China hosts Big Brother … with monkeys

Here’s yet another sign that China is developing a media culture as sophisticated as any in the West: A Chinese zoo is running its own version of the reality show ‘Big Brother’ where contestants live in a monkey enclosure. Last one in wins 11,888 yuan. Given the choice of being locked in an enclosure for ...

By , a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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604142_monkey_zoo_05.jpg
Participants eat beside monkeys inside a monkey pen at Qinling wild zoo in Xi'an, Shaanxi province February 7, 2007. The six contestants will co-habitat with monkeys in the pen for up to four days, with the one who lasts the longest receiving a prize of 11,888 yuan (1,534) and an honorary title of animal lover, China Daily reported. Picture taken February 7, 2007. CHINA OUT REUTERS/China Daily (CHINA)

Here's yet another sign that China is developing a media culture as sophisticated as any in the West:

Here’s yet another sign that China is developing a media culture as sophisticated as any in the West:

A Chinese zoo is running its own version of the reality show ‘Big Brother’ where contestants live in a monkey enclosure. Last one in wins 11,888 yuan.

Given the choice of being locked in an enclosure for several days with Jade Goody or a bunch of monkeys, which would you prefer?

Six people in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi have chosen the latter. They will live in a monkey enclosure in Qinling zoo in Xi’an with the normal primate inhabitants. The last one in will win 11,888 yuan (€1,182) and the title of honorary animal lover, the newspaper China Daily reported Thursday.

Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.

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