Blogs » Society » Spanning The Spectrum On China’s Economy

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• Spanning The Spectrum On China’s Economy
• Photo of the Day: Skywards
• Acid Dumplings [14]
• Today's Links: Liu Zhijun expelled, home-stay in Xuhui and halted IPOs
• Presented By:
• Your Memorial Day Post: Revisiting H. Allen Larsen And Other Flying Tigers’ Amazing Color Photos Of China Circa 1944-45
• Watch: Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan’s Cameo On Chinese State Television
• Top-of-the-Week Links: China spends $110 billion annually to keep people under surveillance, but it still has the face to publish snarky US human rights report
• Catalogue of a crisis
• Yoichi Shimatsu Has Written, By Far, The Most Incredible Words
• Party Expels Former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun
• A Brutal, Bloody Beatdown In Sanlitun Last Week
• Gong Li: Cinema is a force for change in China
• China’s Telecom Giant Aims To Unseat Smartphone Rivals
• Watch: Hong Kong protestors mark Tiananmen anniversary
• Airport in Sichuan to be named after baijiu brand
• Watch: Kim Lee speaks to Australia Network News
• Shaq vs. Tracy McGrady: Who Has The Better Chinese Beer Commercial?
• Top 10 Search List (May 28)
• Language “School” Sexy Mandarin Is Now Spicy Mandarin

Spanning The Spectrum On China’s Economy Posted: 28 May 2012 08:37 PM PDT Is China's economy slowing because of its success, or is it about to collapse because of its failures. The spectrum of views and arguments is well-represented by Fareed Zakaria and Gordon Chang. Sunday, on Global Public Square, Fareed Zakaria argued the former view. A few days earlier, on CNBC, Gordon Chang, backed up my Peter Navarro, argued, predictably, the latter. Compare the two–and draw your own conclusions.

Photo of the Day: Skywards Posted: 28 May 2012 05:40 PM PDT Want to see your picture here? Share your photos with us via Instagram or Flickr using the tag #shanghaiist! [ more › ]

Acid Dumplings [14] Posted: 28 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Today's Links: Liu Zhijun expelled, home-stay in Xuhui and halted IPOs Posted: 28 May 2012 04:36 PM PDT A few links to start off your day: Liu Zhijun expelled, home-stay in Xuhui and halted IPOs. [ more › ]

Presented By: Posted: 28 May 2012 04:36 PM PDT

Your Memorial Day Post: Revisiting H. Allen Larsen And Other Flying Tigers’ Amazing Color Photos Of China Circa 1944-45 Posted: 28 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT It's much easier to imagine the past in black and white, for it makes our present-day colors somehow more meaningful, proving that the era we occupy is indeed the most technologically and civically advanced. But what's most stunning about seeing the past in color here — in these photographs taken by the Flying Tigers, members of the US Air Force fighting the Japanese in China — is that you realize how similar the China of then is to parts of the China of now. There are no more trolleys, obviously, but go to the countryside and you're guaranteed to see many of the images depicted here: the girl with the red-bean popsicle; the kids bathing in a pond; the farmers taking a lunch break on the fields. Instead of concluding something about political failure or the folly in believing in trickle-down prosperity, let us take the humanist perspective: we're all fundamentally the same. But there's really no need to read much more into these pictures, many of which appear in the book China From the Eyes of the Flying Tigers (1944-45), taken mostly by H. Allen Larsen and William L. Dibble. "In the newspaper article it was stated that Larsen used two Kodak cameras, a Bantam that used 828 film, and another Kodak 35mm camera from that era" — all rare — writes Yefei He on this forum. Some images from the book appeared on this NetEase slideshow recently, though you can a lot more from Wikimedia Commons. After the jump, I've haphazardly selected a dozen more photos for your perusal. Enjoy. (H/T Alicia)

Watch: Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan’s Cameo On Chinese State Television Posted: 28 May 2012 11:24 AM PDT Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, yet unmarried, were going for a stroll in Shanghai on March 27 when they accidentally walked in front of China Central Television cameras filming the fourth episode of a documentary called Chinese Police, according to a post on Sina Weibo translated on chinaSMACK. "By coincidence the subtitle that followed said 'Many problems impelled the Chinese police to find way to increase efficiency.'" The joke here, of course, is that Facebook is blocked in China, and all netizens know it. Some have called this an advertising ploy, but who knows? Either way, I'm sure the producers were more than happy to have a clip of their show go viral — it's on Tudou after the jump, since YouTube, like Facebook, remains on the wrong side of the Great Firewall.

