ABSTRACT
I was surfing Chinese cable—34 channels. Big-stage extravaganzas, including a rock-pop show from Shanghai with Swedish, American, Chinese and Korean stars. Talk shows. Kung Fu movies (including Shanghai Nights with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson). Lord of the Rings dubbed in Chinese. A Richard Burton film set in Africa, with a German title that translated roughly: When the Swallows Fly. Or was that pigeons? Several soap operas set during the increasingly popular Imperial epoch. A modern episodic drama about young Chinese exchange students in Canada. A science show. Two nature shows, featuring baboons and whales.
