Beijing helpless as fans scream for Asia's Fab Four
CHINA has banned a hugely successful Taiwanese teen soap opera, which conservative officials say threatens to corrupt its impressionable youth, amid mass hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania.
Meteor Garden, set in an exclusive Taipei private school, features four rich and beautiful young men, nicknamed F4 (or the Flower Four) who are obsessed with cars, music, girls and intimidating those less fortunate than themselves.
In a typical episode, a girl from a poorer family is the butt of their practical jokes - her mobile phone is coated with glue so it sticks to her hand and she is locked in the washroom. Despite her fury, she succumbs to the charm of one of the F4, who responds to her sincerity - at least till the next week.
The show's emphasis on personal wealth and ephemeral love clearly went too far for the Ministry of Culture, yet the ban means little in hi-tech Asia, where collected episodes will soon be available. The faces of the F4 are seen on television and in ads promoting mobile phones, Pepsi-Cola and sports shoes, as well as computers.
Last weekend thousands of teenage fans besieged a Shanghai shopping centre and sobbed with delight at the sight of Jerry Yen, the macho ex-model with a bad-boy smirk, Ken Zhu, who is looking for a girl with 'inner beauty', and their two colleagues in F4.
More than 10,000 fans had hung around the Xujiahui shopping centre all day, crying 'F4, I love you!' Others clutched photographs of their idols, with handwritten placards bearing their names encircled by hearts.
There were more tears when the event was cancelled after just 14 minutes 'to avoid accidents'. Cultural officials had given the go-ahead, but police decided the crush was too dangerous.
Older Chinese struggle to understand the urban youth culture in relatively affluent cities like Shanghai, which has left behind even those who are only slightly older. 'These young girls with their mobiles and their fan clubs belong to a different world from me,' complains a student in her early twenties.
Sociologist professor Yu Hai attempted to explain why it is a natural phenomenon. 'Young people live in an illusory world of tales and romantic feelings,' he said.
Sun Baohong, director of the Institute for Youth Research, offered a more critical view: 'Morality and culture are going in the direction of vulgarity.'
Meteor Garden, set in an exclusive Taipei private school, features four rich and beautiful young men, nicknamed F4 (or the Flower Four) who are obsessed with cars, music, girls and intimidating those less fortunate than themselves.
In a typical episode, a girl from a poorer family is the butt of their practical jokes - her mobile phone is coated with glue so it sticks to her hand and she is locked in the washroom. Despite her fury, she succumbs to the charm of one of the F4, who responds to her sincerity - at least till the next week.
The show's emphasis on personal wealth and ephemeral love clearly went too far for the Ministry of Culture, yet the ban means little in hi-tech Asia, where collected episodes will soon be available. The faces of the F4 are seen on television and in ads promoting mobile phones, Pepsi-Cola and sports shoes, as well as computers.
Last weekend thousands of teenage fans besieged a Shanghai shopping centre and sobbed with delight at the sight of Jerry Yen, the macho ex-model with a bad-boy smirk, Ken Zhu, who is looking for a girl with 'inner beauty', and their two colleagues in F4.
More than 10,000 fans had hung around the Xujiahui shopping centre all day, crying 'F4, I love you!' Others clutched photographs of their idols, with handwritten placards bearing their names encircled by hearts.
There were more tears when the event was cancelled after just 14 minutes 'to avoid accidents'. Cultural officials had given the go-ahead, but police decided the crush was too dangerous.
Older Chinese struggle to understand the urban youth culture in relatively affluent cities like Shanghai, which has left behind even those who are only slightly older. 'These young girls with their mobiles and their fan clubs belong to a different world from me,' complains a student in her early twenties.
Sociologist professor Yu Hai attempted to explain why it is a natural phenomenon. 'Young people live in an illusory world of tales and romantic feelings,' he said.
Sun Baohong, director of the Institute for Youth Research, offered a more critical view: 'Morality and culture are going in the direction of vulgarity.'
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