Tong Mengshi’s "Qingyu Nian 2" finale, the perfect transformation of Wuzhu attracts the audience

 As the youngest of Fan Xian’s six fathers, Tong Mengshi played Wuzhu, and audiences have been eagerly anticipating his appearance since the broadcast of "Qingyu Nian 2". According to Tong Mengshi, in addition to makeup and rest, 90% of the time on the set is to wear blindfolds, which are almost completely invisible during night scenes, and need to rely on audible identification to complete the performance. During the day, you can follow the figure while filming blindfolded, but at night it is more troublesome and requires repeated shots. This extreme interpretation method and the difficulty of performing make Wuzhu’s role more engaging, but it also tests the actor’s acting skills.

  As a robot, Wuzhu itself is fundamentally different from humans in terms of emotion, cognition and behavior. When interpreting Wuzhu, Tong Mengshi is required to present the robot’s mechanical characteristics and artificial intelligence behavior patterns through precise body control, suppression of emotional expression and special processing of voice. In terms of body language, Tong Mengshi makes the audience feel the non-human characteristics of the character through repeated and meticulous practice. Every shot of Wuzhu is precise and decisive, like a sharp sword unsheathed, showing its sharp edge. In terms of language performance, Tong Mengshi’s feeling of language frustration in the corner of Wuzhu is also in place. The electronic voice and intonation of the character design enhance the character’s convincing power, allowing the audience to enter the play in one second.

  The segment that moved the audience was the mutual trust between Wuzhu and Fan Xian. On the wedding night, Wuzhu secretly sneaked into Fan’s mansion to give advice. Wuzhu, who was confused with memory, didn’t even dare to believe himself, but still chose to protect and trust Fan Xian. He was no longer the mechanical existence who would only follow orders and perform tasks, but a living individual with his own thoughts, emotions and choices. In terms of emotional expression, Tong Mengshi skillfully completed Wuzhu’s evolution from rationality to sensibility, not only maintaining the essential characteristics of the robot, but also showing its gradually awakening human face, adding human warmth to the cold and treacherous world of martial arts.

  Tong Mengshi’s portrayal of the character of Wuzhu in "Qingyu Nian 2" reflects a high degree of physical training and emotional regulation ability, and has a deep understanding and analysis of the role of Wuzhu, which is affectionately called "Xiao Zhuzhu" by the audience. Next, Tong Mengshi also has "National Color Youth", "Qianqiu Ling", "New God Condor Heroes", "Fox Demon Little Matchmaker King Power", "Young White Horse Drunk Spring Breeze" and "Real Warrior" to be broadcast, which is worth looking forward to.

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The takeaway platform is now "clone shop": how do these stores pass the review?

  It is also the "Wangjing Small Waist", but the taste of the food produced in the store and the food ordered on the takeaway platform are very different, and there is actually a "mystery" behind it. A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily investigated and found that some stores registered on the takeaway platform under the name of "Wangjing Small Waist" and sold skewers. Some "clone shops" "curled up" in the corner of other stores, operated in the form of "shop-in-shop", and "shipped" through the takeaway platform. The hygiene conditions in the store are not optimistic.

  In addition, a reporter from Beiqing Daily found that on some takeaway platforms, the name of the store can be filled in by yourself, which objectively creates an opportunity for "clone shops". The well-known old store "Wangjing Xiaoyao" responded that it has not opened a store on the takeaway platform and does not have a "franchise" relationship with takeaway merchants. A staff member said that because the trademark of "Wangjing Xiaoyao" was registered by others, it was difficult to protect its rights when encountering similar "clone shops".

  phenomenon

  There are many "Wangjing Small Waist" on the takeaway platform.

  Customers complain about the taste

  In summer, drinking and eating skewers has become the first choice for many people’s late-night supper, and takeaway platforms have provided more convenience. But the same "Wangjing Small Waist" has a polarized reputation on takeaway platforms and food recommendations. Many citizens said that "Wangjing Small Waist", which orders food through takeaway platforms, tastes "wrong".

  "It’s completely different from what I ate before. The noodles are old, astringent, fishy, and hard…" Tang Xin (a pseudonym) couldn’t help but complain after tasting the tinfoil-wrapped "Wangjing Small Waist" takeaway barbecue, and gave a bad review. Tang Xin told the Beiqing Daily reporter that he had eaten the "Wangjing Small Waist" barbecue in Wangjing before, "the noodles are fresh, and the seasoning is moderate." The takeaway platform marked the barbecue of the branch, "The meat is not fresh, the things are either too salty, too fishy, or tasteless, and it doesn’t feel like something from a store."

  There are not a few buyers who have the same questions as Tang Xin. On the takeaway platform, under a store labeled "Wangjing Small Waist (New Food Street) ", some buyers bluntly said that "I didn’t pay attention to the wrong store, no wonder it looks and tastes different from before"; in another store review of "Wangjing Small Waist (Dongdan Store) ", some buyers suspected that the goods were not fresh, resulting in "crazy diarrhea in the middle of the night"; and in the comment area of "Wangjing Small Waist (Tuanjiehu) " store, many buyers commented that "there is a bad smell" and asked "Is this really Wangjing Small Waist?"

  For a time, some "Wangjing Small Waist" on the takeaway platform encountered word-of-mouth "Waterloo". This is different from the "Wangjing Small Waist" store that received four-star praise on the food recommendation.

  visit

  Multiple takeaways "Wangjing Small Waist"

  The signboard does not match the actual name

  A reporter from Beiqing Daily searched for "Wangjing Small Waist" on the Ele.me, Meituan takeaway and Baidu takeaway platforms and found that more than 15 stores used the name "Wangjing Small Waist" (× × branch). Among them, many merchants also used pictures printed with the words "Wangjing Small Waist" on a black background and yellow frame as sign photos.

  According to the addresses of several branches of "Wangjing Small Waist" left on the takeaway platform, the reporter of Beiqing Daily randomly visited. In front of the address of a "branch" in Jintaili, Chaoyang District, the reporter of Beiqing Daily noticed that the name of the store’s sign is so-and-so skewers, and "Wangjing Small Waist" is juxtaposed with "Seafood Fried", which is located below the name of the sign, with smaller words. When the reporter of Beiqing Daily asked the owner "whether it is an authentic’Wangjing Small Waist ‘barbecue restaurant," the owner responded that he had set up a barbecue stall in Wangjing many years ago and later moved here. "At first, our family had small skewers of kidneys," but the question of whether it was authentic was avoided. The Beiqing Daily reporter noticed that on the paper menu of this store, the name of a certain string bar was displayed, and "Wangjing Small Waist" was only one of the specialties.

  Later, a reporter from Beiqing Daily visited the "Wangjing Small Waist" of Tuanjiehu Store. He observed that the paper menu issued by the barbecue restaurant to diners read "Love Barbecue" instead of "Wangjing Small Waist". What’s more strange is that the physical menu of this barbecue restaurant does not have a dish named "Wangjing Small Waist", while the menu of the takeaway platform has "Wangjing Small Waist": a skewer costs 3 yuan, and the price of 5 skewers is 14.8 yuan after discount. But the owner of the barbecue restaurant has repeatedly stressed that his home is an authentic "Wangjing Small Waist". "We are a franchise store of Wangjing Small Waist Old Store, and the skewers and seasonings are all taken from Wangjing Main Store." As for the full name and specific location of the main store, the boss did not explain why the menu says "Love Barbecue".

  detail

  There is takeaway "Wangjing Small Waist".

  Use Malatang Shop Business License

  Visitors found that the store called "Wangjing Small Waist (× × Shop) " on the takeaway platform was actually "curled up" in a corner of a Malatang store, covering an area of about 5 square meters, with an inverted "L" shape. The door was in the Malatang store, with a window facing the road, and the sign "Wangjing Small Waist" hung above the window.

  The Beijing Youth Daily reporter noticed that in the information of the "merchant" of the takeaway platform, this "Wangjing Xiaoyao" used the business license of Malatang Restaurant, and the photo of the door of the dine-in restaurant displayed was also different from the actual situation. The owner of Malatang Restaurant introduced that he and the barbecue restaurant are two stores. "We rented a place for them to cook barbecue, and they (who do barbecue) basically don’t open until 5:30 pm, and only deliver takeout."

  At about 8 p.m. on June 16, a reporter from Beiqing Daily came to "Wangjing Xiaoyao (× × Shop) " again and saw several food delivery staff from the takeaway platform gathered outside the window, waiting to pick up the meal. In the barbecue shop, two young men, one shirtless, were holding multiple orders to prepare dishes, brush oil and sprinkle seasonings, and the other was grilling dishes on the barbecue grill with his back. After the food was baked, the shirtless man wrapped it in tinfoil, covered it with paper and plastic bags, and handed it to the delivery staff. The reporter from Beiqing Daily asked the boss if he could eat in the restaurant, and the boss replied that "yes", but he had to borrow the tables and chairs in the Malatang shop.

