EARTHQUAKES IN CHINA

I’m a natural disasters nerd and even I have to say that that is a very good breakdown for people that don’t know jack about earthquakes. So very well done.

Very interesting piece, thanks for sharing. I think you should consider submitting it as an article (if the subject matter is allowed); it would get more readers that way.

I totally understand. I'm not much into articles myself; one time I tried subscribing to the RSS feed for the MDL articles and, day after day, the overwhelming majority were about Korean dramas, which I'm not really big on, so I cancelled about a week into it. The feeds were a good place for me to pick up on articles that were more appealing to me, but after a recent long absence from MDL, I find it hard to get back into checking feeds.

The commentator badge is super cute :-) 

Thank you for liking the info!  :)    

Here is some more for you and/or for new watchers of c-dramas reading of this discussion.

The earthquake parts (there are two in this drama, and the second one shows how treacherous aftershocks can be, and the risk of associated destructive and life threatening landslides) are what interested me in "A Date With The Future", together with the glimpses about how firefighters are perceived and help public in China. It ties in well with what I witnessed in the not too distant past and in May 2008 when I experienced first hand how a major one felt, from my 25th floor apartment in Beijing when I suddenly felt so queasy that I at first thought it was a heart attack or a stroke. Before noticing light fixtures  swinging from the ceiling. Not really scared since the building was well built according to anti sismic norms, so I was not going to risk to break a leg in the stairs or be stuck in the elevator. I just made sure no gas was leaking in the kitchen and rushed to catch news about where epicenter was reported on TV breaking news. I next joined the hordes who were frantically phoning on mobile phones to check on friends and family in Beijing and in Chengdu. Some had been ordered to evacuate office buildings or universities and regroup in open spaces but most modern buildings withstood the tremors and aftershocks with little damage. 

Not so  in the mountain villages and poorer areas of Sichuan which had too many constructions that disregarded the laws about antisismic building since 1976: some corrupt people had made the schools there  become death traps. The fight against graft and corruption therefore was rekindled in earnest after 2008. But in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, joining the effort for relief donations before the three day mourning was the priority. It was both heart breaking and heart warming to see the rally for help from everyone. In August-September, the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games were an occasion to also remember the victims of the Sichuan earthquake and express solidarity with those new invalids who decided to live on and find new ways to express their dreams.

You can find below more information about earthquakes in China, and the role of the PLA and related corps in these and other catastrophe response, plus some notes about uniforms and which corps wear them. I tweaked in some info about Yang Yang (next firefighter to look for!) and Alan Dawa DoIma (one of my pet divas) who were graduates of PLA schools and colleges, and I end this "essay" with my general views about "A Date With The Future".  If you crave for more, click on the links in blue to relevant articles or snippets of song and videos or for sources to infos and illustrations.

No Give-up In Saving Lives  : Rescuers search for survivors in debris in quake-hit Hanwang Town of Mianzhu City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 17, 2008.

Military Hospital and medics :  The General Hospital of the Chengdu Military Region of the PLA treats large numbers of wounded people on a basketball court on May 12, 2008, after a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit Southwest China's Sichuan province. Remembering also the covid hospital building in Wuhan in 2020. (Most of the temporary and quarantine buildings were later dismantled after the worst was declared over, as the mutations and knowledge of the virus made such efforts moot.)

Another Sichuan earthquake in 2022 : Military members assigned to Garzê detachment of the PAP Sichuan Corps cross a one-rope bridge to rescue the trapped people in Moxi Town of Luding County, Sichuan Province, on September 6. (Photo by Zhang Wenxuan)

Wenchuan or Sichuan earthquake May 12, 2008 : road destruction ; 2011 comparison (BBC Nature and Science 2013)  Wenchuan was the hardest hit area with 23,871 fatalities. Collapsed hospital  in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province earthquake 2008. REUTERS/Stringer 33 tourists from Britain, the United States and France rescued from quake-hit panda town Wolong via military helicopter, and flown to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan (CCTV.com, May 15, 2008)

Collapsed bank building in Beichuan. 2008 Sichuan earthquake (Wikiwand) Toll on the panda breeding base in 2008: Wolong Panda Center was just 7 miles from the earthquake epicenter ; in the destruction,  3 pandas were lost (killed, died from injuries or missing). 15 more dead pandas were found in the wild, while the bamboo forest which was their exclusive food source, had been buried under mud and rubble. 59 precious giant pandas were moved to safety at Bifengxia (about 75 miles outside Sichuan’s provincial capital of Chengdu, in Ya’an) and temporary shelters elsewhere  in China.

