American swindles Chinese businessmen, solicits bribes, sells access to Indiana officials

The East is Read
This is quite the bouleversement of your typical corruption story. Usually — because we’re in China — we hear about Chinese officials and businessmen whose unsavory ethics and practices land them in hot water. This case out of Indiana, however, is about an American using guanxi to swindle Chinese. Shuang Monica Liang — recently dead of a... Read more »

Blogging The Bloggers: King Tubby’s Inaugural Column About The China Blogosphere

King Tubby
Peeping weekly at the best (and worst) that was, is, and will be on the China blogosphere. If you were a late arrival to the Sino-English web world and entered via the wrong portals, you probably encountered a toxic mix of serious players, gunslingers with a veneer of academia, trolls, half-wits, cannon fodder and individuals burdened... Read more »

Welcome To The New Beijing Cream [UPDATE]

Default view
UPDATE, 12/18, midnight: We’ve switched things up! Blog view is now the frontpage, and the first panel is the “featured posts.” The “category view” button is what you want to click if you’d like to view by our categories. The sidebars have been changed too, slightly. Much easier to consume the content this way. You... Read more »

In China, Obama’s Address On The Newtown Shooting Has Already Been Viewed Nearly 1 Million Times

obama-screencap
It’s time to talk about it. Start here, with The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos: As an American overseas for the last ten years, I’ve watched as other countries struggle with the curious fact that the most prosperous, successful, and emulated civilization the world has ever seen lives with the certainty that every few months one... Read more »

They’re Still Talking About Demolishing Swathes Of The Drum And Bell Neighborhood

Beijing Drum and Bell
For the last three or more years, rumor’s swirled over “restoration” plans in the Drum and Bell (Gulou) neighborhood to create a large plaza or “Time Cultural City.” It looks like the local government and developers are finally going forward with it. Here’s AFP’s latest report on the subject, which actually gives a date: Notices... Read more »

Nail Houses In Context: See Them In Their Surroundings Via Google Earth

Changsha 2008
Changsha 2008 Ogle Earth has provided us a unique chronology of some of China’s more famous nail houses, and presented them “in geospatial context.” Writes Stefan Geens: Every so often, the master plans of developers don’t align with those of an existing home owner. The negotiations, coaxing and intimidation that follow can reach absurd levels,... Read more »