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• What Will Shanghai's Dining Scene Look Like in 2013?
• China's Top 10 Internet Memes of 2012: Two New Buzzwords
• Watch: Shark tank explodes on East Nanjing Road
• Tributes paid to billionaire businessman who drowned trying to rescue employee
• Escape Shanghai: Japan’s Southern Islands Yield Plenty of Discoveries
• Brotzeit: A Perfect Spot for Winter Comfort Food
• Photos: Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway
• Weekendist: Dec 28-30 Good Bye, 2012!
• Watch: Beijing woman surprised when drain blows up in her face
• Friends And Countrymen (An Expat Christmas No. 9)
• Anti-Locust American Style
• Beijing Woman Blows Up, Basically [Video]
• We Now Have Video Of That Shark Tank Shattering In Shanghai, And It’s Impressive
• Watch: Shanghai man trips subway criminal like a boss
• Xinhua Photoshops Li Keqiang, is embarrassed you noticed
• Photo of actress Wang Luodan's sore knees provokes obvious innuendo
• Presented By:
• Survey ranks Shanghai second-safest city in China... after Lhasa
• Stricter online identification rules drafted to stop 'internet bullies'
• Asia Society is seeking a Beijing-based photographer. Maybe you?

What Will Shanghai's Dining Scene Look Like in 2013? Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:30 PM PST Date: Dec 15th 2012 1:02p.m. Contributed by: chefhu

China's Top 10 Internet Memes of 2012: Two New Buzzwords Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:20 PM PST Date: Dec 18th 2012 2:20p.m. Contributed by: cityweekend_sh

Watch: Shark tank explodes on East Nanjing Road Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:00 PM PST We covered this when it happened, but video has now emerged of the shark tank explosion on East Nanjing Road in downtown Shanghai. [ more › ]

Tributes paid to billionaire businessman who drowned trying to rescue employee Posted: 27 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST A wealthy business owner in Yongkang, Zhejiang Province drowned while attempting to rescue a drunk employee who fell into a river. Du Guanghua's story went viral on QQ, Sina, Baidu and several other news sites, touching the hearts of thousands of Chinese people. He was honoured and awarded a "Good Samaritan Award" by local authorities yesterday. [ more › ]

Escape Shanghai: Japan’s Southern Islands Yield Plenty of Discoveries Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:25 PM PST Date: Dec 15th 2012 4:29p.m. Contributed by: leemack

Brotzeit: A Perfect Spot for Winter Comfort Food Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:17 PM PST Date: Dec 15th 2012 12:48p.m. Contributed by: electronicdrew

Photos: Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST        The world's longest high-speed rail line, the Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway finally came into operation this week, marking another milestone in China's infrastructure development. [ more › ]

Weekendist: Dec 28-30 Good Bye, 2012! Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST It shouldn't come as a surprise that nobody's launching the biggest parties this weekend right before NYE. But there are still noteworthy events that you don't wanna miss. Yuksek from France plays at Arkham on Saturday night, and Yuyintang surprises with another night of experimental live electronic music and visuals. On Sunday, there's a flea market not far from Xintiandi with vintage goods. And if that's still not enough, head over to our calendar for more. [ more › ]

Watch: Beijing woman surprised when drain blows up in her face Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST The above footage, from a surveillance camera outside the East Gate of Chaoyang District's Taiyanggong State Fair, shows an unfortunate street peddler getting severely injured when a sewer drain explodes in her face. [ more › ]