First responders in major catastrophes in China are always the PLA or associated military corps associated with the People's Liberation Army. They are trained in everything from herding people away from risky terrain, building temporary bridges, repairing or securing roads and bridges, like when they ferried stranded people away from flood hit areas in July 2021 on military bridge equipment. 

People's Liberation Army Rocket Force soldiers transfer to children to safe places in floods-ravaged Weihui of Xinxiang, Central China's Henan on Thursday. Photo: cnsphoto (Gobal Times July 23, 2021)

Over 8,000 military personnel worked then, in 10 different danger zones around Zhengzhou city, Xinhua news agency reported. Around 160,000 people were evacuated. Click on the picture above for a 5 min feature from India TV (even if you don't speak hindi, the footage tells enough the dramatic story) about the response for that flood catastrophe.

They even handle snow catastrophes, using shovels if need be like in February 2008 (did it again in 2022). Their job involve also emergency setting up tent shelters, field hospitals,  repairing water pipes or bringing in needed water sanitizing equipment, electrical supply, repairing communications, exfiltrating wounded civilians (be they national or not, such as the trapped foreign tourists in the panda base at the time of Wenchuan earthquake), breaking them out of rubble or train wrecks.  Or fight forest fires. They are also involved in prevention such as helping with disease awareness, or planting trees for the battle against pollution.

Chinese soldiers stand on the Yangtze bridge in Nanjing before shovelling snow, January 30 2008. Photograph: China Daily/Reuters

They are highly respected, as a professional military ; and since everybody has to undergo a short stint (two weeks)  military preparation (usually before entering college in September after the gaokao exam in June, when they reach the age of 18-19) ,  every citizen knows what the PLA does.   All males in China have to register themselves for conscription at 18 and join one or several military preparation periods before they reach the age of 22, age at which they can no longer be drafted ; but "in practice, mandatory military service has not been implemented since 1949 as the People's Liberation Army has been able to recruit sufficient numbers voluntarily" (Wikipedia).  Nevertheless, the PLA is not a mild sports club which can be entered for a day and fled when it does not agree with recruit for personal reasons (if an individual dared to do so, fines are hefty and it will entail loss of access to benefits such as enrolment in higher education, cheap medical care etc). 

Bootcamps prepare for all sorts of challenges : reliable soldiers must be able to bear hunger, thirst, diseases, exhaustion, and any types of suffering. But "conscripts" in the PLA (called so whether drafted, voluntarily enlisted, or otherwise recruited)  "are provided with personal allowances, family subsidies, and post-service employment support. If the "conscripts" choose to stay in the force after two years of service, they can become a  non-commissioned officer (NCO), with a higher, regular salary.^["

There are also prestigious special branches of the PLA to recruit dancers and music performers : they have special schools recruiting talents from a young age, such as actor Yang Yang, who was trained in ballet, or Tibetan singer A Lan, who went from the conservatory in Chengdu to get a Masters degree in Music at the PLA school in Beijing. 

Alan at the time of her graduation performance with Han Hong, in Army uniform, was still a nobody, good of course but mostly chosen out of all her colleagues at the People’s Liberation Army academy (PLA) to do the duet because she was Tibetan like Han Hong. Han Hong not only has a beautiful voice but writes her own songs, like the beautiful Sky Road. Yet Alan, with her natural singing voice and her quality PLA training has since risen to become a big star in vocal music. She performed the  Eternity song for the 2015 Journey of Flower OST. Click also to links to her Chinese version of Red Cliff/Chibi/ "kuwon no kawa" song, or the more recent song : Love of Nature reprised within this Tibetan folk-rock medley!

