Top cultural events of 2013

[Photo by Jian Hua/Asianewsphoto]

4. Writing popular due to Chinese character contest

This summer, many families waited in front of the television to watch the Hanzi Dictation Competition, a CCTV program focusing on preserving and promoting an old treasure – Chinese characters.

There have been fears about the demise of written Chinese. Most fingers are being pointed at the overwhelming use of computers and mobile devices, on which people tend to type pinyin, a system in which Mandarin is written using letters from the Roman alphabet based on pronunciation.

However, it can hardly be called a crisis, as more people have realized the problem and are working on solutions.

Guan Zhengwen, director of the program, said his focus is not on ratings.

"I care more about the cultural influence brought by high ratings. The annual writing carnival is more meaningful than just writing the characters."

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