This picture (and the ones after the jump) is via Gonzalo the 3rd (update: originally posted to Ai Weiwei’s Instagram), and appears to have been taken today. Tipster Mark D writes in: Elton John dedicated this evening’s show to Ai Weiwei. Not exactly on the Bjork-Free Tibet scale of scandal, but still interesting nonetheless. The Bjork... Read more »
This year’s Beijing Marathon had its share of hiccups. During registration, Japanese runners were initially barred, leading people to call for the race to lose its “Gold Label” accreditation from the International Association of Athletics Federations. Then, just this week, anxiety loomed over air quality, which hovered between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous.” But when the race... Read more »
A little more than six months ago, Chen Guangcheng was lost. Maybe not literally — though there’s a chance that’s true as well, a blind lawyer-activist fleeing through the woods of Linyi in Shandong province, then chased via car — but his whereabouts, for a week, was utterly unknown except to a circle of close... Read more »
Before Beijing and Shanghai tipped off the 2012-13 Chinese Basketball Association season last night, there was a 30-minute pre-game ceremony in which players and coaches from last year’s championship-winning team — that would be the Beijing Ducks, if you’re just joining in — received medals, awards, and a championship banner. All that was normal. Then... Read more »
Are we even sure PSY knows how to rap? He lip-synchs every performance, right? And MC Hammer -- that dude. That dude, man. Enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend, everyone.
We just warned about the dangers of hotpot: last week, a man caught on fire when a waiter allegedly mishandled an alcohol-fueled hotpot stove in Beijing. An accident yesterday in Shouyang County of Jinzhong City, Shanxi province was much worse. At 7:52 pm, according to Xinhua, a large blast came from inside the hotpot chain Xiyangyang (Happy Sheep),... Read more »
Hold your saddles everyone, your favorite horse dancer is coming to China! Unfortunately, his first mainland performance will be in Changsha, as part of Hunan Satellite TV’s “Carnival Week” to ring in the new year. Amanda, I kid. Changsha is a fine city. Unfortunately, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Ah, I kid again. It’s not... Read more »
Devin Silloway, who says he coined the term “guy tai” on the front page of China Daily 10 years ago, has just been featured by Reuters TV’s Decoder as the poster boy for a purportedly growing trend of stay-at-home expat dads in China. Guy tai, of course, plays off the term tai tai, which That’s magazine... Read more »
Shanghai favorites the Fever Machine will be in Beijing tomorrow to hold a release party for its two-song, 7-inch vinyl record, La Chupacabra. The guys will play a free show at Temple Bar starting at 9:30 pm, with the first 60 through the door receiving a free copy of the record. (They'll play Shanghai's Yuyintang on December 1, with free records going to the first 250.) The outfit's Beijing-based label, Genjing Records, describes it as combining "the swirling, spacey elements of psychedelia with progression song structures," with "melodic pop hooks" and the "grime of stoner rock and proto-metal without buffering out the dents." See for yourself: featured here, the album's title track.