Friends And Countrymen (An Expat Christmas No. 9) Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST BJC's An Expat Christmas series is winding down, but we wouldn't leave without a story from Shanghai. William Childress writes about friends, food, and transience in the big city. By William Childress We're lucky, in Shanghai, to be in a city with so many foreigners that we can essentially experience the holidays as we would in our native land. But don't get me wrong — we're not exactly in an expatriate haven. For now my day job, at a shady Chinese office, is pretty soul-crushing. Naturally any time away from it is welcome, and I also offset this horror by performing standup comedy in and around Shanghai. Most of my social circle is connected to the standup and improv scene here and those were the people with whom I spent Christmas. Saturday marked my last standup gig of the year, held at a bar on the slightly dodgy Yongfu Lu. Aside from a newer comic who bombed pretty hard, the show went over great and we had a fantastic crowd of expats and a few locals (85/15 split, which is normal). I was especially pleased with the turnout given the proximity to Christmas and, yes, there were China-themed Christmas jokes (the Naughty list being a censored search term on Baidu, stockings full of century eggs, things of that nature but funnier, I promise you). Standup has never felt like a job, but it still requires a lot of preparation and mental focus to pull off a good show, and with the gig out of the way we were free to sit back and relax a bit. The hub of our group is Masse, a bar and restaurant where we hold weekly open mics and paid shows a few times a month. We've grown close with the husband-and-wife team behind the bar, and on Sunday the 23rd we collaborated on a day-long, wine-soaked Christmas movie marathon. After running through A Christmas Story and Elf, we sat down for a massive dinner of turkey, ham, and all the associated trimmings. Considering few of us at the dinner even had an oven in our apartment, much less one that would hold the gargantuan fowl laid before us, it was somewhat of a Christmas miracle. After laying waste to the spread we settled firmly into a meat coma and nodded through Bad Santa and Die Hard before dispersing to our respective domiciles. On Christmas day I swapped gifts with my roommates, an American teacher/comedian and an Italian professor, and then we made our way to a friend's house for a potluck dinner. It was one of those affairs where everyone is initially worried about a lack of food, only to find an overabundance of grub and spirits once everyone rocks up to the dinner. Russia, Korea, Italy, China, Australia, England, and the US were all represented in force. Russian salat, Italian gnocchi, meatballs, soup, shrimp and grits from the southern US, curry chicken wings, cakes, pies, Scotch, vodka, and wine all graced our table. The dinner was in keeping with the overall theme of the weekend: if we couldn't go home for the holidays, we'd just bring a taste of home to China. Oh, and on a related note, if you bring hash brownies to a party, LABEL THEM. One girl went home panicked with more than visions of sugar plums dancing in her head. Looking around me during that potluck and earlier at the dinner at Masse I realized that almost everyone I celebrated the holidays with last year had moved on. It's a cliché of expat life, sure, but at some point it all rings true to us – that ebb and flow and friends arriving and departing is simply inevitable. I touched on my job situation before, but to keep a long story short I had a very small window in which to decide whether to leave China or dig in for the long haul. There are better places to practice architecture, there are better places to perform standup, but no other place has the combination of friends and opportunities that I've found in Shanghai. That never rang truer than it did over the holidays. The people around me were my family and I had to enjoy them while they were there. These were the people who will support me and I, in turn, will support them. I feel like I've planted some roots here, but I am also well aware that things could change any day. I know that I could easily be the one missing from the party this time next year. So until then, here's to now. Merry Christmas. William is an architect and standup comedian living in Shanghai. Follow him at @heyitschili and check out Kung Fu Comedy for standup dates.

Anti-Locust American Style Posted: 27 Dec 2012 03:29 PM PST "Not in Chino Hills. Not Anywhere." Non-Asians residents of Chino Hills protested against a Chinese "maternity" hotel in their city. In early December, non-Asian residents of Chino Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, protested against a Mainland Chinese "maternity hotel" (月子中心). Hong Kong netizens are immensely amused that even the other side of the Pacific Ocean is hit by locusts and further criticise the Western media for being a hypocrite. Chinese Threat: Chino Hills is Turning Into the Real Chino Hills According to the article "Close to L.A but closer to Beijing" from Los Angeles Times in 2008, cities neighbouring Chino Hills – Diamond Bar, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights and Walnut – have become a "Chinatown" for the rich ethnic Chinese. San Gabriel Valley: Our Nation's First Suburban Chinatown The "Little Taipei" of the 1970s is today's first "suburban" Chinatown: Alhambra, Arcadia, El Monte, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City, and expanded areas such as Hacienda Heights and Rowland Heights. - Daniel L. commented on Yelp View Larger Map Parent volunteer Rosy Chong said she overheard a newly arrived Korean parent's daughter ask her mother, "When are we going to America?" "She thought Rowland Heights was a stopover" in Asia, Chong said. - "Close to L.A but closer to Beijing" from 2008 Jun 19 Los Angeles Times According to Nov 19 2012 Pasadena Star-News, the suburbia Chinatown of Los Angeles is also an "Asian Wall Street". The San Gabriel Valley has become the New Chinatown, not only for the plethora of Asian Restaurants that have popped up along Valley Boulevard, but the area is also home to a large volume of Chinese banks, earning it the nickname of "Asian Wall Street". HSBC Bank at 227 West Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel Monday, November 19, 2012. Like Hong Kong, Mainland Chinese are Target Costumers of the Luxury Market in Southern California South Coast Plaza, the upscale shopping mall mentioned in "Close to L.A but closer to Beijing", was again mentioned in Los Angles Times on Dec 2 2012 for its strategies to attract visitors from Asia, especially from China. Escher is the director of foreign affairs at the center, though technically his title is director of domestic and international markets. He's been on the job more than four decades and travels to China at least once a year to firm up connections with influence makers. He partners with Disneyland and the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, ready to whisk dignitaries from Beijing and Shanghai to the shopping center, even providing them chauffeurs and guides. One afternoon, Escher shows it to Shelley Chen, who is from Guangzhou, an economic hub on China's southern coast. He bows and shakes her hand as she's on her way to look for a Gucci purse, having just graduated from law school. - "Asian tourists flock to South Coast Plaza" from Los Angeles Time on Dec 2 2012 The article also mentioned that Yang Mi 楊幂, the popular Mainland Chinese artress who has 21.98 million followers on Weibo, Chinese Twitter, was invited to have a VIP shopping session in the plaza. Yang Mi at South Coast Plaza in Southern California. Source Meanwhile, Stores in Chino Hills Shut Down According to the report of Singtao Daily Los Angeles Version on Sep 19 2012, The Economy has Revived? The Public Doesn't Feel it. How long will the economic depression last? Even though the government and some experts stated that the economy of Southern California is slowly reviving. However, seeing stores nearby shut down one by one, many people doubt the statement. Recently, some people notice that nearby stores, including both mainstream American and Chinese restaurants and supermarkets, shut down one by one. As businessmen retreated, living functions of many cities decrease, directly affecting people's daily lives and causing worries. Annie, who lives in Chino Hills, wanted to dine at a nearby Chinese-owned buffet restaurant days ago, and she found that the restaurant shut down all of a sudden as she arrived. Therefore, she drove to another buffet restaurant nearby. However, she had never thought that it had also shut down, forcing the hungry family to change their plan. Chino Hill's Chinese Maternity Hotel is Just a Tip of the Iceberg On the comment section of CBS's coverage for the protest, American netizens say that Chinese maternity hotels are all over the San Gabriel Valley and Chinese mothers can apply for welfare even though they are just visitors. Chinese Americans also called their local Cantonese radio station and said these women are using American resources  as they scam welfare. According to the second part of the Dec 3 2012 "Sunset Boulevard" of AM1430, 30:35 – 31:39 Female Host: There are many phone calls today. Among them, there is a male caller who refuses to be on air and is working for the Social Security Administration…. He doesn't agree that all Chinese pregnant women pay their medical fees by cash. He doesn't know the ratio of paid by cash to paid by the government . However, he found that many Mainland Chinese birth tourists claimed that they were poor and applied for welfare. And the government covered their medical fees. Therefore, not every Chinese birth tourists paid out of their own pockets and they use our resources. ****More Later**** Hong Kong Netizens' Reactions.

