相亲：全民上阵
在上海市郊距离著名的外滩大约两小时车程的松江工业区，有一个叫做泰晤士小镇(Thamestown)的地方——这是一片面向中国新富阶层建造的现代化住宅区，所有的一切都充满了英伦风格。在这座封闭式社区内，尽管许多模仿都铎式风格建造的别墅里似乎都空无一人，但小区中心那座巨大的教堂复制品却成为了年轻新人们举行西式婚礼的时髦场所。
上周末，这处“福地”举办了一场盛大的相亲大会。据估计，上海市有50万适龄单身男女，而由上海市政府出面协办的这次活动，就是希望能为其中一部分单身人士创造机会。数千名参与者在教堂外转悠，其中很多都有父母作陪。焦急的父母会拉住外表气宇不凡的旁观者，把他们推到自己的子女跟前，或是进行简单的询问，以判断他们是否是合适的交往对象。
有些父母甚至连子女都没有带，但一整天都围在墙壁前盯着看上面张贴的个人信息介绍。
大胆一点的参与者会受邀参加一场才艺展示，他们可以通过演唱、诗朗诵来吸引对他们感兴趣的人，抑或只是谈谈自己身上的可取之处，希望能有人打听他们佩戴的号牌。
在一座展厅内，婚庆公司、影楼、旅行社和房地产开发商都布有展位，甚至还有一家提供背景调查服务的公司。
上海市政府此次亲自出面组织相亲大会，颇能说明一些问题。中国目前的男女出生比约为118:100，按照一些人的估计，当目前这批男婴迈入适婚年龄后，多达五分之一的人会找不到老婆——对于一个执着于政治和社会稳定的政府来说，这样一幅前景足以让他们警醒。
中国地图中的政治
在中国，印制全国地图这样一个简单之举却时常伴有风险。许多宣传品或出版物会由于设计者因疏忽绘制了一张与中国领土主张不完全相符的中国地图而被销毁。
数十年来，如果哪幅中国地图没有包括被北京方面视为中华人民共和国领土一部分的台湾岛（台湾一直实行自治），那么这幅地图必然会被审查机构丢进垃圾堆。而最近，轮廓酷似一只鸡的中国地图又在南部增加了一些新的“凸起”。
上海国内主机场的到港大厅内竖立着一块巨大的国有银行广告牌，上面用许多照片拼贴成了一幅中国地图。当然，地图里包括了台湾，但还有零星几张照片“漂移”到了应该是南中国海的地方。
中国宣称拥有整个南中国海的主张并不新鲜——其广阔的领土主张向来可以在官方地图中得到体现。然而将一系列散落在石油资源丰富的南海之中的无人居住的环礁纳入中国版图，似乎是中国绘图者的新动向。这不仅是一个美学问题。大部分接受网上调查的中国人都认为中国政府应该派出军队，捍卫在这一地区的主权。
中国的文化雄心
中国共产党最近一直大谈特谈在海外增强中国软实力的话题，上个月甚至还下达了一份辞令严肃的文件，承诺将最大限度地提高文化产出，并提高文化生产力。
但尽管日渐年长的中国领导层允许民众享有更加丰富的文化生活，增强中国对于世界其他地方的吸引力，然而来自美国的一支访问团却在无意间证明，中国在有些问题上仍然不够淡定。
本周，一支包括梅丽尔•斯特里普(Meryl Streep)、科恩(Coen)兄弟之一、音乐家马友友(Yo-yo Ma)以及作家谭恩美(Amy Tan)在内的访问团正在北京出席“中美文艺论坛”。此次论坛旨在颂扬“中美艺术家之间的相互交流、欣赏及友谊”。一些更具怀疑精神的观察人士也许会指出，从中国近来的表现上看，相比起欣赏类似艾未未这样的世界级艺术家的文化作品，中国更热衷于关押他们。
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001041786
Looking for love on an industrial scale
On the industrial outskirts of Shanghai, about two hours from the famous colonial-era Bund, there is a place called Thamestown – a modern housing development marketed to China’s nouveau riche as the embodiment of all things English. While many of the mock tudor villas in the gated community appear empty, the replica huge cathedral in the centre has become a trendy place for young couples to hold western-style weddings.
Last weekend this auspicious location was the scene of a giant matchmaking festival, organised with the local government and aimed at bringing together some of the estimated 500,000 eligible lonely hearts in the city. Outside the cathedral thousands of participants milled around, many accompanied by anxious parents who snatched at promising looking bystanders, shoving them towards their offspring or conducting short interrogation sessions to determine suitability.
Some parents did not even bother to bring their single progeny along but spent the day perusing the short biographies plastered on walls.
Braver participants were invited to join a talent show to try to attract potential mates by singing, reciting poems or just talking about their redeeming qualities in the hope that someone would ask for their number.
In an exhibition hall bridal retailers, photographers, travel agents, property developers and even a group offering credit checks had set up stalls. One company calling itself Shanghai Good-Looking Image Planning offered a style, etiquette and image consulting package for a hefty Rmb19,800 although a cheaper option called “Theme of Sharon” cost a much more reasonable Rmb980.
The involvement of the local government in this matchmaking extravaganza is telling in a country where an estimated 118 boys are born for every 100 girls. By some estimates there will not be enough brides in China for up to one-fifth of today’s baby boys by the time they get to marrying age – a sobering prospect for a government obsessed by political and social stability.
Mapping the future
In China, the simple act of printing a picture of the country can be fraught with danger. Many an advertisement or publication has had to be pulped or destroyed because its designers carelessly portrayed a simple map of China that did not conform exactly with the nation’s territorial claims.
For decades, a picture of China that did not include the self-governed island of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory, as part of the People’s Republic was certain to be sent to the scrapheap by censors. But more recently, the hen-shaped outline of China has grown some new protuberances to the south.
On a giant billboard advertising a state-owned bank in the arrivals hall of Shanghai’s main domestic airport, a collage of photographs makes up the shape of the country. It has Taiwan, of course, but the collage also includes a smattering of small shapes that drift off into what is presumably the South China Sea.
China’s claim over virtually the entire South China Sea is not new – official maps always portray its extensive territorial assertions. But including a collection of uninhabited atolls that punctuate the oil-rich ocean appears to be a new development for China’s graphic designers. This is not just a question of aesthetics. The majority of Chinese respondents to online polls believe Beijing should send in troops to defend its claims in the region.
Cultural ambitions
The Chinese Communist party has been talking a lot recently about building up its soft power overseas and even issued a po-faced document last month promising to maximise cultural output and raise cultural productivity.
But even as the country’s ageing leaders issue diktats to the masses to get their groove on and make China attractive to the rest of the world, a mission from America is unwittingly proving how much of a coolness deficit China still has.
A delegation that includes Meryl Streep, one of the Coen brothers, musician Yo-yo Ma and author Amy Tan is in Beijing this week to attend the US-China Forum on the Arts and Culture, which is supposed to celebrate “mutual exchange, shared admiration and friendship between Chinese and American artists”. Some more cynical observers might note that China has recently been more intent on locking up world-class artists like Ai Weiwei than admiring their cultural output.
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