On April 29th, an interesting video quickly became popular on social platforms. In the video, when a woman celebrated her birthday in a Haidilao in Jiangsu, her best friend appeared in a unique bee costume, showing her extraordinary social skills. The girlfriend announced her friend’s birthday loudly in the store and called on all customers to bless together. The scene suddenly became the focus. A customer with glasses next to him showed extreme embarrassment and seemed to want to find a crack in the ground.

The girlfriend then took the birthday girl, led everyone to count down, and sent birthday wishes in unison. Despite the enthusiastic response from the scene, the birthday girl herself was quite embarrassed. After thanking all around, she whispered to her best friend that she wanted to leave, bluntly saying "it was embarrassing". This scene attracted a heated discussion among netizens. Some people ridiculed their girlfriends as "social shrews" and were surprised that Haidilao employees did not intervene. It has also been pointed out that although the scene is slightly embarrassing, the happiness of the birthday girl is sincere. It is inevitable to encounter embarrassing moments in life, but as long as you remain calm, the embarrassment will shift. This best friend’s action was praised by many netizens as the "ceiling" of the social world, and they all expressed their envy of having such an aggressive friend.

Have you ever had a similar embarrassing experience in your life? Welcome to share your story in the comment area and communicate with everyone.

On October 28th, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced to the media the national surface water environmental quality in the third quarter of 2023 (July-September) and January-September.

Overall situation

In the third quarter, among the 3,641 national surface water assessment sections, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Class I-III) was 77.3%, down 1.7 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V section was 0.9%, down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus.

From January to September, among 3,641 national surface water assessment sections, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Class I-III) was 87.1%, up 0.8 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V section was 0.7%, down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus.

Figure 1 Proportion of surface water quality categories in China from January to September

Water quality status of major rivers

In the third quarter, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Class I-III) in seven major river basins, such as Yangtze River, Yellow River, Pearl River, Songhua River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Liaohe River, and rivers in the northwest, southwest and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces was 80.5%, down 1.8 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V section was 0.6%, down 0.3 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and total phosphorus. Among them, the water quality of southwest rivers, northwest rivers and Yangtze River basin is excellent; The water quality of the rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian, the Yellow River Basin and the Pearl River Basin is good; Liaohe, Haihe, Huaihe and Songhua river basins are slightly polluted.

From January to September, the proportion of sections with excellent water quality (Grade I-III) in the seven major river basins, such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Pearl River, Songhua River, Huaihe River, Haihe River and Liaohe River, and the rivers in the northwest, southwest and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces was 89.2%, up 0.7 percentage points year-on-year; The proportion of inferior V section was 0.5%, down by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are chemical oxygen demand, permanganate index and five-day biochemical oxygen demand. Among them, the water quality of the Yangtze River basin, Zhejiang and Fujian rivers, southwest rivers, northwest rivers and the Pearl River basin is excellent; The water quality of the Yellow River, Liaohe River, Huaihe River and Haihe River basins is good; Songhua river basin is slightly polluted.

Figure 2 Proportion of water quality categories in seven major river basins, southwest and northwest rivers and rivers in Zhejiang and Fujian from January to September.

Water quality and nutritional status of key lakes (reservoirs)

In the third quarter, among the 209 key lakes (reservoirs) monitored, the number of lakes and reservoirs with excellent water quality (Class I-III) accounted for 72.2%, up 4.1 percentage points year-on-year; The number of lakes and reservoirs with inferior grade V water quality accounted for 3.8%, down 1.0 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand and permanganate index. Among the 204 lakes (reservoirs) monitoring the nutritional status, 18 are moderately eutrophic, accounting for 8.8%; 50 were mildly eutrophic, accounting for 24.5%; The rest of the lakes (reservoirs) are in the state of medium nutrition or poor nutrition. Among them, Taihu Lake is slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic, and the main pollution index is total phosphorus; Chaohu Lake is slightly polluted and moderately eutrophic, and the main pollution index is total phosphorus. Dianchi Lake is moderately polluted and moderately eutrophic, and the main pollution indexes are chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus and permanganate index. Erhai Lake has good water quality and moderate nutrition; The water quality of Danjiangkou reservoir is excellent and medium nutrition; Baiyangdian Lake is slightly polluted (mainly affected by floods) and moderately nutritious, and the classification index is dissolved oxygen.

