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• Watch this insane, 14 minute North Korean news report about Dennis Rodman's visit
• 12 lessons I learned from 20 years of doing business in China
• Checking in on the NPC & CPPCC 2013 Two Sessions
• Win Sex Toys from Playroom China
• Let's Talk About Sex: Mistrust
• Restaurant Week: It's Happening Right Now!
• China demonstrates short-term memory loss, puts Ling Jihua in vice chair bullpen
• Chicken nugget resembling Lei Feng sells for $8 million
• Shanghai's Best Upholstery Cleaning Services
• Ex-soldier converts discarded bus into solar-powered family home
• Watch: The three issues that will dominate Two Sessions, at least behind the scenes
• How to Handle Chinese Hospitals
• Bar Hopping: Archie's
• Reuters’ Connected China. It’s Beautiful And It Helps.
• Two Lions Escaped Their Pens In Chongqing Zoo, Didn’t Get Far
• Dogs In Chongqing Still Waiting To Be Rescued As Netizens Launch Social Media Campaign
• Top-of-the-Week Links: Liu Bolin at TED2013, Chen Guangbiao’s new campaign, and Chinese Super League preview
• Rich New York Woman Gave Up Two Chinese Children She Adopted, Currently Embroiled In Lawsuit
• Watch Your Favorite Foreign China Correspondents Speak Chinese At The NPC And CPPCC
• Unique “Tree Hollow Paintings” Bring A Touch Of Warmth To A Cold Winter

Watch this insane, 14 minute North Korean news report about Dennis Rodman's visit Posted: 04 Mar 2013 09:00 PM PST Vice and HBO, who sent Dennis Rodman to visit North Korea in the year's weirdest news story so far, just got scooped. Why would anyone watch a slick, well-produced, English language account of Rodman's adventures down the rabbit hole to Hungerland when they could watch North Korean state TV's version instead? [ more › ]

12 lessons I learned from 20 years of doing business in China Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:00 PM PST Doing business in China is a daunting task, so complicated that I (along with many others) can write books about it, and consultants can make their livelihoods on it. After twenty years in China, I've been able to sum up many of the lessons learned into a summary of 12 rules, but don't take these rules as the final word in doing business in China. They are not. [ more › ]

Checking in on the NPC & CPPCC 2013 Two Sessions Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:30 PM PST The annual Two Sessions (lianghui) summit of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is currently taking place in Beijing. Here is a brief summary of what has happened so far according to Xinhua (spoiler: not much). [ more › ]

Win Sex Toys from Playroom China Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:10 PM PST Date: Mar 5th 2013 12:19p.m. Contributed by: thewooster

Let's Talk About Sex: Mistrust Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:04 PM PST Date: Mar 5th 2013 11:05a.m. Contributed by: thewooster

Restaurant Week: It's Happening Right Now! Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:50 PM PST Date: Mar 5th 2013 11:29a.m. Contributed by: clairebared

China demonstrates short-term memory loss, puts Ling Jihua in vice chair bullpen Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:00 PM PST During the ongoing Two Sessions (lianghui) of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People's Congress (NPC), on Sunday in Beijing former Hu Jintao advisor and now defunct politician Ling Jihua was given a second chance. Ling was appointed vice chairman of the CPPCC, indicating a potential reemergence onto the national political stage. [ more › ]

