THOSE CRAZY CHINESE

straight up machine

The adoption of all things American is firmly entrenched in Chinese youth culture now - schoolboy heroes are not derived from the classic tales of Chinese literature, but from the NBA leagues of the States, and rather than practicing traditional 武术 (wǔ shù - martial arts), many kids just want to breakdance and body-pop like they've seen on pirate MTV videos. And of course, the ultimate status symbol? A private straight-up machine. Is this some kind of talking device, rendering weak verbal nonsense into hard-hitting prose? Is it a magic machine that sends you straight-up the ranks of the Communist Party? Sadly, such a machine doesn't exist. The straight up machine is....a helicopter! Similar to the 飞机 (fēi jī - flying machine) and 手机 (shǒu jī - hand machine), the Chinese language is incredibly descriptive about what this machine's USP is - it goes straight up.