  A reporter from Beiqing Daily observed that in this small store covering an area of about 5 square meters, there are freezers, microwave ovens, and multi-layer shelves with skewers of meat and vegetables. Oil stains, paper orders, disposable plastic bags, and empty bottles are all over the ground, and microwave ovens and barbecue grills are also covered with oil stains. In the back seat of an electric car outside the window, there is a raw meat skewer skewers skewed in plastic boxes, and flies are flying around the meat skewers.

  doubt

  The "clone" store of the takeaway platform

  How to pass the review?

  According to previous media reports, "Wangjing Xiaoyao (Old Store) ", which has received praise from many star diners and food websites, actually has a 20-year brand history and currently has four branches, the first store is located in Wangjing.

  On the 18th, as a diner, a reporter from Beiqing Daily asked whether the merchant had opened multiple branches on the takeaway platform. The other party said that they had not opened a store on the takeaway platform, nor did they have a "franchise" relationship with the takeaway merchant. "We also received many calls from diners complaining that the takeaway and the tasting of the food were different, and we felt cheated. But in fact, the takeaway merchant used our name and store photos to mislead everyone. Considering the taste of the meat, we only have dine-in food now, not takeaway."

  Regarding some takeaway merchants who cloned the name of "Wangjing Small Waist" and used the store’s signboard photos for publicity, the relevant person in charge said that they also "have no way". "[We] can only be regarded as an old store passed down by word of mouth now, because the trademark of" Wangjing Small Waist "has been registered by others, so we have no way to protect our rights."

  The name of the takeaway store is inconsistent with the name of the physical store. The photos of dine-in food displayed on the platform are different from those of the brick and mortar store. How did these "clone" stores appear on the takeaway platform pass the review? Recently, a reporter from Beiqing Daily called several major takeaway platforms as a merchant. The customer service staff said that the business license and food business license information should be submitted on the website first. After passing the machine moderation, the regional sales manager will contact the merchant later.

  Previously, a reporter from Beiqing Daily submitted relevant information on a takeaway platform and successfully registered the store. He found that the content of "store name" can be filled in at will. In addition, a reporter from Beiqing Daily recently called a number of takeaway stores that cloned "Wangjing Small Waist". Many merchants recalled that registering a "Wangjing Small Waist" branch on the takeaway platform "does not require any materials, just fill it in by yourself, and the platform and manager will not specifically ask you to (provide) proof." However, a customer service staff said that the sales manager will be arranged to "check the store" later to check the submitted license, and whether the brick and mortar store and the dine-in photos on the takeaway platform are consistent.

  Photo by this reporter, Zhang Ya, intern reporter, Zhang Youlin, Li Ang, Shi Shuqi

Stephen Chow: It seems that at my age, every new play will be said to be out of talent

  The word "superstar" came from Zhou Xingchi’s mouth, with a very "nonsensical" style. At first, it was very funny, but when you think about it, it is deeply meaningful. These four words can be said to be a true portrayal of Zhou Xingchi’s career as an actor. The dragon set achieved Zhou Xingchi’s superstar status, making him change from "Zhou Xingxing" to "Xingye", while the superstar made Zhou Xingchi "because of invincibility, a little lonely".

  When "Superstar" recalled "Dragon Set" Zhou Xingxing, he said: "I wait every day, but I don’t know what I’m waiting for. In fact, it should be waiting for an opportunity. Wait year after year, wait one second a day. Finally, when I was about to’die ‘, I finally had the opportunity, and I realized that it was not an opportunity, it was a complete misunderstanding, so I continued to wait."

  So, in 1999’s "King of Comedy," Liu Piaopiao tells Yin Tianchou: "It’s so dark in front of you, you can’t see anything." Yin Tianchou says: "No, it will be beautiful after dawn." But at the end of the movie, Yin Tianchou still lost the opportunity to play the lead role and did not arrange a successful ending for him.

  After 20 years, Zhou Xingchi, who had 20 years of life insights, was even more childlike and liked fairy tales, so he made "The King of New Comedy" again. In the film, the heroine, Rumeng, saw the dawn. In this imperfect world, Zhou Xingchi wanted to give the audience a perfect ending: "Because I think this can encourage everyone more directly, so that the audience can see that life will not be a walk-in forever. It can be said that 20 years ago, the audience did not see’dawn ‘with Yin Tianchou, but 20 years later, everyone can see it. After dawn, it is really beautiful."

  The auction was completed in two months, but it took seven or eight years to think about it.

  On November 29, 2018, Stephen Chow’s new work "The King of New Comedy" was officially announced to be released on February 5, the first day of the new year in 2019. Once the news was released, it quickly became a hot topic. In addition to the expectations of star fans, it also attracted a lot of controversy, such as "Why shoot" The King of New Comedy "after 20 years? Stephen Chow is frying cold rice, because Jiang Lang has exhausted his talents", and it is said that "the movie was shot in two weeks. Because the production of" Mermaid 2 "was overdue, in order to fill the gap, Stephen Chow temporarily started filming" The King of New Comedy ".

  For all kinds of "nonsense" and suspicions, Zhou Xingchi is not in a hurry and is not annoyed. He replies one by one, and he says with a smile: "It seems that at my age, every new play will be said to be talented. I have fried Yangzhou fried rice, but I have never fried cold rice." Mermaid 2 "has a long post productin time, and it was originally planned to be released in 2020."

  Zhou Xingchi revealed that seven or eight years ago, he was already considering making another story about the struggles of the little people: "I’ve been thinking about doing something else, and occasionally I think about it. It was three years ago when I felt like I was thinking about it, and I suddenly thought about it clearly, and I started to prepare little by little. In this era, how to re-show the story of the past, but have a different feeling, this is what I have been thinking about."

  "The New King of Comedy" came out of nowhere because the film was based on the title of "Plan D". There were rumors before that Stephen Chow was going to make "The King of Comedy 2", but the news was later denied by many parties. Chow admitted that he did "keep a low profile" on purpose. "Because the final name of the movie has not been decided yet, and I don’t want to give everyone spoilers, I just changed the name. Then why am I called’Plan D ‘instead of ABC, because ABC has already been registered by others, so I had to choose D."

  In Stephen Chow’s mind, it was not because’The New King of Comedy ‘was an IP sequel that the difficulty was reduced. Out of his devotion to movies, Stephen Chow would not allow himself to neglect the work. "I think I need time.

  "If it’s ok, then I’m too good." Mr. Chow denied that "The New King of Comedy" took two months to shoot because the film had no special effects, so it was relatively simple to shoot and not troublesome to post productin: "If you start with the official script, it should be three years. After the script was completed, it was actually very fast to shoot, but this time we used a different shooting method and spent some time in this regard."

  Every time I see a group performance, I am reminded of my own experience

  The actors who have worked with Stephen Chow, especially the group actors and set actors, will feel very distressed for him because he is too hard. Not only do the crew work hands-on, but every actor has to personally teach the play, including the group performance, the dragon set, and the filming of "The New King of Comedy" is no exception.

  Stephen Chow admitted that filming is really tiring, so he sometimes wants to be a robot. "However, sometimes when you are doing what you like, you don’t feel too tired, and that feeling of fulfillment will dilute the fatigue. For a movie, there are no small roles, everyone is a useful role. To achieve the effect of the movie, no matter what kind of person it is, they will have an impact on the final presentation of the movie. Maybe it’s because of my own expression habits. I think the performance is more intuitive. I want the actors to immediately understand which feeling I want. But in the process, they will also create a lot of different things of themselves. In fact, everyone is giving inspiration together."

  "The New King of Comedy" tells the story of the heroine Rumeng who encounters various setbacks in her life, but never gives up. Chow Xingchi said that every time he sees a group performance, he "naturally thinks of his own experience".

  Stephen Chow’s movies were good at telling stories about little people, and his ability to tell the lives of little people from a normal perspective rather than a high-minded attitude was related to Stephen Chow’s mentality. Although he had been a superstar for many years, he would always say in interviews that he was still a little person and had an ordinary life. "The lives of those little people have not left me, but my job is to make movies, so everyone knows me, so I can continue to make movies and do what I like."

  The only star in "The New King of Comedy" is Wang Baoqiang. Why don’t you find more mature actors to play? Mr. Chow said he wanted to give more people who are passionate, have dreams, and have been working hard a chance to find more talents. "This is what I have been doing myself. I hope that young actors will continue to appear, so that they can be inspired to participate in the film industry."

  Zhou Xingchi often used some crew members in the movie, such as screenwriters, assistant directors, etc., who would become cast members. When asked why he had this "hobby", Zhou Xingchi laughed and said that because these people also have actor dreams, and there are many stories in the play in "The New King of Comedy", many of the characters are the cast members of the movie, "So it’s better to find real people to act, isn’t it?"

  To be funny requires a very painful experience.

  In "King of Comedy", there are many scenes from Zhou Xingchi’s real experience. For example, in the film, Yin Tianchou is shot to death by Du Juan’er after changing into a priest’s costume, but until Du Juan’er has dealt with all the bad guys, Yin Tianchou still plays "inner drama" later, so anxious that the director shouted "Cut". This clip is based on Zhou Xingchi’s experience in "The Legend of the Condor Hero".

  In the film, a cockroach jumps onto the corpse played by Yin Tianchou, but he still doesn’t move. This scene originated from the true story of Chow Xingchi’s filming of the movie "Jiupin Sesame Official".