Chicken nugget resembling Lei Feng sells for $8 million Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:03 PM PST By KEN DAJI Food & Drink Correspondent  Chef Bing holds aloft his prize nugget, which he claims is now part of China's 'inedible cultural heritage' SHANGHAI (China Daily Show) – What started off as just another day shilling deep-fried protein in batter ended dramatically for chef Lao Bing, after one lucky customer made a unique discovery in his bag of chicken product – a nugget bearing a passable resemblance to Chinese Communist hero Lei Feng. Lei Feng is a semi-mythical national icon who died aged 22, after a truck backed into telephone pole, toppling onto Li's head. The chicken nugget, meanwhile, consists of mechanically-separated poultry, machine-moulded and cooked in a fryer. Experts say the similarities are uncanny. "Both lived an existence of miserable servitude, had a premature death, and were reformed afterward into unrecognizable but easily digestible morsels," says historian and notable Sinologist Sir William Buckfast. Today is the 51st anniversary of Learn From Lei Feng Day, March 5, an occasion usually celebrated with dutiful acts of charity. The miraculous find has instead catapulted Comrade Feng back onto the international stage – and started a vicious legal battle between chef Bing and his unnamed customer, who quickly sold the precious find for an astonishing 500 million yuan ($8 million). Coal-mine owner, and latter-day art collector, Wang Ma is now the new owner, after an intense sequence of frantic, last-minute bids against himself. At the hotly anticipated Poly Group auction, the hammer was about to fall on Wang's own $4-million bid before Wang insisted on doubling up, as eight million is considered a lucky number in China. "As owner of a multi-million-dollar chicken nugget, I am possibly the luckiest man in the world," a jubilant Wang told reporters. The nugget of finely ground white-meat slurry in a delicious crispy coating is due to form the centerpiece of a proposed Lei Feng Memorial Museum about the orphaned PLA solider, which Jiang is bankrolling. Visitors will be able to listen to audiobooks of Lei's collected works – which include novels, two prose poems and an uncompleted three-act rock opera – and view numerous waxwork tableaux. An animatronic vignette re-enacting his legendary death – in which a van backs into a pole that flattens Lei's head midway through a recitation from Chairman Mao, and the driver flees – can be viewed dozens of times a day. Meanwhile, Bing says his nugget business is booming, despite the ongoing legal wrangle to determine ownership of his foods. "I believe that, until they enter the digestive tract, all my signature dishes technically still belong to me," Bing sullenly insisted yesterday. While few of his customers agree, many were still excitedly checking to see if their food looked like a Communist celebrity this morning. One seemed convinced that a deep-fried sausage reminded him of former premier Li Peng. Meanwhile, numerous steamed buns were being unflatteringly compared to Jiang Zemin. Bing says the secret to his flavor is to use a traditional, artificially flavored ammonia-based recipe that's no longer legally permitted in the US. The nugget's newfound fame is sure to boost the government's ongoing 'Learning from Lei Feng' campaign, which begins today. Indeed, several people China Daily Show spoke agreed that the state campaign has already inspired them. "I have learned to enjoy life while I still can, rather than wasting it serving some nebulous higher cause or societal expectation," enthused Linda Li, a post-graduate student who has decided to abandon her intensive after-school piano lessons to go backpacking instead. "Frankly, that's good advice for anyone in China." Follow all your China news at @chinadailyshow on Twitter

Shanghai's Best Upholstery Cleaning Services Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:57 PM PST Date: Mar 5th 2013 10:39a.m. Contributed by: xiaqiu

Ex-soldier converts discarded bus into solar-powered family home Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:00 PM PST Health and financial difficulties have forced this family of four to find a new way of living. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, a woman surnamed Zhang, along with her mother, husband and daughter moved from Hebei Province from Shanghai to treat her illness and start a better life. [ more › ]

Watch: The three issues that will dominate Two Sessions, at least behind the scenes Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:00 PM PST As this year's Two Sessions, the annual meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Reuters reports that three issues will dominate discussions "if not the official headlines". [ more › ]

How to Handle Chinese Hospitals Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:24 PM PST Date: Mar 4th 2013 5:18p.m. Contributed by: amberwoo

Bar Hopping: Archie's Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:00 PM PST Date: Mar 4th 2013 6:24p.m. Contributed by: katvelayo

Reuters’ Connected China. It’s Beautiful And It Helps. Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:17 AM PST Reuters very recently came out with a very attractive, very graphics oriented website on China called Connected China.  The site is broken out into the following five categories: China 101 Social Power Institutional Power Career Comparison Featured Stories "China 101″ provides a brief, but nicely done history of China.  The "Social Power," Institutional Power" and "Career Comparison" sections consist of downright beautiful graphics relating to China politics/government/leaders. "Featured Stories" is self-explanatory. The site is beautiful and I urge everyone to check it out.  I agree with how Shanghaiist describes it: "Reuters 'Connected China' almost makes Chinese politics intelligible." But for it to remain vital and relevant, it needs more sections (how about a section on China business and another one on China culture?) and it needs more content.  I'm guessing all of this is planned for it, since, like I keep saying, it is"visually glorious," which means quite a lot has already gone into it and I suspect more will go into it as time goes on. Anyway, if you want a quick and fun visual lesson on China, I recommend you check out Connected China.

