I'm not an expert on architecture, but building houses on stilts on top of houses seems like a tricky proposition. The lesson here may be that we shouldn't underestimate the strength of 10 concrete pillars? I'm not sure.
According to the video description, as brought to us by chinaSMACK, urban management officers in Qingdao, Shandong province attempted to demolish the guard room of a "military compound" on the afternoon of September 4. They were met with resistance, as guards and -- reportedly, though this is disputed -- actual soldiers came out looking for -- and getting; this part is not disputed -- a fight.
Another explosion rocked southern China, this time in Guangzhou. At 11:50 am today, according to Xinhua, a storehouse in the Ezhangtan area of Baiyun district went up in flame, rubble, and smoke. Four are confirmed dead, and at least 36 others injured.
The exact cause is unknown, but initial reports are that -- unlike the blast outside a Guilin primary school yesterday -- this was an accident.
After a handful of English-language publications declared that authorities had "shut down" the Beijing Independent Film Festival (BIFF), many people likely dusted their hands of the matter, thinking censorship had once again triumphed over artistic expression. But as James Hsu discovered more than a week after the festival’s supposed cancellation, BIFF held a successful, albeit quiet, closing ceremony following a full program of screenings and panels.
So what happened? A few days after the closing, I met with artistic director Dong Bingfeng to ask him about that and other issues on censorship, film in China, and independent festivals in the future.
Slanderous content -- "rumors" -- that are reposted at least 500 times or attract 5,000 views will put the author in danger of defamation charges and a three-year jail sentence, according to a clarifying statement issued by China's Supreme Court on Monday.
There's no info on this video except that this happened outside a Sina office and the combatants are chauffeurs, but it's a fight and we like it. There are some real sloppy overhead rights thrown by the man in the darker shirt though. What is he even thinking?
That rubber duck -- you know the one -- looked pretty sad in its new environs of Beijing last week. Check out these photos via AP, and the accompanying story via Reuters:
ISTANBUL WINS RIGHT TO HOST 2020 SUMMER OLYMPICS, reads the Xinhua headline on a September 8 edition of Changsha Evening News. There's just one big, huge, obvious mistake:
![Puppy Thrown Out Of 18th-Story Window Miraculously Survives, Owner Arrested [UPDATE]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Dog-thrown-out-window-survives-150x150.jpg "Puppy Thrown Out Of 18th-Story Window Miraculously Survives, Owner Arrested [UPDATE]")
