Trends Health (时尚健康) September 2021 issue
•
MY PARENTS’ WORLD
IS ENORMOUS
Yang Mi
quite envies her parents’ lives. “I always film movies/dramas on the other cities.
So, when I could finally return to Beijing, I would decide not to go out with
friends, just went back home to have a meal. However, when I arrived home,
there was nothing. I asked ‘where’s the food?’ Then, they would reply me and
saying that they were rushing to play mahjong (with friends), so they asked me
to order takeout via delivery app. My parents can arrange their lives very
well; gardening, keeping birds, play mahjong, strolling, buying all sorts of
food/snacks from internet.”
Sometimes,
Yang Mi’s dad would ask her: “Are you coming back to Beijing?”
She
replied: “No, why?”
Her
dad said: “Then, that’s great. I will go to Qing Huang Dao’s beach with your
mum.”
Yang Mi
thought that it was so magical (or funny) as she herself doesn’t even go to
Qing Huang Dao yet. Today, her parents go to Hai Nan. Tomorrow, they will go to
Qing Dao. They even brought the pet cat; Shu Cha’er (branch) with them and she
has nothing to worry about. “Some parents take their children as their
everything but my parents’ world is enormous.”
Since
she was young, she always wanted to keep a cat. She begged her parents for many
times but her house just had too many cute pets; hill myna (or myna bird),
goldfish, grasshopper, tens pots of flowers. So, if she wants to keep a cat,
all of them are in risk. When she continuously brought back Shu Cha’er, Da
Cang, her mum kept nagging: “This cat is so ugly, the head is so small but the
body is so long. You see other people’s cats look so good.” However, the cats
didn’t even understand what she said. When they rub their bodies against her,
she will instantly smile and said, “What do you want to eat? Let me open a can
(canned food) for you?”
“Last time, my mum wasn’t like this”. She imitated her
mum’s voice/tone, “She said ‘if you dare to keep the cat, I also dare to throw
it away’. But now, she will hug the cats and talk to them every day.”
The third cat that she adopted was called Xiao Hei
(lil’ black). When it was just adopted, it was very small, only a palm-sized,
and looking quite pitiful. Now, it grows well and its black fur is very dark
and shiny. It even filmed a commercial film/advertisement with Yang Mi.
Xiao Hei was saved and adopted from 《Storm Eye》(暴风眼) filming set. When the director team was driving on the road, the front was a truck. When the truck braked in a sudden, the smaller vehicles stopped too. But suddenly, a small ball popped out from the roadside too and hid under a vehicle. The driver didn’t dare to drive again. Everyone left the cars and started to look for the cat. At the same time, a traffic cop passed by and asked what they were doing. They said ‘we are looking for a cat’. After a few ten minutes, they rescued the cat out of the bottom of the car and brought to the set. Yang Mi said: “I will keep it as a pet then.”
Probably due to Xiao Hei’s pitiful experience, Yang Mi pampered it a lot. When she simply scrolled her phone, there were many its
photos. “A domestic cat, I still remembered how nervous it was when staying in
my arms.” All her cats were pretty similar – when they are tired, they will
just stay on a corner of the sofa quietly. Filmed 3 dramas, adopted 3 cats, now
her cats are all looking good. Yang Mi made fun of them, and saying that, “They
have a new life by faking an accident.”
•
E-SPORT GIRL
Not
long ago, Yang Mi showed her abs and Mi’s dad said; “My girl still needs to
train for her abs.” Yang Mi disagreed with him, she showed her newly taken
photo, her workout gave a great result.
“I
do not have any excess ‘meat/fats’,” she is already very slim, “just that my upper
arms are a little flappy, they don’t look good.” So, she started to eat salads,
and workout by following the videos from a certain app, without hiring a
trainer. She will do the workout whenever she is free, even in her RV.
