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Eighteen-year-old high school student Liu Can braved the bitter
cold of a February morning as she sat outside the Beijing Film
Academy’s Acting Department, patiently waiting for her audition.
Though she’d been shivering for more than three hours, and
the queue in front of her had hardly shrunk, Liu Can remained
undaunted. She kept repeating her mantra in her mind: “One
day, I will step out onto the red carpet at the Oscars, just like
Zhang Ziyi.”
China’s various arts schools love to see such enthusiasm
among the hundreds of thousands of students that are interested
in pursuing their courses every year. Such interest in the arts
helps these schools to push forward their proposals for education
plans, and can boost their reputation when they produce a star.
The Central Academy of Drama received nearly 10,000 applications
in just three days. Meanwhile, the Fine Arts Department of Shandong
Normal University received a stack of applications from 14,000
candidates – which it will whittle down to and accept the
best 270.
You’re a Star
“Young people these days seek stardom. That’s the main
reason behind the rise in popularity of the arts schools,”
explains Zheng Dongtian, dean of the Beijing Film Academy’s
Acting Department. With the rapid improvements in Chinese living
standards, plenty of ordinary people now have the time and the
money to pursue cultural or artistic interests. This demand has
spurred on the development of the culture and entertainment industries.
“The supply of art products, particularly high quality ones,
falls far short of demand,” adds Dean Zheng. The Beijing
Film Academy is the country’s most prestigious in its area,
and it has churned out a host of acclaimed stars like film director
Zhang Yimou and actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li.
Wealth often follows fame. Statistics show that the culture industry
was worth a staggering RMB 1.2 trillion in 2004. When income from
related industries is taken into account, that figure reaches
over 2 trillion. Some experts believe that the figure will rise
to RMB4 trillion in the next five years. Average annual income
in China is currently about RMB 10,000, but these superstars earn
much more. The 2005 Chinese Celebrity List, compiled by Forbes’
Chinese version, includes a number of artists with incomes of
at least several million. More than half of the top ten celebrities
are movie or TV stars. Zhang Ziyi comes in at number two with
an annual income of RMB 35 million.
Another reason behind the rapidly rising popularity of art schools
is that their cut-off scores in the gaokao (National College Entrance
Exam) tend to be lower than those for other universities. Many
students who reckon they won’t make the grade for Tsinghua
turn their attention instead towards the arts. But the reason
why the scores are lower is simple: arts schools recruit on artistic
talent, not necessarily academic prowess. The artistically inept
are often weeded out long before they even write their name on
the gaokao test sheet.
No Cheap Art
Tuition fees in arts colleges are often far higher than those
in other universities – average course fees for undergraduate
arts students amount to RMB 10,000 per year. In some schools it
can be even higher. Last year prospective students for the publishing
design major in the Central Academy of Fine Arts faced fees of
RMB 19,000 a year, or five times those for the average major.
One arts lecturer admits that it doesn’t cost much to educate
an arts student, so plenty of arts schools are making huge profits
from the exorbitant tuition fees. They also rake in a fortune
in application fees – in 2005, an arts school in Shandong
received RMB 4 million in those alone.
“These tuition fees are too high. Even if my daughter passes
the exam, I don’t think I’ll be able to put her through
the entire four-year course.” Says Wang, the mother of a
Beijing Film Academy hopeful, “When you take into account
the dorm fees, living expenses and other costs, it could amount
to more than 100,000 over the four years. I don’t see how
an ordinary household such as mine can afford that.”
But Liu, a parent from Zhejiang’s wealthy city of Wenzhou,
says he doesn’t care how much he has to spend, as long as
his daughter can realize her dream of stardom. The self-made businessman
says, “I know many people are put off by the high tuition
fees in the Beijing Film Academy this year, but money is no obstacle
for me. One young lecturer from the Central Academy of Drama says
that art schools are typically “schools for the rich.”
“Generally speaking, more than 90 percent of arts students
come from wealthy families, and they are used to spending money
like water!”
There’s No Competition Like Show Competition
Zhao Ningyu has been on the judging panel for the Beijing Film
Academy’s Acting Department for a number of years. He says,
“In our school, the first round exam is very strict. Figure,
facial features are all scrutinized, and special attention is
paid to a candidate’s voice. These days, many wannabe stars
have poor voices, because they smoke, drink, and generally burn
the candle at both ends. About 65 percent of candidates are eliminated
at the first round. And only 5 percent of candidates are eventually
accepted.”
During last year’s weeklong National Day Holiday, high school
student Tang Nawei arrived in Beijing from Shandong Province.
She did not come to join in the National Day celebrations on Tian’anmen
Square; rather she came to take special art classes in preparation
for the entrance exams for fine arts. Plenty of other arts hopefuls
joined her – business of this nature is booming. Some spend
the entire summer holidays before their final year being groomed
for these exams by a “mentor,” usually a lecturer in
a related discipline. Tang Nawei started to draw when she was
three years old. Her dream is to study stage art design at the
Central Academy of Fine Arts or the Central Academy of Drama.
“Students these days are willing, or at least have the courage,
to express themselves, and they like to show off their strong
points,” says Hong Bin, a lecturer from Shanghai Academy
of Drama. “But they rarely consider what they will do if
they fail. True actors will be neither overjoyed nor upset if
they should pass or fail, because it is their life’s objective
to pass. If they fail, they will repeat until they pass. This
they regard as natural.” Arts hopefuls should bear in mind
that unless they have true talent, and a real vocation for their
chosen discipline, they might just wind up on the scrap heap.
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