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.
According to a recent study by the communications consultancy MSL Group, around half of Chinese women would rather abstain from sex than give up their mobile devices.
Around 3:20 pm on Sunday in Tangshan, Hebei province, a woman named Ms. Cheng was exercising in Nanhu Park when she saw some teenagers playing on a frozen lake. She and her exercise partner, Mr. Liu, were about 15 meters from the shore when the ice suddenly cracked, swallowing up the young revelers.
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.
H&N, Zare, Hugo BGSS, SFFCCCKS Coffee: these are just some of the counterfeits of famous brands -- not the same as "famous counterfeits"... or is it? -- you can find on a shopping street in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.
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.
