SHANGHAI: When it comes to Chinese names for Western celebrities, “Sweet Tea” is definitely hot, “Fruit Sister” is off the menu, and an ample posterior can have you anointed “Lord of Butt.”
Chinese is expressed using idiomatic characters rather than an alphabet, making it difficult to use the language to transliterate foreign names, and opening the door for a range of creative and often bizarre appellations for well-known stars. The recent Academy Awards minted a new star in China, Timothee Chalamet, a best actor nominee for — ironically — “Call Me By Your Name.”
He is known as “Tian Cha” or “Sweet Tea,” a play on the first syllables in his names and a nod to his heartthrob looks.
He is now among the hottest celebrities on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, the subject of posts like: “Come and drink this cup of sweet tea, until the summer.” Things are not so sweet these days, however, for “Shui Guo Jie” or “Fruit Sister,” also known as Katy Perry, so-dubbed because of the fruit-colored costumes she is known to perform in.
US media reported that the singer was dropped as a headliner for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in November last year after she was denied a visa, possibly because she had previously draped herself in the flag of China’s diplomatic rival Taiwan.
In China’s hyperactive cybersphere, some names get propagated to the point where some people might find them obscure, as in the case of actress Jennifer Lawrence, or “Da Biaojie” (“Big Cousin“).
But most seem to be more logical.
British actor Tom Hardy is known as “Tang Lao Shi.” “Lao Shi” means “always wet,” apparently because of his typically slicked-back hair. Another hair-inspired name belongs to Benedict Cumberbatch, who sports a curly top in the “Sherlock Holmes” series and has been dubbed “Juan Fu” (“Curly blessing“).
China’s passion for flavourful food has led to “Xiao Tian Tian” (“Little Sweetie“) for Britney Spears, and “Ma La Ji” (“Little Spicy Chicken“) for sex-symbol singer Nicki Minaj.
Last but not least, there’s Jennifer Lopez, whose well-known posterior has earned her the designation “Luo Ba,” or “Lord of Butt.”
’Lord of Butt’: China’s weird names for Western celebs
’Lord of Butt’: China’s weird names for Western celebs
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