From January to September, among the 209 key lakes (reservoirs) monitored, the number of lakes and reservoirs with excellent water quality (Class I-III) accounted for 74.6%, up 0.8 percentage points year-on-year; The number of lakes and reservoirs with inferior grade V water quality accounted for 4.3%, down 0.5 percentage points year-on-year. The main pollution indicators are total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand and permanganate index. Among the 205 lakes (reservoirs) whose nutritional status was monitored, 7 were moderately eutrophic, accounting for 3.4%; 50 were mildly eutrophic, accounting for 24.4%; The rest of the lakes (reservoirs) are in the state of medium nutrition or poor nutrition. Among them, Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake are slightly polluted and slightly eutrophic, and the main pollution index is total phosphorus; Dianchi Lake is slightly polluted and moderately eutrophic, and the main pollution indexes are chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus and permanganate index. The water quality of Erhai Lake and Baiyangdian Lake is good and moderately nutritious. The water quality of Danjiangkou Reservoir is excellent and moderate.

Table 1 Water quality and nutritional status of six lakes (reservoirs) from January to September.

Fig. 3 Water quality and nutritional status of six lakes (reservoirs) from January to September.

Rank of national surface water assessment sections in prefecture-level and above cities

From January to September, among the cities at the prefecture level and above in China, the water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as Liuzhou, Guilin and Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture was relatively good (from 1st to 30th), while the water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities such as wujiaqu city, Shangqiu and Tongliao was relatively poor (from 1st to 30th). See Table 1-2.

The changes of water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities, such as Shihezi, Baicheng and Xinzhou, are relatively good (from 1st to 30th), while the changes of water environmental quality of national surface water assessment sections in 30 cities, such as Hangzhou, Taizhou and Yancheng, are relatively poor (from 1st to 30th). See attached table 3-4.

Schedule 1

From January to September, 2023, the water environment quality of the national surface water assessment section ranked the top 30 cities and their water bodies.

Schedule 2

From January to September, 2023, the water environment quality of the national surface water assessment section ranked the last 30 cities and their water bodies.

Note: The water quality of the water body marked with * in the table meets Class I or Class II of Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water (GB3838-2002)Ⅰ); In June and July, the section of Liutuan Bridge in Bailang River in Weifang City was seriously disturbed by human beings, and all the indexes of this section in that month were replaced by the worst value.

Schedule 3

From January to September, 2023, the changes of water environment quality in the national surface water assessment section ranked the top 30 cities and their water bodies.

Note: A negative value indicates that the environmental quality of surface water is getting better year-on-year, while a positive value indicates that it is getting worse year-on-year.

Schedule 4

From January to September, 2023, the changes of water environment quality in the national surface water assessment section ranked the last 30 cities and their water bodies.

Note: The water quality of the water bodies marked with * in the table meets Class I or Class II of Environmental Quality Standard for Surface Water (GB3838-2002)Ⅰ).

China news agency, Beijing, May 7: Question: What are Chinese people around the world commemorating the 70th anniversary of Teresa Teng’s birth?

-Interview with Bai Huiyuan, lecturer of Beijing Normal University College of Literature and invited researcher of China Museum of Modern Literature.

China News Service reporter Yang Chengchen

On May 8th, the 28th anniversary of Teresa Teng’s death, Teresa Teng fans from all over the world went to her final resting place-Yunyuan, Jinbaoshan, New Taipei City, Taiwan Province.