  After 20 years, the "treatment" of the dragon set has not been improved. In "The King of New Comedy", E Jingwen played Rumeng, who suffered no less than Yin Tianchou, so much so that E Jingwen said with a smile that she could be selected as the heroine because of her "resistance to fighting", and the bitterness of walking around made the audience cry.

  Zhou Xingchi himself, like Yin Tianchou and Rumeng, was an unpopular person on the crew because they had too many opinions and thought "he was an actor". In the 1983 version of "The Legend of the Condor Hero", Zhou Xingchi played a soldier who was about to be beaten to death by Mei Chaofeng’s palm. Before the performance, he took the initiative to discuss with the assistant director, "Can I block it with my hand and die in the second palm?" The assistant director glared: "Waste of time!"

  Before he became a superstar, Zhou Xingchi had worked for six years, looked at countless eyes, and suffered countless hardships. Because he had no advantage in height, he had to wear an inner height of seven or eight centimeters to find a chance for himself, but other competitors would also wear it, so Zhou Xingchi still had no chance.

  When Stephen Chow and Zheng Shaoqiu were filming the TV series "Metropolis" together, it was already very late one day, but Zhou Xingchi was in a daze at the elevator entrance, and then he suddenly lay down at the elevator door. The staff next to him were very surprised and watched Zhou Xingchi being hit by the elevator non-stop. Zhou Xingchi said: "If you die at the elevator door, it will have a magical effect of being hit non-stop." Zheng Shaoqiu next to you said: "You are really a good actor. I didn’t expect you to be so persistent." In the end, the director made the decision and used this shot.

  During the "King of New Comedy" roadshow, Zhou Xingchi also recounted that when he was doing the trick, there was a line that he felt bad about when he got home, so he took a car back to the set and asked the director to shoot again. The director was not happy at first, and Zhou Xingchi knelt down and begged him in a hurry, and finally the director agreed to let him reshoot.

  So, when asked about his deepest feelings about his long career, Zhou Xingchi said that it was common to be scolded and ridiculed, "For example, I asked the director if it was okay? The director said, ‘Forget it, I can’t see you, go away.’ What I remember deeply is that I waited every day, but I didn’t know what I was waiting for. In fact, it should be waiting for an opportunity. Waiting year after year, waiting for a second every day. Finally, when I was about to’die ‘, I finally had the opportunity, and I realized that it was not an opportunity, it was a complete misunderstanding, so I waited."

  From the beginning of his career, after he became famous, he was hindered by various problems, criticized as a tyrant on the set, did not understand the world, and compared money with money. Over the years, Zhou Xingchi has been in constant disputes and criticisms, but he has never responded to all kinds of criticisms and is alone.

  Wang Jing once commented: "Zhou Xingchi’s vicissitudes and melancholy are from beginning to end. He left all his smiles on the screen, as if you had to pay first to see him laugh in life."

  Stephen Chow hides his true heart with comedy, but his seemingly simple comedy doesn’t mean shallow. Every laugh he makes is actually brewed from the five flavors of life. Chow said: "In fact, it takes a lot of pain to get a little laugh. To be funny also requires a very painful experience, and the most tragic things can also be the funniest things. It’s actually easy to do a crying scene, but to get a little laugh, you have to go through a lot of pain to achieve it. It’s really hard to do comedy."

  I’m still working on it.

  When 9-year-old Stephen Chow saw the movie "Tangshan Big Brother", he suddenly wanted to become an actor, "I want to become a kung fu star like Bruce Lee". At that time, he was so shy that he went out to eat with his mother. If there were outsiders, he would cover his face with menus. "I am afraid that others will look at me and talk at me."

  So the mother’s "lofty ambition" for her son to become a star can only laugh back, but Zhou Xingchi is serious: "If you don’t have a dream, what’s the difference with Salted Fish?"

  Today’s successful Stephen Chow is no longer a simple filmmaker. His diverse identities prevent him from returning to his youth known as "Xingzai". The power of capital makes it impossible for him to make certain decisions solely from the perspective of creation, but requires him to have greater capital ambitions and ambitions to enhance the confidence of investors.

  Under these multiple demands, even though Zhou Xingchi was a genius, the process of his personal creativity blooming was also a process of being severely consumed. In addition to capital, age was another terrible reason for tormenting geniuses. Zhou Xingchi himself said, "Over the years, my movies have become less and less, and I just want to say to everyone, I’m sorry, I’m old."

  As people get older, many things are taken lightly. Therefore, Zhou Xingchi now has more to endure and compromise when making a play. On the one hand, as he said: "It seems that after my age, every new play will be said to be exhausted." As an "old director", he also has to adapt to the current era and the current audience: "Not only movies, but the whole world is always changing, and we must always learn. The most important thing about movies is creativity. To bring freshness to the audience, movies are very important work for me. I think I can also give the audience something different, and I will try harder every time."

  The childishness in the movie is a prominent label for Stephen Chow. In addition to the usual spoof and nonsense, the warm mermaid love serves the theme of environmental protection, making the film simple and easy to understand, and all ages eat it. The magic weapon in "Journey to the West" is "Three Hundred Children’s Songs", and in "The King of New Comedy", Wang Baoqiang, an outdated star, plays Snow White in a female costume.

  Still struggling, Stephen Chow wants to convey "hard work and struggle" to people in "The King of New Comedy." He also deliberately chose Chen Baiqiang’s old song "Gale" as the theme song of the movie. When he was down, "Gale" once gave him great comfort. Zhou Xingchi said: "The lyrics of this song are very thought-provoking and need to be carefully felt, such as singing’The wind doesn’t care about the beginning and the end, it only knows how to rush ‘, or’If you have a dream in your heart, you can track it with all your strength, like the wild wind in the sky.’ You can imagine the picture of a small person running with all his strength. Isn’t it appropriate to play this song as background music at this time? At this time, the’strong wind ‘also gave the little person chasing the dream a kind of strength, just like the people who fight hard are the wild wind. "

  In Zhou Xingchi’s opinion, everyone is Yin Tianchou, and they are all working hard for their dreams. "In fact, everyone can be the protagonist in their own life. Don’t be afraid of failure, hardship or all kinds of resistance, and work hard with full blood, just like the wind. Young people who are working hard, I hope you can all become the king of comedy in your own life."

  The "king" in Zhou Xingchi’s mouth is by no means the king that the public understands, but a small person who lives seriously and pursues hard. "In them, you can see authenticity, confidence, seriousness and even seriousness, full of enthusiasm for the work you are doing, and will not give up no matter how difficult it is. Keep pursuing your dreams, and even some persistence. I am also working hard, so I hope to dedicate it to those of you who are working hard. After reading it, you can be more confident and work harder."

  The classic city tower scene in "Journey to the West", the supreme treasure that seemed to be indifferent to nothing, instantly turned into the sunset warrior on the city tower, strode towards the woman he loved, hugged it with all his strength and said, "I will never leave in my life, I love you."

  Perhaps, this is also the line that Stephen Chow wants to say to the movie he has loved all his life.

  Text/Yang Xiao, Photo/Microscopic

Scientists in China and the United States have created the most accurate map of the structure of the Milky Way to date

 

