January 7 – January 13
Brad Pitt opened a Sina Weibo account, and hours later already had a deleted message. Enraged by a blown call, Qingdao’s coach pulled his team off the court, and a day later Tracy McGrady was suspended one game for his angry Sina Weibo messages. A ridiculous and violent showdown in Changsha featured a brick-wielder getting the better of a gunslinger.
The big news story of the week was Southern Weekly: protests, acrostics and other subtle subversion, an incredible Global Times editorial, Beijing News publisher’s resignation (maybe), and finally, it seems, a resumption of work. Meanwhile, a reminder for perspective.
The air was really, really bad in Beijing this week. On the brighter side of school massacres, this picture. We think there’s a good chance this video is fake, but what a sweet kick nonetheless.
Our new contributors! Wendy Hale wrote about the impending reform of China’s reeducation-through-labor camps and censorship of WeChat messages, RK Smith posted about an interminable airport delay in Kunming, terroir wrote about a 3-year-old dying from head trauma, and John Artman was impressed with Huawei’s new 6.1-inch smartphone.
An undercover journalist exposed abuse at a Changsha homeless shelter. Chengguan in Beijing set a new low by stealing from the homeless. The booze you get at Sanlitun is fake. And a serial killer who sold his victims’ body parts at a meat market was executed.
Animals: The Good Doctor wrote about some lucky Asiatic black bears that have been freed, RK Smith noted there are those in southern China who have challenged traditional food culture, and here’s a cat in Nanjing.
Comment of the Week:
On the post about a man who tried to cut off his own penis:
https://twitter.com/martin_jolly/statuses/288965515421024256