Top-of-the-Week Links: China spends $110 billion annually to keep people under surveillance, but it still has the face to publish snarky US human rights report Posted: 28 May 2012 10:37 AM PDT Students in Chengdu who are "on a 'kill' mission for illegally parked vehicles at the West China Second Affiliated Hospital of Sichuan University," according to Want China Times. Happy Memorial Day for those in the US. We'll have a relevant post about that soon, after links. A trend that is unlikely to reverse. "The phrase 'naked official,' or luo guan, was coined in 2008 by a bureaucrat and blogger in Anhui province, Zhou Peng'an, to describe officials who have moved their family abroad, often taking assets with them. Once there, they are beyond the clutches of the Communist Party in case anything, such as a corruption investigation, should befall the official, who is left back at home alone (hence 'naked')… // Officials who can afford to send their families abroad are usually the most powerful, and the most aware of China's problems. Says Mr Li of Peking University, 'They know better than anyone that the China model is not sustainable and that it's a risk to everybody.'" [Economist] If you're not already too angry at officials, here's another. "As the lure of the market grows ever greater, and the Communist Party refuses to fetter its enormous administrative powers or subject itself to any laws, ambitious officials and entrepreneurs have found it difficult to accumulate wealth and impossible to defend it without currying the favour of princelings or others welded to the party-state." [Sydney Morning Herald] Ex-Communist Party official finally arrested, accused of raping  at least 10 underage girls. "On the same site, Yawen posted: 'An official again!'" [AFP] On Sina Weibo and censorship. "I visited Sina Weibo in Beijing last week, on a trip sponsored by the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation, a Hong Kong-based nonprofit that encourages positive relations between the two countries. Almost alone among the people we met with during our visit, officials at the company weren't prepared to answer basic inquiries about their policies. They did, however, respond with alacrity to a question about whether their censorship efforts can keep pace with the rising volume of posts, emphatically insisting that they can. As a parting souvenir, they gave the members of my group what must be the perfect symbol of contemporary China: a doll version of their bleary Cyclops mascot, dressed in a People's Liberation Army uniform." [Jacob Weisberg, Slate] A reminder that we should pay attention to the whereabouts of Chen Guangfu: "Chen Guangcheng enlisted all the help he could get. Chen Guangfu, his older brother, was his closest associate. 'I really admire the brother,' says professor Jerome Cohen, a veteran Chinese law expert at New York University and long-time friend of Chen's. 'He would read law texts to Guangcheng, and sometimes appear in court [in his place].'" [Financial Times] This is nice. "I want to briefly share several personal experiences. My point is simple. These experiences would be difficult to reconcile with a belief that all (or many) Chinese have strong negative feelings toward foreigners." [Isidor's Fugue] Incredible. "'They are singled out for overwhelming surveillance and by one rights group's count amount to an estimated one in every 1,000 Chinese – or well over a million. // …Budgeted spending for police, courts, prosecutors and other law enforcement has soared for much of the past decade, surpassing official outlays for the military for the second year in a row this year, to nearly 702 billion yuan, or $110 billion. // Allocated by Beijing to the provinces and on down, the money sometimes is called 'stability preservation funds' for the overriding priority the government now puts on control." [Huffington Post] "Suspect 1.7." "Mr. Ai's ordeal began the morning that police officers drove him from the airport into the countryside. He was marched into a building and pushed into a chair." [NY Times] I've read one of these reports before. It featured a startling emphasis on gun violence. "In response to the United States' biased annual country reports on human rights practices released on Thursday, the Information Office of the State Council issued its own report on Friday revealing the true human rights situation in the US. // The report, titled the "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011″, provides a timely and useful lens for the rest of the world to see the double standards the US uses, and draws attention to the human rights problems in the superpower's own backyard." [Xinhua] Men using vegetables as musical instrument interlude: Finally… Florida State student dies in Tianjin, circumstances under investigation. [CNN] One more Yang Rui story; probably last. [Rectified.name] Beijing Playhouse's biggest production, Oklahoma!, delayed eight days thanks to authorities. [WSJ] A story of a lost — and returned — wallet. [Tea Leaf Nation] This story about sex addition in China begins: "Fifteen days without sex or masturbation does not seem that hard. For Lin Feng (pseudonym), 25, it is the longest time he has gone without sexual contact." [Global Times]

