayier, CNN
3 minute read
Published 2:38 AM EST, Tue February 20, 2024
Hong Kong
CNN
—
Who doesn’t like a little braised pork with their coffee?

Starbucks (SBUX) is betting on that unusual combination with a new drink released in China to mark the Lunar New Year. Dubbed the “Abundant Year Savory Latte,” the brand describes it as having an “interesting” flavor.

The drink combines Dongpo Braised Pork Flavor Sauce with espresso and steamed milk, with extra pork sauce and pork breast meat for garnish, according to the Starbucks delivery app.

The drink is priced at 68 yuan ($9.45), according to the app.

Photos of the drink, posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo by the Shanghai Starbucks Reserve Roastery, show a drizzle of dark red sauce atop the latte foam — with a square slice of pork on a skewer resting on the mug rim.

“Eating meat means prosperity in the coming year,” the roastery wrote on Weibo on February 5, days before the Lunar New Year began.

It added that the drink brings “traditional New Year customs into coffee,” and creates “unexpected savory and sweet flavors.” The latte is available at Starbucks Reserve stores across the country.


The drinks cost about $9.45. Courtesy Starbucks

Lunar New Year is one of the biggest annual holidays in Asia. People across China travel back home during this period to celebrate with their families. Government data shows a total of 474 million trips were made within the mainland during this year’s travel season.

And while the foods served at New Year feasts vary by region, braised pork makes a frequent appearance. Named after the ancient poet, painter and statesman Su Dongpo, Dongpo rou is a dish made from braised pork belly, rock sugar, soy sauce, yellow wine and other seasonings.

The result is richly flavored and extremely tender cuts of pork that can easily be pried apart with chopsticks.

China is the biggest branded coffee shop market in the world, according to a report released in December by World Coffee Portal, having overtaken the United States last year.

Starbucks opened 785 outlets in the country in 2023, it said. China has long been one of the most important growth drivers for Starbucks, serving as its second biggest market worldwide and top overseas market.

But it’s got stiff competition, including from Luckin Coffee. The Chinese startup is the country’s biggest coffee chain with over 13,000 outlets, and offers drinks at a much lower price point than its American competitor.

The Starbucks pork latte has quickly gained traction on Chinese social media, with the topic viewed more than 476,000 times on Weibo by the time of publishing. Some users expressed curiosity, but others were skeptical, pointing to the high price point and questioning why they would drink the latte instead of eating real braised pork.

“For 67 yuan, I could eat a plate of braised pork then go to Luckin and drink two lattes,” one Weibo user wrote.

Another user quipped: “I would allow both (pork and coffee) to exist in my stomach at the same time, but not in my mouth at the same time.”

Jiupai News, a site affiliated with the state-run Changjiang Daily, reported that the drink had already sold out at one store in Wuhan, with customers saying the flavor was “unique” with a dense, smooth mouthfeel.

Starbucks also released other new flavors across China with a holiday theme in February, according to the Shanghai Reserve Roastery’s Weibo account, including a jujube macchiato inspired by new year’s rice cakes and an almond tofu macchiato.

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Bacon!!!!!!
Coffee

[GeneChing]

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Wing-Chun-tv-show

[GeneChing]

This was my point in 2024 The Year of the Dragon that I wrote for YMAA and posted above.

Reflections by Wee Kek Koon
Why this is the Year of the Lóng, not dragon, for many Chinese
Some people are balking at the use of the word ‘dragon’ to translate lóng or loong in Chinese, as if the animal is a Chinese copy of a Western original
Another recent language-related controversy is one we’ve seen many times before: is it Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?
Wee Kek Koon
Published: 7:45am, 23 Feb, 2024



This year’s Lunar New Year celebrations, which end on February 24, are marked by two very interesting, language-related controversies.

The first isn’t new. It concerns the English name of the festival itself: should it be called Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year?

Advocates of the former argue that Lunar New Year is more inclusive because the same festival is celebrated not only by Chinese, but also by Koreans, Vietnamese, and several other peoples. Many English-language media, including the South China Morning Post, use Lunar New Year.

