“24-Hour Freeze,” a competition in Changsha, Hunan province, via China News
Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone.
Stan Abrams does not believe in the veracity of the slave labor letter. “Someone went to the trouble to write it in poor English, but of course it doesn’t sound like standard Chinglish. The author bothered to misspell every other word, but apparently thought that not only do inmates of Chinese labor camps know how to write in English, but they also use words like ‘occasionally’ and ‘persecution’ and know how to use commas properly. Even with the included mistakes, it’s still better written than what you’d get out of most Americans with a high school education.” (China Hearsay)
Minibus accident, 10 killed. “Chinese state media say an overloaded minibus has fallen into a ravine, killing five children and five adults in southern China’s Guangxi region. // The official Xinhua News Agency says the nine-seat bus was carrying 20 people when it went off a mountain road and plunged into the ravine on Friday. The other 10 passengers were hospitalized with injuries, including a 3-month-old infant in critical condition.” (AP)
Doesn’t look good. “It was Friday evening in Beijing and along Haidian Dong San Jie, an ambulance could be seen hurtling down the street – the vehicle’s blue and red lights flashing and sirens wailing. // The ambulance from the Beijing Emergency Medical Centre in Haidian was not rushing a sick or injured patient to the hospital, however. In fact, it was not carrying any patients at all. // The ambulance crew was heading back from dinner at a nearby noodle restaurant. Onboard were other hospital staff, all dressed in their white medical coats.” (SCMP)
Which porn site? “Police are hunting suspects who took photographs and filmed video footage in women’s toilets at a university using hidden cameras. // The material was found on foreign pornographic websites, according to yesterday’s Legal Evening News.” (Shanghai Daily)
On coffee. “This remote southwestern city near the borders of Laos and Myanmar is named after one of China’s most famous teas, grown on mountain terraces painstakingly carved out of the region’s rich red soil. // But in recent years, pu’er tea has surrendered prime real estate for a more lucrative brew: coffee. Chinese farmers have taken to the new crop, which thrives in high-altitude areas of Yunnan province and commands up to three times as much money as tea.” (LA Times)
On drugs, Africa. “On Thursday (Dec. 27, 2012) China made the somewhat unusual move of responding directly to my series about bad drugs from Asia endangering African lives, defending its drug quality and export controls and saying for what could be the first time publicly that it is not exporting bad drugs to Africa.” (Kathleen McLaughlin, The Pulitzer Center)
Awwww. “Childhood puppy love often fades like a summer haze, but that wasn’t the case for Sarah Ho and Wilson Ng. // Fashion print designer Sarah, 28, and accountant Wilson, 29, tied the knot on October 20 at The Repulse Bay after meeting as young children. // ‘Our mums were best friends and when they met, all the kids used to play together,’ Sarah said. ‘I remember clearly that Wilson was my partner for this silly game we used to play. When his family left for America, I refused to partner up with any other boys. In fact, I stopped playing that game for good.’ // Although they didn’t see each other for more than 20 years, Sarah never forgot her first love. ‘When we reunited, he looked exactly the way I had imagined and had a smile that almost made me pass out,’ she said.” (SCMP)
On North Korea women. “Welcome to the Orwellian world of work in North Korea. In this reclusive country, profound social change is happening beyond the view of the outside world. The demands of politics have dramatically redrawn gender roles, forcing women to become the breadwinners.” (Louisa Lim, NPR)
Xinhua features male pole dancer interlude:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOdxin-k1xk]
Finally…
Xi Jinping’s sparse meal – “six dishes and one soup.” (Shanghaiist)
“Be it praise or slander, China takes everything in its stride and as calm as the still waters that run deep.” (People’s Daily via Eric Fish)
“Drive-by” cyber attack from China on the Council on Foreign Relations? (The Washington Free Beacon)
Marcus Williams feeling at home in the CBA. (Global Times)
Shenzhen’s World University Games last year lost 12.8 billion yuan. (SCMP)
Finally, finally…
Via Shanghaiist: “The top floors of an office block in central Shanghai collapsed in the early hours of Sunday morning.”
You handily forgot to mention your own article about Beijing Cream having a Christmas party in Sanlitun, promoting it extensively here, then having only 30 people turn up and only providing one (small) keg of beer. Then you pissed off, embarrassed. That was a major event, wasn’t it.
No-one likes you, you shit stir too much, and I predict Beijing Cream won’t last out the year.
I don’t moderate except for spam, Mr. Rex, and if you post this message a third time, it’s going in the spam folder. We did not hold a Christmas party.
I appreciate that you laid off the physical threats in this message though, so that’s progress.
You didn’t hold a Christmas Party? Oh, I get it, you’d prefer to forget it because it was embarrassing, no-one came, you dressed up like a ponce, slagged off just about every expat personality in Beijing, only paid for one small keg of beer then fucked off when you realized it was shite. I’m talking about this event, which you invited people too and promoted heavily here on Beijing Cream. This one, on the Sunday before Christmas: http://beijingcream.com/2012/12/come-join-us-for-a-beer-this-sunday-at-great-leap-brewing/
I came quite a long way to attend that and you turned out to be a cheapskate big mouth, that’s all.
Happy New Year.
Lol, and you sound like the kind of party guest whom every host dreams of.
[Rolls eyes]
I was there from 3 pm to about 7 or 8 [edit: 8:30, I'm told], leaving after dinner, at which point the crowd had, yes, thinned considerably from the afternoon. There was definitely still beer when I left though, and whatever misunderstanding we have probably could have been cleared up if you’d just introduced yourself.