Yang Yang was trained as a ballet dancer in a PLA college in Shanghai. Catch a snippet of his training at 03:51 and other moments signaled  in description  on this video.  Admire his graduation piece of ballet in this other video (but note the music is not the original one, so turn off sound and play simultaneously this tune in another tab). But since the picture of Yang Yang's graduation ballet did not want to stay here,  I put another one of him from his last birthday party, celebrating his next drama as firefighter.   You can also look at him dancing the Dandelion ballet. and reminiscing (subtitled in English).

Men or women  can join the PLA (or related paramilitary corps) after reaching 18 years old, but since it is a hard and risky profession, the system also cause  poor retention of personnel after the two year sign-up. In particular, better-educated personnel tend to leave after their two-year enlistment is up, put off by the harsh conditions of training, the risks, and they are attracted by more appealing options in the private sector.

Commandment would like to increase the percentage of the college candidates to 70 percent (it had already risen from 46.6 percent in 2000 to 56.81 percent by 2020), and not make the a job a refuge for those with less brains than brawn, where lesser educated dropouts acquire skills such as driving and use of technical equipment for their missions (that they can make use of after "retiring" such as becoming security guards for malls, businesses, residences, or chauffeurs, even trusted locksmiths!). Anyway, they don't accept just anybody to join the PLA : not only must grades be acceptable, but physical fitness is a must, which is a concern since many college students are too fat or nearsighted (!).

PLA Navy, Rocket Force Army, Air force ceremonial uniformsPeople's Armed Police (Wikipedia) "To commemorate the history of the PLA, historic gray -- the color worn by the Red Army (1927 to 1937) and the Balujun or Eighth Route Army (1937-1949) from which the PLA evolved -- was fused with the current colors, providing a new pine green for the Army, dark blue for the Navy and deep grey-blue for the Air Force."

PLAGF (PLA Ground Force) infantrymen at a 2015 parade (Wikipedia): New PLAN (PLA Navy) uniforms as of 2015 : "The PLA encompasses five main service branches (军种  jūnzhǒng): the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force, the Rocket Force, and the Strategic Support Force." "In addition to the main service branches, the PLA is supported by two paramilitary organizations: the People's Armed Police (including the China Coast Guard, CCG) and the Militia (including the maritime militia).

evacuation from Sudan, female uniforms. "The Type-21 combat uniforms and work uniforms have been successively distributed to all the military members this winter," introduced Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND), at a regular news briefing on December30, 2021." The blue camo of the Navy (above, picture from RIMPAC 2016, Wikipedia)  has been criticized, but there have also been attempts at introducing new, even fashion minded uniforms, such as these with a T shirt design that proved a hit in sales! "The newly out robot panda T-shirt is very popular on its sales website on Taobao, which is currently ranks number one among all of its products. And the dark blue jacket sold out on Taobao on Sunday." (Global Times, August 2021)

The Type-21 work uniforms take the jacket style. They are divided into spring and winter uniforms, and vary in colors for different military services. Matching with wide (rolled) brim hats, leather shoes and other varieties, they will be used for general daily activities such as office working. (New uniforms 2022)

The different corps have specialties, such as military police and bomb squad to ensure public safety from madmen or infiltrated enemies (like in the 2023 drama "Road Home") while others are firefighters which can be called upon also for other rescuing. (The 2022 drama "Light Chaser Rescue" showed that there are also voluntary units that are not tied to the military, but receive support from donations or from business sponsorships).

In "A Date With The Future", I approved of the firefighters depiction as also liberating citizens from the threat of wasps or hornets nests, or helping citizens catch animals that escaped such as those of the old poultry farmer;  in many other countries, this is not the job or not any longer the job of firefighters and citizens need to pay professionals for such menial "services". But in the PRC it is still within the scope of the "serve the people" ideal. 

Above (click on picture for video of the rescue) : firefighters rescuing a little girl who got her leg stuck in a manhole cover in Guigang, Guangxi, in October 2016.

Btw, international news also relayed how PLA helped to steer and protect the wild elephants that had taken a "vacation" from their nature preserve in Xishuangbanna and went travelling for 17 months on roads and fields almost to Kunming in Yunnan and back again to their preserve, after having borne a calf on their journey...

