Tibetan in Japan

Seeing as how it's winter break, I finally sat down and burned my way through all 4 hours of John Woo's Red Cliff. Even though the battle scenes get long at times, this film is a must see for any fan of Chinese history/martial arts/Takeshi Kaneshiro/Tony Leung. But what I found interesting was the ending theme that played during the credits: 心戰 (war of heart) by Tibetan singer turned-avex Alan Dawa Dolma, or just alan 阿蘭 as she is known in Japan.



This is what I thought Tibetan women looked like.

This is what alan looks like.



ok, in all honesty, this is after spending two years in Japan, where the industry does its best to create Ayumi Hamasaki clones. But still, she is pretty darn good looking.

But anyways, this post isn't just about some guy's thoughts about an Asian woman's attractiveness. What's more interesting is the experience that alan brings to the Japanese and Asian music scene in general.

This is the Japanese version of 心戰 which was made for Woo's movie. It's a pretty good example of alan's amazing live performance abilities, and make special note at 1:51, where she uses the "Tibetan Wail" technique. I asked my mom about this, and she says that because Tibet is at such a high altitude, the people as a whole developed a type of projection where they are able to hold high notes at a loud volume. 阿蘭 actually says that Tibetan Wail was something she was born with, and that learning it wasn't hard at all.




(Same person, but in Tibetan clothing)

Anyways, I just want to say that I really admire her talent. Born into a rural community in Tibet, alan learned how to play erhu, attended a music conservatory in Beijing, and then was scouted by avex trax. She learned Japanese in two years, and within that time, got a single on the #3 spot on Oricon. For a Chinese artist, that is a extremely noteworthy accomplishment!

This is the Chinese version of the main theme of Red Cliff part 2. 大江東去 "da jiang dong qu" which I either means "Big River East Flow (Go?)", or "Go towards Jiang Dong". From my limited knowledge of Chinese history gained from playing Dynasty Warriors 6, I know that the Kingdom of Wu was located in the Jiang Dong region.

Speaking of which, my winter break thus far.

1) Watched avatar
2) Watched Up in the air
3) Watched 3 episodes of IRIS
4) Beat Modern Warfare 2 on Hardened, half of it on Veteran
5) Half wrote a resume (<-- productivity ftw!)

Anyways, I hope to update this blog further in the future with little interesting tidbits I encounter. Merry Christmas everyone!

~