Francis Hsu

英国广播公司（BBC) 第四台Best of Today广播节目今年（2016年）3月7日采访了朗朗，趁他此次前往伦敦推广他为英国孩子制作的一套学钢琴的课程，请他谈如何培养儿童学习钢琴。朗朗还在直播室进行了现场钢琴演奏。原节目为英文访谈，现配中文解说。

一名旅居美国的华裔女记者写了篇英文博客，介绍她亲身接触的在美国和香港非法落地生子的中国母亲的生态和心态。节目英文文本，在微信公众平台“天朝英语”中输入”海外生子是祸还是福“或“定锚婴儿”（请勿输入引号），系统会返回文本。文本还可以通过新浪微博“天zhao英语”、QQ:2840493860空间 获取。

用声音，在一起

用声音，在一起

用声音，在一起

看世界杯上淘宝，除了可以买啤酒小吃陪你熬夜观战，或者订机票订酒店实地助战，有些别的事情是正常人很难想到的。

节目英文稿，可以在微信公众平台“天朝英语”中输入”神奇的淘宝与世界杯“（请勿输入引号），系统会返回文本。还可以通过新浪微博“天zhao英语”获取。

天朝英语节目QQ:2840493860。

Chinese Brands Strike a Pose in Hollywood Films

Battling an austerity campaign at home, one high-end Chinese liquor brand is turning to another venue to boost growth: Hollywood.

Jiannanchun, a liquor known for its potent alcohol levels and distinct odor, makes an appearance in the latest sequel to Sony's “Amazing Spider-Man,” which is currently in theaters from the U.S. to China.

In the film, during a scene in which Spider-Man saves crowds from the villain, the brand's distinct red bottle and Chinese logo are prominently displayed on a large billboard in New York City's Times Square. It isn’t clear how much the company paid for the placement, although insiders estimated to China Real Time the price tag was likely more than 100 million yuan ($16 million).

This isn't the first time a Chinese brand has attracted attention by appearing in a Hollywood blockbuster. In 2009, a billboard ad for Chinese clothing retailer Meters/bonwe similarly appeared in Paramount's “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” Likewise, in the sequel to the movie, an actor holds up a bottle of Yili milk, China's leading dairy brand.

Sirena Liu, president of a Beijing-based marketing firm that arranged these two product placements, said product placement in Hollywood films is becoming a popular form of marketing for Chinese companies.

“Appearing in Hollywood films can enhance a brand's awareness among local audiences, making the local brand look more high-end and cool,” Ms. Liu said.

The price tag is also tempting, she said, since the cost for a simple product placement in a Hollywood film is about the same as it would for a major domestic movie, usually in the “millions of yuan.”

Yili's appearance in the film certainly seemed to be a boon. The company attributes much of a 40% on-year increase of the drink featured in the movie to the product placement, according to a statement on its website.

And with strong demand in the world's second-largest film market, industry insiders predict even more appearances of this kind.

“American filmmakers are trying to attract local attention in China,” said Annie Li, president of a Beijing-based communications compay. “The American side is more willing to listen to Chinese companies’ opinions than before.”

Ms. Li, whose company helps clients facilitate product placements in Hollywood movies, said Chinese companies are rushing to get their products on the big screen. Her company recently was in charge of helping Zhouheiya—a local fast-food chain that serves duck that she said wants to promote itself as a kind of Chinese KFC or McDonald's—make it into the upcoming fourth installment of “Transformers.”

“Zhouheiya always wanted to be promoted as a high-end product,” she said.

Although it's hard to tell whether Jiannanchun's pricey marketing will pay off, it seems it has already attracted some eyeballs.

“The most impressive part in the movie for me is the ad of Jiannanchun at Times Square and Spider-Man's perfectly fitting outfit,” wrote one user on Weibo.

But China's myriad food-safety issues may prevent brands back from inking deals with Hollywood studios. Ms. Liu said after China suffered from several tainted-milk scandals in recent years, one leading American studio told her it would no longer cooperate with Chinese dairy or infant products.

– Lilian Lin.

Thief steals Lemon, drops Apple

Too flustered while making his escape, a thief lost his iPhone 5 in the process of stealing a shanzhai, or imitated and pirated mobile phone on April 17 near the Zhujiang New Town metro station in Guangzhou. He later called the victim of the crime, asking for the return of his much more expensive phone.

Jin is a junior at South China Normal University. At around 6pm that day, he was listening to music from his mobile phone while walking to entrance B2 of Zhujiang New Town station on his way back to school. The mobile phone was stuffed into a side pocket on his school bag. Suddently, he found that the music had stopped. After a moment of numbness, he realized that his mobile phone had been stolen.

"Thief!" he screamed, rushing out to try to catch the thief, who by that time had run 10 meters away.

Jin didn't give up chasing and almost caught the thief, who was so nervous that he stumbled when climbing a flight of stairs, according to Jin's account of events. Things took a turn toward strangeness when another mobile phone suddenly dropped from the thief's pocket on to the floor.

