Ni Howdy! My name is Nichols. I am a half-Chinese, half-Hillbilly American. That basically just means I know the lyrics to “Dixie” in Chinese. In 2008, I left my native-South Carolina and moved to my half-ancestral home (a halfway home??) of China to learn Chinese, teach and travel for a year. In Shanghai, I was attracted to the energy and pace of change. I also fell in love with the unique blend of the residents. People from all over China and all over the world come to Shanghai to live, work and play and the result is a social experiment unlike any I’ve seen in the world.

Four years later and barely still in my twenties, I am still here, now working full time as a math teacher, very involved with the Shanghai music scene, and just started writing a column about the local music scene. I made this video for my band Death to Giants as a tribute to the people and things that year-after-year inspire me to stick around: my students, my neighbors, my friends in the music scene, the McDonald’s delivery men, the street food vendors and the mind-blowing (for better or worse) television programs. Its not always an easy place to live but these comforts excite me and make Shanghai a beautiful place for me.

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I first heard Jolin Tsai‘s music back in 2003 when I was still a middle school student. The catchy pop tunes and sweet lyrics won my teenage heart just as they won many other young fans all over China. As I grew up however I moved on from that teenybopper phase, seldom buying Jolin’s records or following her career. Then a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to lwin a pair of free tickets for Jolin’s debut concert in London thanks to chinaSMACK!

I felt a rush of nostalgia and also sudden curiosity to see what Jolin was doing now and how her style would fit in the UK. I was quite curious to see how many Londoners would show up and whether their reaction to Chinese pop music would be favorable.

I met the other winner of the competition at Wembley Arena on October 21st – both of us excited about this ‘blast from the past.’

So how was Jolin?

Well, Jolin Tsai overcame a shaky start, looking nervous in front of a packed stadium that featured not only Chinese faces but a surprising number of local faces also. A group of five English people were sitting close by me. They told me they had got free tickets and were happy to see something different. But not all the Londoners in attendance were charmed by one of Taiwan’s most popular female singers. Several people walked out less than half-way through the concert unimpressed or perhaps unable to understand the Mandarin lyrics.

They should have stayed however because after a few songs, Jolin stopped the music and addressed the audience to try and turn things around: “Don’t just sit there and be quiet all the time. Maybe the English stewards ask you to do so? I hope my fans can sing the songs together with me and dance! Let’s make it more like a party!” The only problem with this was that Jolin did not bother to translate her words into English. Still, about 90% of the crowd went crazy anyway.

Jolin’s appearance in London is part of a growing trend for so-called Mando-pop stars to stop over at the British capital. 2012 has seen an invasion of Chinese pop stars with both Eason Chan and A-Mei recently playing the 20,000 seat O2 Arena, while Mayday took over Wembley Arena and Joey Yung filled the Royal Albert Hall. Coming soon will be Fish Leong and Jam Hsiao. I wonder if they will be able to win over European fans or whether they will mainly entertain Chinese faces only. Will there be more free tickets for Londoners and will they stay for the whole concert next time?

And perhaps the big question now is: when will a Chinese pop star match the achievement of Korean singer PSY and have a huge cross-over hit like ‘Gangnam Style? Can the trend for musical influence flow from East to West in the future?

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Editor’s Note: World Wushu Championships gold medalist, actor, and martial arts choreographer Alfred Hsing answers the following frequently asked questions about Kung Fu:

Chinese Version on Youku:

English Version on YouTube:

As a martial artist, I always get asked questions like “What’s the best way to defend myself against an attacker?” or “How many guys could you take on at one time?” and in China in particular, people like to ask “Can you fly?” (referring to all the wuxia movies they have seen). The exact moment this concept was brought to life happened over a dinner. Vivian Ye, of the One Foundation, invited a couple of friends out, Van Yang (the director of this video) and myself included, for dinner. After dinner we went back to Van’s studio because Van was working on a video for the One Foundation. While everyone was relaxing after dinner and watching Van’s edits, Vivian suddenly asks me if I could block a punch from her at any time. This was not the first time she had asked me such a martial arts question and she was not the only person to ask me such a question. At that moment, Van and I started coming up with various ridiculous scenarios and the ideas got funnier and funnier until we decided we should totally shoot an FAQ for martial artists.

Since I get asked these questions all the time, I knew it would appeal to martial artists, but I am happy that non-martial arts friends have found it entertaining as well.

