Among this summer’s television hits in China has been “Sisters Who Make Waves”. The show involves 30 female celebrities over the age of 30 competing for a spot in a five-member band. Viewers watch them train, perform and live together. Five hundred women, picked at random, get to vote for their favourite. Within three days of its airing in June, over 300m had watched the first episode on Mango tv, a streaming app owned by the state television network of Hunan, a central province. Social-media sites brim with praise from young feminists for these somewhat older role models.
在今年夏天，中国最火的电视节目当属《乘风破浪的姐姐》。该节目由30位30岁以上的女明星为组成五人女团的一席之地而竞争。观众们可以看到她们训练，表演和一起生活。随机选出的500名女性投票票者将选出她们的最爱。在6月份播出的三天内，超过3亿人在芒果TV上观看了第一集。 而芒果TV则是中国中部省份湖南的省电视台旗下的一个APP。在社交媒体上全是年轻的女权主义者对这些稍微年长一些的明星榜样的称赞。
Making waves is what Hunan Broadcasting System (hbs) does best. It is the most-watched television network after China Central Television (cctv), the state broadcaster—and occasionally surpasses its ratings. That is striking for an outfit run by the government of a province that is better known as China’s largest producer of rice and the birthplace of Mao Zedong.
对于湖南广播电视台（hbs）来说，制造浪潮可是它的拿手好戏。它是仅次于中央电视台（cctv）的收视率最高的电视台，有时甚至超过其收视率。对于一个以最大的大米产地和作为领导人的故乡而闻名的省份来说，政府能完成这样的成就是令人称道的。
But Changsha, the provincial capital, has become a font ofChina’s popular culture. It is home to over 12,000 companies involved in creating it. They employ one in eight of the city’s workers. By one official calculation, no other sector contributes more to Changsha’s wealth. In 2017 (the most recent year for which figures are available) creative and cultural industries generated 9% of the city’s gdp—a proportion twice as high as their contribution to national output. At their heart in Hunan is a broadcaster with a knack for cranking out programmes that are watched throughout China. In 2018 hbs’s affiliates produced six of China’s best-liked costume dramas and eight of its most popular songs.
但是，长沙，作为湖南的省会，已经成为中国流行文化的代表。在那里有超过12,000家公司在参与创造这种文化。他们雇用了该市八分之一的劳动力 根据官方的统计，其他领域所贡献的财富价值都不能与之匹敌。在2017年（可得到的最新数据），创意和文化产业创造了该市GDP的9％，这一占比是其对全国生产总值占比的两倍之多。在人们心目中，湖南就是一家电视台，就是擅长制作让中国各地人群收看的节目。在2018年，湖南电视台的分支机构制作了六部中国最受欢迎的古装剧和八首最受欢迎的歌曲。
Changsha’s standing has turned its biennial “Golden Eagle” awards into one of China’s three most prestigious prize-giving ceremonies for tv stars. By gdp per person, Hunan ranks 16th among China’s 31 provincial-level regions. But its 67m people are the country’s fifth-biggest spenders on culture, education and entertainment.
长沙的地位使其两年一度的“金鹰奖”成为中国三大最负盛名的电视颁奖典礼之一。按人均gdp计算，湖南在中国31个省级地区中排名第16位。但湖南的6700万人口在文化、教育和娱乐方面的消费可以在中国排到第五。
Hunan’s journey to national pop-culture prominence began in the 1990s when the provincial broadcasting authorities created a satellite tv station with licence to try something new. It produced lively news reports, a celebrity-led variety show called “Happy Camp” and even a matchmaking programme. By 2000 hotels in Beijing were luring guests with placards boasting, “We have Hunan Satellite tv”, the New York Times observed at the time.
湖南在全国流行文化的成功之路始于1990年代，当时省广播局创建了一个卫星电视台，并获得许可去尝试新的事物。他们制作了生动的新闻报道，由明星主创的综艺节目“快乐大本营”，甚至是相亲节目。在2000年时，《纽约时报》就观察到，在北京的酒店已经用标语“我们有湖南卫视”的招牌吸引客人。
Hunan tv was the first network in China to try broadcasting for profit. That led it to focus on entertainment, a priority which helped it avoid political mistakes, as Wu Changchang of East China Normal University has noted. According to Mr Wu, Hunan tv struck a delicate balance between winning the love of viewers and approval from the Communist Party, which is a “prerequisite” of commercial success in China.
湖南卫视是中国第一个尝试通过电视广播来赚钱的电视台。华东师范大学(East China Normal University)的吴昌昌(音译Wu Changchang)指出，这使得湖南卫视能专注于娱乐，这有助于避免政治上的错误。吴表示，湖南卫视在赢得观众的喜爱和党的认可之间取得了微妙的平衡，而后者则是在中国取得商业成功的“先决条件”。
Hunan tv’s ability to experiment matters for the development of Chinese broadcasting. Li Shuwan, a former presenter at the station, says the province is a training ground for much of the country’s television talent. Industry insiders call Changsha the “West Point” of China’s cultural-entertainment industry.
湖南电视台开展新尝试的能力对中国广播电视的发展至关重要。该电视台的前主持人李书万说，该省是中国大部分电视人才的训练场。业内人士称长沙为中国文化娱乐业的“西点军校”。