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China Arts & Entertainment

Into the World of Interpreting: China’s Latest TV Drama Hit The Interpreters

On May 25, the long-anticipated TV series The Interpreters (亲爱的翻译官) premiered on Hunan TV. The series immediately attracted a large audience and became trending on Sina Weibo. While the ‘mysterious’ world of translation and interpreting has got many viewers glued to the screen, professionals criticize the show for not corresponding to reality.
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7 years ago

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On May 25, the long-anticipated TV series The Interpreters (亲爱的翻译官) premiered on Hunan TV. The series immediately attracted a large audience and became trending on Sina Weibo. While the ‘mysterious’ world of translation and interpreting has got many viewers glued to the screen, professionals criticize the show for not corresponding to reality.

China’s new tv drama The Interpreters (亲爱的翻译官) has become a hit since it premiered on Hunan TV and two other online broadcasters. It is the first Chinese TV drama focused on the professional lives of people working in China’s foreign language sector. Under the hashtag ‘My Dear Interpreter’ (#亲爱的翻译官#), thousands of netizens are discussing the series on social media.

Millions of viewers

The Interpreters was adapted from a 2006 novel of the same name by Chinese female author Miu Juan, who was trained in Chinese-French interpretation. The story features a young French-language-major girl, Qiao Fei (Yang Mi), who just stepped into the world of interpretation. With the help of experienced and handsome male translator Cheng Jiayang (Huang Xuan), Qiao sets out on the challenging journey to become a professional interpreter.

The series immediately became a hit after its first airing. According to The Interpreter’s official Sina Weibo account (@电视剧翻译官), the premier had a national viewer rating share of 6.87%.

The topic The Interpreters (亲爱的翻译官) attracted over a billion readers within five days time. On the online video platforms Mangguo TV (芒果TV) and LeTV (乐视电视), the series has received more than 100 million views. On the Asian TV drama platform Viki, the series was rated with a 9.3.

Into the mysterious world of interpreting

One reason why The Interpreters is so popular is its leading actress Yang Mi (@杨幂, over 61 million Weibo followers) whose many devoted fans are eager to see her first appearance after giving labor.

But apart from Yang, it is mainly the world of translation and interpreting that has got many viewers glued to the screen. The drama’s spoken French lines, interpreting booths and conference scenes are the highlights of the show. Through these scenes, viewers can have a peek into the professional lives of interpreters, often considered an appealing and mysterious career by many Chinese. As one viewer said: “This is really a respectful and great occupation!”

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Being an interpreter is regarded an exciting and attractive job by many Chinese netizens, as the career generally involves much traveling and international contacts. But also the ability to master another language than Chinese is also often admired.

But those who actually work in the foreign language sector criticize the show for its depiction of the interpreting profession. Many point out that it makes no sense for French major students to exchange in a Zurich university, as featured in the show, since the official language of Zürich is German.

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There are also other details that do not correspond to reality. Leading character Qiao Fei is, for example, seen doing simultaneous interpreting at an empty desk. In reality, interpreters are always equipped with pen and paper for note-taking.

realvsfakeThe ‘unrealistic’ scene from the show (top) versus reality, by Sohu News.

According to China’s state media outlet People’s Daily, many professionals were also appalled by the actors’ French lines, which they called “awkward” and a low level of proficiency.

This is not the first time that a Chinese TV drama depicting a certain professional life becomes a hit. ‘Fatal Case Group 6’ (重案六组) is a popular series about police and detectives. The 2013 series Obstetricians (产科医生) was also a hit, just as the 2003 Hong Kong TV series Triumph in the Skies (冲上云霄), which increased interest amongst Hong Kong young people to become a pilot.

As this show might also inspire more people to go into the world of interpreting and translating, Sohu Learning warns viewers that in reality, being an interpreter is much less glamorous than this TV drama portrays it. After all, Sohu writes: “A tv show is just a tv show, the reality is much different.”

– By Diandian Guo

Edited by Manya Koetse
©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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Diandian Guo is a China-born Master student of transdisciplinary and global society, politics & culture at the University of Groningen with a special interest for new media in China. She has a BA in International Relations from Beijing Foreign Language University, and is specialized in China's cultural memory.

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  1. Avatar

    guoyuguang

    August 24, 2018 at 9:28 am

    couldn’t agree more.
    This TV series really doesn’t correspond with the real work and life of interpreters.

    Reply

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China Celebs

Hong Kong Police Find Head of Murdered Model Abby Choi in Soup Pot

“Reality is more gruesome than fiction,” some commenters wrote on Weibo, where the Abby Choi murder case has drawn wide attention.

Manya Koetse

Published

4 weeks ago

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February 26, 2023

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The gruesome murder of the 28-year-old Hong Kong socialite and model Cai Tianfeng (蔡天鳳), better known as Abby Choi, has been all the talk on Chinese social media this week.

