| Wu Yan "Ingrid" Xin, administration officer in the Shanghai Xuhui District Tourism Bureau, is a very delightful person. We sat on the Riverwalk overlooking the Huang Po River and The Bund in Shanghai. It was an unusually warm day in Shanghai right after the Chinese New Year. Families casually walked along the walk eating Haagen Dazs ice cream and enjoying the skyline. I met Ingrid almost two years ago when she did an internship with the Wis. Dept. of Tourism. She told us to look her up if we ever made it to Shanghai and I took her up on her offer. Xin is representative of the burgeoning middle class in Shanghai and other Chinese urban areas, spurred on by the 10 percent annual growth in their local economies. While Xin puts in long hours at her tourism position, she does have leisure time that she fills with shopping, nice restaurants, and movies. Xin has an interesting perspective on the American and Chinese movie industries. Not just any movie comes to China. "If a film wins a Golden Globe or Oscar award, the industry will do more promotional events for us," Xin said. "So I can get more news about these films. Maybe we will like the films more if we know more about them." She liked "Brokeback Mountain." Why? "I liked it, not because of its story, but because the director, Ang Lee, is Chinese," Xin said with a smile. One of the biggest Chinese movies to make it big in the United States, in recent years, was "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," another Ang Lee film. "It's only one of many Chinese films I have seen," Xin said. "But for you, it's the biggest Chinese film you have seen. The actor and actress are very famous Chinese film superstars. We've enjoyed many films they have acted in." According to Xin, the casting of stars for the lead roles is done with an eye for how the film will fare outside of the country it was produced in. She didn't like "Memoirs of a Geisha. " "I felt they made the film for Western people, not for Chinese people," Xin said. "The story was written by the Japanese. They used Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese actress, just to catch your money." Ziyi had starred in Crouching Tiger. "Hollywood filmmakers may invite Chinese actors to participate in their films," Xin continued. "You've seen Jackie Chan. Hollywood invited him to act in American films. They also recruit the stars so that the films will earn more money in Asia. It's a good way to advertise American films and catch Asian people's eyes and money." Recently, Chinese filmmakers have adopted some Hollywood production values. "'The Promise' was a breakthrough Chinese film that earned a Golden Globe nomination. They made it for about $35 million," Xin said. "They spent more money on this film and then earned more money on this film. It's a very commercial movie. In the old times, we didn't make films like this. We learned to do these films from Hollywood. And we will do it better than Hollywood." In a similar vein, when the Houston Rockets, the NBA team, recruited Yao Ming to play in the NBA, it had an impact in China. Ming is from Xin's district in Shanghai. "We are proud of him," Xin said. "He's not only an NBA star. He has also brought the NBA closer to China. Last year, the NBA assigned him to have a show in China and earn more money. My nephew always says 'I want to be Yao.' He's only three years old. Yao is our hero or an icon." In our conversation, Xin once again returned to business. She credits some of Shanghai's growth to preparations for the Shanghai World Expo that will be held in 2010. "It will attract business people from across the world," Xin emphasized. "In making preparations for Expo, it is making us develop faster. With Expo, we are trying our best to complete the preparation, such as highway construction not only within the city, but also to other provinces. People will be able to go anywhere from Shanghai. We will be expanding Pudong Airport. We are building two more runways. We are preparing in many areas for the Expo including in the commercial area." Preparations for Expo have also included intensifying the effort to have the Shanghai citizenry fluent in English, the language of international business. "In kindergarten, they teach the children to speak two languages, one is Mandarin Chinese and the other is English," Xin said. "I think children speak English well, better than me. During my student days, I only learned English in high school and I didn't have the chance to practice it because we didn';t have any atmosphere of foreign people and things. Now, children have more chances to practice English. They can watch TV in English. They can touch people who come from other countries. They have more chances in English." Having Kenny G videos in Shanghai subways made perfect sense to me after that. Xin is a tireless promoter of Shanghai and China. "I just want people to know that Shanghai and China is a lovely place for people to live," Xin exclaimed. "Shanghai is a livable place for people, not only for native people, but also for people who come from other places and countries. You can hear the different languages everywhere in Shanghai. I think it is really a cosmopolitan place in China and in the world." For Xin, Shanghai is "Home Sweet Home." |
| An interview with Ingrid Xin Entertainment and business Part 2 of 2 by Jonathan Gramling |
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