 
For a long time, we knew very little about the Milky Way, and we didn’t even know the exact location of the sun in the Milky Way. However, astronomers have recently used some observational data to create a new "map of the Milky Way" that will refresh our understanding of the Milky Way and the formation of galaxies. And with this map, we also know that the sun is almost exactly on the central plane of the Milky Way’s disk.
Hundreds of years ago, explorers made detailed maps across oceans and uncharted continents. Over the past half-century, human space probes have photographed much of the solar system. But while we know our own astronomical backyard, we don’t know enough about our cosmic community, the Milky Way. The reason is obvious. Just as "we don’t know the true face of Mount Lu, we can’t leave the Milky Way and look back at the panorama of the Milky Way."
Maybe you could dream that we would launch a spacecraft, take it out of our galaxy, and then go back and take a panoramic picture of the galaxy, but a spacecraft would only be able to do this after a journey of millions of years, which is obviously impractical. We still have a lot of unanswered questions about the galaxy, such as how many spiral arms the galaxy has, whether a large structure closest to the sun can be counted as a single spiral arm, and where our solar system is in the galaxy.
Recently, however, scientists are working to map the Milky Way from the inside out, so that for the first time, accurate maps of the Milky Way’s structure can be made. This promising future is the result of the collaborative efforts of several advanced radio and optical large telescope projects, including our Bar and Spiral Structure Legacy Survey of the Milky Way (BeSSeL). We have obtained an unprecedented 5,000 hours of observation time for the Very Long Baseline Array.
The preliminary results of our project provide a new picture of the Milky Way. In addition to better understanding the overall image of the Milky Way, we are also beginning to clarify why galaxies like the Milky Way exhibit spiral structures and how our galactic home is integrated with the entire universe.
Cosmic Neighborhood
In the early nineteenth century, William Parsons, the third Earl of Rousseau, built a 72-inch telescope – a "gigantic" telescope by the standards of the time. He observed and drew the M51 nebula (which we now call the Whirlpool Galaxy) with a distinct swirling arm pattern. However, without knowing how far M51 is or the scale of the Milky Way, it is not clear whether the vortex galaxy is a small structure in our Milky Way or a galaxy similar to the Milky Way.
Debate about these issues continued until the early twentieth century. It was not until the American scientist Edwin Hubble used techniques developed by Henrietta Leavitt to measure our distances to some bright stars that we learned that spiral galaxies and other spiral nebulae are outside the Milky Way and similar to the Milky Way. This discovery overturned the idea that the Milky Way is the entire universe.
By measuring the movement of gas throughout the Milky Way disk, the pancake-shaped region that makes up the main body of the Milky Way, astronomers have discovered that we actually live in a spiral galaxy. The main common types of galaxies include spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies. The Milky Way, seen from a distance, may resemble the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1300 and the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). At the center of NGC 1300 is a bright, elongated structure that astronomers call the bar structure of the galaxy. Two blue spiral arms extend from both ends of the bar structure and gradually extend outward around the central bar.
Most spiral galaxies have bar structures, which are generally thought to have formed as a result of the attractive force instability of the galaxy’s dense disk. The central bar structure then rotates, creating a stirring effect that in turn may promote the formation of spiral arms (other processes, such as attractive force instability caused by massive clumps in the disk or attractive force disturbances in nearby galaxies, may also contribute to the formation of spiral arms). Spiral arms are easier to see in the blue light band, because spiral arms are huge star-forming star-producing houses that are more prone to emitting blue light. The Pinwheel Galaxy M101 is another galaxy that may resemble the Milky Way. Although the Pinwheel Galaxy does not have the central bar of NGC 1300, it has more spiral arms.
Astronomers have long believed that the Milky Way may have the characteristics of two galaxies, NGC 1300 and M101: a distinct long bar structure like NGC 1300, and multiple spiral arms like M101. But beyond these basic conclusions, there is still much controversy. For example, infrared observations by the Spitzer space telescope more than a decade ago suggested that the Milky Way may have only two main spiral arms. And radio-band observations of atomic hydrogen and carbon monoxide suggest that the Milky Way has four spiral arms. In extragalactic galaxies, the gas is concentrated in the spiral arms. In addition to the spiral arm feature, astronomers are also debating how far the sun is from the center of the galaxy, and what the sun’s vertical height is relative to the galactic midplane, the plane of the center of the disk.
About 70 years ago, scientists calculated the distance from some bright blue stars nearby. If these stars were marked on a map of the Milky Way, they would be part of three adjacent spiral arms. We call these three spiral arms the centaur arm, the local arm, and the Perseus arm. Around the same time, beginning in the 1950s, radio astronomers observed atomic hydrogen gas, which emits a characteristic radio signal with a wavelength of 21 centimeters. As this atomic hydrogen gas moves relative to the earth, its characteristic radio frequency is shifted by the Doppler effect, allowing astronomers to use the frequency shift to measure the speed of the gas’s movement and then map its location in the Milky Way.
Using this measurement method, astronomers adopted a sun-centered coordinate system: similar to the longitude and latitude of a globe, the Milky Way longitude (l) is zero in the direction toward the galactic center and increases clockwise within the galactic "equatorial" plane (the Milky Way is seen from the northern celestial sphere); the galactic latitude (b) represents the angle perpendicular to the plane of the galactic disk. The 21-centimeter characteristic radio signal of the hydrogen atom gas shows a continuous structure in the galactic longitude-velocity diagram, which most likely traced the galactic spiral arm structure. Later plots of the galactic longitude-velocity of carbon monoxide molecular gases also exhibited similar characteristics. However, this indirect mapping method may be ambiguous and not accurate enough to clearly show the spiral arm structure of the Milky Way.
A New Horizon
One reason we know so little about the structure of the Milky Way is that there is a lot of dust in the Milky Way. Dust absorbs visible light so efficiently that it obscures our view in most line-of-sight directions, preventing us from seeing very far. Another reason is that the size of the Milky Way is staggering: light from stars on the other side of the Milky Way takes more than 50,000 years to reach Earth. Such a distance makes it difficult to even tell which stars are close to us and which are far away.
Now, new optical telescopes operating in space, as well as new radio telescopes around the world, could allow us to better answer all kinds of questions about the Milky Way. The Gaia mission, launched in 2013 to measure the precise distances of nearly a billion stars in the Milky Way, will no doubt revolutionize our understanding of the different populations of stars that formed our galaxy. But because Gaia observes in the visible light band, which is easily absorbed and scattered by interstellar dust particles, Gaia may be affected by interstellar dust when observing very distant spiral arms. On the contrary, because radio waves easily pass through dust, radio telescopes can probe the entire disk, allowing us to use observations from such telescopes to map the overall structure of the disk.
At present, the two main observational projects to map the structure of the Milky Way are using the very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) technique in radio astronomy. The VERA (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry) project in Japan uses four radio telescopes, ranging from northern Japan (Mizusawa, Iwate Prefecture) to the southernmost Okinawa Islands of Ishigaki and the easternmost Ogasawara Islands, across Japan. The Very Long Baseline Array used by our BeSSeL sky survey program includes 10 telescopes, ranging from Hawaii to New England to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, across most of the Western Hemisphere.
Because the distance between the telescopes that make up the Very Long Baseline Array is nearly the same as the diameter of the Earth, the array can achieve angular resolution that far exceeds that of any other telescope at any wavelength. The researchers must observe simultaneously with all the telescopes in the array, and use the world’s best atomic clocks to synchronize the data recorded by computers at each site. They then transport the recorded data to a dedicated computer, which processes the signals collected by each telescope. If our eyes are sensitive to radio waves, the calibrated image is an ultra-high definition digital image that we can see at radio wavelengths that is parsed by almost the entire width of the Earth.
Such images have incredible angular resolution (better than 0.001 arc seconds: if the entire celestial sphere is divided into 360 degrees, then 1 arc second is 1/3600 of a degree). By contrast, the human eye can only resolve structures for about 40 arc seconds at most, and even the Hubble Space Telescope can only achieve a resolution of about 0.04 arc seconds.
Using the VLBI, we can measure the position of a bright star in radio waves relative to a background quasar (which is actually a bright, active black hole at the center of a distant galaxy) with an accuracy of close to 0.00001 arcseconds. In this way, we can measure very far distances by measuring the triangular parallax effect. The triangular parallax effect is that when viewed from different positions, nearby celestial objects appear correspondingly in different positions in the background starry sky. You can extend your arms forward, raise your thumb, and simulate this effect by alternately closing your left and right eyes to observe the thumb. Because our eyes are a few centimeters apart, when we alternately observe the thumb at an arm’s length with our left and right eyes, the thumb will be offset by about 6 degrees relative to the distant background object. If we know the distance between the two observation positions, and the angular displacement observed, we can easily calculate our distance from the observation target. This is the same principle that surveyors use to map cities.
Ideally, astronomers who want to map the structure of spiral arms should observe young, massive stars. These short-lived stars are usually associated with violent star formation in spiral arms, and such stars are so hot that they can ionize the surrounding gas, causing it to emit blue light. Therefore, in theory, these stars can serve as beacons for observing the spiral arms of galaxies in the visible light range.
But because these stars are surrounded by the Milky Way’s dust disk, we cannot easily observe them throughout the Milky Way. Fortunately, water and methanol molecules outside the ionized regions of these hot stars can serve as very bright radio sources, because they emit large amounts of natural "masers" that are barely attenuated by galactic dust. The term maser is an acronym for "microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," which means that a maser is actually a laser in the radio band. In an astrophysical setting, maser radiation comes from a solar system-scale gas cloud of mass comparable to that of Jupiter. Maser sources appear as very bright point sources in radio images. Therefore, the maser source is an ideal target for triangulation parallax measurement.
A new picture of the Milky Way
Using the BeSSeL and VERA projects, astronomers have used triangulation parallax to measure the distances of about 200 young, hot stars. The data spans the Milky Way, covering about a third of the galaxy and revealing four very long spiral arms.
The resulting "map of the Milky Way" also shows that the Sun is very close to the Milky Way’s fifth spiral arm, which appears to be an isolated spiral arm known as the "local arm". Previously, this section of the spiral arm was called the "Orion Arm Spine" or "Local Arm Spine", that is, this spiral arm resembles a small accessory structure extending from the main spiral arms of other galaxies. However, the interpretation of this "arm spur" may be wrong. In our BeSSeL data, this spiral arm is isolated, orbiting the Milky Way less than a quarter of a turn. Although the local arm is shorter in length, in this arm the star formation rate can be comparable to that of the Perseus Arm of the same length. Interestingly, astronomers once thought of the Perseus Arm as one of the Milky Way’s two main spiral arms (the other being the shield-centaur arm). However, we found that the star formation rate decreased significantly as the Perseus Arm moved away from the Sun and towards the Milky Way. This suggests that the Perseus Arm does not appear to be a very obvious spiral arm to outside observers.
By mapping the three-dimensional positions of a large number of young stars and measuring and modeling their velocities, we can calculate the basic parameters of the Milky Way. We found that the distance from the sun to the center of the Milky Way is 8150 ± 150 parsecs (or 26,600 light-years). This is smaller than the 8500 parsecs recommended by the International Astronomical Union a few decades ago. In addition, we found that the Milky Way rotates at 236 km/s at the position of the sun, which is about 8 times the speed of the earth’s rotation around the sun. Based on these parameter values, we found that it takes about 212 million years for the sun to rotate around the Milky Way. This also means that the last time our solar system was where the Milky Way is now, dinosaurs were still roaming the earth.
The Milky Way’s inner disk, which lies within the sun’s position, is so thin that it is almost a flat plane. But the sun’s vertical height relative to this plane has been controversial. Recently, some astronomers have measured that the sun is 25 parsecs (82 light-years) above the inner disk, but our measurements differ significantly from this estimate. By fitting the plane in which massive stars with precise distances and positions are located, we can determine that the sun is only about 6 parsecs (20 light-years) above the plane. This height is only 0.07% of the distance from the sun to the center of the galaxy, which means that the sun is very close to the mid-plane of the galaxy. We also confirmed the previously observed galactic warping, in which the outer disk of the Milky Way gradually deviates from the inner disk and begins to curve upward on the north side and downward on the south side, somewhat like a curved potato chip.
In order to describe observations, astronomers usually divide the Milky Way into four solar-centered quadrants. Using this coordinate, we found spiral arms in the first three quadrants. To map the fourth quadrant, we need observation equipment located in the southern hemisphere. We are conducting a southern hemisphere observation project and plan to use telescopes in Australia and New Zealand to make observations.
While we await these observations, we can use observations from atomic hydrogen and carbon monoxide to extrapolate the known spiral arms to the fourth quadrant. The structures revealed by these observations are consistent with previous theoretical conjectures of the Norma-Outer, Shield-Centaur, Sagittarius-Carina, and Perseus arms. It should be noted, however, that we have only made one observation of the star-forming region far from the center of the Milky Way. The distance of this region we observed, combined with its position in the galactic meridian-velocity map of carbon monoxide, gives us some confidence in how to "map" the spiral arms at the other end of the galaxy.
However, we need more observations to validate our model. We now have a clearer picture of our galactic home. We may live in a four-arm spiral galaxy with a bright and symmetrical central bar. Our sun is almost entirely in the mid-plane of the Milky Way disk, but the sun is far from the center of the galaxy, about two-thirds of the galactic radius. In addition to the spiral arms that can circle the galaxy almost once, the galaxy has at least one additional spiral arm segment (the local arm), and each major spiral arm may have many forks. These spiral arm features make our galaxy appear fairly normal, but certainly not typical. About two-thirds of spiral galaxies have a central bar structure, so the Milky Way belongs to the bar spiral galaxy that makes up the vast majority of spiral galaxies. However, the Milky Way has four clear, well-defined, and fairly symmetrical arms, which makes the Milky Way unique because most spiral galaxies have far fewer arms and are relatively messy.
More mysteries
Although we have some new answers, there are still many important unanswered questions. Astronomers are still debating how the spiral arms arose. There are two competing theories on the issue. One theory holds that attractive force instability at the galactic scale creates a persistent spiral arm pattern of density waves. Another theory holds that some spiral arm fragments will be stretched over time due to instability at small scales, magnified, and then connected to form longer spiral arms. In the former theory, the spiral arms can last for billions of years, while in the latter theory, although the life of the spiral arms is short, the new spiral arms will appear multiple times throughout the evolutionary history of the galaxy.
Since the Milky Way does not have a clear date of birth, it is difficult to determine its exact age. The current popular view is that as many smaller protogalaxies that formed first in the history of the universe collided and merged, they gradually merged to form what is now the Milky Way.
The Milky Way was already a large galaxy about 5 billion years ago, but at that time it may have looked very different than it does now, because the merging process is likely to break up any existing spiral structure.
We need more observations to improve our existing picture of the structure of the Milky Way, and the next generation of VLBI-enabled radio telescope arrays will facilitate this. Such arrays in the pipeline include the Square Kilometer Array in Africa and the Next Generation Very Large Array in North America. Both are giant radio telescope arrays spanning an entire continent, and they are expected to be fully operational by the late 2020s. They will have a much larger signal-gathering area than existing arrays, and will therefore be able to detect faint radio emissions from stars, allowing us to see farther in the Milky Way. Ultimately, we hope to clearly map the building structure of the Milky Way Home to confirm or disprove the theory of the formation of the Milky Way’s magnificent spiral arm structure.
By Mark J. Reed, a senior radio astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who was recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Zheng Xingwu, a professor of astronomy at Nanjing University, has spent the past few decades studying "pulses" and star formation in the universe.
Jun-Tai Shen, a professor in the Department of Astronomy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, specializes in galactic dynamics, the structure of the Milky Way, and astronomical numerical simulations. His team has used gas dynamics methods to estimate the rotational speed of the pattern of the Milky Way’s rods and spiral arms based on the positions of the spiral arms obtained by the BeSSel sky survey. The relevant results are published in the international authoritative journal Astrophysical Journal.
Article Source: Global Science
 

