The above was posted to Sina Weibo recently and was, of course, deleted. If it doesn't seem like a picture that compares China's president to a chubby bear with a sweet tooth would be allowed to stand, it's because a picture that compares China's president to a chubby bear with a sweet tooth isn't allowed to stand, even if it's done in good fun (as the above obviously is). But as we've said before: censors ...

In a Q-and-A with the Guardian, Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who is now in Hong Kong, talked about his motivations, the "authoritarian mindset" of spies (such as himself), and why he does not expect to ever return to the US as a free man. He also said this about hacking, specifically the hypocrisy of any government complaining about Chinese hacking: ...

Global Times is running a neat feature on its Facebook page (yes, Global Times has a Facebook page) in which it posts sample questions from China's National College Entrance Exam, i.e. gaokao. Its headline asks: So you think you’re smarter than a Chinese high school student? Oh hell no, no one thinks they're smarter than Chinese high school students. We're all reeling from years of alcohol abuse and our hea ...

This is the end, beautiful friend. This is the end, my only friend. ...

Those wonderful viral marketers at Durex -- who were responsible for this ad that implied Barack Obama has a bigger penis than Mitt Romney -- sprinkled some photoshop magic to one particular photo of Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan that's been making the rounds. In the original -- somewhat lampooned because China's First Lady is using an iPhone -- Xi Jinping definitely does not have a condom in his breast pocket ...

Over the last week a number of people have asked me about Internet trolls leaving defamatory comments on this website and others. Even though common sense tells me to ignore them, here are responses in the form of an FAQ: Do you know who’s leaving these comments? Yes... ...

June 3 - June 9 ...

Authorities are searching for a suspect they believe caused a bus fire in Xiamen, Fujian province during evening rush hour on Friday, killing 47 people and injuring 34."Some witnesses said they heard explosions about ten minutes after the fire broke out," reports Xinhua. Fifteen students who had just completed tests were on the bus, according to a press conference held earlier today. ...

A 22-year-old man jumped out of a moving bus on a Sichuan province freeway and died, reports Chengdu Business Daily via Global Times. Why did he jump? "He asked me to park the bus because he needed to pee," said the bus driver, Liu Renzi, who was en route to Ziyang from Chengdu that day. "I asked him to wait because it's not safe to park on the freeway. I told him that there was a restroom at Shiqiao servic ...

The Economist has a bizarre regional cover this week. Never mind that it’s tasteless and will surely be interpreted as homophobic by many of its critics. NEVER MIND THAT. Let me isolate the cover-line jokes for you, see if you find them funny: He Stole His Heart (And Then His Intellectual Property) Hmm. ...

Unless you did. In which case, sorry. I'm sure there's a Western equivalent that's as traumatic and possibly intellectually growth-stunting as the Chinese college entrance exam process. Binge drinking? Drugs? I don't know what the equivalent is. Gaokao, of course, commences today, as does national mourning for the country's youth. To a childhood dying young -- eyes the shady test has shut. ...

A 32-year-old American teacher surnamed McMahon was detained on May 13 under suspicion of sexual assault, reports Xinhua. He worked at Lycee Francais de Shanghai (LFS), an elite French private school. Reports AFP: The Shanghai kindergarten teacher was seized by police last month after seven families filed formal accusations against him, alleging sexual abuse and rape of students of both sexes, several paren ...

Ken Tanaka, one of the directors of the funny skit "What Kind of Asian Are You?," which we featured here last week, has sent us a follow-up that features actors Stella Choe and Scott Beehner reading YouTube comments. If you think you already know how this is going to go, you're more or less correct. ...

China Daily has published one heck of a lede sure to make journalists cover their mouths and titter. Go read this five times: Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern province of Jiangsu were found to be the three happiest places in China in 2012, chinanews.com reported, citing research. ...

Showcasing the best in Asian-related memes. Sources: Hexie Farm (above), Picture Push, Quickmeme (h/t John Hanrahan), Shanghaiist. ...

You may have already heard, but after several false starts -- years of teasing -- Metallica is finally, actually coming to China. As the band announced yesterday on its website: It is so rare for us to be able to say that we are visiting a country for the very first time, so this is an extra special announcement for us. After over 31 years of traveling to almost all corners of the world for so many amazing, ...

This is nice. In China -- undisclosed city, undisclosed time -- a driver saw an elderly woman walking slowly on the side of the street, and a water truck coming toward her from the other side. The sprayage would almost assuredly have soaked her, so the driver sped up, then parked the car between the oncoming truck and the woman. It's the road equivalent of laying a raincoat over a puddle so that a woman in ...

We thank and curse Kotaku for alerting us to the game "Defence of the Diaoyu Islands," hosted on Chinese Global Times's website, wherein a player takes control of a Chinese warship that must kill as many Japanese enemies as possible before inevitable failure. It's interesting, but what a time suck. ...

There are two kinds of masturbators: those who lie about doing it, and those who don't. Check out which is which in the above video, brought to us by Ministry of Tofu. A little spoiler alert: more women admit to it than men. Hmm. Context? ...

An 8-year old girl known to play with fire burned to death while shut in her home outside Hangzhou, Zhejiang province yesterday after her parents locked her in alone and left for work. The charred remains of the child were found after two young men nearby were alerted by a neighbor who smelled the smoke and cried for help. The pair kicked down the locked door and put out the fire before firefighters arrived ...