When
filming the E-sport show 《Honour of Kings》(你我皆王者) , Yang Mi will get hungry
easily. She could eat 2 bowls of rice for a meal. Although she kept eating
carbs for 3 to 4 days, her weight was still decreasing. – Surprisingly, E-sport
will consume so much energy. After a few days filming the show, she measured
her weight; 43.7kg. The lowest weight ever. Except her pregnancy time, her
weight is always around 45kg.
“At
first I still thought that ‘I didn’t really do anything, just play a few rounds
of the game, why am I so hungry?’. It was because playing E-sport need to use
the brain, it was tiring. Especially when the urge to win was rising, everyone
would pay 100% of concentration.”
When
filming the show for the first day, they already started a 5 VS 5 battle. All
the guests must train in the gaming club too.
Yang Mi’s days were spent with surprises as she wouldn’t know what would
happen on the next day.
Yang Mi
is very familiar with E-sport. She will watch the tournament/competition
whenever she is free. There was a year when she went to watch the competition
at the venue right after attending Shanghai International Film Festival.
“I
know/recognize most of the players. When the trainer was explaining the basic
knowledge, it wasn’t difficult to me. However, most of my teammates were just
playing the game for fun. So, they didn’t know much about the techniques.
Actually, E-sport isn’t relaxing and as easy as how we usually play the games.
It has techniques, strategies, and it is a challenging professional sport.”
In
the show, she made a new friend; Ma Di (马頔) who sang 《南山南》(Nan Shan Nan). In
her daily life, Yang Mi’s Beijing accent wasn’t very heavy but when she met
another Beijing boy in E-sport, “We wore the headset and talked while playing
the game, the feeling of old Beijing people immediately rising. In that few
days, I dreamt back of Beijing Nancheng, I felt like returning to my childhood
time.” Ma Di liked to read manga too. He even recommended several series to
her, and Yang Mi didn’t even know some of them, “For example, the manga I read;
《Gantz》, I didn’t even know there was a second season.”
In
this first half year, Yang Mi watched the kdrama 《Mouse》and a few great movies
too. “When reached home after work and had nothing to do, I would pour a glass
of red wine for myself, put on the face mask, and cast screen to watch the game
live streaming, or sometimes, movies.” In the aspect of living her life, Yang Mi
seems like has inherited from her parents – always able to spend her time
wisely and fun.
•
OBSERVING LIFE
Last year, she had a drama which was not done filming yet,
《Thank you, Doctor》(谢谢你医生). She is still waiting to complete the drama filming.
She still remembered when she trained at the hospital before going to the set,
she saw different kind of patients. She memorized the professional terms,
learnt some skills such as the basic skills during surgery, CPR, and also the
communication skill (with patients). “Doctors will never say their words with
full confidence or confirmation such as ‘I can definitely cure your disease’,
because there are many uncertainties.”
As a medical drama, it itself is more focusing on people’s
stories. “When an old man is illed and he can’t be cured anymore, what is the
reaction or attitude of his family. Some of them might choose to extubate
(remove the endotracheal tube) as they think that it is an extrication for the
old man. However, some people think that they should do whatever they can to
keep the old man, as long as he could stay alive for one more day.”
The story lines are in the mode of having different chapters,
one story and another are flipped over. The male protagonist’s and her
experiences are moving along at the same time. The drama doesn’t include much
romance elements. These years, she didn’t film much sweet romance dramas. “I
didn’t desire it that much anymore,” probably it was due to ageing, she likes
independent and cool female character, or have a realistic and clear love/date,
“《She and Her Perfect Husband》(爱的二八定律) is very great too, it is realistic.”
“As an actor, you need learn to ‘believe’. After filming so
many romance drama, how can you always make sure that you are loving the
partner? One person gives you a glass of water when you sick, always care about
you, you like him; when switching to another drama, it has the similar plot
too, how do you differentiate each of the characters? In order for an actor to
maintain the feeling of freshness (or
excitement), their heart need to have a blank space. And this blank space is
kept for ‘believe’.”
