culture

This month sees the launch of #ConnectedByCreativity – an online festival for cultural exchange between China and the UK. Matt Burney, director of the British Council, tells FOCUS what’s in store #ConnectedByCreativity is the first online festival dedicated to the China-UK cultural and creative relationship. The festival is organised by the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for education and culture, in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Trade …

The British film industry’s part in China’s post COVID-19 box-office recovery – and in particular The Eight Hundred – should not be overlooked, writes Dr Hiu Man Chan, founder and director of the UK-China Film Collab not-for-profit The drama began in late January, when all of China’s Lunar New Year films were pulled and cinemas were ordered to close due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The Chinese New Year holiday …

Following the huge success of Peppa Pig in China, British preschool cartoon Everything’s Rosie hopes to emulate its achievements as it enters the market a decade after launching on CBeebies Getting a children’s TV show to air in China is the dream of almost all major Western children’s TV companies, but so far few have found a way in. Given its market size and the potential upside in terms of …

The innovation and creativity shown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the wealth of possibilities open to cultural institutions when it comes to using digital technology to develop closer relationships with audiences around the world The threat of decreased revenue and footfall due to the Coronavirus has caused major concern for many cultural institutions in the UK and in China. This has caused many to re-think their strategy …

Place branding for Chinese cities has never been more important, writes Kaitlin Zhang How many Chinese cities can you name? Outside of the most famous, established cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the Chinese city with the highest brand awareness level is Shenzhen at 93 percent, according to a recent Chinese City Branding Report by Oval Branding. The success of Shenzhen is in large part due to its status …

It’s a family affair The consequences of families being confined to their apartments for such long and intense periods might well lead to a spike in Summer divorces and November babies, but more seriously it is likely to have a long-term impact on the average person’s awareness of their work-life balance. People have, for the most part, enjoyed spending more time with their loved ones, and are recognising the importance …

By Clizia Sala In Shanghai, only ten years ago nobody would have wanted to go for a cultural stroll along the Xuhui Waterfront. No travel guide book or city directory mentioned its West Bund Cultural Corridor, simply because it did not exist. Instead, art lovers would rather have headed to M50, a hip, cosy complex of former factories filled with independent art galleries on Moganshan Road. That has now changed. …

By Paul French Jung Chang was born in Sichuan and moved to England in 1978. She is best known for the inter-generational biography of her own family, Wild Swans. No other book on China has ever sold as well – with over 20 million copies sold in 38 languages. With her husband, the scholar Jon Halliday, she has written a biography of Mao, and another of the Empress Dowager Cixi. …

Ideas of what it is to be a man are changing fast, Tom Pattinson draws attention to some of the specifically Chinese tensions within these shifts Last year, China’s authorities went some way to co-opting rap in a bid to channel China’s youth culture and explain Chinese culture abroad. By the start of this year, China had turned the volume down on rap, banning hip-hop culture and tattoos. Along with …

A rise in popularity of Chinese science fiction is spurring a new generation of techies to compete globally, writes Tom Pattinson First contact is a warning ­– alien invaders are coming and humanity will be destroyed. A more advanced alien race is taking steps to stop earth’s technological advancement. Reactions from the small group of ‘in the know’ scientists on earth are mixed, and factions form. Halt communications and hope …