End-Of-Week Links: Wen Jiabao, Bo Xilai, Zhang Dejiang, Dolkun Isa

Probably because you're not blowing hard enough
Via chinaSMACK Beijing Guoan defeated Shanghai Shenhua 3-2 in a legitimately exciting match tonight in front of a capacity crowd of about 68,000. Beijing went up 2-0 before Shanghai clawed back with two of its own, with Anelka — who otherwise did very little — scoring the equalizer. A beautiful header-goal gave Beijing the lead... Read more »

Anelka And Shanghai Shenhua FC Are In Beijing Tonight, And This Is Why You Should Root Against Them

Anelka and wife
So... the French. Their language sounds like a bit of old pudding being forced through a keyhole. Their attitude and manners are somewhere between a toaster and mildly mentally-deficient groundhog. And their only useful purpose, as far as I can see, is keeping the Germans away from the Spaniards, who seem really quite nice. The French are rubbish.

‘You Just Made A French Concession!’ And Other Heckles For Anelka At Tonight’s Beijing Guoan Home Opener

Charles Platiau / Reuters
Before you go racing to Workers Stadium though, you should know Anelka — the former Chelsea and French national team star — may not play tonight due to injury (game-time decision). Also, you may not want to chant “French Concession,” considering the last guy who used that phrase publicly got fined 47,500 yuan. And really,... Read more »

This Is Either The Worst Or Best Pole Dance Ever [UPDATE]

Best or worst pole dance ever
UPDATE: The above video was appended on 3/18. It features Ayo Technology and Don’t Cha. The Chinese Pole Dancing Championship is about to start (apparently), and the woman in the video after the jump (it’s there because it auto-plays) is sixty-something [correction: born in the 1960s] Shi Xiaohong (according to title). All we know for... Read more »

Would Drunken Drake Let Himself Be Taken Advantage Of At A Massage Parlor? Nah, Not Him

Drake Moreau
We all have our routines when we're drunk or tired. My friend Drew recently introduced me to the idea of visiting spas. It’s a terrible idea. It can’t be good for the body, especially one as horribly abused as mine, to endure further dehydration in a steam room after 10-plus-hours of drinking. But there we were one night, half-naked in a wooden room, flambéing as steam filled the metal box around us.

Bo Xilai, Be Well, And Godspeed

Bo Xilai
Earlier today, Bo Xilai was ousted from his post as party secretary of Chongqing, a stunning — if not altogether unexpected — end to an unusually public saga that began when Wang Lijun showed up at the US embassy in Chengdu on February 6 with dirt on his former boss. At 11:43 am, a film... Read more »