Two Lions Escaped Their Pens In Chongqing Zoo, Didn’t Get Far Posted: 04 Mar 2013 09:45 AM PST Two lions from the Chongqing Zoo made a dash toward freedom yesterday around 8 am. If you were a wild animal, to say nothing of the king of the jungle, you probably wouldn't want to stay in a Chinese zoo, either — especially not after shit like this. But the one place worse for a wild animal to find itself in China besides a zoo enclosure is not a zoo enclosure. Because that's when the humans send snipers at you. Very luckily for all parties involved, administrators sealed off the wild animals section of the zoo where the lions were on the loose, and the creatures were not shot down. In addition to scary snipers and riot police, anesthetists were dispatched as well, and a lioness was successfully anesthetized and returned to her cage, according to Xinhua. The other lion, a male, was tracked into the bird forest, where the "danger was greatly reduced." The story ends on that note, so we're not sure what that quite means. Hopefully he's not dead, either. (H/T @MissXQ)

Dogs In Chongqing Still Waiting To Be Rescued As Netizens Launch Social Media Campaign Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:42 AM PST In what's being called the "32 Dog-Saving Campaign," netizens in Chongqing are rallying to save hundreds of dogs that were intercepted off a transport truck Friday night. The "32″ refers to March 2, the day that dozens of people assembled at the scene where canines, fresh off the truck, remained tied up or locked in cages. You can get a glimpse in the video above. Terence Yam of Hong Kong has written the definitive post about this incident, with information culled from Sina Weibo. He wrote that because he's not in Chongqing, the least he could do was translate the information from social media in the hope that English speakers join the cause. He's created a Facebook page called "Save the dogs in China – 聲援 「重慶32狗狗大救援」 行動," and written a note titled "'March 2–Dog Saving Campaign' in Chongqing reveals Dark side of the China Government. Animal Law in China is urgently needed!" It's this note that we reproduce below. Read on if you can bear it. In one case, a female dog owner found her stolen golden retriever on the death truck headed for the slaughterhouse, but had to buy back her pet. Eyewitnesses say volunteers were also beaten, and speculated that the police were in cahoots with the dog traders. Take it away, Mr. Yam: By Terence Yam "Never ever depend upon government or institutions to solve any major problem. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.", said Margaret Mead in "The Cove". I saw this piece of news in China's tweeter "Weibo" tonight.  As a dog lover and a human being, I decided to translate it and spread it to more people.  If you dislike what the government and dog trader are doing in the story I am about to tell, or you support the action of those volunteers, I urge you to spread this out through your social media network.  We may not be able to say those dogs' life since they are already in very bad shape.  But spreading this out may help prevent it from happening again!  Thanks for your help. Regards,Terence Here a quick glance of what happened: Volunteers stopped a truck full of 927 dogs in cages but the government was on the trader's side  A volunteer found a truck (car plate: 桂B21759) transporting near a thousand of dogs towards Chongqing. He stopped the truck and reported to the local Animal Health Inspection Department. The government officials said the company got a "Legal" good inspection license and the dogs seem "HEALTHY and Safe for Consumption" (Let's see with you own eyes if the dogs are really healthy when you scroll down to see the pictures" In fact, most of the dogs were either dead or dying.  (Due to the super crowded living area, lack of water/ food as well as sickness) Dog tags or collars can be found of the dog's neck, which proves that those dogs are stole from the original owners rather than being raised up for meat. A female dog owner just made it to the scene and found her beloved Golden Retriever.  She has pay the trader to BUY back her dog who was STOLEN in the face of the POLICE!!! The local government department let the truck continue to move on.  The volunteers called for help and more supporters joined in. 927 dogs were being transported to Chongqing for meat. A girl found her Golden Retriever on the truck and saved him. Government officials (the guy in the picture) said the dogs were in good health, while you can see the dogs were in bad shape. (The dog in the right hand side has jelly-shape nasal mucus which is the symptom for terminal canine distemper. Volunteers got beaten under the police's acquiescence The group stopped the truck again, trying to save the dogs.  The dog traders summoned a few dozens of gangsters to beat up the volunteers. The dog traders threatened the volunteers that they have guns, and they have been transporting dogs to the butchery for a long time. The police force circled up the scene to prevent the volunteers from walking over to save the dogs. Volunteers got beaten, while the police force were guarding the truck for the traders instead of protecting the people! Local government agreed to inspect the dogs again, but refused to use the standard suggested After nearly 40 hours of endeavor, the trader agreed to let the volunteers unload the dogs (which took four hours) for a new round of health inspection. The local government said they will inspect the dogs again, but refused to use the standard and methods that the volunteers suggested. Not much local media came for the case.  The only two reporters who came turned out couldn't write the story because of the pressure from their bosses. The dogs, who are men's best friend and in bad shape, will be transported to the restaurants in the city for serving as food for those dog-meat-eater. Let alone the discussion if dog eating is right or wrong (I personally hate people who eat dogs), viruses and unpredictable diseases may be carried in the meat itself. And most importantly, it is obvious that the dogs trapped in the truck are not what the traders claimed to be privately raised for meat.  They are originally the beloved dogs in many people's family!   It is too obvious when you look closely. Finally they can unload the dogs. These dogs must be the beloved companions of some families. How can you help? Like this note to let your friends know about this ugly fact in China! Share it, SPREAD THE NEWS! The government really need some external voice and pressure to do the right thing. As I said earlier, we may not be able to save the lives of those dogs as they are already in really bad shape.  But with the public pressure, we may be able to push the government to set up certain kind of Animal Laws to prevent bad things like this from happening again. Thanks for your support in advance and may god be with you. March 2–Dog Saving Campaign' in Chongqing reveals Dark side of the China Government. Animal Law in China is urgently needed! (Terence Yam, Facebook)

