FYI, 华子 did graduate from the same University as the rest of the gang (remember, he was wearing a cap and gown too at the beginning), but just chose another path than the rest. and actually the script was based on the book 奋斗。

@Shan – I think you probably didn\’t watch enough. I thought the theme of the series actually was against materialism.

我之前读过你的很多文章，我记得你曾在福建生活和工作，不知道现在在哪里，回美国了吗？

至于《奋斗》，它是一部很受欢迎的电视剧，首先是其演员阵容强大，有很多明星参与；其次是这个故事寄托着众多当今中国青年人的梦想——成功的梦想。

当然，金无足赤，人无完人。这部剧有它成功的地方，也有一些瑕疵。譬如你说的怎么有那么多的巧事，太假了。但是无论如何，很高兴你能如此执着地看一部中国电视连续剧。

ps:你对华子的印象最深，是不是因为他想开理发店，而你也曾在理发店工作过？你们之间产生共鸣了? hehe, just joking.

As you mentioned in your earlier post, the big problem w/ studying Chinese through TV dramas is how boring they can be. I totally agree, and one thing I do is try to find Japanese dramas that have a Chinese language track. Those dramas are just so much more interesting than the Chinese ones — the characters are older, the acting is less melodramatic, and the storylines are more realistic.

I’d really recommend 白色巨塔， the medical drama, because it’s well-written and has some really great acting (good jobs by the voiceover actors too). I learned a lot of vocab from that show. Another good program is “Die Sternthaler,” that starred the (recently disgraced) Noriko Sakai. There was another show that I saw on Phoenix TV that starred Shinji Takeda as a man married to a deaf woman — unfortunately, I only caught part of that and don’t know what it was called.

Last month I watchd the full “冷箭“ show, it is the latest of those liberation army serials. It was extremely bad, from what you write here I am guessing it was MUCH worse than the “struggle” . I wrote about it here. The only advantage I see in those terrible army serials is that scripts are so stilted it’s like a carousel of chengyus, great for students if you are patient enough.

However now I am watching 蜗居 and I find it much more useful. Because the story is actually adictive so you dont really need to force yourself to watch everyday, I find myself eager to watch the next chapter.

Also, one thing more: from what you say it sounds like you get the shows on DVD and watch it on your TV. I find it much more convenient to just get them on youku and stream directly on my laptop. I have found that if you are fast enough and watch closely, you dont need to rewind at all. Just every time that you didnt catch what they saying you pause immediately and most of the times the subtitles are still there for you to read and check dictionary. I find it better not to rewind/rewatch because it wastes too much time which you cant afford if you have a dayjob and a life in the same time.

I will be watching your new writings on Chinese TV. Keep it up.

Then again, anything seems awesome when it’s not the latest 50-part series on Mao helping Shaanxi farmers free their donkey carts from the mud while smoking and smiling. There are waaaaay too many shows like that.

i was pretty disgusted in general with the materialistic focus of the show, particularly the lucrative real estate industry. the tone does change a little in the later episodes …

i’m curious to know your thoughts as you watch more episodes, so keep posting!