News You Might Have Missed: Bargain-Hunters, North Korea and Talent Shows
StuffChinesePeopleLike.com might not be a blog yet but it could soon be after recent attempted purchases and things that have been pointed out as popular. Such as failing baseball teams. The LA Dodgers may be troubled (a disappointing season, fan violence, empty stadiums, bankruptcy, not being from Brooklyn anymore) but Chinese investors want to buy them all the same. "State-owned investment institutions of the PRC" are backing a USD 1.2 billion all-cash bid, the largest sale price ever for Major League Baseball (and well over the team’s estimated worth of USD 800 million). The bid has technically expired but the offer still stands; there has been no response from the team owner.
If you think a baseball team is a ridiculous thing to buy, then what about a place where they list occupations in the phone book? A Chinese tycoon wants to buy 300sqkm of land in Iceland to build a luxury resort. The USD 200 million offer, if accepted, would be the largest chunk of Icelandic land purchased by a foreigner. We know that Iceland needs the cash, as it's still recovering from the economic meltdown it suffered in 2008. But what's motivating China? Does China need a place to keep the Harbin ice sculptures year-round? Is this just an affordable foothold in the Arctic, a cheap front-row seat as the melting ice caps reveal a wealth of natural resources? Or is it really rapprochement with a certain Icelandic pop singer?
Bjork might not be fashionable here – maybe that's because she's the most popular singer in Iceland. It's becoming clear that brand popularity in China is negatively correlated with success back home. In the same way that Australia sends the TV show Neighbours and Foster's Lager to England, countries are looking to ship their tat over to China. Success stories so far include ironic hipster-fave Pabst Blue Ribbon, Buick, KFC and Beijing taxi drivers' hero Kenny G.
Speaking of aging despots, North Korea has launched its first cruiseliner, and it’s exactly as luxurious as you’d expect. The cruise, which originates in Yanji, Jilin province and drops its passengers off at the resort of Mount Kumgang for a day before returning, is being heavily marketed to Chinese tourists. It features patriotic karaoke, mess-hall-style dining and, according to the New York Times, homegrown Viagra. Beijing's own Koryo Tours are said to be looking into the opportunities to take foreigners.
Now watch this video. We tried to embed it, but it's too awesome.
If you like patriotic songs and luxury cruises, you're probably also a big fan of TV talent shows. China's Got Talent will be holding auditions in London, Manchester and Liverpool next month. They’re seeking “people with unique and exciting talents who have any connection to China, either through birth or ancestry. We don't know why it's necessary to go to the UK to find people born in China or with Chinese ancestry, unless those rumours about Paul McCartney are true.
In more TV-talent-show news, they’ve pulled the plug on Super Girl. That does not mean that Clark Kent's cousin has left this mortal coil but rather that the show from Hunan Satellite Television that kick-started China’s love of reality TV singing competitions has died. In its heyday, frenzied fan clubs competed to keep their favorite singers “alive” with massive get-out-the-text-message-vote campaigns. Official reason for cancellation: The show regularly exceeded the 90-minute limit that applied to televised talent shows. Real reason: Because voting for contestants is too much like the dreaded D word?
And finally, while we're on the subject of remarkably strong women with mysterious pasts, China’s most famous transsexual has been kicked off a TV talent show. Last week, Jin Xing was removed from the judging panel of Fei Tong Fan Xiang, a talent show on Zhejiang Satellite Television. She couldn’t care less about the show, but is outraged at the discrimination motivating the decision. Background: Jin, who was born male, rose to the level of colonel in a People's Liberation Army dance troupe; after her sex change operation (which the PLA fully supported), she left the military and embarked on a successful career as a dancer-choreographer.
Photo: SAS Performing Arts Center, Zuma Press