In the past 30 years, Chinese people all over the world, including Chinese, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, have regularly commemorated Teresa Teng every year. It seems that this legendary singer has never gone far. This year is also the 70th anniversary of Teresa Teng’s birth. Some images that were not common in the past were discovered and posted on social platforms, showing the other side under the familiar face, and her memory became clearer. What cultural symbols does Teresa Teng bear that span the popular era? What are people commemorating constantly? Bai Huiyuan, a lecturer at the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University and a invited researcher at the China Museum of Modern Literature, recently accepted an exclusive interview with the "East-West Question" of China News Service.

The interview record is summarized as follows:

China News Service reporter: Apart from being an important indicator in the history of Chinese pop culture, what does Teresa Teng mean to Chinese people all over the world, including those on both sides of the strait, Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese?

Bai Huiyuan:The most important thing for Teresa Teng is for Chinese people all over the world to hear about China. In the era of globalization, Chinese culture has transcended national boundaries. Teresa Teng phenomenon helps us to find a kind of generality within Chinese culture and realize cross-regional empathy.

I think that Teresa Teng is one of the important indicators in the history of Chinese pop music in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But Teresa Teng is special, because she is mainly a cover singer, and many songs have become widely circulated representative works after her interpretation.

Teresa Teng’s singing can be heard by Chinese people all over the world, based on four characteristics. The first is classicality. Teresa Teng studied Huangmei tune. In 1982, she released an album "Light Love" based on China’s classical poems. Our familiar "Alone in the West Building" came from it, and she tried to transform China’s classical culture into a contemporary one very early. Secondly, it is folk. She has covered China folk songs such as Fengyang Flower Drum, Evening Breeze and Flowers, and Looking at the Spring Breeze, showing the human and geographical features of different regions in China through singing. The third is urbanity. Some of her works are covers reflecting Shanghai’s contemporary music in 1930s and 1940s, such as singing girl and Four Seasons Song. There is an intertextuality and inheritance relationship between her singing style and Shanghai female singers such as Zhou Xuan. The fourth is Asian. Sweet Honey, which is familiar to the audience, was originally an Indonesian folk song, such as Goodbye My Love and I only care about you, which originated from Japanese pop music.

In addition, the most important thing is China. Teresa Teng grew up in a family village. Her father is from Hebei and her mother is from Shandong. She has always emphasized her identity with the motherland and the nation.

China News Service reporter: In 1970s and 1980s, how did Teresa Teng’s music radiate Hongkong and Southeast Asian society?

Bai Huiyuan:Teresa Teng first grew up in Taiwan Province, and her music spread to Hongkong. Later, she went to Japan, which itself showed a kind of mobility in the era of globalization. Within Chinese culture, Teresa Teng’s performance can arouse the collective memory of the cross-regional audience, just like the repeated singing of "Moon" in her songs, which is rich in emotion and powerful in summoning. Of course, when spread in different regions, Teresa Teng has a slightly different meaning to people, which embodies people’s different imaginations.

For the mainland, Teresa Teng is a symbol of the times of reform and opening up. Her soft voice entered the "emotional structure" of that generation of young people. The Hong Kong film "Sweet Honey" and "A Thousand Words" are named after Teresa Teng songs, linking the changes of the times and calling the people of Hong Kong to identify with the nation and the country, as well as with Chinese culture. In Taiwan Province, the typical films "The Story of a Small Town" and "The Native Villager" made by the famous director Li Hsing all invite Teresa Teng to sing the theme song, and all emphasize the Chinese cultural tradition. More than that, Teresa Teng developed in Japan, and her songs also left memories of the times in later Japanese films, such as Shunji Iwai’s Swallowtail Butterfly and Hirokazu Koreeda’s Deeper than the Sea. It can be seen that Teresa Teng belongs not only to China, but also to all of Asia.

China News Service reporter: In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, why did the mainland become so popular with Teresa Teng’s songs? What does she mean to young people in mainland China at that time?