Life has ups and downs, the
predecessors had written them all. To portray a similar story with different
charm/feeling, an actor needs to fuse their feeling into the acting skills.
Yang Mi had discussed this question with many actors, “Acting requires
techniques. For any work, once you are familiar with it, there must be some
techniques. However, when we watched many experienced and professional senior
actors portraying their actings with specific techniques, the stories are still
very persuasive. There is something that surpasses the techniques.”
Yang Mi thinks that it is observing
life. Therefore, she likes to step out of her house and has a walk in her
neighbourhood. At the river near her house, she saw people fishing, a mother
taking care of her child, and even a couple fighting. One day, she bought some
candies from a grocery store, she wore a cap and mask while walking by the
riverside, and there was a couple fighting. She bit the candy while listening
to them for around ten plus minutes. The girl asked why he didn’t pick up the
phone call, the boy said you were being too absurb. Yang Mi thought that this
kind of observation was very interesting. “We always love to study about
techniques. Better to observe the life. Present then present, absent then
absent. Sometimes, you saw the others could act so well, but you just might not
be able to do it.”
Although the characters are similar,
with the increasing of age, one’s experience and feeling have become completely
different. “How teenage understanding love, how the 20+ year-old understanding
love, how 30-year-old understanding love, are completely different. What I can
portray or show up and take action on are always depending on the age and
experience. Always learn (new things) at anytime, anywhere, but I think that
this matter doesn’t have to be told publicly.”
TRENDS HEALTH ✕ YANG MI
TH: Beijing Subway installed the Automated External
Defibrillator (AED). Did you learn how to use it before this when filming
drama?
YM: When experiencing life (training in hospital), the
doctors did explain to me. The procedures are quite easy, there is guideline or
hint for every step. Most of them are just “stupid” machine. When attaching the
AED pads on the patients who need first aid treatment, the machine can analyse whether
they need electric shock or not. However, it can’t completely replace CPR. So,
it is better to carry out both of them simultaneously.
•••
TH: Did you learn CPR too?
YM: What we learnt are mostly related to surgery, then goes
to CPR. Put two hands together, and the fingers of the above hand hold the
bottom hand tightly. It is very important to keep the elbows and arms straight.
The doctors said it is normal if the patients break the ribs because you are
using your whole body’s strength to press the chest. So, when you see someone
doing CPR with the arms bent, it was actually wrong.
•••
TH: Do you care about your family’s cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular health?
YM: They will do medical check-up regularly. At my house,
there are blood pressure monitor and pulse oximeter. Normally, they will use
them by their own. They will always think and plan their own matter. My dad’s
mentality is very good. Many parents take their children as everything in their
life but my parents have their own life and plans.
•••
TH: Do you scare of dentist since
young?
YM: No. I wore braces for 4 years
during my college time. It was lingual braces (braces that were fixed back of
the teeth). My tongue would always push against the braces. So, I couldn’t make
j, q, x sound. The lecturer said I had big tongue, he would say, “The student
from Nancheng in our class, can you speak properly?”. I also had decayed tooth
and wisdom teeth removal. So, I am very familiar with the dental bed, the
drilling and water spraying sound. Dentist is not scary, just get used to it.
•••
TH: Did you notice and pay attention on the news of the
youths being overworked?
YM: Last year, I got eczema. The doctor said it was due to
the decrease in immunity. When I went to the traditional chinese medicine
doctor, the doctor told me that many girls stop their period at the age of 20+
due to heavy work stress and endocrine dyscrasia. When people are young, they
will always dash forward (to achieve their goals), but they should prioritize
their body more than work. Health is always the top priority.
•••
TH: Do you understand the signal released by your body?
YM: Last time, when I was filming, I could sleep for only 10
hours within 3 days. But now, if I didn’t sleep for about 10 hours per day, I
will not feel well. Sleep has become something very important to me. I will
make my phone silent, no one can disturb me, I need to sleep already. Even if
there are thousands of messages, it is none of my business too. Just wait for
me to wake up.