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Green, hip, and fun, this husband-and-wife team invigorates Dalian radio waves with a tangy taste of modern China . Programming seven evenings a week of eclectic music and lively discussions on modern life and fashion, Caroline Gao and Wai Chung have established themselves as an inseparable part of Dalian radio life. Gao and Chung’s show features soothing music of all languages, and hosts discussions of popular concerns of modern life, including health and nutrition, environmental issues, and philanthropy.
"I believe that it is important to broadcast things you love, and to be passionate about what you do," says Gao, the main producer and programmer of Fashion FM. Her attitude on work infuses her shows with sincerity and spontaneity, and gives them a unique, non-conformist style.
Gao's partnership with her husband, Chung, as the co-host of the show, also lends the show a charming edge. Gao and Chung met in Dalian in 1990 when Chung, a Beijing native turned Hong Kong businessman, stayed at the Furama Hotel where Gao worked. Little did Chung know then that his alto voice would one day make him famous on Dalian radio.
Gao began programming her first radio shows in 1995. A year later, she switched to Dalian TV Station, with which she is still involved today. Nonetheless, radio interested her more, and by 2001 Gao had her own show, Fashion FM. With the show, Gao discovered that the audience loved the quality of her husband's voice, and the two decided to team up and do some of the shows together.
By 2005, the couple wanted to increase awareness of philanthropy, an idea still new to many Chinese locals, and they began to work with the Dalian Charity Foundation. The shows on Saturday and Sunday - known as Charity FM - now focus on charity, featuring a diverse selection of guests, including business leaders who contribute to charity, volunteers from local communities, and those who need the help and attention of society.
Today, Gao and Chung’s voices and show are well-known in Dalian. A recent show introduced a British nightclub that serves organic food, recycles some of its water, converts dance floor motion into electricity, and offers free admission to those who take public transportation. Another show interviewed a Chinese photographer who takes pictures of endangered species in China.
Gao and Chung urge listeners not to take a narrow view of fashion as commercialized trends and lifestyles. Their shows zoom in on ordinary, warm and fuzzy facets of life, in a humble attempt to inspire happiness and tranquility amidst the speed and confusion of modern life. As Dalian, along with the rest of China, rushes into the eye of globalization, Gao and Chung remind listeners of the old Dalian of fewer cars, less noise, lanes with flowers and trees, and timeworn homes long torn down. In addition to offering a soothing refuge for urban dwellers, they bring avant-garde ideas of philantropy and environmental awareness that are essential components of China's advance into modernity.
You can tune into Fashion FM and Charity FM on 99.1 FM Dalian, from 6-6:30PM (in Mandarin).
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AnythingButOrdinary
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