Hi hi sisters ...... seems like Yong Joon is not only making waves in Japan, he's also stirring up a little ripples in China. As you know, the long awaited Chinese (traditional) version of his 'Beauty of Korea' book was released in Taiwan 2 weeks ago. Now the simplified Chinese version is also launching in China. As you have read in bb's LoveBaeYongJoon, she has kindly translated the event details of the Press Release, organized jointly by the United Book chain and the media company.
Fresh out from the oven, the event took place yesterday inside the Korean Embassy in Beijing
The congratulatory flower baskets from fan clubs all over China @@
Quite some nice displays of his travel photos, eh?
The capacity of the hall was 100, with 60 reporters and 40 fans. Well, if Yong Joon were there, multiply it by 1000 :)
Even though Yong Joon was not present, representatives from Keyeast and the Korean Tourism Organization were there.
Perhaps Mr. Li Xin of the United Bookstore expressed it best, "There is a fundamental difference on this book, apart from the average travel books. It depicts the type of travel based not on the temptation of eating, drinking and playing. Rather, it's a cultural journey, a journey into the soul."
Of course, we are more interested in what our BYJ family was doing, right?
Hehe, they came prepared, much like going to the Tokyo Dome Events, with banners and everything!
The 'famous' fan/interpretator Wonchun (she accompanied Yong Joon throughout his Beijing visit in 2005) asked Keyeast director Mr. Hwang Chang Woo when Yong Joon will go to China again. He answered that when time comes for the promotion of his future acting works, Yong Joon will definitely return. The Chinese family seemed a bit caught off guard when asked what they'd like to say to Yong Joon. They hoped their well wishes from the Chinese family could be carried back to Korea to Yong Joon, how sweet!
To be honest, I am quite happy to see 'official' BYJ promotion events held in other countries, so fans outside of Korea and Japan can also experience that sense of belonging in a BYJ family. As the consuming power in China continues to escalate and the Chinese family continues to grow, I am not surprised to see more events coming out from there. Now, dare we dream there will also be a book press release in N. America when the English version comes out?? kidarikeyo ~@@~
Thanks to amma格格 and 清夜儛婂 for posting the pictures in baidu!
4 comments:
Hi Jaime,
It's a good news indeed, and I hope the Chinese market will play a bigger role for Hallyu business, but let me ask you a silly question.
What does the word 'simplifed' mean in this context? Is the Chinese version a summarized one, so it's smaller? Or, in Chinese version 'simplified letters' are used instead of traditional letters, most of which we share in Japanese?
cloud nine
dear cloudnine,
Traditional Chinese was developed and used throughout history in CHina. As you know, there are so many thousands characters and each one is quite complex, therefore only the scholars and elite were able to study in ancient times. In fact, you can also see traditional Chinese in formal documents in Korea, as we watch the Korean drama. I think when Communists took over China, the traditional Chinese is being modified to simplified Chinese so that farmers and labourers can learn the characters easier. Now simplified Chinese is official in mainland China while Taiwan and Hong Kong still use traditional Chinese.
You are probably more familiar with Kanji - which is the Chinese characters portion of the Japanese language. I notice Kanji uses a combination of traditional Chinese but some characters have also been simplied, modified or even invented by your ancestors. It's a beautiful language but I admire foreigners who have to learn Kanji from scratch :)
Have a nice weekend!
love ... jaime
Thanks for being our bridge to what can be gleaned from baidu, dear Jaime.
I too wondered about why there were two types of Chinese script. Your explanations now make me richer in knowledge of the world.
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Dear gosijo,
Hehe, thanks for your warm words. I am also very thankful to the baidu sisters for being so diligent in keeping their site so active and exciting. Let's hope our prince will have more good news for us.
Have a nice weekend!
love ... jaime
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