NIO’s revenue growth losses intensified last year, and the hope of "survival" is ready to be handed over to new brands

On the evening of March 5, NIO released its full-year financial results for 2023, which were mixed.

I am happy that the revenue reached a new high. According to the data, in 2023, the total revenue of NIO increased by 12.9% year-on-year to 55.62 billion yuan. Among them, the sales of automobiles were 49.2573 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2% year-on-year. The increase in revenue was mainly due to the increase in sales of NIO in the past year. NIO delivered 160,000 new cars in 2023, an increase of 37% year-on-year. But this figure did not meet NIO’s original target of 250,000 vehicles.

Hefei Jianghuai NIO Factory

The worry is that losses have intensified. According to the financial report data, NIO’s net loss in 2023 was 20.72 billion yuan, an increase of 43.5% year-on-year; the adjusted net loss was 18.30 billion yuan, an increase of 51% year-on-year. During the reporting period, NIO’s gross profit margin and automobile gross profit margin both declined compared with the previous year. NIO’s gross profit margin fell from 10.4% last year to 5.5%, and automobile gross profit margin fell from 13.7% last year to 9.5%.

It is reported that in order to cope with market competition and expand sales scale, NIO will officially launch a sub-brand of 200,000-300,000 yuan mass market this year, code-named "Alps", the first model will be released in the second quarter of this year, and delivery will start in the fourth quarter.

NIO CEO Li Bin sees the new brand as an inflection point in NIO’s performance. He revealed that the first car of the sub-brand will compete directly with Tesla Model Y, and said that the cost will also be about 10% lower than Model Y. In addition, Li Bin said at the earnings conference that there will be more than 100,000 yuan of models listed next.

In terms of cash reserves, as of December 31, 2023, NIO held about 57.30 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents. This was mainly due to two rounds of strategic investments totaling $3.30 billion by Abu Dhabi investment institution CYVN in the second half of last year.

However, NIO still has two huge bills to pay, a $29.77 billion payable and a $9.82 billion loan.

Previously, NIO has made it clear that the NIO brand will not release a new car in 2024, which means that before the first model of the sub-brand is officially delivered in the fourth quarter, the eight models currently on sale by NIO will still bear the responsibility of supporting NIO for a long time.

Looking ahead to this year’s Quarter 1, NIO expects its new car deliveries to be between 31,000 – 33,000 vehicles; revenue is expected to be between 10.499 billion – 11.087 billion yuan, and NIO brand gross margin will reach 15% -18% this year.

Hengda Auto is recruiting agents. Is Hengchi 5 ready to go on sale?

  [Aika Automobile, Industry Information, Original]

  Hengchi, a brand owned by Evergrande, recently posted a message on its official Weibo account about "recruitment of authorized agents".

  For the standard of building a store, Hengchi Automobile requires an exhibition hall area of 200-300 square meters and a display area of more than 150 square meters. In terms of agent qualification requirements, Hengchi Automobile requires agents to agree with Hengchi Automobile’s business philosophy and sales model, be confident in the cause, and be willing to invest in long-term common development; Registered by the national industrial and commercial administration, with independent legal personality and legal business certificate, and the registered capital is not less than 5 million yuan; Have a venue to meet the business needs of Hengchi Automobile; Can form a qualified management team; Good business conditions and sufficient financial strength.

1

  There are 18 cities for this investment promotion, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Xi’an, Suzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Dongguan, Foshan, Qingdao and Haikou.

  The sales model of Hengchi Automobile specifically includes three aspects: order-based sales and asset-light operation, requiring the exhibition hall to be small, precise and located in the automobile business district, and a unified retail price to ensure sales profits.

  According to the progress previously revealed by the official, the work of the first car (|) is progressing smoothly, and the pre-sale is about to be fully launched. Xu Jiayin also requested that the mass production of Hengchi 5 must be completed before June 22, laying a solid foundation for the healthy and sustainable development of Hengda Automobile.

  Editor’s comment:Entering the new energy vehicle market, Hengda seems to have been well-prepared again and again, but after the official sale of Hengda vehicles, we still don’t know the specific sales situation.

