About this blog
Well, the name pretty much says it all. This blog is about Cpop or Chinese popular music. And as Wiki suggests, Cpop is such a broad and loosely defined definition that it encompasses not only Pop but also R&B, ballads, rock, hip hop, ambient music. I also took the liberty to include here some of my favorite Chinese artists since the 70s and 80s like Liu Wenzheng (刘文正)and Jiang Yuheng (姜育恒). Music aside, I will sometimes talk about the history, the places that I would love to go if given the chance, the movies/dramas that left such an indelible impression on me, the books that draw me to the Chinese society, my thoughts on China, the Chinese people and its society. In short, anything that is related to Chinese heritage that I want to share with all you.
Why did I have this blog? Don't we have enough "laowai" blogs already? Isn't it enough that everytime I open a newspapers or TV something about China just pop up? Well, I am mostly interested in Chinese music (hence the name), its movies and dramas. I know very little about its long and rich 5000-year history and I am so inadequate to even discuss its politics and economy. Since I haven't seen any great English blogs about Chinese music and movies that interest me I figure, hey how about starting your own blog!. Besides, it'll be an interesting way to learn Chinese, discover its culture and most importantly share it with those who have the same interests as mine...
About me
My name is Haiyen (海燕). I'm a Vietnamese student currently studying in Hanoi. I am by no means a Chinese music and/or culture expert but rather an eager learner who simply fell in love with the Chinese language and its culture right after the 2008 Beijing Olympic (talk about the power of marketing huh??). I started learning Mandarin in September 2008 (well, self-taught, to be exact). The learning process has been fun but really tiresome and at many points I was so demotivated and just wanted to say "the hell with Mandarin" (I actually quit learning Mandarin for about 3 months in early 2009 nearly half a year in 2010). I'm picking up Chinese again because I think it's such a waste that I've gotten this far (and by far I mean I can read and comprehend about 70% of the news on xinhuashe, I can watch modern Chinese movies with the help of subtitles and let's just say that I can hold a decent conversation in Mandarin) and what better way to learn a language that to align it with something you love (in this case, music)
English is not my first language and at this point, I've never been outside of the country, so if you find atrocious vocab/grammatical errors in my posts, please forgive me. I'll try to proofread before posting!
From Hanoi with love,
Haiyen