The Hong Kong influencer went missing on Tuesday. Just a week ago, Choi was featured on the cover of the magazine L’Officiel Monaco.

On Saturday, South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Free Press reported that Choi’s partial remains, including her dismembered legs, were found cooked and stored inside the freezer at a village house and that four people had been arrested for murder.

The village house at Lung Mei Tsuen in Tai Po was allegedly set up as a “butchery site” equipped with a choppers, hammer, an electric saw and a meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh.

Choi was entangled in a financial dispute with her ex-husband’s family over luxury property in Hong Kong’s Kadoori Hill. The persons arrested in relation to her murder are her ex-husband named Alex Kwong, his elder brother, his mother and his father, who reportedly is a retired police officer.

Abby Choi and Alex Kwong had two children together, a daughter and a son.

Cho was last seen in Fo Chun Road in Tai Po on Tuesday afternoon. CCTV footage captured her before she went missing. Choi was supposed to pick her daughter up on Tuesday together with Kwong’s elder brother, who drove her. She was reported missing after she did not show up to collect her daughter.

While earlier media articles reported that some of Choi’s remains had still not been found, news came out on Sunday that the decapitated head had been found in a soup pot. Seeing over 300 million views, the topic went trending on Weibo (#蔡天凤头颅在一大汤煲中找到#), where many people have closely been following the latest developments in the case. Later on Sunday night, the topic hashtag was taken offline.

Local police disclosed that the head remained “intact” although it is believed that someone tried to “smash” it. Some of Choi’s ribs were also found.

“Reality is more gruelsome than fiction,” some top comments said. “What a terrifying family,” others wrote, calling them “inhuman” and “devilish.”

Another topic related to the case also went trending on Sunday, namely that Choi’s ex-husband and his family allegedly had been planning the murder for a month (#蔡天凤前夫家1个月前开始布局#, 180 million views).

Some Weibo bloggers said the case reminded them of another well-known and gruesome Hong Kong murder case, namely the 2013 murder of Glory Chau and Moon Siu. At age 63, the couple was murdered by their own 28-year-old son Henry Chau Hoi-leung and his friend. After killing them, the two chopped up Chau’s and Siu’s bodies and cooked their remains and stored them inside the refrigerator. The 2022 crime film The Sparring Partner (正義迴廊) was based on this story.

About the Kwong family, some Weibo users write: “Too bad that Hong Kong law does not have the death penalty.” Capital punishment in Hong Kong was formally abolished in 1993.

By Manya Koetse 

 

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China Arts & Entertainment

South Korean Actor Yoo Ah-in Dropped as Brand Ambassador in China after Propofol Scandal

The current drug scandal involving Yoo Ah-in also has consequences for the South Korean actor’s activities in China.

Manya Koetse

Published

2 months ago

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February 9, 2023

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The South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in (刘亚仁) has become a trending topic on Chinese social media for getting caught up in a drugs scandal in his home country.

Yoo Ah-in (1986) is an award-winning actor who is known for starring in various well-known dramas and renowned movies, such as Voice of Silence, Burning, and Hellbound.

Yoo is currently being investigated for alleged illegal, habitual use of the anesthetic drug propofol and has been banned from overseas travel.

On Thursday, the hashtag “Yoo Ah-in Admits to Using Drugs” (#刘亚仁确认吸毒#) received over 310 million views on Weibo, where several accounts reported that Yoo allegedly started using propofol in 2021.

Yoo issued a statement via his management, saying he is cooperating with the police in the investigation. He also apologized for causing concern among his fans and followers.

The drug scandal also has consequences for the actor’s activities in China. Liu was the brand ambassador for the Chinese men’s clothing brand Croquis (速写), but Croquis immediately removed him as their representative after the scandal.

Croquis issued a statement saying the company has been closely following the latest developments regarding the investigation into the actor’s alleged drugs use, and stated that they have “zero tolerance” when it comes to drug use and therefore would temporarily take all content offline in which Yoo represents their brand.

South Korean media reported on Feb. 9 that Yoo is among a group of 51 people that is part of an illegal drug use investigation initiated by the Food and Drug Administration, which found that Yoo went doctor hopping and “hospital shopping” to obtain multiple prescriptions.

Propofol is a sedative that is widely used by anesthetists for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia and for long-term sedation. Over recent years, the abuse of propofol in South Korea has been getting more media attention.

Although propofol is classified as a controlled substance in South Korea since 2011, the recreational use of the drugs has been a problem and various celebrities have previously been charged for illegally using the drugs.

On Weibo, some people say that there indeed should be “zero tolerance” for drug abuse among celebrities and artists, but there are also those who think Yoo Ah-in’s drug abuse is a result of his alleged (mental) health problems, and that he needs help instead of punishment.

By Manya Koetse 

 

Get the story behind the hashtag. Subscribe to What’s on Weibo here to receive our newsletter and get access to our latest articles:

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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