Twisted Tongues

China's cultural progress in the year 2012 can be summed up with eight words: weibo (microblog), diaosi (commoners), yuanfangti (a Yuanfang-like inquiry), shejian (tip of the tongue), yangsheng (keeping fit), shisanchai (13 hairpins, from a movie title), shige (poetry), and yuedu (reading).

Together, these words are key points on China's cultural roadmap. True, the roads are littered with potholes. But surveying the context and social phenomena associated with each word can help us read the map. We can see where we've traveled, and where we're going.