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it's well-written all the time."
--Philippine Web Awards Fortnightly, April 20, 2005.

9.2.05

A Few Seconds Deliberating the Merits of Traditional Chinese Dance

(1:29 PM)

"Happy New Year," I greeted him as we shook hands in the Lobby Lounge of Shangri-La Makati hotel.

I was a bit early. They (he and his brother) were still meeting with someone else at another table, across the room.

"Don't worry," I reassured him. "No problem."

"Happy New Year," I thought to myself, as I picked a table where I can wait and plug my laptop. I didn't dare try pronouncing "Kung Hei Fat Choi". Apparently, as they said on TV last night, that's in Fookienese. In Mandarin, it's said another way.

I also caught the live broadcast of the celebration in Mandarin Hotel. They showed several dance performances. Recalling all the movies I've seen, and Discovery documentaries, I began thinking that there's a signature move in traditional Chinese dance.

In Indian movies, especially the Hollywood spoof, The Guru, traditional Indian dancing has a lot of torso, shoulder, and arm movements. And swaying.

What was it with traditional Chinese dance?

And there it was: their heads snap to the side, their legs kick backward, their arms askance. They were like happy deer in a Disney movie. (I had explained all these to my wife. "Watch this," I said as I demonstrated.)

Later, as we wrapped our meeting, I asked, "How often are you in the country?"

"Every two months."

"So you're just here for the vacation?"

"Yes," he said, then he explained that in China there are three major holidays, each of them with a one-week holiday, instituted by the government to encourage consumer spending. There's New Year, Labor Day, and the National Day.

"National Day?"

He gave me a sly smile, as if he was about to deliver a punchline. "The day they founded the Communist Party, of course."

His brother comes back from the washroom and I give my good byes. Thank you. Have a safe flight back to Shanghai. And Happy New Year.

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