China TV Grows Racy, and Gets a Chaperon

A Date With the Censors: Reality TV shows have become common on Chinese television but the sometimes racy and materialistic content has also attracted the attention of China’s censors.

By EDWARD WONG
NYT

NANJING, China — Wang Peijie’s idea for what would become the most-talked-about show in China was simple: Throw a spotlight on this country’s bright young things as they court each other on stage to pop music and audience applause.

The men boasted of their bank accounts, houses and fancy cars. The women were svelte and sassy, dousing suitors with acid putdowns. But mixed into the banter were trenchant social issues that urban Chinese from their 20s to 40s grapple with, if not always so publicly: living together before marriage, the unabashed pursuit of wealth or the government’s one-child policy.

“Through this show, you can tell what China is thinking about and chasing after,” said Mr. Wang, a veteran television producer.

The show, “If You Are the One,” broke ratings records in the first half of 2010. More than 50 million people tuned in. The sauciest contestants became sensations — one aspiring actress famously rejected a man offering a bicycle ride by saying, “I’d rather cry in a BMW.” The show attracted huge interest from Chinese overseas; some students on American campuses even filmed their own versions. It increased the nation’s cultural influence, which China’s leaders crave.

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