Next time. Happy New Year.
p.s. the event was not the “Sunday before Christmas.” It was a week before.
He sounds to me like another entitled expat who’s been damaged by all the cheap, empty hype that Chinese like to shower on clueless foreigners, and consequently finds himself detached from basic reality.
You got a free beer and a chance to meet some interesting people at a hip bar in Beijing and you’re still complaining? Were you expecting to be fellated by the host as well?
I’m surprised you weren’t bounced at the door. That psychotic gleam in your eyes shouldn’t be hard to miss, but perhaps everyone else was too busy having a good time to notice or care.
>>I came quite a long way to attend that
He works in Sichuan Province, you know. He went all the way to Beijing just to get his free beer.
Meet people? Socialize? Not important. Give him his beer now!
Well at least there was an event. My site doesn’t even bother with such nonsense. Siniolicious giving away beer? You wish! As far as interwebbers are concerned, I think they should be happy with being able to view a site for free. These things cost money you know!
Stan is a see-no-evil kind of guy. Its funny to watch him bend over backwards trying not to offend. He is like a lap dog doing everything he can to make master happy, just to hopefully avoid master’s boot in the future.
He is afraid basically. Afraid of getting blocked like his ill-fated group blog China Divide, which was poorly named in the first place, seriously wtf? Dumb name. I guess Custer is ok, don’t read him myself, but it went downhill quick after that.
Sometimes I go to Stan’s site but its always too tedious and pretentious, not to mention pitiful the way he kowtows to the Party.
Two recent highlights:
1. Western media is bad for talking to a ‘certain blind lawyer’ who can’t be named because Stan is afraid of banned keywords, in their article about China’s justice system. His case does not prove the system is broken because civil courts exist (in other words, business law actually works to some extent therefore this one high-profile case (and let’s quietly ignore ALL THE OTHER similar cases) doesn’t tell us anything about China’s justice system. Oh look, amendments to the civil procedure law! What glorious progress!
http://www.chinahearsay.com/note-to-media-high-profile-criminal-cases-are-not-representative-of-chinas-judicial-system/
2. This is the one that made me close my browser last time I went over there. Get this: Using weasel words, Stan says, well sure the government and judges and police are all corrupt, and the censors protect them, and somebody ought to deal with that. But what Stan thinks is really important is how bad it is that the vast populace online tries to affect outcomes in legal matters. Yes, that should stop right now because that’s the biggest problem out there.
So, the only mechanism that actually works in China to try and create more justice in this country is the real problem, according to Stan.
http://www.chinahearsay.com/china-online-mob-does-it-again/
Read em and weep for one man’s integrity.
I think attending a party it is supposed to be a party. It wasn’t. It was attended by very few, Anthony coughed up for one beer only, pranced about introducing him like the Expat God of Bloggers, slagged off all other websites and expats, including some of those who bothered to turn up, and generally proved he is a loudmouth dickwad troll trying to make a name for himself by being “cuntravershall”.
This site promotes Anthony Tao and his ego at the expense of any decent behavior and standards. I give you two months before you get blocked and probably even less before someone smacks you in the mouth in Sanlitan one evening for being an annoying cunt with a big mouth and no manners.
Beijing Cream wants to be Hidden Harmonies but doesn’t have the balls. It’s just a troll pit for losers that thinks everyone else should take it seriously. No-one does.
Number of months Beijing Cream has run advertising adverts for it’s own website: 6
Number of actual advertisers: Zero
Says it all really.
Someone’s panties are in a bunch. So let me get this straight: no one showed up and everyone who didn’t show up were offended. Gotcha.
Boy, some people in BJ really take themselves seriously. Do they act like that in SH too? I have never seen anything like the insular, incestuous comments threads that some of these posts generate.
Quite the amount of vitriol and bile. I daresay there is something more to this than a mere dislike of BJC’s handiwork.
Yeah, probably a jealous blogger who feels he was “slighted” or “ignored” somehow, or a perhaps hack at Global Times who does not like Beijing Cream’s particular take on that esteemed and highly reputable publication.
After two decades in East Asia, I have found that nothing inspires petty resentments like the success of other expats. Some call it the “tall poppy syndrome.” I prefer to call it “being a bloody wanker.”
If “CuntasaurusRex” were a real man, he’d post under his real name. And if I were Anthony Tao, I’d give him a nice crack in the schnoz the next time I saw him. I mean, if someone was talking smack like that to you at a bar, what else would you do?
And no one else there would blame you at all.
@Jive Mantra – you’d be pissed off if you get invited, then turn up, no-one shows up, he only has one small keg of beer that runs out after 20 minutes, says hello in an unpleasant “I am a star” kind of way, starts dissing everyone in Beijing and acts like a fucking prima donna China Blog God then leaves some people without saying goodbye or thanks, having drunk on their tab to pick up the bill. Way to go, Anthony Tao.
Post some photos of your “party” Anthony. Go ahead. Then everyone can see how “successful” it was.
If I met you in person, I would no doubt immediately pick up on your weird, hostile vibe and put as much distance between us as possible.
In any case, faulting bloggers for a lack of social skills kind of misses the point. Many bloggers are geeks in my experience, which is why they are bloggers in the first place!
Maybe this is why so much hate (from Sinocism newsletter today):
Clearly, CR in fact is a jealous Eric Fish.
Anthony, I do wish I could use blockquote and other simple html in comments…