Highlights Review:

Hengchi 5 configuration information is exposed, listed or has been put on the agenda

Pioneer out, first to explore the store Hengchi Auto & real shot Hengchi 5

Hengda Automobile’s first model, Hengchi 5, officially rolled off the assembly line

Concert market chaos investigation: scalpers are raging, the market is warming up, and the audience is cold

  On the morning of the 26th, it was revealed that the audience shouted refund for the #WubaiHefei concert. According to Nine Pai News Video, on November 24th in Hefei, Anhui Province, before the performance of the Wubai concert, many audience shouted "refund" because of unreasonable seating arrangements, which attracted widespread attention. On the 25th, an audience member said that he bought a VIP area of 1,280 yuan and was assigned to the V6 area. "The stage is recessed, and two large screens are added on each side. We can only see half of the stage on both sides of V5 and V6. The band behind us is basically invisible, and people can’t see it. The big screen looked up. Many fans said that they went to massage after watching it." It claims that the organizers did not inform them in advance of the risk of being blocked from view in zones V5 and V6.

  Wubai concert scene. Video screenshot

  This is not the first concert this year that has caused complaints because of the obstruction of the viewing location. Before this, the "pillar ticket" of Liang Jingru’s concert in Shanghai also attracted public attention. According to the upstream news, with the explosive recovery of the concert market this year, the old problems such as high-priced tickets, scalper tickets, and "pillar" tickets continue to appear, and with the "sinking market" of concerts, some chaos in concerts held in third- and fourth-tier cities has begun to appear.

  The performance market will explode in 2023

  According to statistics, the total box office of national commercial performances in the first half of 2023 increased by nearly seven times year-on-year, according to Beijing Youth Daily. According to data released by the China Performance Industry Association, the total number of national commercial performances in the first half of 2023 was 193,300, with a total box office of 16.793 billion yuan, an increase of 673.5% year-on-year. Recovery and growth have become the core keywords of the offline performance market. According to Crowley’s report data on the economic development of offline music performances in 2023, from February to March this year, the number of daily active users of Damai.com increased by 74% compared with the same period in 2019, 4 times more than the same period in 2022, setting a five-year high. During the same period, Barley sold 47,000 performances, which was 3 times that of 2019. The platform box office scale and ticket purchases increased by 127% and 87% respectively compared with the same period in 2019. The box office of offline music performances increased significantly.

  According to media reports, the opening ceremony of the 22nd China Shanghai International Arts Festival Performance Fair and the 28th Yangtze River Delta Performance Fair, Liu Kezhi, president of the China Performance Industry Association, shared relevant data in his opening speech: In the first three quarters of 2023, the number of commercial performances (excluding entertainment venues) reached 342,400, an increase of 278.76% year-on-year; the box office revenue reached 31.54 billion yuan, an increase of 453.74% year-on-year; unique viewers 100 million 11.05 million, an increase of 532.6% year-on-year, showing the huge market vitality of the national performance industry. However, with the recovery of the performance market, the important segments of the concert market, such as high-priced tickets, scalper tickets, and "pillar" tickets, continued to emerge. With the "sinking market" of concerts, some of the concerts held in third- and fourth-tier cities began to show some chaos.

  Big concertIt’s hard to get a ticket "the goods are not on the right board"

  According to Jiupai News, after more than a month of warm-up, on the evening of July 21, the TFBOYS "Ten-Year Covenant" concert was officially announced. In the afternoon of the same day, the entry "TFBOYS Official Expo Online" was already on Weibo’s trending topic list. Shortly after the official announcement of the concert, the first row of tickets was marked to 200,000 by "scalpers", and the second and third rows were also 150,000 yuan each.

  According to a number of "scalpers", compared with the sky-high price invitation letter, the auction is the most cost-effective way to buy TFBOYS concert tickets. According to the auction fee table of a "scalper", a ticket with the highest price of 2013 yuan for a TFBOYS concert costs more than 7,000 yuan, while a ticket with a face value of 806 yuan costs more than 3,000 yuan. On the eve of the ticket grab, many scalpers made it clear that the order has been saturated and stopped taking orders. "After tonight, I can’t accept the 10,000 generation grab fee, and the pit space is limited." According to reports, a "scalper" group composed of several hundred college students received more than 50 orders, and it cost 3,000 yuan to find a programmer to write a ticket grab program to prepare a machine and manual dual channel to grab tickets. Some scalpers even recruited temporary part-time shooters due to insufficient demand. If the 2013 yuan ticket price is successfully grabbed, there will be a commission of 3,500 yuan, with an average of 4-5 people grabbing a ticket.

  Concert ticket purchase page. Network screenshot

  And similar to the situation of the Wu Bai concert, according to the previous news Knews news, some audience reported that they spent thousands of yuan to buy tickets for Liang Jingru’s Shanghai concert, but after arriving, they found that their vision was blocked by the pillars around the stage, and watching the singer became a pillar.

  According to reports, footage taken by Ms. Zhang, a Shanghai resident, at her concert on May 20 showed that she bought a ticket worth 1,299 yuan on the second-floor grandstand, and the pillar directly in front of the seat happened to block the singer. Coincidentally, Mr. Liu, who bought a ticket of 999 yuan, also encountered a similar situation. On the Internet, the topic of the two Liang Jingru concerts in Shanghai blocking the line of sight caused heated discussions, and hundreds of consumers who had the same experience launched rights protection. According to reports, Damai has communicated the matter with the project organizers; the concert organizer, Shanghai Rubik’s Cube Pan Culture Performing Arts Co., Ltd., said that during the ticketing stage, they did not know that there would be four pillars in the stage design; Xuhui District Consumer Protection Commission has intervened and interviewed the company, and will urge the formulation of a solution in the future.

  According to Red Star News, on November 15, the lawsuit related to the "pillar ticket" of Liang Jingru’s concert in Shanghai was heard in the Meilong Court of the People’s Court of Minhang District, Shanghai. A total of 9 spectators filed a lawsuit against the concert organizer, Shanghai Rubik’s Cube Pan-Culture Performing Arts Co., Ltd. The court combined the nine lawsuits and has not yet pronounced a verdict. According to reports, on the issue of concert disputes, the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission has counted that since 2023, concerts have become a new hotspot of consumption, resulting in an increase in concert-related complaints. The Municipal Consumer Protection Commission has accepted more than 7,000 concert-related consumer complaints, including group complaints caused by obstruction of consumers’ seat views. Due to the difficulty in reaching a consensus between operators and consumers on the consequences of damage and liability for compensation, complaints about the occlusion of the concert line of sight are frequent and highly concentrated.

  Liang Jingru concert scene. Video screenshot

  As if it was a response to Liang Jingru’s concert "pillar ticket", according to the Yangzi Evening News Network, after the official announcement of Jay Chou’s 2023 Carnival World Tour Concert Hohhot Station, a "Special Ticket Announcement" appeared in the official ticketing channel Cat’s Eye Ticketing. On August 14, the organizer of this concert, Shanxi Xingtai Guangying Culture and Entertainment Co., Ltd. issued an announcement, saying that it would meet the needs of the majority of fans, so that more fans could experience the joyous atmosphere of the "Jay Chou Carnival Concert" Hohhot station on the spot, and reduce congestion outside the concert venue. After coordination and striving with all parties, the organizer will sell seats with special discounts due to poor visibility in the area blocked by the sound console. The organizers also stated in the announcement that the seats in this area are blocked to varying degrees, and it is impossible to fully see the whole stage. A large screen is set up behind the sound console for the audience to watch, and the special tickets will not be refunded or exchanged after purchase. What caused the audience’s heated discussion was that although it is a blocked ticket, it is also divided into three gears, which are divided into 600 yuan, 500 yuan and 300 yuan. "I never expected that this will be divided into gears?" Some fans complained.

  How to protect the rights of "pillar ticket" and "wall ticket"

  Zhang Ming, a lawyer and partner of Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said in an interview with China News Agency that Article 8 and Article 9 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law stipulate that consumers have the right to know and the right to choose goods or services independently. Viewers have the right to know the true situation of the services available for the selected seat when purchasing tickets. If the ticket seller and the organizer do not distinguish the seats whose line of sight is blocked in advance by marking and reducing the price, consumers can exercise reasonable rights protection based on the Consumer Rights Protection Law.

  However, Zhang Ming also admits that the current cost of protecting fans’ rights is too high. Although the price of concert tickets may be as high as thousands of yuan, from the perspective of litigation, the amount is still very small. Litigation itself usually requires the appointment of lawyers, and it also requires a long cycle and high cost. Therefore, few people choose to go to the court to safeguard rights litigation. Generally, they can only choose to negotiate, seek help from consumer rights protection organizations, or complain to administrative supervision departments.

  Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, believes that enjoying a complete audio-visual experience is the main right of concert ticket buyers and the main obligation of the organizers. Due to the failure of live performance equipment, the audience cannot hear the sound, or the performance cannot be seen due to occlusion, etc., the services provided by the organizers are defective, and consumers can ask the organizers to refund the tickets or refund part of the fees.