Jin stopped at once. Astoundingly, he discovered the phone was a barely-used iPhone 5. "I found it very funny. My phone is a "shanzhai" one, less than RMB 1,000. I picked up the real and didn't bother to chase the thief, who was still running."

The thief was too busy making his escape to realize that Jin had already stopped chasing him. After another 30 to 40 meters, he turned around to see Jin standing and staring at him. That's when he noticed his iPhone in the would-be victim's hands. The roles completely reversed, he began to chase Jin back.

Jin took off. Lucky for him, he is a champion 100-meter sprinter. In less than 30 seconds, he managed to evade his tail. "I was surprised he ran slowly like that!" Jin laughed. "Maybe he was a rookie."

Jin tried to call his mobile phone after he arrived home. To his surprise, the thief answered the phone call. Even more shocking, the thief pleaded with Jin to give him back his iPhone in exchange for the phone stolen from Jin. The thief even provided his address.

The thief promised again and again he would return Jin's phone. Jin didn't believe him and asked him to return his phone first. "The thief later told me he had sent it, but he didn't give me the tracking number, and I can't receive it anyway."

After that, Jin was unable to make further contact the thief by his phone number. As for the iPhone 5, he decided to hand it in to the police.

(By Deng Yingxin, Ian Heuer)

Upside down house opens to the public in China

An upside down house has been attracting hundreds of tourists after it opened to the public in Shanghai, China, two weeks ago.

Those who have ever wondered what it would be like to walk on the ceiling need wonder no more.

In an old town in the Shanghai suburbs sits a house that has been totally turned upside down, furniture and all.

Hundreds of visitors queued for the chance pose for photos with upside-down sofas and dining tables on May 1, the first day of a national holiday.

And if the world being turned on its head wasn't enough, visitors were further disoriented by the sloping floor.

"I've felt a little dizzy since I came in. everything has been turned upside-down. It's pretty interesting. But I think the real reason I feel dizzy is that the floor is sloping. That's why I feel dizzy," said 27-year-old Huang Qi.

Another tourist, Sun Mingjiao, was amused by a lavatory that hung from the bathroom ceiling.

"The little toilet in the bathroom made the biggest impression on me. I think its design is pretty innovative. Normal people may not think about it this way, but when I took a look at it inside, I had the feeling that water might fall out of it. It made me feel really odd," she said.

Nine-year-old Wang Yijian was still excited by the experience as he played outside afterwards.

"I felt like I was standing on the ceiling. The house is upside-down, but I still didn't fall off," he said.

Designed by a Polish designer and funded by a Polish company, the construction of the house started in November, and took five months to complete.

It opened to the public on April 25 and costs 30 yuan (£3) per visit.

Sources: ITN/Reuters

Chinese Fans of Korean Soap Operas: Don't Call Us Dumb

A group of Chinese fans of Korean soap operas have gone very public in response to a study published last year that suggested Chinese viewers of Korean “dramas” tend to be at the lower end of the education and income spectrum.

On Wednesday, a full-page ad from a group called the “Asian Fan Club of ‘My Love From the Star’” appeared in South Korea’s largest circulation national daily, Chosun Ilbo, requesting an apology from the study’s authors.

The ad, written both in Chinese and Korean, doesn’t pull any punches: “We would like to tell you that you are wrong. We like Korean dramas… We like intellectual power even more,” the ad reads.

“My Love From the Star,” a 21-episode romantic comedy about a Korean actress and her extraterritorial boyfriend was a huge hit around Asia. It ended last month. In China, the drama triggered a craze for chicken-and-beer, the favorite food combination of the main female character.

The main male character, Professor Do Min-jun, is played by Korean heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun. In the plot, Prof. Do accidentally lands on earth 400 years ago and falls in love with Chun Song-e, played by Jeon Ji-hyun.

The ad says “Fans of My Love From the Star, along with science fans, will watch The Brain, a program for people with high intellectual power, on March 21, when Prof. Do appears on the show.” Kim Soo-hyun participated in the filming of The Brain, a show produced by China’s Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation, on March 8.

“If the number of viewers surpasses 100 million, you need to make an apology to Prof. Do Min-jun! As well, you should make an apology to ‘My Love From the Star’ and science fans,” the ad says.

The study in question, “Map of Drama Taste of Chinese TV Viewers,” was written by five researchers at Seoul National University. The paper concluded that TV viewers in China with high education and income levels prefer Japanese and American soap operas, while those with medium levels of education and income like Chinese and Hong Kong shows. The low-education-low-income group opts for Taiwanese and Korean dramas, the academics wrote.

Kang Myung-koo, who led the 4-member research team, including two Chinese staff, said: “I know the study has some parts that can be seen as controversial but I didn’t expect to see such a huge reaction from Chinese fans.”

“I was amazed to see the ad and I think it is really a good thing that Chinese fans have such a passion for Korean dramas,” he added.

Asked about the fans’ request for an apology, Mr. Kang said: “I acknowledge that there are some parts in the study that can produce misunderstandings.”

Chosun Ilbo said the client bought the ad through an agency in Guangzhou.

Follow Jaeyeon Woo on Twitter @JaeyeonWoo