Some of those who reject Lunar New Year and insist on using Chinese New Year claim that the “de-Sinicisation” of this festival is another attempt to browbeat the Chinese people and their culture. Besides, “lunar” is not accurate because the calendar on which the festival is based is a lunisolar calendar, not a purely lunar one.


South Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year at Gyeongbokgung royal palace in Seoul. Photo: Getty Images

While I agree that Lunar New Year is more inclusive, I’m reluctant to eschew Chinese New Year altogether. I would never knowingly wish a Korean or Vietnamese person “Happy Chinese New Year” in English during the Seollal or Tet festivals, but I don’t see any issue with saying that to individuals who identify as Chinese. When the context is clearly and overwhelmingly Chinese, I find it unnecessary to overcompensate by replacing Chinese with Lunar.

This reminds me of the “Happy holidays” greeting that’s fast replacing “Merry Christmas” in English-speaking countries. One can choose to use the former when addressing non-Christians, but why should the festive greetings among Christians who are celebrating the birth of their religion’s founder, or a group of people who have no beef with Jesus Christ, not even contain the word “Christmas”?

The other controversy, which surfaced recently, involves the animal that the Chinese use to mark this year, the dragon, or as many would have it, the lóng or loong.

Early modern scholars translated the Chinese mythical beast lóng as dragon. This method of translation applies a concept in the target language (in this case, “dragon” in English) that bears a resemblance, oftentimes superficial, to the entity that is culturally specific or unique to the source language (“lóng”).

The method is still used today; for example, the popular Chongqing fish broth flavoured with pickled greens is sometimes translated as “sauerkraut fish”. Homesick Germans who order it would be disappointed.


Dragons have long been depicted as evil creatures in the West. Photo: Getty Images

Those who prefer lóng argue that referring to this millennia-old Chinese cultural icon as “dragon”, as if it’s an ersatz, Chinese copy of a Western original, doesn’t do it justice. If the yeti and Sasquatch appear as they are in English, why not lóng or loong? In the same vein, why don’t we say suancai yu instead of sauerkraut fish, like how everybody says sushi, tom yum and cappuccino in English?

I grew up in a Protestant Christian milieu, where some of the evil or demonic creatures depicted in the Bible are also translated as “dragons”. The shared nomenclature meant that the lóng was always problematic for us despite its felicitous associations with blessings and abundance.

I recall a pastor advising against decorating the home with any depictions of the lóng or wearing it on one’s person, conflating the Chinese dragon with the fiendish multi-headed serpents in the Bible. Many Chinese Christians today remain suspicious of the lóng because a long time ago, someone decided to translate it as dragon in English.

Of course, the translation process and the words we use do not exist in vacuo. In the debates on Lunar and Chinese New Years, dragons and lóng, other factors besides linguistic ones are at play, such as geopolitics and the growing belligerence between nations, ensuring that any reasonable argument will always be drowned out by hostility, suspicion and nationalist rhetoric.

[GeneChing]

‘$1, $1! Just $1!’: A look at what happens to unsold Chinese New Year goodies


This is a last-ditch effort by stall owners to clear their goods before the end of the Chinatown Bazaar. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Cherie Lok
UPDATED FEB 25, 2024, 10:26 AM

SINGAPORE – “One dollar, one dollar! Just one dollar!”

In the days leading up to the eve of Chinese New Year, Temple Street is a sea of slashed prices. Snacks that used to retail for $10 a tub now go for $5. And if you are buying in bulk, $20 can get you five boxes of cookies that originally cost $6 each.

This is the final hurrah – a last-ditch effort by stall owners to clear their goods before the end of the Chinatown Bazaar, which folded on Chinese New Year’s eve.

In 2024, the urgency to sell is greater than ever. “Business is about 20 per cent worse than last year,” says Mr Xiao Yong, 33, who mans a snack stall in front of Hotel 1888 Collection. “There is a lot of footfall, but no one wants to buy.”

According to another employee in her 20s, who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan, the stall has already cut the amount of food it orders from suppliers in the light of waning demand.

Still, on the second-last day of the fair on Feb 8, stacks of pineapple tarts, cashew cookies, egg rolls and many other biscuits remain.

