Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, October 25 – Mickey and Minnie Mouse are probably the most popular Disney characters in China, although certain Disney princesses are also well known, as well as the more recent movies like Frozen. Mickey Mouse is called 米奇 Mǐ qí, (pronounced Mee Chee) or 米老鼠 Mǐ lǎo shǔ (lao shu is mouse).” Minnie is called 米妮 Mǐ nī (pronounced Mee Nee). The Chinese names are phonetic, and have nothing to do with the actual meaning of the characters (the “mi” means rice, I think it’s a fun thought that they could be “rice mice” in China! :-) ) You find them quite often on young children’s school and art supplies, but although I have searched specifically, I couldn’t find a product with their Chinese names included. I figure it must be something with the copyright laws? There are also plush toys, clothing, etc. with Mickey and Minnie, but it all looks like what you would find in the USA. There has been a Disney park in Hong Kong since 2005, and the first one on mainland China opened this past June in Shanghai. If you’d like to hear Mickey speak Chinese, here is a You Tube video with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsuf_5_8-Ak

In Guangdong, the province where we live, as well as in Hong Kong, the local language is Cantonese, which is quite different from Mandarin Chinese. Here is the same Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Intro in Cantonese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TijzuzYFtqc

The picture shows, from top left clockwise: Dr. “Mi qi” and nurse “Mi ni” on a paper pad, Oil pastels (these are what the children use as crayons), pencil cases, candy boxes (these are obviously a little different but still had Disney), backpacks, and a notebook for English practice. All products pictured are official Disney products.

Winnie the Pooh

I thought it would be fun to show a few more Western characters that are popular in China, so at the supermarket today I went looking through stationery items, children’s books, toys and clothes. Recently, I had seen a little Chinese girl at a restaurant with a Winnie the Pooh book, but when I looked today, I couldn’t find much Winnie the Pooh, although I remember seeing quite a bit in the past. When I looked online for info about Winnie the Pooh in China, I was surprised to find that there was an issue with the government blocking Winnie the Pooh searches last year! Supposedly, an image with a Winnie the Pooh toy ended up being the most censored image of 2015!  I guess someone decided to have some fun comparing the Chinese president to Pooh Bear in numerous images! This ties in with another topic that doesn’t really have a photo to go with it so I’ll include it here…. the “Great Firewall” of China. Censorship is part of life in China. We regularly use a VPN or “Virtual Private Network” to connect to the internet with an American IP address. Otherwise, we couldn’t access Facebook, You Tube, Google, many Western hosted blogs and homeschooling sites and much more! Every so often, the government tightens security and the VPN’s go down for a while…so, if I suddenly seem to stop posting, that’s the problem. It was a challenge getting my post done from the hotel the other night, I had to email myself the picture and post from my phone, on which I have a mobile VPN. So, I’m not posting any links, you’ll have to look for yourselves if you’re interested in reading more or seeing the picture. Oh, and back to Pooh Bear, he is called 维尼熊 Wéiní xióng (pronounced “way nee she ong”) or Winnie Bear, and he IS loved by Chinese children :-) These pictures show Winnie used on a fruit yogurt drink packaged for children and a small plastic bag I had gotten from a little shop.