Beijing Woman Blows Up, Basically [Video] Posted: 27 Dec 2012 10:30 AM PST Shocking surveillance footage, recently released, shows a woman basically exploding because she happened to stand next to a sewage drain during an underground explosion. The incident happened on November 30 outside the east gate of Chaoyang District's Taiyanggong State Fair.  According to Beijing Morning Post, residential property staff said the cause was a buildup of biogas, perhaps methane, from septic tanks stationed nearby. The injured woman, just 24 years old, was rushed to Jishuitan Hospital. Her face was seriously damaged, and the family paid 70,000 yuan upfront. The Youku video description tells us that more than 100,000 yuan is needed to finish all the surgery required to repair the damage, money that the family does not have.

We Now Have Video Of That Shark Tank Shattering In Shanghai, And It’s Impressive Posted: 27 Dec 2012 07:54 AM PST If the story of a shark tank bursting onto pedestrians wasn't enough, we now have video! The folks over at Deadspin posted this earlier, and yeah, it sort of makes the story. Without it, we only have a shark tank breaking. With it, there's drama, horror.  Three sharks died and 15 people suffered minor injuries. The fish and turtles are the forgotten victims here.

Watch: Shanghai man trips subway criminal like a boss Posted: 27 Dec 2012 06:30 AM PST On the afternoon of December 21, a man on the subway in Shanghai aided police in capturing a criminal by simply tripping him up. [ more › ]

Xinhua Photoshops Li Keqiang, is embarrassed you noticed Posted: 27 Dec 2012 06:00 AM PST If you're going to doctor photos of a country's leading politicians, at least do a good job. Xinhua's English-language article "'Li Keqiang: A Man Who Puts People First'" has attracted much criticism from observers who claim that a 2004 image of the now-Vice Premier (above) has been faked. Many posters noticed that the image background is nearly identical to a photo from the Guangming Daily website, and some super-observant onlookers have picked up on the fact that the image's lighting is just horribly, horribly, wrong. [ more › ]

Photo of actress Wang Luodan's sore knees provokes obvious innuendo Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:30 AM PST Chinese actress Wang Luodan has inspired a Weibo-storm as netizens race to post different variations on the theme of "That's what she said" after the celeb posted a photo of her sore knees with the caption "I've always felt this was the only way to show you have ever loved". [ more › ]

Presented By: Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:30 AM PST

Survey ranks Shanghai second-safest city in China... after Lhasa Posted: 27 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST More people in Shanghai say they feel safer in public than in almost any other city in China, according to a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. [ more › ]

Stricter online identification rules drafted to stop 'internet bullies' Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST As of Monday, Beijing is debating draft legislation to enforce online identification in order to strike back at online bullying. The 30th meeting of the 11th NPC Standing Committee are discussing the draft which would enforce online identification to reduce online bullying along with all online illegal activities. [ more › ]

Asia Society is seeking a Beijing-based photographer. Maybe you? Posted: 27 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST If you live in Beijing and enjoy taking pictures, there's a job opening that might interest you. The Asia Society Center on US-China Relations is losing its Beijing photographer and needs a replacement to take one pic per day of the city's skyline as part of its ongoing China Air Daily project, produced by Michael Zhao. Interested parties are asked to contact Mr. Zhao via email. "Shouldn't take more than 1 minute each day," he tells us, and "modest compensation" can be discussed. The official job posting is here. We also hope to find the best view and location possible, somewhere not too close to downtown Beijing but preferably with an open view of the skyscape. (Above pic via)

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