You can’t flip the channel in China more than twice without landing on a show built around the variety show format. It may be focused on kids, teens, or the adult, but this format is without a doubt the most popular in the country. It can best be described by this “SAT-esque” saying:
Variety shows are to China as sitcoms are to America.
Wikipedia defines variety shows as:

“A variety show or variety entertainment is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and comedy skits, and …

What the Chinese have mastered, however, is the art of enjoying a public park and it’s something that I think we as Americans can learn from.

Hey everybody! It’s been a while since we’ve given you a more personal update of our lives here in China, so here we go:

Although school has been out for a while in America now, we’re just now coming to a close here in China. We gave our final tests the past two weeks and now the kids are taking all the rest of their finals before school officially ends at the end of this week. This semester flew by pretty fast!
We are now officially the only Americans …

Thanks to everybody who participated in the Movie Fun trivia game! I got a few people who told me it was just too hard, and I agree it was difficult – but welcome to our world. The art of translating whatever a Chinese person has attempted to say can become such a task that it has earned its own language category – “Chinglish”. I’m not making fun of them, though…I know my Chinese sounds much worse to them.
So here are your answers:
1. Love at 1st Sight …

I don’t think I ever appreciated cheerleaders as a high school athlete. I’m ashamed to admit it even now and if I ever disrespected a cheerleader and you’re reading this – I’m very sorry. It wasn’t until I came to China that I realized how important they were – they don’t just invite the crowd to cheer, they teach them how to cheer.
Watching Chinese athletics either in person or in on TV, the one thing you notice is an overuse of the single phrase” 加油！”, which literally translated …

Chinese suction cup therapy has a history of over 2,000 years and is reported to cure back pain and the common cold. True or false? Here’s my experience…

Hey everybody…a big debate has sprouted up here in China and has brought with it some very thought-provoking questions I wanted to pass along. This past few weeks all news and even our blogs have focused heavily on the earthquake disaster that has plagued this country. It’s hard not to be focused on it. Because of this there has been heavy pressure from every angle to donate money. The government, company leaders, and school officials are requiring their employees to donate to the relief cause. …