Catalogue of a crisis Posted: 28 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT A Chinese student's online database of food safety scandals – which crashed after getting 25,000 hits in two hours – is a symbol of the nation's growing fears. Wu Jiawen and Han Xiaorong report. Chinese website Throw it out the Window crashed earlier this month after being inundated with visitors, sending this oddly named food-safety portal shooting up the list of hottest topics on Weibo ("Chinese Twitter").   It's the sort of event people have come to expect in China. Thanks to the food scandals rocking the country with alarming regularity, how to avoid buying and eating contaminated products has become a key question for an increasingly uneasy public. Wu Heng, a Fudan University graduate student, launched Throw it out the Window a year ago, with the aim of helping to educate the public on food-safety issues. Essentially, the site is a database of news reports on food scandals; a sort of "Wikipedia of toxic food". Its name is an allusion to US president Theodore Roosevelt, who is said to have thrown his breakfast sausage from the window after reading about conditions in the Chicago meat-packing industry in 1906. The event is credited with triggering a process that eventually led to the establishment of the US Food and Drug Administration in 1930. On May 3, Throw it out the Window crashed after 25,000 people tried to access the website in the space of two hours. That day, Wu had posted the results of a survey of food-safety scandals he had carried out a year previously. The survey covered mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, and all the data came from published media reports. Wu pointed out that journalists – print, broadcast and online – have been responsible for exposing most of China's food safety scandals. Wu first started paying attention to the problem of food safety during China's tainted-milk scandal of 2008, when at least six babies died and hundreds of thousands more fell ill after drinking formula containing poisonous chemical melamine. His subsequent decision to throw himself headlong into the food-safety cause (along with stints working on education programmes in Ningxia, one of China's poorest provinces) set his master's in historical geography back by two years. Wu is expected finally to graduate next month. The report took 31 days to compile and involved 34 people. The student team analysed 17,268 news reports – or one million Chinese characters worth of material – which they filtered down to 2,107 items. From each of these, they pulled out keywords, such as the location of the event, the type of food affected and what harm it could do to the human body, making it easy to create statistics and conduct searches. Wu and his fellow students also sorted the type of food scandal into 10 different categories, based on China's Food Safety Law. These included: fake food; out-of-date food; food with added agents; food mixed with foreign matter; problem packaging; food sold without a licence; sub-standard food; food that has not passed quarantine inspection; and unhygienic food. Wu conceded, however, that since none of the team was qualified in food safety, the classification system was "not entirely scientific". The five provinces and municipalities with the greatest number of reported scandals were Beijing, Guangdong, Shandong, Shanghai and Zhejiang, according to the report. Beijing's lead was significant: the capital made up 20% of all the collated food scandals, equivalent to the combined total of Guangdong and Shandong provinces. Wu said he wants to know why the food safety problem has become so severe. Is it something to do with Chinese history, or Chinese culture? Is it because of a lack of morals? Or is it just "the system"? Analysing the data, he became increasingly dispirited by the unscrupulous behaviour of dishonest traders, and an idea began to form: what if he were to award the worst cases a "prize" and tell the world about it? For inspiration, he looked to New York Times best-selling author Wendy Northcutt, who created the Darwin Awards after zealously collecting stories of human idiocy. The awards, says its website, "commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival." And so Wu decided to set up the "China Food Darwin Awards" for the worst offenders in the business – those "whose aim it is to destroy the food of the Chinese people". The prize is decided by a public poll. By September 11 last year, reports of Chongqing waste-scavengers turning residue from household rubbish into "gutter oil" topped the list with 918 votes. The prize money is 1.4 yuan (US$0.22), which in Chinese has the same pronunciation as the phrase "die together". A prize and certificate are also given to the media outlet responsible for exposing the winning scandal. Wu said: "We thank the media for its professionalism. When it is difficult to decide on a winner, the award will be carried over to the next round." Wu praised the courage and sense of responsibility of journalists reporting on China's food-safety scandals. But, he added, they are no doubt helped by the fact the people to blame for tainted foods are often at the bottom of the production chain – and have neither the capacity nor the know-how to manage the media. The primary goal of Wu's investigation was to catch the attention of the public, and inspire more qualified people to get involved with research in this field, he said. Another aim was to make sure "these more than 2,000 articles, which demonstrate the good work being carried out by the media for society, are not forgotten." Wu does not claim to have produced a professional study. His team was made up of students, rather than journalists or food-safety experts, and had just one month to collect all the data. More importantly, the investigation didn't include any on-site interviews; it simply compiled and analysed news reports. As a result, the study may have many holes, Wu said. But since his main purpose was to get more people to wake up to China's food-safety problems, and to work together to solve the problem, Wu believes it was a worthwhile exercise. As unsafe food gets increasing coverage in the Chinese press, more and more people will pay attention to food safety, he said. And, in turn, policymakers will be forced to focus on and think more deeply about how to use legislation to solve the problem. That, said Wu, is a future to look forward to. In recent weeks, Wu's website has focused on China's latest mega scandal: CCTV's discovery that industrial gelatin made from leather scraps was being used to make medicinal capsules. On 22 April, Wu added this information to his database, noting that the story had made him "really desperate". He added he was disappointed to discover that articles he had written in the past about food safety are still relevant today. "Usually, it's the biggest prize for a writer if his work stays fresh, but all I feel is a deep sense of powerlessness." Wu Jiawen and Han Xiaorong are reporters at The Oriental Morning Post, where this article was originally published. Homepage image by The Oriental Morning Post

