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• The Coolest 72-Year-Old Grandfather In The World Lives In China
• Auto show publicly flogged for use of bikini-clad preteen girls as models
• Pencil This In: Nov 19-22
• Macau's Grand Prix to continue despite deaths
• Podcast Warriors: Meet Two Journalists Making a Change in Shanghai
• Kim Jong-Un's wife disappears, then comes back
• Korean Students Rob Beijing Convenience Store, Charges Aren’t Pressed
• Antoni Restaurant: This Relocated Spanish Restaurant Doesn’t Do Enough
• 5 homeless children in SW China die from hiding in trash bin to get warm
• 69-Car Accident On Shanghai-Kunming Highway Results In At Least 9 Dead
• The Situation Is Excellent: The Week That Was At Beijing Cream
• How To Form A China Company (WFOE or JV). Hong Kong Entities. They’re Baaaaack. Part II.
• Watch: Bobble-headed Xi Jinping dances Gangnam Style for a Free Tibet
• Presented By:
• Shanghaiist Sunday Show: IAI debate, 'The Eagle and the Dragon'

The Coolest 72-Year-Old Grandfather In The World Lives In China Posted: 18 Nov 2012 09:21 PM PST Ed's note: Offbeat China, who first blogged this on Friday, has more pictures of Liu Xianping, the 72-year-old model of Yuekou online store. This piece is the first for BJC's newest contributor, Xiao Yi. By Xiao Yi "Look at the camera – no slouching!" Miss Lü instructs as she shoots pictures of her 72-year-old grandfather, dressed in a casual tailored blazer, a pencil skirt, and cigarette-leg jeans – a.k.a. the latest figure-flattering winter trend. The skinny model, Liu Xianping, looks stunning in long, dark brown, sexy wig. And with just a single pair of shades, the confident baller proves fashion's most ironclad rule: sunglasses can make anyone, and I really do mean anyone, look cool. Miss Lü, co-owner of a women's fashion store on Tmall, an online shopping mall that's part of Taobao (China's version of eBay), inadvertently launched her grandfather's fashion career. According to Beijing News, Miss Lü was unpacking a newly received stock on November 8 when her grandfather began playing around, mixing and matching, and tried on a piece himself. "We both thought it looked good on him," Miss Lü said. "He has a young heart." Liu Xianping lived through the hardest time in modern China. Until well into his 60s, he was a farmer tilling the earth in Hunan Province. Then one day, his granddaughter brought him to Guangzhou for a vacation. "It was a lot of fun shooting and we just thought the pictures would be entertaining, too." Miss Lü said. She put the photos of her grandfather online, and he became an Internest sensation. During the November 11 Singles Day shopping spree, her online store saw revenue increase fivefold. Netizens were amazed. One buyer, "mangoslayer," said, "What an overwhelming project, he poses better than celebrities on TV. The store owner has a good taste." Most netizens thought it was hilarious and agreed that they would not have guessed Liu's real age. Many women have also expressed jealousy of Liu's slender figure: @Little Fish: Look at those legs! He is like the girl from SNDN. @Love Yet to Come: His neck is straight and long! Wow, so confident! @鲨鱼子: He has the body of a professional model. "Grandpa felt his breasts were too small and insisted on stuffing socks," Miss Lü said. "At home, Grandpa cracks jokes whenever he can." In spite of Liu's age, he likes to try new things, according to the New Beijing Press story. He often games on QQ, the biggest social networking site in China, and has more than 15,000 fans on Weixin, China's popular instant messaging app. As for cross-dressing, is Grandpa Liu making a controversial statement about gender roles in this traditional society? Nah, he's just having fun. "Why shouldn't I (wear women's clothing)?" he said. "Modeling for (my granddaughter) is helpful, I don't lose anything. At this old age, I just want to be happy." Xiao Yi is a travel enthusiast who tweets @ellies_day.