  According to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, if the goods or services provided by the operator do not meet the quality requirements, consumers can return the goods in accordance with national regulations and the parties’ agreement, or require the operator to perform obligations such as replacement and repair, Fu Jian said. Consumers can communicate with the organizer to request compensation or refund. If the two parties cannot reach an agreement, they can report the complaint to the market supervision department or consumer association, or sue the court to claim their legitimate rights and interests.

  In response to the provision that concert tickets are generally sold without refund, Fu Jian believes that the concert ticket purchase agreement belongs to the format clause, and the non-return and exchange once sold excludes the main rights of consumers. According to the provisions of the Civil Code, the format clause that excludes the main rights of the other party is invalid, and the concert tickets in the Interim Measures for the Return of Goods Purchased Online in Seven Days without Reason are not non-refundable goods. The platform unilaterally restricts the rights and interests of consumers to return and exchange tickets, which is a situation that aggravates the responsibility of the other party, and it is likely to be found to be invalid. However, considering that concerts have a certain timeliness, and the refund of tickets for upcoming performances is likely to affect secondary sales, it is reasonable to make restrictive provisions on refund.

  The China Consumers Association also suggested that relevant performance ticketing platforms and organizers should consider how to better protect consumers’ rights and interests and improve consumer experience from the perspective of promoting the release of consumption potential, and reasonably formulate ticket return and exchange rules based on the principle of fairness and publicize them to consumers to ensure that consumers are fully informed and actively confirmed before purchasing tickets. If "no return, no exchange" tickets are launched, refundable tickets should be launched at the same time, and reasonable prices should be set for consumers to choose and arm’s length transaction.

  On September 13, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Standardized Management of Large-scale Commercial Performance Activities and Promoting the Healthy and Orderly Development of the Performance Market". It requires that performance organizers should establish a ticket refund mechanism for large-scale performance activities, set a reasonable level of ticket refund fees, and ensure the legitimate refund rights of ticket buyers.

  A little more news:

  The "sinking" concert market is full of slots

  According to the China Performance Industry Association’s "National Performance Market Brief for the First Half of 2023", music performances in third- and fourth-tier cities will increase in 2023, and performance cities will extend from first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities. In this regard, People magazine interviewed five young people who watched concerts in their hometowns, and upstream news sorted out some of the characteristics displayed.

  Handan: The stars converge like a rural stage

  The interviewee, Ms. Wang, said that in June, Handan held another concert. The title seller of the concert was a well-known wine company in Handan. "This concert also gave away a lot of tickets. The school teachers will send it out, the surrounding residents will send it out, the wine will be sent out, and the developers will also send it out. I feel like I can’t wait for half of Handan City to go."

  Music festival scene. People magazine

  According to his introduction, maybe because of the gathering of stars, four hosts were arranged to join the show, "But I think this host is also strange. There are one and the other to make everyone shout slogans and advertising words, and the interaction is very embarrassing, a bit like that kind of rural stage."

  Maoming: Pour Coke in a Coke bottle and sell it for 15 yuan

  The interviewee, Mr. Li, said that he was more speechless about spending during the music festival. "Food and water are not allowed at this music festival, even umbrellas are not allowed. I brought an umbrella and it was taken away… The umbrellas sold in the booth are 50 yuan a piece." Mr. Li also said that when he was hungry, he and his colleagues went to buy beef instant noodles, even if the instant noodles were added with a few pieces of beef, it cost about 40 yuan. "I went to buy Coke, and the staff poured Coke directly from a large Coke bottle, added a few pieces of ice, and sold it to me for 15 yuan." In addition, at the end of the performance, Mr. Li and his friends drove away. When they arrived at the exit of the parking lot, they found a large area blocked. They scanned the code to pay the parking fee. As a result, the signal was very weak, and they could not pay the fee. There were no staff there to serve.

  Guigang: The sound quality is too poor, and the stars sing with difficulty.

  The interviewee, Ms. Luo, said that the only concert she saw this year was a star concert. She said that on the first day of the ticket release, she grabbed 388 yuan of tickets from the grandstand area. "It stands to reason that the tickets bought on the first day must be closer to the stage, but when we arrived at the venue, we were at the’top of the mountain ‘in the last row." Ms. Luo asked the people in front of the seat that they bought tickets only a week before the show started, which cost only 200 yuan, or locally. The infield is even more exaggerated, and the tickets of 1200 yuan can be bought for more than 500 yuan before the opening. "Although the venue is quite large, the stage is really too small, which I can tolerate. But the sound quality is really bad. The celebrities also sing very hard, and they feel a little unable to speak. "

  Nanping: Order and Chaos star performance is sloppy

  According to the interviewee, Ms. Zhang, the organizers of the concert did little publicity and did not have a guide sign. As the opening approached, people began to sit in the stadium one after another, but many people took free and discounted tickets. "The person next to me came after dinner, and he said that he drank some wine in the evening, and he still smelled of alcohol." Ms. Zhang said that the order was also a bit chaotic after the performance began. Some people left their seats and squeezed into the front row, and the security did not care. "My husband and I both felt that a certain star acted sloppily when singing, like completing a task. After singing, they left the stage without interacting."

  A city in Hebei: Sponsor "bottle" ads are played throughout the screen

  The interviewee, Ms. Zhang, introduced that after the opening of the "All Stars Concert", everyone began to shout "refund". When the first singer came out, everyone did not give face at all, and they were also shouting, "There were some artists singing in the middle of the journey. Obviously, they were frightened by this scene, and they did not interact much.

  Wine ads scrolled on the big screen. People magazine

  Ms. Zhang said that from the perspective of the scene, the lighting design is not very reasonable. People are sitting in the infield, and the lights are directly shining on people’s faces, which is very dazzling. "There are a few small screens on the stage, and four of them play animations of wine bottles throughout. When the artist sings, the’big wine bottle ‘is still rolling next to it, which is very eye-catching."

  Upstream news is comprehensive from "People" magazine, China-Singapore Jingwei, Jiupai News, Beijing Youth Daily, Kan News, etc

At 65 years old, Jackie Chan still doesn’t want to stop

  On the evening of July 21, the 5th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week opened in Datong, Shanxi. Jackie Chan, the founder of Jackie Chan International Action Film Week and Xu Ke, the chairperson of the jury, led the jury to appear.

  Tsui Hark served as the chairperson of the jury

  After last year, Jackie Chan International Action Film Week has once again settled in Datong City, Shanxi Province, a famous historical and cultural city. The honorary selection section of the 5th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week "Iron Man" attracted 152 films from 36 countries and regions around the world. After a rigorous and professional selection, ten outstanding films from four continents and seven countries, such as "Big" People "," Unparalleled "and" Tifa is in trouble ", stood out and were successfully shortlisted for the final" Iron Man "honorary selection unit." Big "People" appeared at the opening ceremony as the opening ceremony of the exhibition film. On behalf of the crew, the director 500 expressed their excitement for the film being shortlisted for the "Iron Man" honor.

  Each "Iron Man" honor will be selected from the 10 shortlisted films by the fifth Jackie Chan International Action Film Week jury. Tsui Hark will serve as the chairperson of the jury, and the Russian director Sergei Podlov, the New Zealand director Martin Campbell, the Canadian director Paul Haggis, the Japanese actor Katsuaki Kurata, the Thai director Prakia Pinkayo and the Chinese actor Xu Fan will be the judges.

  During the 5th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week, all the "Iron Man" honorary shortlisted films will be screened to the audience. In addition, this film week will also bring 4 action film screening units of "Dragon Tiger Martial Artist", "Action Master", "Asian New School Jianghu" and "Women Hero".

  Remember to "respect" the profession

  At the opening ceremony, Jackie Chan International Action Film Week’s promotional film "Original Heart" was released. Directed by director Ding Sheng, "Original Heart" is a moving 70-second video that condenses Jackie Chan’s 65-year legendary life into a subtle insight. Jackie Chan sighs in the film: "I am 65 years old, I don’t want to stop, I just want to look back occasionally."

  Jackie Chan admitted that although Jackie Chan International Action Film Week has gone through the difficult stage of its infancy, it is still a "child" at the age of 5, and the progress has been made thanks to the efforts of the staff and the support of peers, friends and fans. He said that the improvement of the scale and internationalization of the film week has made the review results more professional and credible, which can give due recognition to the colleagues who have worked hard in the field of action movies in the past year.

  At the scene, Jackie Chan also sent Zhu Yilong his autobiography "Old Before I Grow Up" and the new album "I’m Still Jackie Chan", and he also hoped to share his life experience with everyone.

  Implemented the "Ancient Great Wall Protection Plan" this year

  Jackie Chan is not only committed to promoting the development of Chinese action movies, but also actively participates in public welfare undertakings. During the 4th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week held in Datong last year, Chinese filmmakers launched a large-scale public welfare poverty alleviation project "Poverty Reduction Tough Battle – Starlight Action" under Jackie Chan’s advocacy, actively implemented the national poverty alleviation policy, and allowed Da Ai to enter poverty-stricken areas, bringing real help to the people in poverty-stricken areas.

