First episode 89 - 铁血警魂

[rob07]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

Language Difficulty: Advanced

As many would know, later this year political power in China is scheduled to be handed over to a new generation. Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang are in line to take over as President and Prime Minister respectively from Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. Several other spots on the 9 member Politburo standing committee are becoming available, and these prizes are being hotly sought after.

Until recently, a leading contender for a Politburo standing committee spot was Bo Xilai (薄熙来) who is currently the party boss of Chongqing, the largest city in China. A key part of his campaign was a highly publicised crackdown on organised crime in Chongqing. His right hand man in this crackdown was Wang Lijun (王立军) who used to be deputy mayor of Chongqing and head of the city police force. Wang Lijun was previously a policeman in Liaoning province, where he worked with Bo Xilai and apparently had a lot of success in smashing organised crime. So when Bo Xilai was appointed as party boss in Chongqing, he brought Wang Lijun with him to wage war on the city's gangs.

Wang Lijun's exploits in Liaoning were so inspirational, they inspired a TV series. This one, in fact, 铁血警魂. The name is a pun on 铁岭, the Liaoning city where Wang Lijun was police chief.

Things have subsequently turned somewhat sour however. Wang Lijun made an emergency trip to the US consulate in Chengdu, apparently to seek political asylum. He is now of the view that Bo Xilai is the biggest and most evil crime boss in China. He failed to win political asylum, but managed to secure a second prize - he has been sent on "holiday style therapy" (休假试治疗).

It seems like a good time to revisit 铁血警魂. It passes my Chinese TV show authenticity test - no-one drives an Audi or more expensive brand of car, plus it has a nice small town feel to it (relatively - 铁岭 has about 3m people). The cops in the first episode sit around smoking, dumping their trash wherever and generally looking like bums. I'll have to watch a few more episodes to see if the Wang Lijun character manages to sort them out.

Link - http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/n4hWnPyLdNg/