Zhang Qian

zhqcindy@163.com

AFTER becoming an online sensation for their video of the English-language rap song, “This is China,” Luo Jinhui and three other rappers were recognized with awards as the country’s rising rap talents, not just due to their rapping skills, but also the things they rap about.

The lyrics to this patriotic rap song go, “Regardless of all the prejudice in the past, today I wanna restore the impression you have of my country, China, which has been exactly fabricated by media for a long time” and “This is China. We love the country, we the Chi-phenomena. The red dragon ain’t no evil, but a peaceful place. The beautiful land with rich culture remain.”

Yesterday afternoon, Luo and another rapper from CD REV, Tan Junwen, came to a school in Longgang District to share stories about how they compose their rap songs and to advocate for Chinese youths to take the advantage of the Internet and pass around positive energy.

“We felt so wronged when some top foreign media described our rap as ‘the most painful song ever recorded’ and ‘Party propaganda rap,’ but our intention in the first place was just to express our love and understanding of this country directly in English,” Luo shared his thoughts with over 600 Grade-12 students from the Central China Normal University Affiliated Longgang High School.

“The foreign media that interviewed us said we were brainwashed, but we are actually not,” said Luo in his 10-minute speech. “I believe that young people in China should be confident about our country and culture.” Each member of the group was born in the 1990s.

Like Luo and his bandmate, another six speakers, including a cybersecurity volunteer, an animation cartoon producer and an international computer game champion, shared their creative online productions that aim to create a safer and more positive cyberspace.

Another speaker, Zheng Ying, is the operating manager of a Shenzhen-based new media company known as Baozhoumanhua. The company creates funny videos, stickers and cartoons that have been popular among youths in China since a few years ago.

In Zheng’s speech, she mentioned that although all of the productions are funny, some even foolish, all of the content is aimed at showing something positive and making people happy.

“There are many key words used by our audience to describe our productions, but I particularly like these two: creative and positive energy,” said Zheng.

According to Zheng, the company has also organized many campaigns to care for and support disadvantaged groups.

“When we try to care for those who are in need of help, we don’t simply offer material goods to them, we play with them, joke with them and make them feel relaxed and happy, just like our funny stickers do,” said Zheng.

A professional game player going by the alias “Amazing J” is regarded as an idol among many teenagers for his high-rank in playing the game “League of Legends.” His appearance at the sharing session attracted rounds of cheers among the students.

Amazing J shared from his experience joining international competitions as a professional player. He said that playing a computer game does not mean getting obsessed with the game and abandoning the world. Playing games with a good sense of self-control can have a positive effect on a person’s life and study, said the professional game player.

The sharing session was organized by the Central Youth League Committee and Cyberspace Administration of China. The seven speakers were selected as role models for sharing positive and uplifting messages on the Internet.

The local school was their first stop in Shenzhen. Another session will be organized at Shenzhen Metro Group today, followed by more sessions throughout China.

Jin Lin, chief of the publicity department of the central league, said that a safe and positive cyberspace for youths is essential as young people are easily affected by negative moods or extreme behaviors they learn on the Internet.

“Data shows that among all netizens, 80 percent are youths, which means that a safe and uplifting Internet environment is crucial,” said Jin.