Xinhua reports that a massive fire swept through Dukezong Ancient Town last night in the northwest Yunnan county of Shangri-la, a tourist resort ever since marketers changed its name from Zhongdian in 2001. Preliminary reports say the began at 1:30 am from a local shop, then spread due to windy conditions and the prevalence of wooden structures in Old Town. The exact cause is under investigation.
First, we need to collectively realize -- then get over the fact that -- People's Daily has a Facebook page. Then we can get to this story, first tweeted by Bill Bishop with the question, "People's Daily fall for fake news again?"
Turns out, yes. Very fake.
"Several Western journalists who faced expulsion from China were issued renewed visas by the Chinese government Thursday, ending a months-long standoff," writes William Wan for Washington Post. Yay!
"Austin Ramzy, a journalist who previously worked for Time magazine, has not been given press accreditation or a permanent visa since he joined the Times, according to journalists in Beijing."
Well shit.
Check out these diners at a McDonald's in Kowloon City -- photo via Apple Daily -- "wailing," according to Coconuts Hong Kong, at the sight of a seven-inch rat scavenging for food.
Eccentric Chinese millionaire Chen Guangbiao admits to facing "obstacles" in his bid to purchase the New York Times (translation: no way the Ochs-Sulzberger family is selling to him), but that's the old story here. The much more important story we'd like to highlight is the one about his business card, namely how utterly INSANE it is.
Dennis Rodman sang Happy Birthday to Kim Jong-un, who then watched as his country's basketball team beat Dennis Rodman's USA team on Wednesday in Pyongyang. That's according to Koryo Tours general manager Simon Cockerell, who reports that "the DPRK team emerged triumphant" in a 20-minute game, played as two 10-minute halves.
