Chinese characters under threat in digital age

TV show is a lesson in culture

An educational television program, promoting the joys of writing in Chinese characters, is doing well in the summer ratings.

The show, Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters, is on China Central Television every August weekend.

In more ways than one, it is giving audiences lessons in character as it displays the intricacies of writing.

"I decided to use handwriting on my cellphone instead of pinyin," Liu Xiaojie, a Fujian province resident, wrote on Sina Weibo after watching the program.

The program gathers 32 student teams from high schools across the country, who compete over 12 rounds to write the best characters from dictation.

Like the popular spelling bee in the United States, this program reaches and attracts a wide audience.

"The US TV program helps merge people from different ethnic groups into mainstream American culture," said Guan Zhengwen, director of Dictation Assembly of Chinese Characters.

"A show that can pass on Chinese civilization through showing Chinese handwriting is needed," he said.