what TV programs do you watch?

[babygodzilla]

I haven't been able to find anything I like on Chinese TV channels. Usually it's boring historical lessons (no offense to history buffs), or breast augmentation advertisements, or I simply don't know what's going on.

what do you people like to watch? what do you recommend? please tell me the channel and the time of the day of the programs you like to watch.

Thanks!

[adrianlondon]

I like to watch the badly dubbed (from Canto into Mandarin) HK soaps, except I make up my own dialog in my head.

[Xiao Kui]

Maybe I'm boring, but my favorite is the news channel. There is not only news but also some programs that make me think I'm learning sth about China such as "eyes on" and "say it like it is" . My favorite up till now is 执法在线 “Law Enforcement Online" which I've only seen twice so far,once was abt investigating a kidnapping/identity theft/robbery case, and the other abt busting online porn sites (just saw a little of this one).

From this schedule I guess it comes on at 9:30 pm tonight, but since the night programs are on top and it's still early I don't know if that indicates last night or tonight. Anyway, they rebroadcast it at different times throughout the week.

The only thing I don't like abt the news channel is there seems to be an excess of human interest features with the following theme: someone is dying of cancer or is in a vegetative state from an accident, and their loved ones make extreme sacrifices e to take care of them, then the community finds out abt these sacrifices and is moved to pitch in and help, the which is a fine theme, they just seem to overdo it - I've only been back in China a month and I've already seen 4 or 5 like this, though I only made it all the way through the first 2.

[babygodzilla]

amongs the myriad of Chinese channels are there no TV series that's like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, any sitcom that's easy to understand and doesn't require too long an attention span? and which channel has the best news program?

[wushijiao]

which channel has the best news program?

I would say, without a doubt, it would be 凤凰, which has relative freedom to broadcast objectively. You won't get that unless you pay extra, however.

In Shanghai, on standard cable, I think 东方卫视 is the best news channel. (If I am not mistaken this is partly owned by Rupert Murdoch?).

http://www.dragontv.cn/news/news.php?SourceDept=4

Other than that, I kind of like the show 东北一家人, which is a family sitcom. However, it is not all that easy to understand, at least at first. After a while, you might get used to their 东北话. In any case, the plot shouldn't be too hard to follow. Here's an example clip:

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/b92MU_EUNDA/

Purely from a "watching TV to improve your Chinese" point of view, the easiest shows are probably the dubbed Korean soap operas. An extremely brainless one that I watched last year was 屋塔房小猫, which was not my time of show, but did serve as an effortless way to improve my listening.

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else has come across any "easy to watch" TV shows. I really haven't watched much Chinese TV in the last few months, and I'd like to know if anyone has found a good TV series.

[johnd]

On Star's Chinese channel (Xing Kong) there's a chat show from Taiwan on every weekday at 10pm called Gossip Star. In fact I only watch it while I'm waiting for Friends to come on at 11pm, but I'm fascinated trying to work out if the host is really a woman, or a transsexual. Still not reached a conclusion on that one. She has a load of people on every night to showcase some talent or other. With my minimal Chinese, I try to work out what that talent is.

[babygodzilla]

I would say, without a doubt, it would be 凤凰, which has relative freedom to broadcast objectively. You won't get that unless you pay extra, however

which channel is that? hmmm i should look for it. my dorm gets cable, so I might have it.

[rose~]

I agree with Wushijiao about 東方衛視 Dragon TV and Phoenix. I was really impressed by the Dragon TV news when I first moved to Shanghai- I felt it was significantly more open than the Beijing channels.

When I was in SH I also liked to watch [pop=tonight/jīnwǎn]今晚[/pop] with [pop=Gao Bo/gāo bó]高博[/pop]， which was often the only thing on by the time I got back from work! I like his quirky/geeky/sarcastic humour and he often has really great guests. On the home page you can see has interviewed 餘華 Yu Hua and 王家衛 Wong Kar Wai fairly recently. I find it good light entertainment, and also not difficult to understand from a language point of view, which is probably due in part to the way the jokes are quite simple and silly. However, the show will not be everyone's cup of tea

Website:here. I'm not sure exactly what time it goes out at as there are two different schedules quoted...

-Monday to Friday at 23:02

or:

-中央电视台经济频道（二套）播出。

每周一至四晚间22：25首播，次日凌晨1：00、下午16：15重播两次；周五晚23：35首播。

Another option if you are on the Mainland is to download Taiwanese shows such as 康熙來了, as do a lot of young people， or buy a satellite to watch it.

[venture160]

well I don't have a TV, so I stick to downloading tv shows etc. Plus I have a mac so it makes my solution fairly limited.

I am watching 黑色资本 its a political thriller that is OK. I am looking for something more lively, how is that 东北一家？

[skylee]

I am watching 賭場風雲.

