Taiwan is the last bastion of Chinese folk religion as practiced for thousands of years. The island is full of temples dedicated to various deities, but the Chinese being a practical people, many temples also acknowledge the Buddha and Taoist practices.
When I was living there in the early 1980s, I was told the religion was dying fast. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only did I meet quite a few young college students practicing Buddhist meditation, but the Taoist temples were constantly full of people paying respects to their ancestors and burning incense for good fortune. Every shop and restaurant has a little shrine (and you will see them in many Chinese restaurants around the U. S., too.
As for The Teenage Psychic, it does venture into supernatural territory that is not necessarily part of everyone's belief system, but I will say, I met spiritual teachers ("laoshi" was how they addressed Kim in the show, meaning "teacher") who had remarkable perception and, in a few cases, they inexplicably knew things about me and my friends that rationally speaking they should have no way of knowing.
I've watched this first season several times, to practice Mandarin (though, they shift often between Mandarin and Taiwanese, which is an older dialect descended from Fujian dialect spoken by settlers from the mainland).
The protagonist, Xie Yazhen, or Xiao Zhen as everyone calls here (it means little Zhen, a term of familiarity in Chinese), is sympathetic and complicated. She's trying to juggle her life as a fantastically gifted temple medium who can see and speak with the dead, and her other life as a 16-year-old high school junior.
Her relationship with Teacher Kim is also complicated; she lost her father when very young, and her mother lives abroad to earn money. Thus he is a father figure, and the two bumbling acolytes are like her older brothers. They interact with charm and humor, sometimes in frustration, much like a real family.
Where Xiao Zhen really shines is when she is channeling the dead to comfort a mourner seeking solace. This is a pretty heavy responsibility for a young girl (she's been doing this for years); it's hard to imagine doing that while simultaneously dealing with hormones and boyfriends.
There are a few convenient plot devices to move the story along, such as the tragic death of a major character in a traffic accident, which I consider a cheap trick. I found Xiao Zhen's girlfriend's shrill voice and constant preaching annoying. The school seemed pretty realistic; I've visited high schools in Taiwan and they are a bit run down, but the students are generally quite obedient and respectful toward authority, as depicted here.
I've only watched the first couple of episodes of S2, and have little desire to continue. They should have stopped with 1 because 2 is literally a repeat, even bringing back the ghost of the dead boy as a cheap trick, and other characters dead or moved away (because the actors were unavailable). Lacking in the imagination and charm of the first season. You can watch just the first season for a complete experience.
When I was living there in the early 1980s, I was told the religion was dying fast. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only did I meet quite a few young college students practicing Buddhist meditation, but the Taoist temples were constantly full of people paying respects to their ancestors and burning incense for good fortune. Every shop and restaurant has a little shrine (and you will see them in many Chinese restaurants around the U. S., too.
As for The Teenage Psychic, it does venture into supernatural territory that is not necessarily part of everyone's belief system, but I will say, I met spiritual teachers ("laoshi" was how they addressed Kim in the show, meaning "teacher") who had remarkable perception and, in a few cases, they inexplicably knew things about me and my friends that rationally speaking they should have no way of knowing.
I've watched this first season several times, to practice Mandarin (though, they shift often between Mandarin and Taiwanese, which is an older dialect descended from Fujian dialect spoken by settlers from the mainland).
The protagonist, Xie Yazhen, or Xiao Zhen as everyone calls here (it means little Zhen, a term of familiarity in Chinese), is sympathetic and complicated. She's trying to juggle her life as a fantastically gifted temple medium who can see and speak with the dead, and her other life as a 16-year-old high school junior.
Her relationship with Teacher Kim is also complicated; she lost her father when very young, and her mother lives abroad to earn money. Thus he is a father figure, and the two bumbling acolytes are like her older brothers. They interact with charm and humor, sometimes in frustration, much like a real family.
Where Xiao Zhen really shines is when she is channeling the dead to comfort a mourner seeking solace. This is a pretty heavy responsibility for a young girl (she's been doing this for years); it's hard to imagine doing that while simultaneously dealing with hormones and boyfriends.
There are a few convenient plot devices to move the story along, such as the tragic death of a major character in a traffic accident, which I consider a cheap trick. I found Xiao Zhen's girlfriend's shrill voice and constant preaching annoying. The school seemed pretty realistic; I've visited high schools in Taiwan and they are a bit run down, but the students are generally quite obedient and respectful toward authority, as depicted here.
I've only watched the first couple of episodes of S2, and have little desire to continue. They should have stopped with 1 because 2 is literally a repeat, even bringing back the ghost of the dead boy as a cheap trick, and other characters dead or moved away (because the actors were unavailable). Lacking in the imagination and charm of the first season. You can watch just the first season for a complete experience.
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