Megan Shank is an editor, writer and translator living in Shanghai, China.
I’ve been working with a talented intern who writes Chinese copy that I edit and tweak in Chinese before translating and rewriting in English. Then she modifies the final Chinese product. Below, I include the English version of a sidebar that ran in April’s Enterprise section.
CSR: Where Do We Go Now?
By Sarah Chen
Only two [...]
I INTERVIEWED TIAN HAOJIANG IN CHINESE FOR OUR NOV. 2007 LAST WORD. THEN I TRANSLATED THE CONTENT INTO ENGLISH.
LAST WORD
TIAN HAOJIANG
During the Cultural Revolution, 15-year-old Tian Haojiang furtively rooted through an underground Beijing bookshop and discovered his first book of poems – a collection authored by Li Bai. Covertly, he set about memorizing lines that [...]
TO COMPLEMENT A STORY BY THE AMERICAN NEWSWEEK THAT WE TRANSLATED FOR OUR JULY PUBLICATION, WE HIRED A WRITER TO DO A LOCAL STORY ON TRANSGENDER ISSUES. SHANGHAIIST ALSO WROTE SOMETHING ABOUT TRANSGENDER TODAY FOLLOWING A BIT OF NEWS FROM SHENZHEN. I EDITED AND TRANSLATED OUR STORY.
Society
When He or She Becomes She or He
By Gubo [...]
I’D WORKED WITH THE WRITERS TO SHAPE THIS STORY FOR A MONTH OR TWO BEFORE WE FIGURED OUT IT WOULD MAKE A BETTER GOOD LIFE PIECE THAN PERISCOPE PIECE, AND WE CHANGED IT ACCORDINGLY. IT RAN IN THE JUNE EDITION.
Polo Picks Up
Giddy-up! The rider drives his foot into the horse’s belly and raises his [...]
THIS WAS A PIECE I WORKED WITH TWO WRITERS ON — SUMMER BLOCK IN SH, PHOEBE XIA IN BJ. THEY WROTE IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, SO I ALSO HELPED TRANSLATE, ETC. RAN IN JUNE EDITION.
Business
Partying Like It’s Their Business
On a Saturday afternoon at Beijing’s China Grand Hotel L’evenement’s chairman assistant, Yang Nan, is marshalling an [...]
EDITED and TRANSLATED FOR JUNE EDITION.
Society
We Are “Friends”
Ge Chunyan is part of the first wave of “researchers” of the American show Friends. She likes to observe what the main characters eat. Joey enjoys sandwiches, and Ge Chunyan can name every jam that Monica stores in the fridge. During her last semester at Chongqing University, Ge [...]
A PERISCOPE PIECE FOR OUR MAY 2007 MAGAZINE. SHI DOES WONDERFUL PIECES FOR US.
Periscope
Beijing Art Walk
By Shi Yun
Currently, art activities in China often tend to go one of two ways: snobby or insurmountable. Art Walk Beijing, which first debuted March 10 at Dashanzi Art District in Beijing, has defied that limitation. American-born Chinese Ouyang [...]
FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS WITH THE WRITER. WE COULDN’T WRANGLE THE BEAST. FORTUNATELY, WE TACKED IT DOWN FOR OUR MAY 2007 ISSUE. MY TRANSLATION, FOLLOWED BY THE ORIGINAL CHINESE.
Why Does the Railroad Hesitate to Advance?
In the Chinese version of Monopoly, the train stations — whether Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai or Chongqing — are all evenly priced [...]
THIS IS A BOOK REVIEW WE DID FOR MAY. I EDITED CHINESE AND TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH.
The Lover’s Lover
Marguerite Duras’ novel “The Lover,” the author’s most well known work in China and the subject of a film, tells the story of a torrid love affair between a French girl and a Chinese man set in Vietnam. [...]
FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT’S MAY ISSUE. I HAD TO PURSUE WANG SHUO FOR ABOUT A MONTH. I INTERVIEWED HIM IN CHINESE, BUT I TRANSLATED THE Q&A.
Q&A
Wang Shuo
The notorious punk lit writer Wang Shuo won’t let you call him an author any more than he’ll allow you to label him an addict. In a rare interview, [...]
THIS IS A TRANSLATION I DID OF APRIL’S LAST WORD WITH DIRECTOR WANG QUAN’AN. AFTER MAY’S ISSUE IS OUT FOR A FEW WEEKS, I WILL PUT UP MY LAST WORD INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR WANG SHUO. FORTUNATELY, WANG QUAN’AN IS A TAD MORE CONSTRUCTIVE THAN WANG SHUO, THOUGH BOTH MEN FASCINATE ME.