Top-of-the-Week Links: Liu Bolin at TED2013, Chen Guangbiao’s new campaign, and Chinese Super League preview Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:09 AM PST Badly photoshopped Bo Xilai, via Boxun via Want China Times. These are better? Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang will take their places as president and premier at the Two Sessions. Meanwhile, the Beijing Ducks are through to the semis. Links time. Teacher behaves badly. "The bad behaviour of a first-grader was too much for one teacher in Dongguan, who proceeded to smack him, sending him to the hospital with two fewer teeth than he started his day with." (The Nanfang) David Beckham coming to China. "David Beckham's much discussed ambassadorial role for the Chinese Super League (CSL) will see him visit China three times this season. His Excellency will miss the league's opening ceremony on March 8 due to UEFA Champions League commitments with PSG (though he could appear by video link or recorded message), but Becks will likely come at the end of March (PSG don't play March 18-29 inclusive), then again at the end of May after the end of the French season on May 26, and finally in November towards the end of the CSL season." (The Li-Ning Tower) Chen Guangbiao with another campaign. "Chen hopped on a flight to Beijing Saturday to audit the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference this year for the 13th time, although he is not a deputy. 'The "food-saving day" is my primary suggestion this year to improve awareness of widespread food waste,' he said." (Global Times) Raise your hand if this is a movie you even considered, for a second, watching. "21 and Over was the first film made under Relativity's Chinese co-production venture. The decision to film in the city in Eastern China was a result of Relativity's deal with Chinese authorities: In order to distribute in the People's Republic's hugely profitable market, the studio was required to produce an alternate cut of the film specifically for Chinese theaters. The Chinese version is a cautionary tale; it changes the main character to a Chinese native who travels to an American college campus as an exchange student, becomes ensnared in a world of objectionable youthful dissipation, and then returns to China having learned his lesson." (Mother Jones) The dark side of… "Every morning, workers need to fish out stones (for stone washing jeans) from sewage tanks. Hand sanding and bleaching, the two key processes for making vintage jeans, not only affect the lives of neighboring residents but also the health of the workers in the industry. All of the 10 fingers have been dyed blue and they suffer from continuous skin itching." (Sino-US) Attention, screenwriters: "On Sunday, the Cultural Assets Office of the Beijing municipal government announced the Beijing International Screenwriting Competition. Screenwriters who live in the United States are invited to submit feature film proposals or completed short film scripts in a contest that aims, ultimately, to get movies made from some of them. // The only condition: All of the stories must be about Beijing." (Media Decoder, NYT) Timelapse of the invisible man Liu Bolin at TED2013 interlude, via TED Blog: Finally… From the always-enjoyable Tom Scocca: "David Brooks Wishfully, Wrongly Believes the Chinese Have No Word for 'Nerd.'" (Gawker) "The WOW Awards Beijing will be held on Friday, March 8, 2013 at The Fairmont's Ballroom." (BJ Reviewer) Chinese Super League is kicking off already? A preview. (Wild East Football) Before Dennis Rodman, there was Muhammad Ali. He didn't do much in North Korea. (Austin Ramzy, Time) Pinning down the motives of Chinese hacking. (NY Times) Finally, finally… Bird walking…Only in China. Great catch by @frankyu #lol twitter.com/veterantravele… — Veteran Travelerさん (@veterantraveler) 2013年3月2日