Yoichi Shimatsu Has Written, By Far, The Most Incredible Words Posted: 28 May 2012 08:28 AM PDT You should stop whatever you're doing and go read this. I've copied and pasted all the text to a notepad and saved it on my Desktop. I feel like I have just bottled a rainbow for a rainy day. This man, Yoichi Shimatsu, is possibly the funniest columnist on the face of the earth, and lest you think I'm hyperbolizing, please realize he wrote all of the below, presumably without the help of manatees: "Yang Rui criticized some Jews not all, and do not some Jews support the bombing of civilians in Gaza? … Yang Rui is harsh on anti-China elements, who do in fact act in a conspiratorial manner, just as the Senators who assassinated the populist Caesar … self-centered yuppies who came to exploit China and follow lifestyle choices inappropriate to Chinese morals, and by that I mean taking lots of drugs … I am equally disgusted by young Asian-Americans who pathetically act like a bunch of bananas, aping their white classmates. You not only fail as journalists, you fail as humans for your racial self-hatred." Yoichi Shimatsu is identified as a former editor at The Japan Times Weekly and Pacific News Service. He is also editor-at-large of 4th Media, for whom he recently wrote, "Why CCTV Yang Rui Must Not Quit Despite Criticisms Mostly From The West." Yes, I just linked the same article twice. It begins: William Shakespeare is the world's greatest playwright ever, and that he is for sure, but surprisingly there are certain interest groups who loathe the Bard: Brace yourself. This is just getting good. Yang Rui criticized some Jews not all, and do not some Jews support the bombing of  civilians in Gaza? Are Jews above criticism? And on what grounds – that they were chosen by their God? If so, God has chosen to treat quite badly at times, which presents a major ethical questions about the Jewish God. No, the fact is Jews are not better than the rest of us and not above criticism. Take a breather. Here is his very next paragraph. Yang Rui is harsh on anti-China elements, who do in fact act in a conspiratorial manner, just as the Senators who assassinated the populist Caesar in the name of democracy, but in reality did it for their own self-interest and privileges – which is the real reason why the Roman Republic failed. Please keep your bearings: Most of this critics are – and this is my opinion, if I am free to say it -  self-centered yuppies who came to exploit China and follow lifestyle choices inappropriate to Chinese morals, and by that I mean taking lots of drugs, encouraging drug use among Chinese friends, promoting dissent with no well-founded philosophy or legal grounds as foreigners, and often engage in promiscuity with locals without consideration of sexual transmitted diseases. Let's return to the part where Yang Rui is implicitly linked to Shakespeare. Could you be a little more subtle? Thus, it turns out that Yang Rui, like Shakespeare, has captured an unpleasant part of the social reality and describes it appropriately… Great. How bout some good ol' racism? While white young adults should learn a modicum of humility in the "real world", I am equally disgusted by young Asian-Americans who pathetically act like a bunch of bananas, aping their white classmates. You not only fail as journalists, you fail as humans for your racial self-hatred. And some anger? And then go home, and see what a crap place it's become for the majority of American, European and Japanese citizens – and try to blame that on the Chinese, you pack of whingers. Love the Briticism. This guy, ladies and gentlemen, is Yang Rui's friend. Yang Rui keeps this man company. They are buddies. They probably do Teppenyaki together. They think on the same wavelength, I can only presume, unless Yang Rui is the type to befriend the people he hates the most (is that why he hosts a show for and about foreigners?). Think about that. I feel like I have just waded into a swimming pool of jellybeans, such is my giddiness and delight. I feel like I am being tickled by a feather from the hen that laid the golden egg, and the yolk of Svarga is washing over my tittering soul! I feel like the flowers of the world are coloring our very seconds with the florescence of a thousand colors! Please, Yoichi Shimatsu, don't stop. For me, Yang Rui has been a professional peer and a challenger across the interview table, and he has fired many a shot at me and we have often been at great odds. But after the vile abuse he has endured in reaction to some frank statements he made on his personal blog, which do reflect some of the unpleasant realities of contemporary society – and the contempt shown toward HIS freedom of expression – I now see him as both a friend and an important and incisive voice in the international dialogue. Hang on. Hang on one second. I have to use the bathroom. … OK. Well now, Yoichi Shimatsu, this has been fun and all, but I think it's time for your final words. They're all yours. What say you? When the rest of you grow up, you might understand what I am saying.