Auto show publicly flogged for use of bikini-clad preteen girls as models Posted: 18 Nov 2012 07:29 PM PST Photos from NetEase We are no stranger to the scantily-clad women and the whole sex-sells idea at Chinese auto shows. As if that were not controversial and low-taste enough, an auto show in Wuhan, Hubei province, asked little girls under 10 to dress in bikini and pose teasingly with automobiles, which immediately came under public censure. A parent, in retrospect, said, he did not think too much about it back then and simply though it was a performance, but after he read the web comments, he wanted 'to slapping himself to death.' Selected comments from NetEase and Sina Weibo: 指那拆那 [网易广东省深圳市南山区网友]： F**K. Don't lead the motherland's little flowers (i.e. children) into the trap! 红薇铅华 [网易安徽省淮北市网友]： Have their parents died? 昵称不好找了 [网易重庆市丰都县网友]： Finally, the hand reaches to them. 网易新加坡手机网友 ip：202.156.*.* Money makes the mare go. 网易加拿大手机网友 ip：74.198.*.* Why everything changes its taste (go sour) in China? 网易河北省秦皇岛市网友 ip：222.223.*.* Now I finally understand why they call Chinese ugly. There it is. dqf303 [网易江苏省无锡市手机网友]： Today's auto show = selling cunts 蛋塔被野猫挠了一下：The companies seek the kind of visual impact brought by the innocent children's interpretation of allure and sex appeal. No matter whether it is harmful to the children's mental and physical health, it is the unscrupulous companies' lack of morality! (It is said that those are Japanese cars! Indeed, all Japanese should get the hell out of China!) And the parents put their children in the teeth of a storm of public opinion, it is a matter of parents' ignorance! If you don't know how to protect and educate your children, then don't have children in the first place! This is irresponsible behavior to the children's future and the society at large. 执着善羊：Muddle-headed, nitwitted parents. Their lack of knowledge in child rearing is so regrettable. Bikini is synonymous with sexiness. How can you apply that to minors? VC梦莹：It is nothing wrong with working as a little model. But the problem is with those seductive poses. Those should have been applied to children. More photos:

Pencil This In: Nov 19-22 Posted: 18 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST Pencil This In is all the things you'd want to do this Monday through Thursday. This week we have another pizza deal for the greedy-guts like us, two famous short films by Chris Marker at DADA, a new exhibition by Jiang Weitao, and a new UV party at Ibiza. Fun stuff! Read on for all the details, or check out our calendar for more! [ more › ]

Macau's Grand Prix to continue despite deaths Posted: 18 Nov 2012 08:00 PM PST The week that started with Macau's first Ultimate Fighting competition has ended with two deaths in the city's world famous Grand Prix. Portugese motorcyclist Luis Filipe de Sousa Carreira crashed during a qualifying race on Thursday and Hong Kong driver Phillip Yau Wing-choi died after hitting a barrier at more than 124 mph during a race on Friday. [ more › ]

Podcast Warriors: Meet Two Journalists Making a Change in Shanghai Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:25 PM PST Date: Nov 19th 2012 10:13a.m. Contributed by: amberwoo We talk to Ding Ding and Wang Zhanggui, the creators of Suancai News Podcast 新闻酸菜馆, one of the most pioneering news podcasts in China.

Kim Jong-Un's wife disappears, then comes back Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST Ri Sol-Ju, the woman commonly thought to be Kim Jong-un's wife (although no one knows for sure) has returned after a 50-day absence. There is speculation that Ms. Ri was detained for disciplinary violations, or to hide a pregnancy, or to give Kim Jong-Un some space while The Onion awarded him as 2012's Sexiest Man Alive. [ more › ]

Korean Students Rob Beijing Convenience Store, Charges Aren’t Pressed Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:33 PM PST On Thursday, 30 student tourists from South Korea walked into a Good Neighbor convenience store in Beijing's Chaoyang District and walked out with 1,700 yuan's worth of snacks, cigarettes, and alcohol — without paying. The cashier, Ms. Huang, told local media, "I was busy doing check-out, when I looked up, the shelves were empty, and goods were scattered and stepped on all over the floor." She described the kids as tall males who were making a racket. "I was terribly scared at the time," she said. "But now, after the fact, I've thought about it, and they're all kids, so that's that." But is that really that? After Ms. Huang called the cops, locals surrounded the students' bus, not letting them leave. And then, as South China Morning Post explains: The police arrived 15 minutes later and retrieved the stolen goods but did not press charges, according to local reports. It was not clear what motivated the students to rob the store, but the police said it was probably just done on impulse. The two sides reached a compensation agreement for 2,000 yuan. Perhaps Ms. Huang is a kind-hearted and sympathetic woman who was happy to have made 300 RMB and wanted to avoid an international incident? People don't seem to have reached that conclusion on Sina Weibo: @露水安娜与红唇: You can compensate for looting? My horizons have been broadened… @暴躁的小眼镜儿: In the past, the Celestial Kingdom's laws didn't apply for influential officials, now it seems they don't apply to foreigners — forever applicable is farting! @半角戒: A crime is a crime, we can't tolerate it. If we go on long-term like this, letting people from wherever come to our country without fear of repercussions, this country won't be much of a country.

