Old enough to remember when Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out and you suddenly couldn't go anywhere without hearing Bryan Adams, and this kept up for a year or two before he did some flamenco covers for the Don Juan DeMarco soundtrack, and then Western civilization hit its breaking point and decided to revive boy bands instead? Well... Murong Xiao Xiao is the Chinese version of first-stage Bryan Adams. At this point, all evidence suggests her music will continue to play until the heat death of the universe.

On hearing we were covering this song for KTV Wednesday, Echo remarked that "it reminds me of those hair salons where you can get a cheap prostitute... why are you writing that down? Don't quote me on that!" Other places you will hear this include massage parlors, bus stations, hospitals, convenience stores, wholesale bazaars, t-shirt shops near tourist attractions, elevators nationwide, low-level government ministries, the province of Henan, and Western hotels with local staff who have seized control of the music system.

Having trouble viewing this show on Youtube? A China-hosted version of this song can be found on Youku, or by simply searching online for 爱情买卖 ("Love for Sale") by 慕容晓晓 ("Murong Xiao Xiao").

 said on
August 22, 2012
Ah.. finally a cure for the "last song" syndrome. Been hearing this all over the place in Shenzhen, can't help but sing to the tune.

You forgot to include the barber shop, the pharmacy and the China Mobile ringback tone in your introduction. :)

At first I thought the lady said "出买我的爱". I guess the correct tone got masked by the melody. Maybe that is why this song reminds Echo of the hair salon.

Echo -

Interesting use of the phrase 当初. How this differ from 原来 or 本来? Could you please provide some examples of the correct usage of each.

Can 出卖 also mean "betray" as in 我的朋友出卖了我 - "My friend betrayed me."

David -

The pinyin generator seems to output the apostrophe symbol as _APOS_ instead of the actual symbol. I've seen this in other transcripts as well (can't remember which particular one, though - sorry)
 said on
August 23, 2012
Love for Sale: song of the summer!

Echo: quip of the summer!
 said on
August 23, 2012
When the guy starts rapping, I immediately think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjrbmj0CUc
 said on
August 25, 2012
@jasper.obviar,

Good question about 当初.

Both 当初 and 原来 have a same meaning, which is at that time. 当初 is usually talking about an older time than 原来. 本来 emphasizes more on the meaning of original(ly). However, the difference between them is far more complicated than just the meaning.

1.When you use 当初 and 本来, they usually imply that the situation has been changed. For instance: 这里已经看不出当初/本来/原来的颜色了 (Can't tell what the original color was) or 当初/本来/原来我是学日语的,后来学了中文 (I was originally studying Japanese, and then studied Chinese).

2.Usually, we like to put 当初 before or right after the subject of a sentence.

3.本来 has a special meaning: naturally. 你本来就应该今天做完 (You were supposed to finish it today anyway).

4.原来 can be used in a special situation: you discover something you didn't before. 原来是你,我还以为是小王呢 (It's you! I thought it was Xiao Wang).

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
August 25, 2012
Thanks Echo!
 said on
August 26, 2012
Jumping in with a few more comments (correct me if I'm wrong, Echo!):

-as with Echo's example #4, 原来 is used when the speaker discovers something new about a situation that has otherwise NOT changed. So in example #4, it was Xiao Ming ALL ALONG, but only now does the speaker realize. The change is only in the speaker's perception, not in the situation itself.

In distinguishing the difference between these three, I find it useful to equate 原来 with "all along", along it'd be a bit much to translate 原来 as such in all usages; if we dropped "all along" casually in English, it would sound too soap opera-y, no?

- 当初 seems to be used frequently when the speaker is talked about the more distant past i.e. the start of some endeavor (a career, a project).

Good luck, and take my observations with a big grain of salt; I'm no pro.
 said on
August 28, 2012
@zjv5002,

有道理 :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
September 2, 2012
最炫民族风 is a good version. You can also get your old lady 广场舞 to this.
 said on
August 12, 2013
haha, 'until the heat death of the universe'