Rich New York Woman Gave Up Two Chinese Children She Adopted, Currently Embroiled In Lawsuit Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:41 AM PST By most accounts, Chinese children adopted by American families live better lives than they would have back home. It's not really even close, in many cases, as the difference is quite literally that between a first-world country and a third-world environment. You can scan this adoption network's FAQ to get an idea of the conditions from which many children are plucked. But not all adoption stories have happy endings. Take this exceptional case out of New York involving Christine Svenningsen, 55, a rich widow who gave up not one, but two children she adopted from China. According to the NY Daily News: A wealthy widow who gave up her Chinese daughter for readoption after eight years — then tried to cut the girl out of her husband's $250 million estate — had years earlier dumped another baby she adopted from China, the Daily News has learned. The boy was named Eric. Note to prospective parents: children are not generally regift-able. Last month, a state appeals court rejected Svenningsen's incredible demand to cut her first adopted child, Emily, out of her husband's will. Emily is now with another family, where court filings show she's much better. For one, "she's able to sit at the same dinner table with the rest of her family, unlike when she lived with the Svenningsens," according to Daily News. Her new mom, Maryann Campbell, called the Svenningsen court case a "debacle." We're not sure what became of Eric. Svenningsen, in court, said she gave him up because she "couldn't handle seven children." One wonders how she got past one. New York widow in $250 million estate battle gave up another child from China (Daily News via Gawker; h/t Alicia)

Watch Your Favorite Foreign China Correspondents Speak Chinese At The NPC And CPPCC Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:02 AM PST The Two Sessions is upon us once again, "formulat[ing] policies that have significant impact on the world, foreign experts say," according to Xinhua. You know what else foreign experts say? Watch the above. Note: it's all in Chinese. Additional note: all the Two Sessions fun you can handle, here. By "fun" we mean you can literally do anything else and have more fun. For example: try seeing how many correspondents you recognize in the above vid. Foreign journalist at the NPC & CPPCC (Sina)

Unique “Tree Hollow Paintings” Bring A Touch Of Warmth To A Cold Winter Posted: 03 Mar 2013 10:30 PM PST The latest art craze sweeping the Chinese Internet? Tree hollow paintings. Netizens are going crazy for art student Wang Yue's cutesy creations, painted in the hollows of trees lining a street in her hometown of Shijiazhuang. The story has been picked up by several mainstream news outlets, including CCTV News' "Weiguan Tianxia" program, whose host Xu Zhuoyang called them "a touch of warmth in the midst of a cold winter." Aww. Wang Yue and her photographer friend Li Yue are surprised by how much attention the paintings have attracted. The two girls are remaining calm in the face of their newfound fame. Initially Wang Yue was going to paint around cracks in the sidewalks, but later decided to use tree hollows. In the future, she plans to paint on the remains of demolished buildings. Wang Yue loves cartoons of people and animals. Her designs usually include animals and scenery. She said: "I love beautiful things so much that sometimes my thought process isn't very rational. People say that I'm too naïve, too emotional." Since she became famous for her tree hollow paintings, Wang Yue has been working with her teachers to transform her ideas and focus more on story telling. Her latest group of works, completed on Lantern Festival (February 24) reflects her efforts. She chose a tree trunk with two hollows. In the top hollow she painted a bird looking down towards the floor and in the bottom hollow she painted a squirrel waiting with open arms as if to embrace the bird. "Tree Hollow Painting" listed as a Baidu entry Just a few days after they were discovered, Wang Yue's tree hollow paintings became a hot search term. On February 26, it was listed as an entry on Baidu's Baike encyclopedia. The entry details the date and location of the paintings, along with a description of their creative style and a series of pictures. Netizens commented that the Baidu entry is proof of their support and encouragement for Wang Yue's art. So does this mean we can expect to see an explosion of street art across Chinese cities? Apparently CCTV's Xu Zhuoyang seems to think it does. We'll let you be the judge: Many netizens have commented that Wang Yue's paintings have become popular not just because they're charming, but more for the love and respect they show for the urban environment. In some small way, every urban citizen owns a part of the city they live in. Wang Yue saw the flaws in her city and decided to do something to make it more beautiful. As CCTV host Xu Zhuoyang commented, Chinese cities lack the creative outside art installations that are found in many cities abroad. On the whole, Chinese urban citizens have very little say in urban design and management; perhaps they should be given more chance to participate. Robynne is a writer, translator and Chinese graduate living in Beijing. She tweets @frommyplate. 女孩绘树洞画装点城市 媒体称其"感动冬天" (CCTV via Tencent News, h/t Katie)

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