Antoni Restaurant: This Relocated Spanish Restaurant Doesn’t Do Enough Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST Date: Nov 19th 2012 9:53a.m. Contributed by: electronicdrew

5 homeless children in SW China die from hiding in trash bin to get warm Posted: 18 Nov 2012 04:32 PM PST From NetEase and Sina Five boys were found dead inside roadside waste bins in Bijie, southwestern China's Guizhou province, on the morning of November 16. Police investigation is under way. So far, the five boys have not been identified, but the preliminary result shows the boys may have been killed by CO gas poisoning after trying to warm themselves by a fire they set inside the waste bins. Dumpsters in which the five boys died from CO gas poisoning All Chinese netizens lament their deaths. Some compared their tragic fate to that of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and the Little Match Girl in Hans Christian Anderson's story. Some railed against the failure of the country's social welfare. Others simply commented, "Wine and meat rot behind vermilion gates while at the roadside people freeze to death," a well-known verse written by ancient Chinese poet Du Fu often cited by modern Chinese who are disgusted with the yawning gap between the apathetic rich and the miserable poor. The first to find the five bodies was a rag-picking elderly woman. The eldest among the was 13, and the youngest 7. According to several witnesses who had been to the site, nearby the waste bins was a demolition site. "The kids rigged up a makeshift shelter on the site with bricks, plywoods sheets and billboard canvas, and lived in there for a couple of days," once said. Another reported having seen kids playing a discarded broken ball they picked from the waste bins. The demolition site on which boys used to play; a makeshift home they rigged up with bricks, plywood and billboard canvas can still be seen. It was drizzling in Bijie at late night on November 15, with a temperature as low as 6°C (42 °F). The five boys may have hidden inside the waste bins and set fire to warm themselves. Incomplete combustion as the result of insufficient oxygen inside the waste bins created carbon monoxide and killed the boys. Top comments from NetEase: 网易广东省河源市网友 ip：121.14.*.*2012-11-18 03:56:32 发表 How many homeless children can be rescued if you guys drink one less bottle of Moutai (luxury Chinese liquor)? P民思想者 [网易上海市网友]：2012-11-19 06:30:52 发表 Even if CCTV runs the happiness remarks 1,000 times, it cannot heal the trauma left on me by this single piece of news. qf55 [网易浙江省杭州市网友]：2012-11-18 03:55:27 发表 Wine and meat rot behind vermilion gates while at the roadside people freeze to death. It's been a thousand years, and we haven't progressed a little. Selected comments from Sina Weibo: 矮妹子：Hope there is no coldness in Heaven. Lossy_Huang：The tragedy of the old society reoccurs in the Socialist New China??? What do those local officials and party members do for a living? 'Serve the People,' damn bullshit!!! 代表moon消灭你o0：This society is very cold…The kids were innocent…Pray for you 歌手阎飞翔：Maybe you have already arrived in another world, where it is no longer cold, you no longer need to worry about your meals, and you no longer have to shun the suspicious and disdainful eyes of passers-by. Bon voyage. Pray… 蒙商联合梁磊：My two reasons for sharing this: 1, Hope the relevant organ of the government stop its inaction. Tax paid by 1.4 million people cannot even support our kids? 2, Hope this can inspire the society to contemplate, where is our moral compass; who has stolen our sympathy? 伊犁飞飞：Five children's lives…Feeling so chilled and heartbroken. Oliver Twist, the little match girl. Zurga：Why would there even be homeless children? Why would children end up living in the streets? Isn't there any foster home or orphanage? Has taxpayers' money been fed to dogs??! F**K!!! 夜行侠也迷向阳花：The woe of living in socialism with Chinese characteristics. 禹海华：I only want to ask, if one day, you see a homeless person, will you hand him a warm coat and a hot meal? 爱困斯坦：You guys embezzle, you guys take bribes. Do whatever you want, we have already gotten too used to it! But why can't you even protect those kids!!! Five kids!!! F**k you and your entire family, you bastard officials! Vanxxx的小宇宙：RIP. Kids, don't choose the HARD mode in your next life when you are to be reincarnated. (It comes from the widespread Internet joke that anyone born in China must have chosen HARD mode when they were reincarnated, instead of EASY mode that corresponds to life in Europe, and therefore have to suffer.)

69-Car Accident On Shanghai-Kunming Highway Results In At Least 9 Dead Posted: 18 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST Near Anshun, Guizhou province on Saturday morning, a traffic accident — possibly a head-on collision — resulted in massive fender-benders going both directions. On one side, 44 cars got tangled up; on the other, 25 cars. All told, 25 were injured and nine died. Traffic didn't return to normal until eight hours later. A 69-vehicle accident indeed seems insane, but in China, it feels like business as usual. Sina video for those in China after the jump.