Party Expels Former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun Posted: 28 May 2012 06:56 AM PDT Disgraced former Railways minister Liu Zhijun has been expelled from the Party for corruption. He is also taking the fall for the extensive corruption and mismanagement throughout China's sprawling railway system. Xinhua reports: Investigators found Liu used his position to … Continue reading →

A Brutal, Bloody Beatdown In Sanlitun Last Week Posted: 28 May 2012 03:18 AM PDT We've reached out to the guys who shot the video – Canadians from WorldstarHipHop, as they make abundantly clear in the video — to see if we can get more info. It's a nasty fight, if one can call it that, with a clear survivor. There are no winners. "Someone pull him off," someone says while the guy who's standing, bloody all over, continues connecting on kicks to the defenseless man on the ground. "It's done, it's done, you've won, you've won," someone else says, beginning to sound desperate. "Someone pull him off, guys, seriously," one of the people behind the camera implores. "No, who's going to pull him off, he's going to fucking attack you." The very last thing we hear in the video is: "Let's get the fuck out of here, man, honestly. This is enough, bro." ~ In the spring of 2008, I was sitting on the balcony of the bar Nanjie with a friend when we watched as two factions converged from opposite sides for a brawl; later, walking out of the area at dawn, we passed people carrying studded mallets heading the opposite direction. This was my first Sanlitun experience that year. A few weeks later, friends and I were drinking outside in an alley near the bar Smugglers when an Algerian and another foreigner went mano-a-mano. This would be Sanlitun Experience No. 2. The Algerian threw his opponent onto a table, which I remember collapsing under his weight. Bloodied and reeling — drunk, probably — the manhandled foreigner picked himself up, grabbed a big beer bottle, and tapped it against the wall. We were confused by his tapping; it defused the situation, actually, but afterwards we thought on it: had he tried harder, or had the bottle hit at just the right angle, the man would have suddenly found a sharp weapon in his hand, and lord knows what drunk combatants, already injured, can do with makeshift knives. In the years since — beginning a year or two ago — Sanlitun's gentrification, spurred by the commercial developments around the "Village," an upscale network of bars, restaurants and shops, began encroaching on the dingier bar streets and alleys. Several bars — shady ones, if I may say so, with names like Kai, Butterfly, and Shooters — in the Smugglers alley shuttered their doors, as that side is slated for renovation and eventual incorporation into a nearby middle/high school's campus. Yet no matter what the changes, no matter how many bars in the area are given the Beijinger's Bar of the Year award (two in the last two years), Sanlitun remains, at heart, the Sanlitun I first encountered in 2008, a recidivist's lair that continues to attract society's residuum after the rest of us have grown up or gone clean. For an example, look no further than the embedded video, which first appeared on YouTube four days ago WorldstarHipHop's website on May 23, taken about forty meters from the beginning of the Smugglers alley. If we hear anything more about this, we'll update you here.

Gong Li: Cinema is a force for change in China Posted: 28 May 2012 03:30 AM PDT [ more › ]

China’s Telecom Giant Aims To Unseat Smartphone Rivals Posted: 28 May 2012 02:34 AM PDT Mr. Eric Xu is speaking at the 2012 Huawei Global Analyst Summit The smartphone market is often described in terms of Apple versus Samsung versus the also-rans. The big two have been feasting on healthy profits, while the rest of the field has to battle for the leftovers. However, indications suggest that China's high-tech behemoth Huawei is now aiming for a seat at the table as well, as part of a wider plan to expand offerings in mobile devices. During a recent analyst summit, Eric Xu Zhijun, one of Huawei's three rotating chief executive officers, said "we think 30% plus growth for the device business is sustainable for a couple of years." The telecom giant reported that sales of its handsets, tablets and other mobile broadband products rose 44.3% last year to 44.62 billion yuan ($7 billion), during what Xu described as the first year of increased investment in the device business. One of the most notable results of that investment was Huawei's unveiling of the world's fastest smartphone, when it launched the Ascend D quad at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. The new line of phones feature a quad-core processor called K3V2 that was developed in-house and timed at 1.2 gigahertz per second (GHz). A quad core is a central processor (CPU) with four independent cores instead of just one or two. Multiple cores allow the phone to run multiple instructions at the same time, resulting in faster performance. Huawei says its chip business is going to be a strategic advantage as it continues to ramp up its research and development efforts in smartphones and other mobile devices. HiSilicon Technologies is the unit responsible for developing Huawei's new chipsets. Last year, the company sold 20 million smartphones, all of which still had chips from other vendors. This year, Huawei aims to sell 60 million. Xu added, "Even if we can't make money from smartphones, at the very least we should make money from chipset offerings." According to research firm IDC, Samsung and Apple dominate the global smartpone business with market shares of 19.1% and 18.9%, respectively. And Samsung recently introduced a faster, larger version of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III, earlier this month, to help stave off increasing competition from rivals like Nokia, HTC, LG, Huawei and ZTE. However, Huawei's limited efforts up to this point have still been making headway. The Shenzhen-based company had 3.1% of the global market in 2011, up from only 1.3% the previous year, as it continued to transition from low-cost phones to high-end smartphones and tablets under its own brand. Upbeat domestic consumption has also fuelled the company's strong growth. China overtook the U.S. to become the world's largest smartphone market in the first quarter, according to research firm Canalys. Huawei holds 12% of the country's total sales and expects to sell another 20 million units this year, a jump of nearly 67% from 2011. Xu said Huawei repositioned the device business beginning in the fourth quarter of 2010 due to the increasing uptake of smartphones and stronger links between handsets and the company's broader portfolio of products. The company's senior management now sees the unit as a 'favored son,' expected to make a growing contribution to the company's future earnings. Of course, Huawei has been down a similar road in the past. The company founded in 1987 quickly grew to become the world's second-largest telecom equipment supplier behind Sweden's Ericsson. Now its portfolio has expanded not only to consumer devices but also to enterprise networking equipment as well. Huawei's ambition to evolve from relative upstart into a market leader is exemplified by its take on the level of technology used in smartphones.

Watch: Hong Kong protestors mark Tiananmen anniversary Posted: 28 May 2012 02:30 AM PDT Via Telegraph TV: "Protesters march through Hong Kong to mark the 23rd anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown on the pro-democracy movement." [ more › ]

Airport in Sichuan to be named after baijiu brand Posted: 28 May 2012 01:30 AM PDT Remember the "Jeanswest" Building in Tsinghua University? It seems that the government has given approval for an airport in Yibin, Sichuan to be named after a local spirits brand. [ more › ]

Watch: Kim Lee speaks to Australia Network News Posted: 28 May 2012 12:30 AM PDT Huey Fern Tay of Australia Network News speaks to Kim Lee, wife of Crazy English founder Li Yang, on the domestic violence spat that has played out in full view of the public and thrown her into the media spotlight. [ more › ]

Shaq vs. Tracy McGrady: Who Has The Better Chinese Beer Commercial? Posted: 28 May 2012 12:37 AM PDT Shaq is a spokesman for Harbin Beer while Tracy McGrady shills for Sedrin. Who's better in their respective ads, shown back-to-back in the above? I think I've had Sedrin before, but it obviously was not very memorable. Also, the name reminds me of sleep medicine. Harbin, meanwhile, is absolutely non-notable in every way. I'd call it "insipid," but that's much too fancy a description for such a bland, bland thing. Take Our Poll If I had to choose a winner, it'd be Shaq, since McGrady is asked to say a few words in Chinese, and I'm pretty sure a deaf-mute could've delivered them better. Don't let my opinion influence yours though. Shaq: McGrady: (H/T Ball Don't Lie)

Top 10 Search List (May 28) Posted: 27 May 2012 11:13 PM PDT 1. 云南晋宁系列杀人案 Yúnnán Jìnníng  xìliè shārénàn -  The mysterious case of missing peoples in Yunnan's Jinning county has finally been solved by local authorities. A 59- year-old man named Zhang Yongming has been arrested for the murder of 11 of the young men missing. Here's the story in Chinese. 2. 河南 官员 强奸 Hénán guānyuán qiángjiān – A recent public government posting announcing the arrest of the deputy head of Henan Yongan Municipal Party Committee for sexually assaulting multiple minors appears to be too downplayed and wishy-washy for online users. Many are complaining via microblogs calling for more details on the perpetrators' sexual misconduct, including the exact number of young girls raped by the monstrous man. Here's the story in Chinese. 3. 李宇春事业线 Lǐ yǔchūn shìyèxiàn – Popular singer Chris Lee has always been best known for her signature tom-boy image. Though that might begin to change, given that her cleavage made a rare appearance during her guest performance on-stage last Saturday for the show "Ice Dance Shanghai." Here's the story in Chinese. 4. 卖肾车间 mài shèn  chējiān – An online user uncovered the existence of an illegal "kidney plant" in Hangzhou via microblog, exposing details such as the underground market price of a healthy man's kidney, and the types of young men who are living in the "kidney plant" desperately hoping to sell their organs for 35,000 yuan. Here's the story in Chinese. 5. 巴基斯坦外长 bā jī sī tǎn wài zhǎng – Pakistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who happens to be known for her good looks, visited Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba in Tokyo late last week to discuss plans for providing aid to Afghanistan. Chinese reports on this diplomatic visit mostly focused on Gemba's nervousness in face of Khar's beauty rather than the real issues discussed. Here's the story in Chinese. 6. 教师学生私奔 jiàoshī xuéshēng sībēn – According to an online forum post, a high school teacher in Jiangsu attempted to abandon his pregnant wife and elope with one of his students on May 13th. Some online users claiming to be from the same school as the teacher have different views on this school scandal, believing that the teacher never eloped with the student as he was seen on school grounds the following day. While some netizens root for the wife and parents of the student, others think both parties were probably overreacting towards the situation. The school has announced the dismissal of the male teacher in question to control damage on its own reputation. Here's the story in Chinese. 7. 嫖宿女学生 piáosù nǚxuésheng -  Online articles have exposed a case of large-scale sex trade in Zhejiang province involving young college girls, executives of large companies and members of the National People's Congress. According to online reports, this case of organized sex trade between the three parties has become public knowledge locally, and yet the government has yet to answer to the local residents' scrutiny. Here's the story in Chinese. 8. 泸溪沉船 lúxī chénchuán – A passenger boat in Hunan sank yesterday. One passenger is pronounced dead, while 10 others are still missing. Here's the story in Chinese. 9. 三浦知良 Sānpǔ Zhīliáng – Online articles are praising the amazing performance of 45 year-old soccer player Kozuyoshi Miura at the J-League playoff yesterday. Here's the story in Chinese. 10. 王老吉红罐换装加多宝 Wánglǎojí hóng guàn huànzhuāng Jiāduōbǎo – Chinese herbal tea maker JDB Group is changing its popular herbal tea canned drink name from the Wanglaoji to Duojiabao, causing quite a bit of public confusion. Here's the story in Chinese. READ MORE

Language “School” Sexy Mandarin Is Now Spicy Mandarin Posted: 27 May 2012 11:16 PM PDT The news hook is in the title, but you should know it's a sham. Although Sexy Mandarin really now is Spicy Mandarin (which just created a Facebook page like five hours ago), I just needed an excuse to post the above video, slightly NSFW, which reminds me of Xiao Li. I'm still unclear as to whether this company has a physical school or not, though its website does tout a lineup of "teachers," and it's partnered with New Concept Mandarin. None of this seems important though in light of its high-quality video lessons. Also, did you know Sexy Mandarin now has its own ad at Hong Kong's Causeway Bay? Hmm. Interesting. For more info: see: That's Shanghai's article about the company earlier this month: Sexy Mandarin launched in December, posting a few videos on YouTube and – with no promotion but for passing the link to a few friends – the views started racking up. As of April, Lesson one had more than 230,000 hits. "We didn't want to launch it until we had a large amount of lessons," says creator Mick Gleissner. "It's great that it has a life of its own." (H/T Angie Wong)

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