HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED CGTN?

HAVE YOU EVER WATCHED CGTN?

Finally, followers of this outstanding blog, who have persevered in reading it faithfully over the past six months, are going to be rewarded. I am going to let you in on a small secret that I accidentally discovered about a month ago that will change your TV viewing habits. If you are suffering serious withdrawal from the ending of the Game of Thrones or The Big Bang Theory, I have great news for you. You must first find it on your TV channels and then selectively watch CGTN - the China Global Television Network!

CGTN (China Global Television Network), formerly known as CCTV News, is a Chinese international English-language news channel of the State-owned China Global Television Network group, based in Beijing. In other words, a Chinese television network designed for Western viewers such as me and possibly you. Calgarians who subscribe to Telus can find CCTV on channel 834.

I first stumbled upon a program that turned out to be the best travel program on China that I have ever seen. It was largely filmed from drones in dozens of backwater location in China that I had never heard of before. The photography was stunning and showed me locations in China that were amazing. The show avoided any of the usual tourist sites like Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and Hong Kong. It explored the “unknown to me” more inland and Eastern areas of the country and the sites and sights were truly remarkable. 

Today, I discovered my second incredible show on CGTN. It was the opening night of the Asian Cultural Carnival - an event that I am sure that I can accurately predict that none of my avid fans have ever heard of. The show held in the Beijing Olympic Bird’s Nest Stadium put any Olympic Opening Ceremony to shame. The Asian Carnival or Festival cannot adequately be described in words. Performers from almost all of the countries of Asia from Turkey to the Emirates to India to Tibet to Japan all contributed to the two hour show with some cultural song and/or dance event that was superb. I have never seen a show either live or on TV that was as colourful, with hundreds of performers wearing multicoloured national costumes, originally choreographed, with music ranging from wooden flutes to symphony orchestras and all performed without a hitch. As one example of its complexity, have you ever seen a group of a dozen live horses on a stage, trotting on a treadmill-like floor while dozens of dancers, whirled around them? Pretty hard to imagine and to describe.

Although two examples rarely provide enough evidence of excellence, I am using my two viewings to do just that. See if you can find the channel and then selectively search for similar shows. Much of the programming is devoted to world news, Asian and African news, and local Chinese talk and political shows - almost all in English. Look for the variety or travel features.

The reason for a Chinese TV channel in Canada (North America) is probably two fold. Firstly, it depicts and highlights a China that would be foreign to most North Americans. Secondly, it might contain obvious propaganda programming, but I know that I can skip that and search for any opportunity to learn more about China, its culture, geography and the way of life that exists in China today. Anyone whose mindset of China is based upon peasants dressed in Mao grey tunics or farmers wandering the cities filled with rickshaws, wearing their straw pointed hats, is going to experience a huge awakening. 

Just as Al Jazeera TV has helped introduce the Middle East perspective to our Western world, CGTN is bringing today’s China to us in Canada. Have a peak when you are bored of hockey games or police dramas. You might like it!