CULTURES SO BEAUTIFUL

Ballet Philippines performing Master Pieces at Tianqiao Theater in Beijing on August 26, 2018.

“Recently I’ve become obsessed with a TV series,” remarked Merry Ann Bastasa, a presenter on a Filipino radio program called Wow China. “Lead actor Hu Yitian is quite handsome, and I also like actress Shen Yue a lot.” She has fallen for the Chinese series A Love So Beautiful, which has been popular in the Philippines after a local station began broadcasting it.

Starring young Chinese actors Hu Yitian and Shen Yue, A Love So Beautiful was introduced to the Philippines in April 2018 by ABS-CBN, a leading media and entertainment network. It was the first mainstream Chinese teen web-drama series to air outside China as well as the first modern Chinese drama to air on ABS-CBN. The Chinese show quickly became a hit in the Philippines. Its ratings reached 15.9 percent, ranking first among ABS-CBN programs in that time slot and 11.8 percent higher than a Filipino series airing on GMA Network at the same time. After its premiere on ABS-CBN, the drama began broadcasting on other channels as well as online video platforms.

Trending Chinese Cultural Products

The success of A Love So Beautiful in the Philippines was not by chance. Since the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative was implemented, Chinese cultural products have been promoted in overseas markets alongside closer people-to-people ties. With the Philippines as an important export destination for the Chinese cultural industry, cultural exchange between the two countries has become a highlight of Sino-Philippine friendship over the last 45 years. Today, new cultural products from China enjoy great popularity in the Philippines.

In addition to Chinese TV series such as A Love So Beautiful and Meteor Garden, TikTok and Kuaishou, video-sharing mobile apps developed by Chinese firms, are also trending in the Philippines. According to China-ASEAN Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, TikTok ranked the fifth in the Philippines’ Google Play store in total downloads from 2018 to 2019. An ABS-CBN survey showed that

@yanyandejesus1 and

@saibrual were the top two TikTok creators in the Philippines. They have earned over a million subscribers respectively and their videos average about 260,000 views each. TikTok and Kuaishou videos also reach a wider audience after being reposted on social networking platforms frequently used by the Filipinos such as Facebook and Twitter.

Web-novel Success

Webnovel, the overseas portal of China’s largest online novel community, has been a commercial success in the Philippines since 2018. Similar to many other book-reading sites, Webnovel collects and publishes serial novels on various themes. Users can search and download or read online from the global fiction hub.

Through Webnovel, the hottest Chinese web fictions are translated into English and reach Filipino readers. Local authors can also post their latest works on the platform. “Readers are becoming familiar with my pseudonym ‘Iynerparel’ on Webnovel,” revealed Albert Parel, a well-known Filipino sci-fi writer. “I am starting to devote more time to web novels, as much as double the time I spend on regular work.” Many notable Filipino novelists share Parel’s sentiments and believe Webnovel provides an ideal online platform to reach readers.

Traffic is another factor behind Webnovel’s success in the Philippines. Manila is one of the most congested cities in the world, and commuters are often bored while stuck in traffic. Webnovel’s “read aloud” function enables content to transform into an audiobook for drivers stuck in traffic.

In November 2018, Webnovel organized its first-ever fan meeting in Manila and launched a web fiction contest with a prize of 100,000 Philippine pesos (US$1,960). The event attracted wide media coverage.

Philippine Culture in China

Philippine culture, including pop music and art, has gained traction in China recently. In 2018, Filipino singer KZ Tandingan became widely known in China after appearing on a talent show singing Anak, a song popular in the Philippines in the 1970s. Her performance was so impressive that the song became known as the Filipino version of Where Did the Time Go, a popular Chinese song about parental love.

KZ impressed Chinese viewers with high-quality rap and diverse singing styles, drawing them to a wider range of original Filipino cultural works. In August 2018, Ballet Philippines, the Southeast Asian country’s premier professional troupe, staged the show Master Pieces at Tianqiao Theater in Beijing as part of a cultural exchange tour in China. A visual feast combining traditional Filipino cultural elements with dazzling lighting effects, the awe-inspiring performance won acclaim for its ingenious choreography and brilliant dancers.

Over the past 45 years, especially after the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed more recently, different forms of cultural exchange have helped the peoples of China and the Philippines better understand each other. With Chinese cultural products gaining popularity in the Philippines and the Filipino culture emerging in China, mutual understanding between peoples is consolidating the friendly relations between the two countries.

Posters for Filipino singer KZ Tandingan.

China Image, a showcase of popular Chinese TV series, in Manila on November 19, 2018.