For first-time stallholders, this is a disappointing showing.

“Business is a lot slower than I expected,” says Ms Li, another snack vendor in her 30s, who gave only her surname.

“But I suppose many people are struggling with the rising cost of living this year, so they don’t have much cash to spare for snacks.”

While Mr Xiao will try to peddle his leftover goods elsewhere – “As long as they haven’t expired, they can be sold!” is his war cry – Ms Li, who sells nuts in large, open sacks, is less optimistic.

“I might have to discard whatever I can’t sell by the end of the bazaar,” she says.

A season of excess


Some stalls try to sell unsold goods at other markets around Singapore, while others donate their stocks to social enterprises like MoNo Foods. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
The National Environment Agency does not track exactly how much food is thrown away in Singapore during the Chinese New Year period. But a 2023 survey by Hong Kong food bank, Feeding Hong Kong, found that 40 per cent of respondents had leftover goodies – mainly a result of unwanted gifts.

Overall, food waste during the festive season could surge by 20 to 30 per cent, estimates Dr Henry Leung, senior specialist of pharmacology and toxicology at Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Applied Science.

LightBlue Consulting, a social enterprise that helps businesses implement sustainable practices, has also observed that diners and hotel kitchens generate about 10 per cent more waste during the Chinese New Year period.

“The principal challenge food service operators and retailers may struggle with is estimating the right quantities of food needed, leading to over-buying ingredients and over-preparing produce,” says Ms Mathilde Chatin, 33, managing director at Penta Group, who works on corporate communication projects with clients in the food and agriculture industry.

“This can be attributed to cultural and social pressure to provide an abundance of food to meet expectations and create a festive atmosphere.”

Suppliers also tend to offer additional discounts for bulk buys to entice vendors to take on more stock and ever taller stacks of snacks.


Overall, food waste during the festive season could surge by 20 to 30 per cent. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
However, over-preparation could come at a considerable cost to businesses. LightBlue Consulting founder Benjamin Lephilibert estimates that at hotels, for example, the cost of unchecked food waste could eat into as much as 10 per cent of their food revenues.

As such, some restaurants and bakeries here have made a concerted effort to resist the urge to over-provide.

Mr Francis Looi, 58, chief executive of Polar Puffs & Cakes, says the company “employs a comprehensive approach to estimate the quantity of seasonal snacks to prepare”.

This process typically involves analysing past sales, market trends and customer feedback.

As a result, the majority of the company’s products – especially those baked fresh daily, like its Fortune Orange Butter Cake – are sold out by the end of the Chinese New Year period, with only 3 to 7 per cent of cookies left over.

At Keong Saik Bakery, production is based on pre-orders, which typically average around 2,000 bottles of festive goodies such as pineapple balls and Milo cornflakes. On average, it is left with only 20 unsold bottles by the eve of Chinese New Year. These are sold at a discount after its reopening on the third day of the new year.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

On the second-last day of the Chinatown Bazaar on Feb 8, stacks of pineapple tarts, cashew cookies, egg rolls and many other biscuits remain. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Likewise, a majority of the orders for seasonal treats such as bak kwa and kueh lapis from Si Chuan Dou Hua are placed in advance by corporate clients. The restaurant sells about 80 per cent of these seasonal goodies each year.

At Red House Seafood, any unsold almond biscuits and pineapple tarts are served to restaurant guests at the end of their meal to “thank them for their support”.

Diners at Orchard Hotel get to benefit too. Remaining goodies are integrated into the hotel’s buffet line-up or included among amenities to welcome in-house guests. The joy is also shared in the staff cafeteria.

Second life for leftovers

Others rope in extra help to clear their stocks.

For instance, Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford team up with Treatsure – an app that connects consumers with surplus food at hotels and grocers – to offer diners buffet leftovers at a discount.

Likewise, some snack vendors donate their goods to MoNo Foods – a social enterprise that redistributes food that is nearing or past its best before date – after the Chinatown Bazaar.

Donations are sorted and shelved at MoNo’s store on the second level of Yue Hwa building in Chinatown.