[wushijiao]

I watched a show on 东方卫视 today called 创智赢家. The show is a reality show, roughly following the Aprentice.

The show has two teams that are required to do some business-related project each week, and then one team wins, people PK, people get voted off...etc.

The show is pretty good- not cheesy, but not boring. There's also an American on the show named 石磊 who has really good Chinese. Due to the fact that the show is a long series, I think he's helping to brake the model of Chinese-speaking foreigners on TV that basically are assigned the role of "look at me, I'm dressed in Tangzhuang and know a lot of idioms" (although I think that this was a historical stage that couldn't have been avoided, so I wouldn't want to bash some of the first foreigners to go on TV after "Reform and Opening", in which that type of interaction was allowed for the first time in 30 years).

[cookie_monster]

Haven't watch tv in awhile but I usually check out the movie channel when I did. They don't always play good movies, but then sometimes u do get lucky Also, the "travel channel" forgot what it's called, but they used to have it in English (not anymore though).

[Yang Rui]

I divide my time between Shenzhen and Beijing. In Shenzhen I have digital cable and enjoy the Taiwanese shows 康熙来了 and 超级星期舞. They're both chat shows. The first is a bit risque at times and the celebrity guests are often embarrassed by the show's presenters 徐熙娣 (Xu Xidi, otherwise known as 小S) and 蔡康永 （Cai Kangyong) who is camper than a row of tents. Conversation is gossipy and involves such subjects as how much phlegm they cough up in the morning (yes really) and whether they fancy other celebrities. The second show is presented by a a singer and a dancer. Every week a celebrity joins them for a mixture of lighthearted chat and bursts of song and dancing. There are also "hilarious" little sketches involving the two presenters. These programmes are on Star Chinese (星空卫视）i think. Sometimes there are also entertaining shows on 华娱卫视（Huayu Weishi）. I also like the show 食字路口，where Taiwanese uber-presenter Wu Zongxian and his disciples Kangkang and Nono pair up with celebrities and divide into teams and go around Taiwan tasting different kinds of food and generally having a laugh. I have to admit it's all pretty mindless stuff, but it's entertaining.

In Bejing i don't have cable and have never found anything worth watching.

[venture160]

I'll have to put another vote in for 康熙来了， really really funny. The HUGE DVD store near HIT in Harbin had every episode on disc. Although there are some other good Taiwanese shows such as 大哥大， and 我猜我猜我猜猜猜！They are all chat style shows with goofy entertaining hosts and movie stars as guests. The last one is interesting in that for the last half of every show there are guests and you have to guess if they are fake or real. Funny stuff.

[babygodzilla]

LOL Yang Rui... nothing worth watching in Beijing... I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way!

[koreth]

How about TV that's broadcast overseas? My satellite system (DirecTV) gets CCTV-4, TVBS, a channel called "The China Movie Channel," and Phoenix Television.

CCTV-4 seems to be devoted mostly to news and human interest shows about Taiwan (my Taiwanese girlfriend likes to watch the news on CCTV-4 when we happen to catch it, odd since she's usually pretty anti-大陆) and so far I haven't quite figured out the relation, if any, between its actual schedule and what's listed in the DirecTV program guide.

I live in the San Francisco area so I can also get our local pan-Asian station, KTSF. The Taiwanese kids' show 水果冰淇淋 on that channel has been pretty useful for practicing my listening skills, but I think I'm ready for something a tad more challenging.

Given that limited selection of channels, any recommendations of shows a low-intermediate learner would have some hope of understanding?

[kudra]

I'm interested in finding a series like 中国式离婚, in terms of listening practice, vocabulary (not necessarily a trashy soap opera) that I can watch on my Palm TX during my (train) commute. I haven't figured out how to play rmvb format on a palm. My viewer is TCPMP. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[geraldc]

Try using a conversion program like eright super http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

It can convert from practically any format to any format, and can resize and resample.

I use it to convert divx programs to watch on my phone to keep me amused on train journeys...

[kudra]

thanks, nice.

[geraldc]

Over Xmas, we installed a Slingbox at my Grandma's flat in HK so we now stream HK and Mainland TV back to the UK.

Can't say I use it much ( dad does most of the watching via the Slingbox) as I'm part of the bittorrent DL generation...

However I have noticed that early sunday mornings around 8.50am Beijing Time or 12.50am UK time, there's a magazine program for pensioners called 夕阳红

http://www.cctv.com.cn/program/xyh/20041019/101781.shtml

At the moment it's an old persons cooking competition, and it's great I've actually learnt a lot. It's a nice change from the slick professionalism of the TV chefs you get in the UK, and l'm learning about other types of Chinese cooking.