  At the scene, Jackie Chan thanked all the "Starlight team members" for their achievements in the past year. Talking about the "poverty reduction battle – Starlight Operation", which has come to the second year, Jackie Chan said that this year’s "Starlight Operation" will be "Ancient Great Wall Protection Plan" as the theme.

  The 100-person volunteer team of the "Ancient Great Wall Protection Project" also appeared on the stage, and together with the guests on the stage, under the leadership of the flag bearer, Ms. Yuan Jianqin, the ten most beautiful Great Wall guardians in Shanxi Province and the executive vice president of the Datong Great Wall Society, carried out a solemn flag-raising ceremony. Jackie Chan also led all the volunteers to solemnly swear to the cause of ancient Great Wall protection, and the oath of "The Great Wall will never fall" resounded on the scene. In the countdown sound of the audience, the 2020 "poverty reduction battle – Starlight Operation" was officially launched.

  It is reported that the 5th Jackie Chan International Action Film Week launched a series of activities from July 21 to 27. Text/Our reporter Xiao Yang

Andy Lau is afraid of going to jail and does not become a "godfather", and is worried that the "child" will not be ignored

[Click to watch the exclusive video]

Andy Lau is not a "godfather" in Beijing’s "Ring" and is not afraid of "debt"

        Movie Network News(Photo/Qian Jia’s memoir/Xie Yawei) "I don’t like the title of’godfather ‘, and I feel that one day I will go to jail." On May 11, "The Ring" held a media meeting in Beijing. As an investor, Andy Lau appeared with Guo Zijian and Zheng Sijie, two new directors, and Lin Jiadong, the producer. Because of his dedication to the excavation and promotion of new directors in recent years, Andy Lau has been praised by the media as the "godfather" of the new director, but Andy is very resistant to this title, bluntly saying that he feels like a gangster. When talking about the new work he invested in, Andy Lau admitted that it is like his own child. As a parent, he must lead it out to meet people, otherwise it is likely that no one will pay attention. The film will be released simultaneously in mainland China and Hong Kong on June 4.

Andy Lau is unwilling to be a new director "The Godfather" to invest in new films "Not bad money"

        "Crazy Stone" attracted much attention at the beginning of its release because Andy Lau was an investor, and then its own quality made the film "out of control" with Ning Hao and Huang Bohong. Andy Lau has paid great attention to and promoted new directors in recent years. As long as he likes the script, he will invest boldly, so that many newcomers can get a platform to show their talents. Therefore, he has been praised by the media as the "godfather" of new directors. Hearing this title, Andy Lau seemed a little disgusted, "I don’t like the title of’godfather ‘, I feel like I will go to jail one day, too much like a gangster." He said that he can only be regarded as a stalwart, but his strength is limited, and he is very happy that many big companies are now paying attention to new directors.

        In the past, Andy Lau and Lin Jiadong acted in many movies as partners. In "The Ring", the relationship between the two people changed, one was the boss and the other was the producer, so "asking for money" became something Lin Jiadong had to do, "He is a good boss, I will ask him for money, and he was very happy when he signed the check." Andy Lau, the boss, did it very easily. He showed up once when the film was on, and never went to the set after that. "The total investment of the film 8 million, and their budget is very well controlled. After watching the first edited film, I gave them a little money to make them do better." It seems that Andy Lau, the boss, is indeed "not bad money".
 

Alibaba discloses its Hong Kong prospectus: Tmall and Taobao account for more than 60% of revenue

  On the evening of November 13, Alibaba submitted a listing prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The prospectus shows that the funds raised by Alibaba’s IPO will be mainly used to drive user growth and increase participation, help enterprises achieve digital transformation, improve operational efficiency, and continue to innovate. It mentions specific businesses such as Ele.me, Flying Pig, Youku, and cloud computing technology.

  Industry experts point out that Alibaba’s return to the Hong Kong stock market not only allows it to develop its business through new fundraising, but also helps to enhance its influence in the Greater China region and promote the development of its business.

  Alibaba data map, photo by Zhongxin Jingwei

  Proceeds raised will be used in three ways, mentioning companies such as Ele.me and Youku

  Regarding the use of the proceeds raised, Alibaba said that the company plans to use the funds from the global sale to promote the execution of the strategy in three areas: driving user growth and increasing engagement, helping enterprises achieve digital transformation, improving operational efficiency, and continuous innovation.

  Among them, Alibaba specifically mentioned that the company will continue to expand and enhance life services through Ele.me and Flying Pig, and will continue to build digital media and entertainment services through Youku and other content platforms. In addition, cloud computing technology is also a key word that Alibaba has mentioned many times in its fundraising purposes.

  However, the specific issuance plan has not been disclosed in the prospectus this time. According to previous media reports, Alibaba Group plans to issue 500 million new ordinary shares through the global sale and list them on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The issuance includes 500 million ordinary shares and an overallotment share that can issue up to 75 million additional ordinary shares. It is expected to be priced as early as November 20, Hong Kong time. The company’s fundraising amount may be between 100-15 billion US dollars, and the price range is calculated at a 4% discount to the US stock price, around 180 US dollars per share.

  Ma Yun holds 6.1% of the shares, and the company implements a different rights structure for the same shares

  In addition, the prospectus also disclosed Alibaba’s shareholding structure, with SoftBank holding 25.8%, Ma Yun holding 6.1%, Cai Chongxin holding 2.0%, other directors and senior management holding 0.9%, and other public shareholders holding 65.2%.

  In addition, Alibaba also talked about the company’s partnership system in the prospectus. According to the prospectus, in July 2010, Alibaba officially established the Alibaba Partnership, which currently has 38 members.

  According to the disclosure, the members of the organization only have a single class of shares, and each share corresponds to one voting right, but according to the Articles of Association, Alibaba Partners has the exclusive right to nominate (or in limited cases, great men) a simple majority of the board members. These rights are classified under different voting rights structures under the Hong Kong Listing Rules, so Alibaba is considered a company with different share rights structures.

  In the second quarter, more than 60% of Alibaba’s revenue came from Tmall and Taobao.

  On the evening of November 13, the prospectus disclosed by Alibaba in Hong Kong stocks shows that in the fiscal year 2019 (April 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019), the company achieved a total revenue of 376.844 billion yuan and a net profit of 80.234 billion yuan. In addition, from April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019, Alibaba achieved a total operating income of 114.924 billion yuan and a net profit of 19.122 billion yuan.

  In addition to disclosing financial data, Alibaba also showed its commercial version in the prospectus. At present, Alibaba’s main business includes core business, cloud computing, digital media and entertainment, and innovation business. Among them, core business is Alibaba’s main source of income. A total of 323.40 billion yuan in fiscal year 2019, accounting for 85.82% of total revenue.

  In the core business, China’s retail business, dominated by Taobao and Tmall, generates the highest revenue. According to the financial report, during the three months from April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019, approximately 66% of Alibaba’s revenue came from China’s retail business.

  According to the prospectus, the core business can be divided into six specific business directions, namely China retail business (mainly Taobao and Tmall), cross-border and global retail business (Tmall overseas, Koala, AliExpress and South East Asia, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries and regions of the e-commerce platform), China wholesale business (1688.com and retail), cross-border and global wholesale business (alibaba.com), logistics service business (Cainiao network), life service business (Ele.me, word of mouth, flying pig).

  In addition to its core business, Alibaba’s business also includes cloud computing (Alibaba Cloud), digital media and entertainment (Youku, UC Browser, Alibaba Pictures), and innovation (Autonavi, DingTalk, Tmall Genie).

  Ali’s commercial version, the picture is taken from Alibaba’s prospectus

  It is worth noting that in the prospectus, Alibaba also stated that the company has held a total of 33% shares in Ant Financial since September 2019. In addition, since June 30, 2019, Alibaba has made or plans to make equity investments in a total of 24 companies, with a total amount of 38.529 billion yuan.

  Expert: Alibaba’s return to Hong Kong for listing will enhance the company’s influence

  Yang Delong, managing director and chief economist of Qianhai Open Source Fund, pointed out to China New York Matrix that Alibaba’s return to the Hong Kong stock market has three major benefits, one is to make up for the regret of not being able to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the past, and the other is to achieve new financing. Finally, because Alibaba’s main revenue and profits come from China, listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is conducive to further expanding Ali’s influence in Greater China and promoting its business growth.

  In addition, for the possible impact of Alibaba’s listing on the market, Yang Delong believes that according to the current news, Alibaba’s listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will raise 100-15 billion US dollars, which will become the largest fundraising in the history of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Therefore, in the short term, it may indeed bring pressure on the Hong Kong stock market to divert funds.

  "But we can’t just see the role of capital diversion brought by Alibaba’s Hong Kong stock listing. As a representative of the new economy, Alibaba provides new investment targets for Hong Kong stock investors, which helps to attract some investors to invest, thus stimulating the active level of the Hong Kong stock market. In addition, with Alibaba’s return to Hong Kong stocks, it will sooner or later be included in the targets of Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, which also provides a new opportunity for mainland investors, and may also bring new incremental funds to the Hong Kong stock market." Yang Delong said. (China-Singapore Jingwei APP)

  (The views in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. Investment is risky, and caution is required when entering the market.)