The 14 elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan province on Sunday night and a path is being opened for them to return to the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Photograph: AP (The Guardian March 2021) 

"A Date With The Future"  was within the scope of the dramas that raise awareness about those who choose dangerous professions for the public good, and the difficulty for them to find spouses who accept the risks despite their parents preferring their children  to marry people with easier and safer office or trade jobs, that allow time off for holiday or sick family care, and weekends evenings at home. This is a common concern for relatives of police or military peace-keeping forces or firefighters in many countries. 

Remembering a conversation I once had with a SWAT policeman in a different country, who had chosen my offer on a shared commute site which I used for long distance driving. Underway, he  expressed his concern about the risks from anti-military people who might target his fiancée and her home, stalk her and leak pictures and address (that's less of a concern in China, where the military and the police are generally respected). There was a need for discretion not only about missions. Among other difficulties was one with insurance companies who do not accept readily to cover the risk from dangerous professions (he was worried in case his fiancée got widowed or needed to tend him as an invalid). 

The love story in the drama does touch on some of these human consequences for firefighters and major catastrophe and earthquake rescuers. But on the other hand, the focus on that love story somehow managed not to totally make this one a masterpiece for me. It was too awkwardly depicted and clearly less from a real experience than from fiction. And though unlikely love stories can indeed really happen, this one is fictional, adapted from "Time As A Promise" novel by Xiao Lu of Jinjiang Literature City, a website that specializes in popular romances for young adults. 

Perhaps I have been spoiled by too many more realistic or torrid love stories  like "Road Home" or "The Forbidden Flower" recently. Some of the firefighting scenes in "A Date With The Future" were clearly marred by the insistence on tweaking in sweet moments. There were repetitions and draggy moments, despite it is still okay overall, so I did not rate it down. But I will abstain from adding a review, : there are enough of them by now, showing the strengths and weaknesses. It is probably a must-watch drama for William Chan fans, but I was not part of the fandom and this one, after 2021 "Novoland Pearl Eclipse", did not win me over either.  Yet, I was not unhappy about this drama, even if there have already been other ones about firefighters in China (such as the Allen Ren Jialun one : 2022 "Blue Flame Assault") , and another one is upcoming "My Fireworks on Earth" with Yang Yang.

(links checked and for some pictures that disappeared, some replaced, May 2024)

Thank you  Yeonjunismymoon for your interest in those infos.  

I was reading your reaction on my mobile phone and noticed some pictures in my previous post did not appear there although they do on my computer. Anyway, the links can take interested people to the pictures (albeit they can be included in a more comprehensive article, that may be time consuming to work through, so that's why I chose to write short descriptions with these illustrations).

About the new drama starring Yang Yang,  previously known as "My Fireworks on Earth",  this has landed on screens today but has been RETITLED  to  "Fireworks of My Heart" including on MDL. It is a Hunan Satellite TV & Mango TV dual-platform exclusive broadcast scheduled for 40 episodes. One commenter on Yang Yang FB international fan club advised that " it’s not on iQiyi in Canada.  It’s on Mango.  But it’s also on YouTube on the YouHug channel."   Another one mentions it is on iQiyi too, in Chinese speaking countries but is georestricted in other countries. If you have the Mango TV app on your phone or tablet, then you can, as of today, watch the first  episodes for free, but will need a VIP subscription after that which is anyway very affordable. half priced at less tha 16USD at the moment for one year.   Times are as follow : 7月5日20:00起，From July 10th, VIP members will update every Monday to Saturday at 20:00 and it will air until July 27.  I checked that it has English subtitles when I started on ep1 which is set in 2019 (but I may move to watch it on download for the next 5 episodes).  

The romance part is about a doctor and a firefighter. Yang Yang plays Song Yan the firefighter who is plagued by nightmares about heavy fighting in camo battledress, interrupted by flashes of a pretty girl...  Vin Zhang Binbin (guest role) is the instructor of the team. I am happy to find again two of my favorite actors in the first ten minutes :)