Bai Huiyuan:At that time, many people said that Teresa Teng’s singing was "decadent", which was related to her singing style. She is a kind of vocal singing, which brings the voice of speech to singing and daily life to music. Different from the grand narrative and serious expression of singing in the traditional sense, she especially loves singing love, which echoes the new enlightenment discourse in the early 1980 s and also plays the role of ideological emancipation. In the context of the times, this phenomenon is not isolated. In the literary world, it is manifested in Liu Xinwu’s The Position of Love, Zhang Jie’s Love Can’t be Forgotten, and Zhang Xian’s The Corner Forgotten by Love. In the 1990s, there were many imitators of this kind of singing, such as Yang Yuying in mainland China. In 1995, Faye Wong released a cover album to pay tribute to his idol Teresa Teng, which was called The Sound of Philippine Decadence.

It is unavoidable that when Teresa Teng became popular in mainland China, many young people "eavesdropped" on her music. The "decadent voice" wafted from the other side of the Taiwan Strait, which, to some extent, predicted the cross-strait transition from confrontation to communication in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and constituted a common emotional memory that crossed political boundaries. These songs became the private memories of that generation at that time. In this sense, Teresa Teng was closely associated with many people’s lives.

The content of her songs has nothing to do with real politics. It is precisely this style that can promote cross-strait cultural exchanges to achieve a "soft landing" in the current context and play an aesthetic effect of spring breeze and rain. The shaping of common cultural memory between young people on both sides of the strait is something that many cultural institutions and media have been trying to do. Recently, Hunan Satellite TV’s program "Treasure Island Season" also searched for the common musical memory of young people on both sides of the strait through the street visits that often appear in Taiwan Province variety shows. On the other hand, the successors of "Teresa Teng Singing Method" began to try to sing the community imagination "softly", from Li Guyi’s Hometown Love and Su Xiaoming’s Night in a Naval Port to Yang Yuying’s Ten Sending the Red Army and Faye Wong’s My People，My Country. This sound image expanded our understanding space of the "main theme".

In a word, Teresa Teng is a beginning, but it is certainly not the end.

China News Service reporter: Actually, many young people have not yet been born in the days when Teresa Teng’s stars were popular. But it does not prevent today’s "post-00" people from nostalgia. Why is this?

Bai Huiyuan:From the perspective of singing, Teresa Teng’s voice has brought a good feeling of "healing system" to the post-00 generation. Her gentle, soothing, relaxed and gentle singing has effectively cured the speed anxiety of modern life. Whenever and wherever Teresa Teng’s song rings, it will trigger a strong emotional effect and quickly integrate the network fragments into a kind of empathy.

In addition to singing, Teresa Teng’s humorous and witty on-the-spot answering also gained a high popularity in the short video platform. In these almost talk show language scenes, Teresa Teng shows the confidence, hearty, friendly and independent of modern women. For example, in the famous short video "Teresa Teng speaks Shandong dialect", her fluent Shandong dialect won the "post-00" barrage carnival. I think, behind this "flow of answers", it is Teresa Teng’s real hometown complex and identity.

In the post-00′ s evaluation of Teresa Teng, the most common word is "elegance". This is a phenomenon that I have paid close attention to in recent years: the post-00 generation increasingly likes to explore a kind of "original elegance" from the interior of China classical culture, including the documentary about the Forbidden City and China cultural relics, as well as the dance "Only this is green". Young people have found a kind of identity here. They grew up in the era of "the rise of China", and they can feel China’s cultural self-confidence from "elegance" with China’s classical temperament.

In such a dimension, they once again discovered Teresa Teng’s "elegance", which is a subtle collision between the younger generation pursuing fashion and Teresa Teng. (End)

Interviewee profile:

Bai Huiyuan, a scholar of cultural studies, a lecturer at the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University, a special researcher at the China Museum of Modern Literature, and a doctor of literature in Peking University. His research interests are contemporary literature, movies and popular culture in China. He is the author of "Heroic Change: the Monkey King and Modern China’s Self-transcendence", and won the Outstanding Works Award of the 5th Woodpecker Cup in China Literature and Art Criticism. He has published more than 30 papers in journals such as Literature and Art Research, Literature and Art Theory and Criticism, Film Art, etc. Some papers have been reproduced in full by Xinhua Digest and Copies of People’s Congress.