The rest of the process was quite magical actually. I went home that night and wrote out the script. The next day I showed Van and he put it on “Basecamp” which makes it an official project in his books. We shot 2 days and half a day for pick-ups. We were very efficient thanks to Van’s experience as a director. Everything worked out just right. Literally if one person did not show up the video could not have been pulled off. It got so extreme that Van had to make a cameo as a mugger while our other producer Joanna filmed, just so we could pull off the triple kick gag. Jun Trinh, who practices capoeira and is a celebrity chef, was gracious enough to make a guest appearance in our short. He was running his restaurant over the phone in the middle of takes. We have to hugely thank him for also letting us use his restaurant “4corners” as our shooting location on our first day. Their food is delicious by the way!

In terms of action, I have to thank Meihan and Wang Zhenwei for being a part of this. I’ve known both of them for some time through wushu so it was very fun working with them. Meihan is a China national wushu champion and worked on stunts in The Expendables 2. Wang Zhenwei was the lead antagonist in The Karate Kid. Because everyone could perform the action and choreography this made shooting go a lot smoother. The second after we finished the last scene where I get stabbed, it started raining. You can even hear the thunder in the background.

Anyways, I want to thank everyone who was involved in the project and everyone who supports it. We had a great time shooting it and hope everyone enjoys it. If anyone has suggestions for the next video, feel free to let us and chinaSMACK know in the comments below! Thanks!

The Kung Fu FAQ was written and produced by Alfred Hsing, who won a gold medal at the 2009 World Wushu Championships and studied acting at the Beijing Film Academy. He is a Chinese-American born and raised in California, and came to Beijing in 2010 to work for Jet Li and since then has worked with the likes of Director Feng Xiaogang, actors Tim Robbins, Adrien Brody, Zhang Ziyi, and Wang Leehom. The Kung Fu FAQ is the first short film he has produced in China and you can learn more about Alfred Hsing at his website.

Van K. Yang is the award-winning Creative Director of FlowCS who shot and directed the Kung Fu FAQ.

What questions do you have about Kung Fu? Share them below and Alfred just might answer them in his next short film!

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“We Are All One” or “當我們站起來” is a 10-minute sci-fi fantasy short film I recently completed that explores the touchy subject of how Asians (especially Asian men) are treated and portrayed in Western mass media and how it affects the perception of Asians in Western society. It features a Chinese student living in North America who wonders how things could be different if his people were the dominant race on Earth. When he’s warped into an alternate universe where the Chinese are indeed the dominant race, he discovers that things are not what he expected.

The film is not for those easily offended; however, this is the internet so I’ve got my flame suit on and I’m expecting a lot of flak regardless. I hope you find the film interesting and if you like it, share it with your friends. If you don’t like it, sound off!

More About the Film:

For as long as the medium of film has existed, from “yellowface” Charlie Chan films to Breakfast At Tiffany’s to Sixteen Candles and most recently The Hangover films, Asians in North America (especially men) have been heavily stereotyped, desexualized and ridiculed.

Growing up in North America, I have witnessed a lot of Hollywood films depicting Asians in a stereotyped / negative light. They are made fun of, depicted as nerdy and weak, never “get the girl” in a film, or take a backseat to a Caucasian character for no good reason other than racism (Bruce Lee in Green Hornet). I made this film to show people that there is a genuine inequality in the mass media and we should never look at things without asking questions.

However, instead of attacking the sensitive subject of racial discrimination in the mass media head-on, I decided to create a film based on a script I wrote for my thesis film in film school that asks viewers to rethink what films are actually trying to imply when they are made.

I hope to be able to open the minds of viewers about how Hollywood films brainwash the masses with storylines and characters that cater to their ideologies and not necessarily present what is true (if you tell a lie a thousand times, it becomes the truth).

Ultimately, the theme of this film is how power, not race, dictates human behaviour, as whoever controls the mass media will ultimately be able to subconsciously influence our perception of one another.

Frequently Asked Questions / Comments:

Q: Low budget? How did you get those 300 Koreans in the film?
A: Coincidence!

Q: I’m a Black / Hispanic / Asian etc. woman and I’m offended that there were no women of colour in this film! You love white women only! You’re a racist!
A: Look closely, there’s actually a Middle Eastern / brown woman in one of the posters. Also, there were roles offered to women of colour in the film and they were included in the script, however it just so happened that on the days of filming they couldn’t make it and their roles were filled with women who happened to be Caucasian / of fair skin. I didn’t purposely omit women of colour in this film. I love women of all colours!

Q: I’m from Mainland China and I’m upset that you depicted us as under one banner with Taiwan!
A: It’s just a sci-fi fantasy film. Chill out. I’m Chinese-Canadian born in Hong Kong. I love everyone.

Q: I’m from Taiwan and I’m upset that you depicted us as under one banner with China!
A: It’s just a sci-fi fantasy film. Chill out. I’m Chinese-Canadian born in Hong Kong. I love everyone.

