To celebrate Chinese New Year, Channel 4 will be airing 7 films next week (Mon 31st Jan - Sun 6th Feb).  We'll be asking people from the British Chinese community about their hopes and dreams for the coming year.  The films will be on after the news every evening on Channel 4 and then available online at www.4thought.tv/chinese  

Monday 31st January, 7:55pm – Li Quan
Conservationist Li Quan believes that China’s controversial one child policy has been unfairly criticised and hopes that people in the West realise that China is controlling its population for the benefit of the whole world.
 
Tuesday 1st Feb, 7:55pm - Alex Hua Tian
Alex Hua Tian is an Olympic event rider who is proud to represent China, the country of his father’s birth.  He believes that the British Chinese community should be “more adventurous” and leave the the comfort of the cities to explore the British countryside.

Wednesday 2nd February, 7:55pm - Anna Lo
Anna Lo is a politician from Belfast.  She would like to see an end to the religious division in Northern Ireland and hopes that more members of the British Chinese community will get involved in politics.
 
Thursday 3rd February, 7:55pm - Matthew Ahmet
At the age of 17, Matthew Ahmet moved to China to study martial arts in a Shaolin temple, escaping the gangs and guns of Camden.  He believes the experience turned his life around and hopes others can discover the true priorities in life.
 
Friday 4th February, 7:25pm - Eric Lau
Eric Lau’s best friend committed suicide when he was seventeen.  At Chinese New Year he and his family pay their respects to the deceased, and Eric hopes that others facing similar situations can find the support that they need.

Saturday 5th February, 6:55pm – David Li
David Li was a gambling addict who lost millions of pounds over 30 years.  David believes he was only saved by Jesus and hopes that other gambling addicts can find salvation in the same way.

Sunday 6th February, 7:55pm - Annie Yang
Annie Yang was sentenced to two years in a Chinese labour camp for participating in the banned spiritual practice of Falun Gong.  She would like to see an end to the persecution of Falun Gong members, and wants the British government to put political pressure on the Chinese authorities.


4thought.tv is a year long project, to encourage conversations about religious, spiritual and ethical subjects within our society.  Viewers can share their own thoughts and feelings about issues, respond to individual films and reply to other viewer comments on our website www.4thought.tv  It would be wonderful to collect comments from the British Chinese community, respoding to the films and sharing their own hopes and dreams for this coming year.  So please tune in next week, visit the website to share your thoughts, and tell your friends and family about the films and website - www.4thought.tv/chinese