Chinese Culture Fetish?

Chinese (Mandarin) language has been a nearly a lifelong pursuit of mine. It started when I lived in Singapore for 2 years and began adapting to the language by reading a comic called "Little Ding-Dong."

I was forced to study Mandarin every single day and did poorly at first, being no match for the native speakers there. I flubbed sentence-reorganization problems in particular:

Soon, I discovered the world of Chinese soap-operas. Mandatory tuning-in at 3 p.m. every single day gave me more exposure to the language and culture in Singapore. The English subtitles really helped me understand harder terms. I soaked it up; it was also a form of escapism from the pressures of primary school competition--that kids there took rather seriously.

As two years whipped by, I found myself moved from 5th place in third-grade to 1st place when I finished fourth grade. My essay skills had improved so much somehow because of a combination of reading Little Ding-Dong and indulging in my daily soap-opera fest.

I moved back to the States in 6th grade and was forced to enter something Chinese-American kids know as Chinese School. For seven years, I wasted 3 hours every weekend listening to someone's mom or dad attempt to educate a class of apathetic ABC's who couldn't, wouldn't, and just didn't give a damn about their ancestral language. They wanted to go to the mall and hang out. So either due to other kids' total disregard for Chinese School, or just because I was seriously interested, I took first place in class every single year I was enrolled in Chinese School. I had enrolled in a total of 5 different Chinese schools. I won speech and poem recital contests too, which encouraged me even more. I felt superior and freakish at the same time.

Some of the areas I adore most are the idioms, "cheng-yu". These sayings are used commonly among the educated population. They are often the gauge of one's scholastic abilities. The more complex and deep cheng-yu's you know, the more educated you are judged to be. But personally, I think these idioms are just beautiful. The way a complete feeling or situation is expressed by these few words gives it an ancient, timeless touch. Some selections I consider useful and aesthetic are:

I continued my love for Mandarin soap-operas. Varying from country to country, most have subtitles in either English or Mandarin. It is a great way to learn practical Mandarin, since these programs are aimed at the masses and vernacular Chinese is the main mode of communication. Still, certain shows I've watched have educational value, and also teach idioms and beautiful phrases. Some of the ones I found memorable are:
刺 馬 　
射 鵰 英 雄 傳
芳 草 斜 陽 外
青 青 河 邊 草
望 夫 崖
戲 說 乾 隆
大 紅 燈 籠 高 高 掛
汪 洋 中 的 一 條 船
煙 雨 蒙 蒙
蒼 天 有 淚
包 青 天
一 廉 幽 夢
燕 雙 飛
環 珠 格 格
三 國 演 義

For awhile, I listened to Mandarin popular music from Taiwan. Immersing myself in music was also conducive to absorbing vernacular Mandarin. They also helped me improve my writing ability, since many descriptive and colorful phrases are used repeatedly as lyrics. Developing a liking for certain songs helped familiarize my ears with the way phrases and words are pronounced. I also listened to my parent's oldies, which had even prettier lyrics. Some choice songs:
問 --陳 淑 華 (Question-ShuHua Chen)
紅 豆 --王 菲 (Red Bean-Faye Wong)
背 包 --蘇 有 朋 (Backpack-Tommy Su)
星 光 依 舊 燦 爛--小 虎 隊 (Starlight is Ever Bright-Tiger Clan)
是 不 是 這 樣 的 夜 晚 你 才 會 這 樣 地 想 起 我 --吳 宗 憲 (Do you think of me on nights like these-Jacky Wu)
明 天 你 是 否 依 然 愛 我 --王 芷 蕾 (Will You Still Love Me Tommorrow-ZhiLei Wang)
總 有 一 天 等 到 你 --美 黛 (One day-Mei Dai)
想 牽 你 的 手 (To Hold Your Hand)
我 等 到 花 兒 也 謝 了 --張 學 友 (Waited Until the Flowers have Fallen-Jacky Chang)
你 知 不 知 道 --張 學 友 (Do You Know-Jacky Chang)
如 果 愛 是 --蘇 慧 倫 (If Love Is-Tarcy Su)
　 變 得 堅 強 --蘇 慧 倫 (To Be Stronger-Tarcy Su)

Although I do not engage in it as much as I would like to, Chinese books are wonderful to read. Some books I've read are mostly the ones that were made into soap-operas. Reading Chinese literature is probably the best way to improve your reading and writing, as well as speaking skills. It simply gives you more to work with. Some good books I've been able to read:
螢 窗 小 語 --劉 庸
彩 霞 滿 天 --瓊 瑤
六 個 夢 --瓊 瑤
環 珠 格 格--瓊 瑤
煙 雨 蒙 蒙--瓊 瑤
生 活 漫 談 --羅 蘭
射 鵰 英 雄 傳--金 庸

Another aspect that gives Chinese its magnificence is the poetry. Particularly from the Tang dynasty, are poems so breathtaking that I took a few summers to memorize them with my mom every morning. Poems are where most of the complex Chinese originates. A form of Chinese called "Wen-yan-wen" is deeper level than most people are acquainted with. Most people don't really use that form, but again, it shows academic scholarship and is therefore desirable in Chinese culture. I find it fascinating and poetry just sounds better to me in Chinese. A few examples of these are: