Blogs » Society » On Jackie Chan’s Forthcoming Retirement From Big Action Movies Following “Chinese Zodiac 2012″
Blogs » Society » On Jackie Chan’s Forthcoming Retirement From Big Action Movies Following “Chinese Zodiac 2012″ |
- On Jackie Chan’s Forthcoming Retirement From Big Action Movies Following “Chinese Zodiac 2012″
- ‘Wen Jiabao: Please Forget Me’: WSJ
- New Chinese passports include disputed territories, are kind of a dick move
- Zhejiang students upset that teachers can spy on them changing, for some reason
- WIN RMB1,000 in Vouchers for Wine Must
- “Most Awesome Nail House” Stands In Middle Of Highway, Really Is Awesome
- Watch: New must have for wealthy Shanghai women, the 'guy tai'
- The Reporter Who Broke The Story Of The Five Bijie Children Has Been Disappeared
- Weekendist: Nov 23-25 - Disco, disco, disco!
- Fashion Forward: Six of Shanghai’s Hottest Up-and-coming Designers
- These Are The Best GIFs Of Ancient China That You’ll See Today
- Sex tape of Chongqing official and 18-year-old mistress leaked online
- Portraits Of A General Secretary As A Young Man: Xi Jinping Through The Years
- Happy Asian Thanksgiving, Everybody!
- China Still The Place For Manufacturing
- Passengers peeing, fighting, eating, and spitting on the new Hangzhou Subway
- SCAA Pet(s) of the Month - Napoleon and Mathilde: Kitten pair offers double the cuddles
- Naked policeman rescues woman from river after attempted suicide
- Appalled by the Bijie boys' deaths? Here's how you can help street kids
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| On Jackie Chan’s Forthcoming Retirement From Big Action Movies Following “Chinese Zodiac 2012″ Posted: 22 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST
I remember Jackie Chan's Hollywood breakthrough film, Rumble in the Bronx (1995), as somewhat of a novelty. I was young then, and in no position to appreciate his previous work, so I bought the film industry's characterization of him as a glorified stuntman. I laughed along as we were fed anecdotes about production delays due to sprained ankles (he does his own stunts!) and treated, on channel E!, to funny blooper reels, usually involving head-smacking on tables or floppy towels. That line — "he does his own stunts" — was Chan's safety net, I now realize. If he failed as an actor, Hollywood would point to his stunts as justification for giving this unknown Asian a chance in the first place. It was, to borrow a local phrase, a way to save face. I must have subconsciously understood this, because more than cheering Chan's spotlight, I secretly hoped he merely wouldn't screw up — for the rest of us, that is, us Asians who preferred staying on stage apogee. I'm not sure when it was that I began to realize he had staying power. Maybe when he starred alongside Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon, or played perfectly off Chris Tucker in Rush Hour. These were the first big-time Hollywood comedies in which an Asian actor was asked to be funny — to put legitimate laughter in a Western viewer's belly — and that he pulled it off, to me, was remarkable.
I must have been in middle school then, trying to survive a new school district in the heartland, still finding my voice in a culture that can, at times, be exasperatingly intolerant of quirks — of foreignness. I'm not going to overstate things: Jackie Chan didn't change my worldview, or necessarily make my life easier. He didn't inspire me to "be myself." But he was somewhat of a revelation. Despite his broken English, his quirks in an industry that only made room for token minorities, Chan was not a source of embarrassment. He turned stereotypes on their head and pulled off cool, which — let me tell you, as 15-year-old me — was difficult. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth became a meme, and not for the wrong reasons. That is, it empowered Chan's character. Look at the expression he gives Chris Tucker: it says, "Dude." That's all. There's no platitude there, no lecture, no anger. Just: "Dude." It's the same look that teenage me gave or wanted to give an untold number of classmates who thought "ching-chong" was funny. It's not with sadness that I pass along Chan's announcement that his upcoming film, Chinese Zodiac 2012, will be the last action flick in which he stars on-screen. It's not that significant of an announcement, all told, considering he never said he's done with action movies altogether. Reuters:
But it is somehow important, because he's finally rolling up his safety net as he advances into the third stage of his career. Jackie Chan has always been about more than his stunts. It's about time we all admit that. (H/T Alicia) |
| ‘Wen Jiabao: Please Forget Me’: WSJ Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:43 PM PST Now for something entirely different: "In the pursuit of truth, I would die nine times without regret. If I'm going to die, I want to die with honesty and integrity," he said as he was wrapping up, a paraphrase of his favorite poet, Qu Yuan. To that he added: "I hope everyone will forget me – that includes Chinese people and overseas Chinese. Forget me." Huh? Find out why, maybe, from the Wall Street Journal's 'Wen Jiabao: Please Forget Me.' And, from the accompanying video: |
| New Chinese passports include disputed territories, are kind of a dick move Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST  The Chinese government has demonstrated its unique knack for improving international relations in the issuance of new passports which contain a map of disputed maritime territories. [ more › ]     |
| Zhejiang students upset that teachers can spy on them changing, for some reason Posted: 22 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST |
| WIN RMB1,000 in Vouchers for Wine Must Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:20 PM PST |
| “Most Awesome Nail House” Stands In Middle Of Highway, Really Is Awesome Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:11 PM PST The owner of a house near a railway station in Taizhou, Wenlin, Zhejiang province is refusing to vacate his home because it's his and fuck roads. Luo Baogen, 67, and his 65-year-old wife rejected an offer of 260,000 yuan plus two small building sites, claiming it wasn't enough compensation. The story has spread on Sina Weibo, where netizens have taken to calling this "Wenlin's Most Awesome Nail House" ("nail house" being the neologism for such defiant structures). Developers, who have gone ahead and built a highway around the house, are some of the In the video after the jump, Luo says his house has been up for 10 years. Developers gave him a relocate-demolish notice in 2008, but they've never been happy with the compensation offered. After all, they currently live in a five-story house, why downgrade? Luo said he isn't holding out for more money at the moment, just a new residence as big as his current one. Youku video for those in China after the jump, plus pictures.
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| Watch: New must have for wealthy Shanghai women, the 'guy tai' Posted: 22 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST With increasing amounts of female executives coming to Shanghai on fat expat remuneration packages, the city is seeing an increase in foreign house husbands or 'guy tais' (from the Chinese 太太 which refers to wealthy women who do not work). Shanghaiist supports this reversal of traditional gender roles, and our editors are available to be well kept house husbands for any wealthy female executive who will take us. [ more › ] |
| The Reporter Who Broke The Story Of The Five Bijie Children Has Been Disappeared Posted: 22 Nov 2012 07:24 PM PST
South China Morning Post reports that Li Yuanlong, who first wrote about the five Bijie children in Guizhou province who were found dead in a dumpster on Friday, has been sent on "a vacation," and it's clear that it's not the voluntary kind.
By all indications, Li is okay — physically, anyway — and who knows, maybe they sent him to Hawaii. But he's being extra cautious, going so far as asking his son to delete a microblog entry about his "disappearance."
Kept away from home. It's not altogether surprising that officials would do this; after all, livelihoods have been affected — the livelihoods of powerful officials, that is. Eight officials have been suspended or fired, including deputy district chiefs – officials chopped after kids found dead, reads Global Times headline — and a previously unheard of township in Guizhou province has been properly smeared. What we shouldn't assume is that higher levels of government had anything to do with this, considering no one — and I mean no one — would be dumb enough to think punishing a journalist here would be a good idea. If there's one thing we know about how business is done in these fourth-tier, hinterland-type counties, it's that the powerful can do whatever the fuck they want, and someone with some power in this case must have decided to act out on his vendetta. That person is a piece of shit. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about that, even if the appropriate response is to shove an ice pick up his nose. (H/T Alicia) |
| Weekendist: Nov 23-25 - Disco, disco, disco! Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST  Disco dandies, disco hipsters, disco trash! A lot of mid-tempo disco tunes this weekend at 390 and Lola. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Your taste decides. Ibiza hosts James Zabiela this Friday, who definitely deserves some attention. And on Sunday, you can try to be funny. Succeed and win the hearts of the curious audience at Brownstone, or fail and earn the guffawing of the crowd. Just kidding, should be fun. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. [ more › ] |
| Fashion Forward: Six of Shanghai’s Hottest Up-and-coming Designers Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST |
| These Are The Best GIFs Of Ancient China That You’ll See Today Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST
Artist Yang Hua Chun, who goes by Taiyangguodu on Deviant Art, has created the best (only?) GIFs of figures from dynastic/feudal China. There are two more images after the jump. "GIF," by the way, was the "Word of the Year" according to the Oxford University Press, and much like the Nobel Peace Prize, I tend to think the award as a prescription for what can be done in the future. These GIFs are fulfilling their promise. Also, Reddit commenter guppers11 correctly notes: "As you notice, they're all Asians because Asians would be the only ones capable of gifs 500 years ago."
(H/T Katie) |
| Sex tape of Chongqing official and 18-year-old mistress leaked online Posted: 22 Nov 2012 02:30 PM PST From Sina Weibo Sex, lies, videotapes…when the three things are interwoven together with Chinese bureaucratic life, it is always fun to watch. In the past two days, a number of pictures that show a man and a woman having sex in a hotel room have been viral on Chinese social media. The informant says these are the screen grabs of a sex video of Lei Zhengfu, the party boss of Chongqing's Beibei District, having sex with his 18-year-old mistress he had been keeping for a long time. In response, Chongqing's Discipline Inspection Commission said they have noticed the exposé, and their initial investigation reveals that the video was not fake or manipulated. Chinese netizens, too disgusted with the official, nicknamed him 'Edison Lei' after Edison Chen, a Hong Kong celebrity whose public image was tainted by hundreds of explicit sex photos with multiple actresses leaked online in 2008. Ji Xuguang, a investigative journalist who reported the six sex slaves kept in dungeon by a civil servant last year, announced on Sina Weibo that he has much more evidence, including the original sex tape, against the official. Because "the original video was too explicit", it had to be edited before its screen captures were posted on Weibo. According to Ji, the sex video and a tip-off was first sent from an informant to jdwsy.com (ren min jian du wang, meaning 'the website of the people's supervision'), an unofficial watchdog. Zhu Ruifeng, a reporter from jdswy.com, briefly interviewed Lei Zhengfu, the official in the sex tape, on November 7. Lei said to Zhu, "These are all fake. But I just will not take any action against you guys." However, Zhu was approached by Lei and his cousin several times since then, who invited Zhu to be a guest and requested him to hand over the video. Now Zhu has been out of touch. Ji also disclosed that Lei had even mobilized his resources in Beijing to try to suppress the story. Besides, Lei said to Ji over the phone that he wants to befriend Ji. The real name of the mistress in the video is said to be Zhao Hongxia.She was allegedly detained for 30 days for shooting the sex tape. As the maelstrom of sex scandal around Lei Zhengfu swirled, the ignominious official was also exposed to have built multiple public works projects whose contractor was a construction company owned by Lei's younger brother, Lei Zhengkui. The brother, formerly a farmer, has turned into a multimillionaire thanks to Lei's power and influence. Even Lei's mistress has wound up her beauty salon, entered the construction industry and profited from contracts granted by Lei. A reporter from the state-run Xinhua Agency has confirmed with the press office of Chongqing Municipal Government that they have placed the sex tape case on file for investigation. So far, they have established that the video is authentic and not deceptively edited. But the identity of the man in the video is yet to be verified. Netizens' comments
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| Portraits Of A General Secretary As A Young Man: Xi Jinping Through The Years Posted: 22 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST
The above picture was taken in 2002, when Xi Jinping was the Zhejiang Party Secretary. Look at how strapping, happy, and young he is. Does he know, in that freeze frame, that he would one day ascend to the highest political seat in the People's Republic of China? These were your halcyon days, Mr. President, when you could afford to wear a crooked tie without risk of insult from snarky bloggers. Shanghaiist has compiled several photos of Xi Jinping through the years, "which are doing the rounds of the Chinese internet." We sample some of these amazing shots after the jump.
And, of course, looking as handsome as ever: as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. |
| Happy Asian Thanksgiving, Everybody! Posted: 22 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST It doesn't really matter how you celebrate this day, of course, whether dozing in front of the TV as the Macy's parade goes by, or ruing the day you drafted Calvin Johnson in the first round; getting drunk before dislocating your shoulder playing tackle football, or lining your belly with a rind of fat and saying, Ah, fuck it; baking a pumpkin pie as you prepare to head over to Great Leap Brewing, or shopping for a white chocolate Kit Kat bar, because don't you deserve it? Of course you do. So kick back and have a good one, whether the old-fashioned style, with white meat and beer, or like the Fung brothers, David and Andrew, in this video here. Treat yourself right. Youku video for those in China after the jump. |
| China Still The Place For Manufacturing Posted: 22 Nov 2012 08:57 AM PST There have been countless articles written on how the end of cheap China will mean the end of foreign companies going to China, but that has barely happened at all. This article, "Analysis: Investors make $100 billion bet on China's drive up value chain," by Kevin Yao of Reuters, nicely encapsulates what is going on out there by way of foreign direct investment (FDI) into China. Essentially, FDI has slowed a bit, but is still massive and all of the talk of companies going into places like Indonesia or Vietnam has been to a large extent just talk. This is what I have been seeing as well and I have to admit that it is NOT what I have been predicting:
I am particularly surprised at how so few of my law firm's clients have moved over to Vietnam, especially those in industries, like clothing, shoes, and pet toys where to me it makes complete sense for them to do so. I am even more surprised at how few of our new clients going into Asia for the first time are looking to countries other than China for their manufacturing. And I have a new theory as to why this is the case. My theory, which may be less a theory than a fact-based observation, is simply that these companies do not know how to go into any country other than China. I will call this the "I would love to, but…" theory. Let me explain. My law firm represents a large number of clothing and shoe companies, most of which are fairly well known brands and have fairly high margins, but most of which are not massive. In the last year or so, these companies have seen an increase in bad product from China. The typical scenario goes something like this:
So why does the US company not go to Vietnam? Simply because it lacks the people in its organization with any Vietnam expertise and because there is no clear and easy path for SMEs to get into Vietnam. The path is less than clear because Vietnam lacks a "soft infrastructure" of well known and highly regarded experienced consultants with offices in the United States. Vietnam also lacks a network of people (and even seminars) in the United States who can talk of their Vietnam experience. There is at least a couple of how to do business in China seminars in every good sized American city every year, but one on Vietnam anywhere is a rarity. Vietnam is simply too much of an unknown. So for SMEs, there is this massive knowledge and fear gap regarding places like Vietnam and that gap is creating an "I would love to" Catch-22. That's my new theory. What do you think? |
| Passengers peeing, fighting, eating, and spitting on the new Hangzhou Subway Posted: 22 Nov 2012 07:00 AM PST |
| SCAA Pet(s) of the Month - Napoleon and Mathilde: Kitten pair offers double the cuddles Posted: 22 Nov 2012 06:00 AM PST  We are a pair of kittens who, along with our other siblings, were found in a box in a busy laneway when we were 3 weeks old. Thankfully our rescuer and her friends worked together to hand raise us and we're now happy, healthy foster kittens. [ more › ] |
| Naked policeman rescues woman from river after attempted suicide Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST  Early on Tuesday morning in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, a taxi driver saw a young woman leap over the railings of a bridge into the icy waters below. [ more › ] |
| Appalled by the Bijie boys' deaths? Here's how you can help street kids Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:30 AM PST  There has been uproar in both English and Chinese language media this week after the bodies of five young boys were found inside a rubbish dumpster in Bijie. The boys most likely died of carbon monoxide poisoning after they lit a small fire inside the dumpster to keep warm in the near-zero temperatures. [ more › ] |
| Posted: 22 Nov 2012 04:30 AM PST |
Kids these days, am I right? Students at a middle school in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, are complaining after peepholes were 
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