Customers can pick a box – they come in different sizes, priced from $10 to $15 for a 25cm by 20cm box, and $40 to $50 for a 45cm by 35cm box – and fill it up with as many snacks and drinks as it can hold.

“Usually, our first-time customers are sceptical about eating this food because it’s nearing the ‘best before’ date. But we explain that the supplier would not have taken the risk of donating these items to us if they were not still safe to eat. We also don’t carry any perishables,” says Mr Leonard Shee, 36, co-founder of MoNo, which aims to change consumer mindsets on when food should be thrown away.

“And we always remind them to check the look, smell and taste of all the food they get from us before eating.”

For the 2024 festive period, the shelves are filled with assorted unsold treats, such as plant-based bak kwa from Ayam Brand’s Yumeat and cookies from Raintree Bakery & Coffee.

“It has to be wrapped well, but we try not to keep it longer than three months,” says MoNo co-founder Lorraine Koh, 40.

The demand for festive goodies does not end with the new year celebrations, as she quips: “There’s always somebody who wants it.”

Unsold food is distributed to residents – including seniors, large low-income families and former offenders – living in rental flats at nearby neighbourhoods like Jalan Kukoh and Jalan Minyak.

Some grocers also count on food charities to inject a new lease of life into their leftover goods.

At FairPrice supermarkets, festive snacks like yu sheng platters and jars of pineapple tarts remain on sale until around the end of the 15-day festive period on Feb 24.

The supermarket chain did not specify what happens to unsold Chinese New Year treats.

However, some non-perishable goods a month away from their expiry date are included in FairPrice’s monthly donation drives to organisations such as Food from the Heart or The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG).


A volunteer sorting through donated biscuits at The Food Bank Singapore’s warehouse in Pandan Loop. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
“These sustainable partnerships are long-term and highly impactful, enabling us to provide up to one to two tonnes of food just within the Chinese New Year period,” says Mr Ian Butler, 75, executive director of FBSG.

FBSG accepts only donations that have not expired and meet strict hygiene standards. Mr Butler says that most donations are within their acceptable consumption period, and nearly all the food is distributed to beneficiaries from more than 370 partners, including Family Service Centres and Active Ageing Centres.

“This ensures that everyone gets a taste of Chinese New Year goodness,” he adds.

But, while such organisations play an important role in tackling food insecurity, Dr Leung cautions that relying solely on food charities to repurpose waste is “complex and fraught with challenges”.

“Businesses often find it cheaper and simpler to dispose of unwanted products than to donate them, citing the high costs associated with food donation,” he says, citing how only a fraction of edible surplus food gets redistributed – just 4 per cent in the United States, for instance – due to transportation delays, improper storage and other barriers.

Then there is the question of how much charities can handle. FBSG’s Mr Butler concedes that while the festive season brings a surge in generous donations, it also presents logistical challenges.


Around the festive period, FBSG receives a spike in donations from individuals, schools, suppliers and supermarkets. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
“The sheer volume of food requires increased deliveries and pickups, stretching our resources thin. As a non-profit, we have limitations on the amount of manpower and resources that we have access to.

“Hence, to ensure timely delivery and prevent food waste, additional funding is crucial during this critical period,” he says.

Dr Leung therefore stresses the need for a multifaceted approach to food waste management.

“Each small effort towards responsible consumption and waste reduction is vital. Setting realistic and attainable targets based on individual or organisational capacities can make a significant difference.”

I should stock up...

[GeneChing]

Stunning 240 million-year-old 'Chinese dragon' fossil unveiled by scientists
News
By Ben Turner published 4 days ago
A bizarre dragon-like creature that lived during the Triassic period used its remarkably long neck to hunt unsuspecting prey in shallow water, scientists have found.


A cropped photo of the Dinocephalosaurus orientalis fossil. (Image credit: National Museums Scotland)
Scientists have unveiled stunning fossils of an ancient seaborne "dragon" discovered in China.

The 240 million-year-old animal — nicknamed the "Chinese dragon" — belongs to the species Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, a reptile that used its remarkably long neck to ambush unsuspecting prey in shallow waters during the Triassic period (252 million to 201 million years ago).