Q: I’m Japanese / Korean / South East Asian / etc. and I’m upset that you left us out!
A: It’s a short film. I cannot possible fit every single person in the world in a short film!

Q: I’m Caucasian and I’m offended! You’re a racist!
A: After a century of racist Hollywood films, I think I’m entitled to make a film how I see fit for my Asian audience. You should have seen the original script!

Q: I’m a human being and I thought this was brilliant!
A: Thank you. Please help spread the word and post this link to your social media networks!

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Hi! My name is Liam Frost (傅雷) and I’m one half of the Fu Brothers (傅兄弟). My older brother, Connor (傅康) is the other half. This music video is of our original song…

“带你回来” (“I’ll Bring You Home”)

So this video all started with me working at a Chinese language immersion camp at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania as a counselor this summer. All of the kids were under a language pledge (no English!), which forced them to use Mandarin Chinese to communicate. The kids got frustrated a lot, as many of them had little to no background studying Chinese. So we basically babysat them— comforted them, taught them, and kept them motivated to learn this stupidly difficult language. I first began studying Chinese around the same age as many of these kids, and one of my main inspirations for learning Chinese was music.

My mother is from Taiwan and she came to America at a young age to pursue music. Here, she met my father at a conservatory and they got married and had us. My brother and I have been lucky enough to inherit some of their musical talent, and personally, I feel extremely fortunate to be a halfie (混血儿) as well.

When we were young, we weren’t exposed to Chinese or Taiwanese culture much, except when my grandma came and taught us piano, yelling and trying to beat us when we misbehaved (love you, apo!). Our mom didn’t talk to us in Chinese growing up because she wanted us to “fit in”. Even so, I’ve never quite fit into any one group. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve always had a diverse circle of friends, but depending who I’m with, I’ve always been seen as “the Asian” or “the white kid” growing up.

Must be tough, right?

Honestly, I’m cool with it. I identify with both cultures— I can tell my Taiwanese friends about a typical Saturday night at an American college, the dating scene in America and the Western music I’m into. Similarly, I can tell my American friends stories about 二锅头 (crazy hard liquor) in Beijing, night markets in Taipei, and eating unbelievably fresh tuna sashimi in Dong Gang. Moreover, I can make music in multiple languages and share the thing I love most with the vast majority of the world!

My brother and I love our mom’s culture, and I’ll never forget our first trip to Taiwan when both of us decided we would learn Chinese one day. We did, and he’s now a Chinese and music teacher while I’m a Chinese major and Digital Arts minor at Hamilton College.

I still remember how cool we thought Chinese music was when we first heard it. Weirdly enough, we were really into Taiwanese rap, especially Machi (麻吉). We also liked Mayday (五月天) and of course, Jay Chou (周杰倫). I was ten and my brother was twelve or thirteen. Music was a large part of our love for Taiwan, and definitely one of the reasons for us to learn Chinese.

This summer, we started making music as the “Fu Brothers”, a way for us to combine our talents, make music together and share it with the world through YouTube and Youku.

This particular music video above happened after I wrote the song with Terry Hsieh, a trombonist and recent Oberlin grad who often takes his Jazz sextet, the Terry Hsieh Collective, to play, teach and perform in Beijing and Shanghai. He’s the one with the crew cut by the way, while I’m the guy playing the guitar and my brother Connor is on the trumpet.

Terry was a fellow counselor at the camp, and we decided to write a song for the kids to sing to get them pumped about learning Chinese, just like my brother and I had been many years ago. Something Terry pointed out which I found to be very true was that kids might forget a lot of their camp experience as they get older, but what they do remember is the songs they sang. So we were jamming one day: I was playing the guitar and he was messing with a conga drum. He dug the chords I was messing around with and BAM! we wrote this song from there in a couple of hours.

We taught the song to the kids and they seemed to really love it so we sang it with them every day. Most of my nightly living group meetings turned into passionate jam sessions, the kids belting out the words, oftentimes out of tune— but they didn’t care because they were singing it together. I could tell the music really brought us closer to each other. The power of music in bringing people together, especially kids, really amazes me sometimes.

I love recording music and making videos so I decided to make a legit music video. To record the kids, I set up a microphone, played guitar to a click and also had some of them record individual tracks to pan out and give it that real chorus effect. I knew the end needed a little somethin’ to make it super epic so my brother came up with the horn part. To give it that modern sound, I also added drums, bass, and some synths.

I hope you enjoyed our song and our music video. Please comment and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from halfies and ABCs alike, what your experience is with being biracial, and if it is similar or different from me! Thanks for reading!

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