木子美和竹影青瞳的故事(英文版)

前一阵子木子美和竹影青瞳可是"网络红人"呢，关于她们的中文消息铺天盖地。本人是英文爱好者，就想查找些有关这两个红人的英文消息报道述评之类的。

国内英文媒体关于木子美和竹影青瞳的文章不多。在People's Daily Online（人民日报网络英文版）和Xinhuanet(新华社网络英文版）上找到同样一篇“Body card" played at ease?”的文章，都转载自China Daily(中国日报）的同名文章，文章署名为Cai shangyao(蔡尚耀）

"Body card" played at ease?

Not so long ago both Chinese ladies and gentlemen hid their faces and left the theatre cursing after seeing the scene in the movie "The Wilderness" in which Liu Xiaoqing indulged in sexual intercourse with her lover.

But today even in the remotest village in China even the most conservative of old ladies is inured to stark-naked stripteasers on earthen stages where the whirling of youthful bodies puts the audience under a spell. The Chinese are becoming more and more tolerant of and liberal about sex at a pace even faster than the GDP growth.

Humans are characterized by the pursuit of fashions. The boldest of fashions may be called "avant-garde" so the bold leaders of fashions consider it a high honour to be described this way. The forerunners draw sufficient attention to allow them to retire so their followers have to go even further if they are to be counted truly avantgarde in their turn. Avant-garde women are surging onward at lightning speed nothing less would enable them to draw enough attention.

Just before the half-veiled "Shanghai Baby" Wei Hui and its attendant commotion had faded into the background Muzimei suddenly appeared online. Since June 19 last year Muzimei began posting her personal diary on the website she had set up at BlogChina. This diary is a record of Muzimei's sexual experiences with different men. Muzimei immediately became a hot topic of discussion on and off the Internet.

"I want to record what my life has been like even if I'm interfered with destroyed ..." Muzimei may still persist in living a radically nonconformist life. After creating an orgy of moral and psychological scourging Muzimei retired from the public eye. Nevertheless this woman who gained overnight fame by writing with her body has evidently outdistanced even Wei Hui.

As people are fervently talking about Muzimei a new public tumult has arisen this time from a writer known as Zhuying Qingtong (Bamboo shadow green pupil) on the Internet.

Zhuying Qingtong a known female writer at a web community was already a controversial figure due to her provocative writings that challenged established social norms. She once called herself a "mortal sinner" and declared that "Zhuying Qingtong" would be renowned among mankind. Since February 2003 she began writing articles to publish on the web which drew eager attention very quickly. After this Zhuying Qingtong gained added popularity by regularly updating her nude photos on the web. About her nakedness she had this to say: "Why should I feel ashamed? I take nude photos of myself because I'm drawn by an irresistible impulse to do so. I want to see my lovely form and let others see it. I'm wondering if I will go off my head one day and die of love for myself."

What kind of "avant garde" novelty can we expect to see after Zhuying Qingtong? What needs tp be done to be considered truly avant garde? Time will tell so let's wait and see.

另有一篇来自《上海英文星报》，是关于芙蓉姐姐、木子美和竹影青瞳的，没有署名。
Ego pays off

Shanghai Star. 2005-06-30
THE name "Sister Furong (lotus)" has recently appeared in the entertainment news on one of the largest portal websites in China sina.com together with the hottest news such as that of Tom Cruise's marriage to his young sweetheart on July 4. By June 27 this name had become the most frequently googled entertainment word receiving about 1.27 million searches followed by those for top Taiwanese singer Jay Chow.

Sister Furong's fame arose soon after her photos - with farcical poses to highlight her S-shaped curves - accompanied by her narcissistic words from the Tsinghua University BBS were posted onto tianyaclub.com one of China's largest online forums.

Now thousands of people wait in front of their computers for her newest photos every day either making fun of her body or condemning her opinions about herself. On the other hand some speak of her courage and have become her fans. Collectively they are called the "Furong Cult" and the fans are humorously referred to as "lotus roots."

Furong doesn't have a pretty face but she has the voluptuous figure that most Chinese women don't have - what she describes as: "D-cup breasts round bottom a 50-cm slim waist and weight under 45 kilograms. Wherever I go I soon become the focus of the crowd." That description is not exactly what people see in her photos - she does have big breasts which people can easily see through her transparent clothing but she is not slim and even has a sagging belly.

Her biggest interest is dancing which helped her become known to students in China's elite Peking and Tsinghua universities. links to the video of her exaggerated dance performance at Tsinghua University were shared among friends through MSN and there is an online site to educate "Furong illiterates."

She also became a sought-after figure by the media but after several interviews she kept herself away from the limelight.

When a Shanghai Star reporter tried to contact her cell phone the call did not get through for the phone had been switched off. She did not reply to the reporter's short message but she has posted a message on the web saying that she will hold a press conference soon.

Furong said she has believed she would become famous since she was a little girl because of her special qualities. Yet she never expected that she could realize her dream so soon and be known to so many people within such a short period.

Yu Hai professor of sociology at Fudan University sees Furong as an extreme example of an ordinary person striving to become a celebrity.

"To some extent everyone can find part of him- or herself in Furong" Yu said. "We all want to show off to make others pay attention to or like us."

Hunger for fame

Sister Furong is not the first "Internet celebrity" to become famous almost overnight.

In 2003 Muzimei (her real name is Li Li) became the forerunner of the trend for female bloggers to gain fame through bold descriptions of sexual activities in their writings or naked photos of themselves. In one of Muzimei's blog stories she wrote about "wild sex" she once had.

Like Furong Muzimei is not especially pretty.

"When a person is not the type that always gets attention and is envied but wants to be known he or she has to realize it in a 'special' way" Yu said.

The Internet celebrities in China almost all female have chosen to use their body or sex to become famous.

"The Internet is like karaoke where everyone can express themselves. But women can use their bodies to gain attention right away. New figures like Sister Furong and Muzimei will appear and they will all climb onto the stage in the same way" Yu said.

Cost of fame

Beijing blogger Wang Yufei thought the incentives for those bold female Internet celebrities at the very beginning might not be the desire for fame.

"They are different from ordinary people so they naturally attract people's attention" she said. She told the Shanghai Star that she never wanted her own blog to be read by anyone beyond friends.

However online fame did change the celebrities' lives.

Sister Furong has received an audition for a movie and she said she wanted to become a comedienne.

A book by Muzimei priced at 20 yuan (US$2.40) which contains her diary poems and short stories was quickly published after she became well known. Muzimei who was once an editor of a Guangzhou-based magazine has been given a job as marketing manager of blogchina.com the largest Chinese blog.

Zhuying Qingtong another online star who posted her own naked photos on a BBS quit her job and charges people who want to set up websites in her name and journalists seeking exclusive interviews in order to "make a living".

Muzimei and Zhuying Qingtong quit their former jobs because of the pressure from their employers after their online activities became known. Sister Furong's superior has asked her to stop her Internet activities. No matter whether the talk between Furong and her employer has affected her or not she has removed all her stories from her blog saying she was tired of people criticizing her every day.

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Copyright by Shanghai Star.

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