好电影要有力量
Good Movies Need Strength
今年大年初一，中国导演王全安的《图雅的婚事》获得了柏林国际电影节金熊奖。王全安的作品都是反映当前的中国社会现实，重视真实感和纪实性。这次得奖，实现了他部份追求观众认同的理想。在他工作地点附近一家他喜爱流连的咖啡厅，王全安与《新闻周刊 中文月刊》的周敏见了面，谈到他对电影的取材、人物塑造和未来目标。
On [...]
APRIL EDITS AND TRANSLATION.
中国元代画家谢楚芳的《乾坤生意图》在流失海外多年后终于有机会探望“娘家”，陪伴这件珍宝“海归”的还有包括皂石关帝雕像、《牡丹蝴蝶写生图》以及多件景德镇出产的精美瓷器。上述共15件“华裔”血统精品正连同大英博物馆其他102件馆藏，于中国故宫博物院午门举办的大型综合性展览《英国与世界——1714～1830》中展出，直至今年6月。
故宫博物馆展览部副主任马继革表示，这是故宫博物馆与大英博物馆这两个世界著名的博物馆的首次合作，当中的《乾坤生意图》更是大英博物馆于1998年花巨资从英国私人收藏家手中购得的。马继革说：“大英博物馆相信该画卷是迄今为止，英国人最早收藏的中国绘画作品。我们这次的合作，就是想让中国人也能看到我们国家的艺术精粹。”
这个展览的主题是讲述英国在汉诺威王朝，于乔治一世至乔治四世（1714-1830）期间，如何从一个偏远岛国步步崛起，进而一度成为世界近代历史的焦点。展品中除了回来省亲的中国文物，还有一件在该段时期英国贵族从景德镇定制的“墨彩镀金盘”，上面描绘的都是希腊神话故事。以及一件上面印有中国清朝官员人物图案，但却产自18世纪英国本土的咖啡壶。来自天津的游客田丽说：“我从没有想过英国欧洲宫廷和上流社会这么喜欢中国的东西。”撇开历史，艺术创造和艺术分享无国界这事一点不假。
－周敏
Chinese-blooded Artifacts Visit Homeland
After being lost overseas for many years, Yuan Dynasty painter Xie Chufang’s “The Universe Gives Birth to Intent” finally has a chance to return home for a visit. Accompanying the treasure are 14 other high-quality Chinese artifacts, including a saponite Guandi statue, a peony butterfly sketch painting, as [...]
Newsweek Select, March 2007
These little translations are fun to do. The process with them is that I find the writer, we choose the city, I work with the writer on the copy and edit the Chinese for ideas and structure and then I translate the piece into English.
4 Hours In
西双版纳地处彩云之南,它就连名字都充满少数民族的神秘色彩。
Situated in the southern region [...]
Newsweek Select, March 2007
This is an excerpt of some of the translation I did last month. This piece was originally written in the States’ version of the magazine. About 60 percent of our articles are done this way while the other 40 percent is local content. We supplement the articles from other international editions with [...]
This one was for books. I didn’t think the headline translated very well, so I sort of did what I could.
Book
A Painful Happiness
Since the beginning of time, the heavens have envied talented mortals. Elizabeth Swados, an active individual within the United States’ art circle, is no exception to the rule. From the age of [...]
TRANSLATION FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT
“Haigui”(graduates returning to China from study abroad) face new pressure as they increasingly fall out of favor in the domestic employment market and become yet another part of China’s labor seeking demographic
With reporting by Zhou Min and Tian Fawei
After graduating from high school six years ago, Chen Jie left his home [...]
TRANSLATION FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT
The CAAC and EACCA merger might put the chaotic Chinese air cargo market on track.
By Xi Yue (Beijing)
“It’s not alright to not merge. Merging, despite the possibility of producing many potential problems, will more likely create new opportunities,” says air transportation department head of China Civil Aviation University, Cao Yunchen, commenting on [...]
TRANSLATION FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT
A soccer team must unify thought and action to maximize its ability to compete. British business consultant and public speaker Theo Theobald and former president of the British Academy of Management Cary Cooper believe enterprise management is no different. Their book, “The Beautiful Game,” vividly illustrates how winning soccer strategies may be [...]
TRANSLATION FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT
Drug advertisements and the latest products they tout are omnipresent, but are these new drugs better than those previously on the market, and are they really making us healthier? Harvard University senior lecturer Marcia Angell’s “The Truth About the Drug Companies,” reveals the shocking inside story of America’s pharmaceutical companies. During the [...]
TRANSLATION FOR NEWSWEEK SELECT
The first few weeks at a new job can be nerve-racking—especially if it’s your first job. Here are some office etiquette tips from Anita Landau, a consultant of Hudson Recruitment in Shanghai:
*Be punctual. Being on time shows that you respect your company and your job. If you are late, call your superior [...]