|
Front Page of the Day
White House, Dark HorsePosted by Eric Mu, January 21, 2009 1:17 PM
 Xiamen Economic Daily January 21, 2009 Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony that took place yesterday is all over today's Chinese newspaper front pages. Among them, Xiamen Economic Daily announced the news with the headline "White House, Dark Horse" (白宫黑马). The headline puns on new president's last name and race: the last syllable of the Chinese transliteration of Obama is which means horse, and the "black" obviously refers to his skin color. "黑马" ("literally black horse") means the same as the English expression "dark horse". It may be coincidence, but the "dark horse" headline is quite telling about the general response of the Chinese public to Obama's seemingly surprising ascendancy. Links and Sources
|
Partner Links
Jobs in China
Recent Comments
HaiTek on
Chinese in Argentina
Sam Voutas on
Taxi vs Taxi
animal rig on
Cats and dogs in the animal cruelty law
Paul Jones on
Bankrupt schools and their fleeing foreign bosses
Chris/Kati on
Reserve a ticket on the 2012 ark through Taobao!
Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
 Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
 Tales of Old Hong Kong: The new Tales of Old Hong Kong compiled by Derek Sandhaus is available at Earnshaw Books.
Diamond Hill by Feng Chi-shun: Feng's memoir Diamond Hill describes an era of gambling and gangsters, Suzie Wong and squatter villages, fires and food stalls, and the Kowloon Walled City and its white powder. "A time when people were poor, but life was rich," he says. The world that he grew up in no longer exists, but his book - the first ever on the Diamond Hill refugee settlement, in either Chinese or English - offers a candid picture of what life was like for most Hong Kong residents in the 1950s.
William A. Callahan's China: The Pessoptimist Nation: China: The Pessoptimist Nation shows how the heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Through a careful analysis of how Chinese people understand their new place in the world, the book charts how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings in a dynamic that intertwines China's domestic and international politics.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Lost in Beijing finally gets killed (2008.01): SARFT (广电总局) brings down the hammer on Lost in Beijing (苹果), one year after its offense. + People: Tina Liu (2004.09): Tina Liu is Hong Kong's most prominent image stylist, but her mercurial career has involved her in almost every aspect of Hong Kong's media world. + Asimov Published, Interviewed in Beijing (2005.03): Cover story from this week's Book Review section of The Beijing News announces the publication of a Chinese translation of Isaac Asimov's complete Foundation series. Yup, the Beijing News has scored a fictional interview with "I, Asimov". They've been taking similar liberties recently in their entertainment sections, captioning photographs of celebrities with made-up quotes.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky
 (on the mainland)or Feedburner  (blocked in China) Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links) Top Links: Links from the top bar Danwei Jobs: Want ads Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30 |
 |
Chinese media, advertising, and urban life. |
|
tweet
facebook
bookmark
HaoHao
digg
Comments on White House, Dark Horse
The first aobama/heima slippage I have seen actually was buried in a Beijing News year-end wrap article sometime in mid-December, which in recounting the big events of 2008 first talked about the black horse president and then moved on to the Somali pirates with the connecting clause "同样是‘黑’ ，索马里海岛。。。“ I took it as off-color Beijing humor but it looks like this nickname might be taking root.
It's a shame that you didn't talk about The Beijing News, as you often do. If I am not mistaken, and I might be, they quite seriously misinterpreted Obama's speech. I would have been interested to hear your thoughts. I have tried to explain myself a bit better over on my blog.
The best was the headline that the Global Times put up right away on their website, that Obama said America was ready to "be the leader of the world again." Out of the whole speech they picked one line and twisted it to sound more arrogant, basically offering him up for a public verbal stoning, which the GT's idiot readers promptly obliged with. But to their credit, only a handful used racial slurs!