The species was first found in limestone deposits in southern China in 2003, but scientists have now pieced together remains to reconstruct the full 16.8-foot (5 meters) span of the spectacular ancient carnivore for the first time.

The researchers revealed the new findings in a study published Feb. 23 in the journal Earth and Environmental Science: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

"It is yet one more example of the weird and wonderful world of the Triassic that continues to baffle paleontologists," Nick Fraser, keeper of natural sciences at National Museums Scotland said in a statement. "We are certain that it will capture imaginations across the globe due to its striking appearance, reminiscent of the long and snake-like, mythical Chinese Dragon."


A full-size photo of dinocephalosaurus orientalis. (Image credit: National Museums Scotland)

The fossil reveals some of the ancient sea dragon's striking features.

First and foremost is its neck, which stretches nearly 7.7 feet (2.3 meters) and contains 32 separate vertebrae — in comparison, giraffes (as well as humans) have only seven neck vertebrae.

The snake-like shape of the dragon's articulable neck likely gave it a remarkable ability to sneak up on its prey, which it did after maneuvering into position with its flippered limbs. Some of the fish snared in the dragon's serrated teeth are still preserved inside the sea monster's belly.

The researchers note that though the strange creature may be reminiscent of the Loch Ness Monster, it is not closely related to the long-necked plesiosaurs that inspired the famous mythical creature.

"We hope that our future research will help us understand more about the evolution of this group of animals, and particularly how the elongate neck functioned," first-author Stephan Spiekman, a postdoctoral researcher based at the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History, said in the statement.


Ben Turner
Staff Writer
Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist. When he's not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing the guitar and embarrassing himself with chess.

aye-here-there-be-Dragons
2024-Year-of-the-Dragon

[GeneChing]

Man in China violently assaulted over ‘cultural taboos’ after he helped child pull beard of dragon during traditional festival procession
Touching the dragon is allowed, but not dragging it by beard or scales
Man beaten after almost making head of dragon fall to the ground
Alice Yan
in Shanghai

Published: 9:00am, 29 Feb, 2024



A man in China was beaten because he tried to help a little boy yank on the beard of a dragon prop during a local festival, an action that is considered a cultural taboo.

The centuries-old Cannon Dragon Festival is little known across China but is popular in Binyang county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of southern China.

Touching the dragon’s body is considered good luck, but people cannot yank either the beard or the scales.

The attack started when a man was holding a little boy and trying to help the child yank the beard of the dragon, which is usually held up by people carrying wooden sticks while dancing around fireworks.


A struggle involving the man, the child he was carrying and a group of “dragon protectors” ended with the man being badly beaten. Photo: Baidu
A member of the “dragon protection squad” told the man to stop several times but was ignored and became outraged when the man nearly knocked over the dragon’s head.

One of the dragon protectors knocked over the man, who was still carrying the child, and several other men of the team began to kick and beat him.

The police arrived quickly and detained both the dragon protector and the victim.

“The assault case is under investigation and it is not appropriate for me to release more details. We will announce in due course,” an information officer from the county’s government said.

The Cannon Dragon Festival, held on February 20 this year, originated from the Song Dynasty around 1,000 years ago and prospered during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912).

Experts say it is an excellent example of the cultural blending of the Han and Zhuang ethnic groups.

The annual event was included on China’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2008.

The incident has trended on mainland social media, sparking a debate about the protection of traditions.

One online observer wrote: “As a native of Binyang, let me introduce this festival. The dragon dancers will never allow the dragon’s head to drop to the ground because it means bad luck will linger at the location for three years.


The police made arrests at the scene and are still investigating to find out if criminal charges are necessary. Photo: Baidu
“This is our belief as Binyang people. You cannot drag the dragon’s head!”

But others thought the beating went too far.

“It’s not right to resort to violence, plus he was holding a child. It’s not good for the kid,” said one person.

“Why not dispatch police officers to safeguard order at the site? They are more professional,” another said.

Everyone here knows that pulling the beard of a dragon or lion is insulting, right? Right?