Meet Shenhua’s blue enchantress

Shanghai Shenhua fans have had little to shout about this season. Just as well then that the club’s online TV channel has something at Hongkou worth watching – the Xiao Lanse Monv (Little Blue Enchantress) show.

We here at follow a subject matter providing an endless supply of weird and wonderful events, however Chinese football is a bit lacking in glamour. That was before our tireless efforts to explore Chinese fan culture uncovered some Shanghainese scintillation.

Squeezed even more tightly into a Shenhua jersey than Mattieu Manset, but with a much better figure, its Xiao Rou, aka Little Blue Enchantress. Doing almost as much for cross cultural understanding as , her show focuses on Shenhua fan culture, namely songs and other matters linked with cheering on the team.

In the reel featured in this post, she details various Shenhua chants and clapping rhythms, helpfully pointing out when are the most appropriate moments during the match to use them – should you have been unfamiliar beforehand.

There’s also some room for personal disclosures – Xiao Rou reveals her favourite player is the tall and handsome young defender Qiu Tianyi, and demonstrates how various songs can be altered to include player names of the singer’s choice.

It’s all insightful and useful knowledge for any new Shenhua fan. Rumours are that Xiao Rou is set to be replaced by a new Little Blue Enchantress, but nevertheless, you may have a click around on Shenhua’s PPTV channel – a lack of Chinese language skills is certainly not a barrier to enjoying the show.