If you stayed up late to catch the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV over the Chinese New Years, you might have been surprised by the reaction the crowd gave to the surprise appearance of this band. Watching their most popular video, you might be mistaken into thinking China has never left the 1980s. In fact, what happened was just mass nostaglia for one of the most popular Taiwanese boy boys to ever exist: the Little Tigers.
Coming out of Taiwan in the late 1980s, the Little Tigers paved the way for later acts like F4 before eventually breaking up in 1995. The song we're showcasing today is the same song the band performed live on television over the New Years. A smash hit when originally released, this tune continues to be a popular KTV mainstay throughout Asia. Many of the Chinese who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s still know it by heart, just one more reason to add it to your own arsenal of KTV tunes.
user7603
said on February 17, 2010
Slightly un-related question, but this music video reminded me of it... maybe you guys know the answer... Why do so many Chinese tv shows/music videos/etc. use sub-titles? I watch CCTV and Sino-TV here in the US, and almost everything is subtitled, even the commercials. We rarely use subtitles in the US, so it really stands out to me. 谢谢！
faizoro
said on February 17, 2010
Ilived in China for a little while. While mandarin is the official language- there are in fact many spoken languages spoken accross China which are - although referred to as dialects quite as different as Spanish and Dutch. These spoken dialects have in common - written Mandarin. Strange as that may seem- this is made possible by the fact that written Mandarin is not phoenetic but pictographic. An image which does not represent sound in any way but with conveys the idea of a dog may be pronounced any way you wish. For the same reason, when I show a picture of a dog I have drawn to a non-English speaker- he knows that it is a dog, despite that he doesn't know the English word 'dog'. :)
Thus- the answer to your question is that subtitles enables non-mandarin speaking Chinese who can write Chinese(writen Chinese being the universal component of the language) to enjoy the program.
mat
said on February 17, 2010
It's very handy for learning anyway, all those movies with Chinese subtitles :)
user7603
said on February 17, 2010
faizoro - Hadn't thought of that. It makes sense though - thanks!
mat - That's why I love the subtitles too :) If only they didn't move so fast (or if I had a DVR)...
Echo
said on February 17, 2010
@user7603,
I think faizoro has given us a great explanation. Actually for myself, I can feel that I more and more rely on it. A lot of other Chinese people have the same experience. Sometimes if a TV show doesn't have a subtitle, I feel uncomfortable when watch it even though I can understand every single word they say. I just can't stop myself from looking for the subtitles.
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
Echo
said on February 23, 2010
“小虎队”是我十几岁时最喜欢的组合，听他们的歌就好像回到了自己的“花季雨季”。好感慨呀！
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
Gail天堂的声音
said on February 23, 2010
我也好喜欢小虎队的歌，现在小虎队有点老呜，今年春节看他们唱完以后都喘得不行了。。。
f8daniel
said on December 6, 2010
@user7603, @faizoro
10 months late to the lesson--What really gets me about subtitles is the distinction between traditional and simplified characters. I am used to scanning the simplified character subtitles in China, but when I go to KTV all the songs use traditional characters, even the ones that are definitely mainland China (比如：“北京欢迎你”）. I watch a lot of (english language) TV out of HK which has all the traditional characters so I am used to scanning those as well, but I can't keep up if I am trying to sing. 气死我了
Echo
said on December 6, 2010
@f8daniel,
Ha ha, my secret to handle traditional characters is not looking at them carefully. If I read carefully I will have trouble to understand them.
祝你好运！
--Echo
echo@popupchinese.com
