'China Rises' goes beyond mainstream coverage
Photos courtesy of http://www.nytimes.com/chinarises

'China Rises' goes beyond mainstream coverage

Discovery Times documentary series brings much-needed depth to oft-alarmist coverage of China

By Christine Chiao
AsiaMedia Staff Writer

Monday, April 10, 2006

China Rises
"Party Games" and "Getting Rich"
Episodes air April 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. on Discovery Times

Avant garde artist Ai Wei Wei is not one to follow the social norm. He has been challenging popular ideas of authority, tradition and culture for most of his life: one of his most notable works is a video of him destroying an ancient vase from the Han dynasty. As a young boy, he witnessed the devastating effect of the Cultural Revolution when his family was exiled to the remote deserts of Xinjiang. His father -- the renowned modern poet Ai Qing -- was forced to clean the latrines used by local military and endured humiliation as he attended so-called self-criticism sessions. Ai Wei Wei is intimately familiar with the ugly cruelties of the Communist government.

Yet, Ai exhibits a cautious optimism as he shares his thoughts in the upcoming Discovery Times documentary mini-series China Rises. He believes that the government is making a slow and deliberate step in the right direction. And not without reason -- Ai and Swiss architectural firm Herzog and de Meuron were chosen to help design the Olympic stadium in Beijing.

At once self-aware, proud and ambitious, Ai embodies the paradoxical attitude of modern China. For some viewers, this four-part documentary will be a rare complex, well-rounded reflection in a mainstream media environment saturated with oft-alarmist coverage of China. As the first two episodes unfold, the interviewees prove that the project aims to dispel misconceptions more than reinforce them.

The title of the first episode, "Party Games," plays on the unpredictability of the government as well as lives intertwined with the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games. Like Ai, each person featured in the episode exhibits a hopeful outlook for a nation that has just stepped out of a long period of pain. They represent a cross-section of disparate socio-economic backgrounds in China: 14 year-old Olympic hopeful Xiao Sha, village mayor Liu Su Hua and her political opponent Zhang Lun Cheng, high-tech entrepreneur and cyber nationalist Liu Yang Fei, and Peking University first-year law school student Bo Han.

They are connected not just in their view of the future, but in their sense of patriotism. As tired as Xiao Sha is from her rigorous regimen, she continues to live up to the expectations of her family and an entire nation. Liu Su Hua is a local party secretary and the mayor of a village in Sichuan known for bringing about construction of a paved road. In a pivotal moment of the episode, the villagers participate in the mayoral election -- the first in village history and a symbol of the progress interviewees allude to throughout "Party Games." Liu Yang Fei's hope at the Beijing Technology Expo is that the government will place an order for his company's high tech commemorative ticket dispensers. Still, Liu is a nationalist whose website about Japan's wartime atrocities was shut down by the government last May.

Whereas the first episode illustrates how the common vision of China's future unifies a diverse population, "Getting Rich" grapples with the immediate issues facing the nation's ascent. The second episode takes a closer look at some of the movers and shakers responsible for the nation's catapult into the global economic arena. The episode opens in Chongqing where Zuo Zong Shen is running a lucrative motorcycle manufacturing company. Like those in "Party Games," the people featured in "Getting Rich" represent the full spectrum of lives affected by China's development. The camera follows Alibaba and Taobao.com owner Jack Ma and one of Bank of China's top officials, Zhu Min. The most compelling perspective comes from Broad Air Conditioning CEO Zhang Yue who takes an environmentally-conscious approach to business. The Changsha-based company turns out an air conditioning system that uses little electricity and no harmful coolants and provides its employees' meals with produce harvested from Zhang's organic farm.

The episode effectively captures how the economic boom means different things to different people. Viewers are introduced to Zong Shen's employee Yang Xue Bian and his wife Liu Xiao Qiu as they trek home during the Lunar New Year holiday. They are two of 100 million working migrant workers. Yang's family was able to build a brand new home next to their old one largely because of the money he sent home.

Unlike Yang, Li Jiu Ping fell victim to corporate negligence. He never received compensation for injuries he sustained at a toy factory in Shenzhen. Long-time lawyer and workers' rights advocate Zhou Li Tai fought Li's case in court. Like Zhou, private investigator Liu Dian Lin combats the dark side of the economic prosperity. He is often hired to raid sites where goods, such as cigarettes, antibiotics and computer drives are counterfeited.

While the first two episodes provide a balanced vision of China, there are a few technical shortcomings to the production. The melodramatic narration and periodically incongruous instrumental music of China Rises detracts from the gravity of the project. The voiceovers take credibility away from the interviews because they make it difficult to know whether the translations are true to the speaker. At one point, for example, the first-year law student, Bo Han, explains that her attitude toward the nation's future is 'leng jin' or rational, yet the translator uses the word 'cautious'. The narrator frequently mispronounces Chinese names and locations, a problem exacerbated by the lack of on-screen captions.

The interviewees, however, ultimately leave a lasting impression in China Rises. The selection of the subjects allows for a portrayal of social and cultural depth often lacking in mainstream media stories about China. These portraits pick up where the coverage of data and statistics leaves off. With subjects like Ai Wei Wei and Zhang Yue, the first two episodes delve beyond Western media's traditional boundaries; issues often covered are shown in a new light and typically uncovered issues are given room for exploration. The personal stories adeptly frame the larger issues affecting the nation. From examining why the government has not allowed more political reform to the financial appeal of urban sprawls, these episodes provide a variety of perspectives and invite the viewer to join the discourse, inspiring more questions than definitive answers.

The views expressed above are those of the author and are not necessarily those of AsiaMedia or the UCLA Asia Institute.

Date Posted: 4/10/2006