The Situation Is Excellent: The Week That Was At Beijing Cream Posted: 18 Nov 2012 07:59 AM PST November 12 – November 18 China has a new leader, and his name is Xi Jinping. Andrea Yu became a Chinese Internet sensation for asking a question, then made English-language news for being a model/flack. And a boy pooped on a crowded Guangzhou subway carriage. Funny pictures of Hu Jintao: looking absolutely thrilled, having an orgasm. Allie Jaynes wrote about Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan. The Anthill's Alec Ash wrote about Tibet. And Alicia wrote about China's successful women looking for love. People's Daily ran a slideshow in which it called women "beautiful scenery," while preteen girls are used as bikini models at a Wuhan car show. Jon Huntsman still has reasonable things to say about China. Here's a positive story of a kid who damaged a BMW but didn't flee the scene. A double-dose of TAR Nation this week: he wrote about Chinese media hating on the US, and banners. Beautiful time-lapse of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen deserves repeat viewings. Hong Kong had a gay rights parade that attracted more than 4,000 participants. Finally: muhhhhhduh. And a reminder: we're looking for a few good dick-drawers. Don't be shy. |Week in Review Archives|

How To Form A China Company (WFOE or JV). Hong Kong Entities. They’re Baaaaack. Part II. Posted: 18 Nov 2012 06:41 AM PST Less than a month ago, we wrote a post, entitled, How To Form A China Company (WFOE or JV). Hong Kong Entities. They're Baaaaack. The gist of that post was that my law firm was now favoring the forming of Special Purpose Entities in Hong Kong to hold the soon to be formed Mainland China Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE) or Joint Venture (JV).  We wrote on how our position on this had changed due to China's having recently become increasingly tough on company formations involving non-Hong Kong companies: It is relatively easy to prove the existence and organizational structure of a Hong Kong company. The process is straightforward and the Chinese investment authorities understand the documents and readily accept them. This is not true for corporate documents from other countries. The Chinese authorities want documents that are similar to their own. They do not understand foreign company systems, and will often challenge perfectly standard documents from foreign jurisdictions that do not accord with the way they think the world should work. For example, the Chinese authorities will often demand notarized documents. When the notary is from a common law jurisdiction like the United States or England, they will object to the form of the notarization because it does not look like a Chinese or civil law country notarization. In other cases, we have had Chinese authorities object to United States limited liability company documents because the officers' titles do not match the equivalent terms in Chinese. For example, in most U.S. jurisdictions, a limited liability company (LLC) does not have directors and officers. Instead, the LLC is either member managed or manager managed. We have had Chinese authorities object to both forms of management because they do not understand the U.S. system. Of course, the issues can be even worse when the investor company is based in a system even more different from China, such as the Middle East, Central Europe or Africa. All of these sorts of problems are solved if the foreign investor sets up a Hong Kong company and specifies the Hong Kong company as the shareholder of the Chinese WFOE or Joint Venture. For this reason, many of our clients will almost automatically plan to form a Hong Kong company as the first step in the China company formation process. We received a not surprising amount of blowback to that post, both in the form of comments and in the form of a fairly large number of angry emails.  As I have written many times previously, virtually whenever we say anything that might lead anyone to believe that doing business in China involves little more than just walking in, we get push back, mostly from those whose incomes depend entirely on a smooth flow of China business. Anyway, we received plenty of communications saying or hinting that absolutely nothing had changed in China and that it was either all in our heads or due to our inability to negotiate China's bureaucracy. This is the "I told you so" follow-up post. I just read a Financial Times article, entitled,  "China, India and Russia less business friendly," on how "executives around the world" think China has become "less friendly towards business over the past three months," as based on an FT/Economist Global Business Barometers Survey.  This survey is conducted every three months of 1,500 global senior executives.  According to the survey, of the four largest emerging market economies, only Brazil has eased up on business; China, Russia and India have gotten tougher. "The survey comes amid concerns that growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China – together known as the Brics – is slowing." Brazil was the only one of the four Brics that more consider friendly than unfriendly towards foreign business. I yearn for the day when China views getting "friendlier" towards foreign business as its best reaction to a slowing economy, rather than getting more "unfriendly." What are you seeing out there?

Watch: Bobble-headed Xi Jinping dances Gangnam Style for a Free Tibet Posted: 17 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST In an attempt to prove that Gangnam Style can be used in any context whatsoever, Students for a Free Tibet have released a video featuring China's new leader motioning to cows, selling vegetables, arresting protestors, and breaking down to Psy's hit. And you thought the Gangnam Style meme was dead! [ more › ]

Presented By: Posted: 17 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST

Shanghaiist Sunday Show: IAI debate, 'The Eagle and the Dragon' Posted: 17 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST The UK's Institute of Art and Ideas brings us this debate between Oxford historian and broadcaster Rana Mitter, FT columnist Gideon Rachman, China commentator Isabel Hilton, and historian Robert Bickers, on the "consequences of the rise of a 21st century superpower." [ more › ]

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