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Re: Hong Kong/Cantonese stuff

Hong Kong has outputted some great artists back in the day. Wong Kit (Dave Wong) is a particular favourite. He did some classic Cantopop hits, which have also been released in Mandarin. Beyond was a good rock band. Rock as far as 'Asian popular standards' go. I'd call them soft rock to be honest in musical terms in comparison to the west, but they were hugely influential in HK during the 90s. The band leader and lead vocalist's death was a tragedy. Definitely check out some of their works. Hong Kong music today simply fades into being just part of the branch of 'asian music'. It doesn't have anything iconic about it anymore.

Jackie Chan films are all good, but they have been done to death. Stephen Chow is gaining recognition after some of his more popular, and more culturally ambivalent films like Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer and CJ7. King of Comedy is one of his best, and you might find a few laughs in God of Cookery and Forbidden City Cop. His earlier films are generally considered unavailable to an international audience, with its reliance on Mo Lei Tau which, generally speaking, requires a fluent knowledge of Cantonese in order to 'get' the joke.

I think Cantonese is a great language. The variety of tonal qualities make it sound unique. I frequently refer to it as 'Chinese, with drunken characteristics'. =P Mandarin on the other hand sounds quite shrill to me personally. Its no doubt a little easier to learn than Cantonese though, since you effectively have to learn two different languages when you approach Cantonese. The written style, officially, is of Standard Chinese origin which is not mutually inclusive with Cantonese. Cantonese is mainly a spoken dialect, but written Cantonese does exist in some form. You'll only see it in informal situations though.

You should take a trip to Hong Kong and Southern China sometime in the future. The food is to utterly die for. =)
by Ren
Wed Nov 13, 2013 8:05 pm
 
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