东北人都是活雷锋

Dongbeiren[i] dou shi huo Lei Feng[ii]

(Dongbei people all aspire to live the life of Lei Feng)

Words and music: Xue Cun (雪村)

Thanks to Jonner and Damon for the Chinese and pinyin lyrics

Translation mistakes: Mine

An early version of this song was released on the Internet and found its way into several quirky Flash animations, propelling it squarely into the Chinese net-surfing zeitgeist. An album titled “Dongbeiren dou shi huo Lei Feng” followed, but the recording on the album is different from the original. The tune is now widely recognized in China, and is occasionally quoted in advertising campaigns. (It also shows up on karaoke parlor playlists.)

Several Flash versions of this song can be found at http://music.jzinfo.com/liuxing/x-cun/x-cun.html

老张开车去东北， 撞了。	lao zhang kai che qu dong bei, zhuang le	Lao Zhang[iii] drove to Dongbei And had an accident
肇事司机耍流氓， 跑了。	zhao shi si ji shua3 liu2 mang2, pao3 le	The other driver was a thug And ran off
多亏一个东北人， 送到医院缝五针， 好了	duo kui1 yi ge dong bei ren, song dao yi yuan feng2 wu3 zhen1, hao le	Fortunately a Dongbeiren Sent him to the hospital He was fine after five stitches
老张请他吃顿饭， 喝得少了他不干， 他说：	lao zhang qing ta chi dun fan, he de shao le ta bu gan, ta shuo	Lao Zhang invited him to eat a dun[iv] And wouldn’t think of not drinking He said:
俺们那旮都是东北人，	an3 men2 na4 ga1 dou shi dong bei ren	“We are all Dongbeiren”
俺们那旮特产高丽参，	an men na ga te chan gao li4 shen1	“Our regional specialty is Gao Li ginseng”
俺们那旮猪肉炖粉条，	an men na ga zhu1 rou4 dun4 fen3 tiao2	“And pork dun with rice noodles”
俺们那旮都是活雷锋。	an men na ga dou shi huo2 lei2 feng1	“We aspire to live according to the principles of Lei Feng”
俺们那旮没有这种人，	an men na ga mei you zhe zhong ren	“We don’t have that kind of person”
撞了车了哪能不救人，	zhuang le che le na neng bu jiu4 ren2	“Who would cause an accident and not aid the other party”
俺们那旮山上有珍蘑，	an men na ga shan shang you zhen1 mo2	“On our mountains grow pearl mushrooms”
那个人他不是东北人。	na ge ren ta bu shi dong bei ren	“That man was no Dongbeiren!”
——翠花，上酸菜!	chui4 hua1 shang4 suan1 cai4!	“Chui Hua[v]! More pickles!”

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[i] Dongbeiren – A person from northeastern China (Dongbei).

[ii] Lei Feng – Soldier, humanitarian, Dongbeiren, poster boy of the People’s Liberation Army. Killed in a bizarre truck accident, his simple ways and good deeds were glorified by Chairman Mao, who elevated him to folk-hero status and designated March 5 as “Learn from Lei Feng Day”. More information at http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/lf.html

[iii] Lao Zhang – A man’s name, literally “Old Zhang”. Zhang is the most common surname in China.

[iv] Dun – A kind of stew, considered a Dongbei specialty.

[v] Chui Hua – A woman’s name.