We now know that the bus that crashed on the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangu Highway on Monday, killing five German passengers and one Chinese, was carrying a delegation of doctors and medical students from southern Bavaria. There were 19 German tourists plus their Chinese tour guide and driver.
The accident occurred when the bus apparently rear-ended a large shipping truck. Once the bus caught fire, there was really nothing anyone could do except run from the flames.
The man who brutally attacked and nearly killed a 51-year-old driver of a Toyota Corolla on September 15 amid Diaoyu Island protests has been arrested, as announced on Sina Weibo (above, via Business insider; CCed on that message is “Xi’an Police Department”). Shanghaiist relays: Press release: Xi’an 9-15 protest Japanese car owner Li Jianli injury case solved,... Read more »
While Stephon Marbury usually commands all the attention, Beijing has a pretty good second foreigner on its basketball team in Randolph Morris. Last year the 6'11'' power forward/center averaged 23.8 points and 7.1 rebounds over the season, and hit the go-ahead free throws with 21.9 seconds left in the championship-clinching Game 5 vs. Guangdong in March. The team re-signed him in the off-season, and yesterday evening, Morris arrived back in town.
The Caochangdi branch of Beijing Design Week is an eclectic mess. The posters have the wrong dates. Designers didn't finish their work on time, so you'll find empty spaces in the place of installations. Volunteers might sell you a button or a program that's supposed to be free. You'll wonder what some exhibits, such as a mishmash of geolocation balloons and a physical "chat room" called "The Real Network," have to do with design.
Mix it all together, and you have a wonderful template for the best and worst of Beijing.
More pictures here via AP. Another Golden Week tragedy, this time out of Hong Kong. Thirty-six people are confirmed dead after a ferry, the Lamma IV, capsized after colliding with a tug boat off Lamma Island. Many of the 120 onboard were off to Victoria Harbor to watch Hong Kong’s annual October 1 fireworks display, one... Read more »
Found on Liveleak last night, this disturbing scene from a kindergarten in Guangzhou shows a 20-something female teacher lifting a four-year-old and throwing her onto the ground because she wouldn’t do her exercises. The child, Yao Yao, suffered a “major” head injury, according to the newscast. The teacher, apparently unaware that young children shouldn’t be... Read more »
This is the music they play in movies when a hero is about to die. It's dramatic, it builds upon its own tension, it tells a story of sorrow, sacrifice, and honor, or fulfillment, or redemption. (In fact, I'm pretty sure it comes from a movie, but I couldn't tell you which one.) And it's incredibly overwrought, never quite right for our world but fine for an alternate reality made in a studio.
If you ever want to understand what it means to live in China -- "real China," as some are fond of saying -- head out to one of the popular tourist sites this week. It doesn't matter which -- may as well be the Great Wall, shown above, or Xiangshan, or Jiuzhaigou, whatever. Advance warning: you'll need to prepare heavy doses of perspective and patience, and master a few advanced breathing techniques, because what you'll deal with will shock and anger you, and seriously test your resolve to be a compassionate, courteous human being.
