We're checking out some improv comedy tonight at Beer Mania. More laughs there than in these links, but nevertheless: ...

In Chengdu yesterday, a man with a knife reportedly kidnapped a child in Jinniu District. Cops quickly arrived on the scene -- specifically, Weng Hailin and Lu Mingjian -- setting up a dramatic confrontation, part of which you can watch above. According to the Jinniu Public Security Bureau, Weng was stabbed in the left arm, severing artery. The knife-wielder was eventually subdued with the help of surroundi ...

"Things may be bad, but at least our streets don't burp mystery goo," says Jon Stewart, referring to the ooze that randomly appeared one day out of a street crack in Nanjing. We asked you to come up with guesses for what it can be. "Bird shit and Bisquick," Stewart says. "Corn starch and Foxocnn worker tears." The audience was slightly aghast at that last suggestion. ...

Ma Qiang, a 39-year-old businessman, was among the earliest volunteers for the Mars One project, a one-way trip to the Red Planet with no scheduled return. He sparked a wave of Chinese applicants, to the point that only the US has more willing volunteers for this Netherlands project, and that, in turn, has authorities worried. ...

Ai Weiwei's 81 days in detention in 2011 is the inspiration for his latest work, "Dumbass," a song he wrote with music by rocker/artist Zuoxiao Zuzhou. The accompanying video was released minutes ago, in which he recreates scenes from his imprisonment. "He also portrays fantasies he imagines flitting through the guards’ minds," reports the NY Times. The cinematography is by Christopher Doyle, who has worked ...

Fun fact: three of the stories we’ve posted in the past two days have been from Shenzhen. It’s where Alicia and I happened to be this weekend (for Ultimate Frisbee), and on Sunday we attempted to fly back. Attempted and succeeded — but barely. A separate Shenzhen-to-Beijing airline ended up being delayed until 2 am, while our flight was only set back two hours, to 11 pm. (To the best of my knowledge, it was ...

Yes, we too are beginning to suffer from scat fatigue, but... meh. We sort of have a theme going, and it'd be a shame to neglect it. This one comes via The Nanfang: A picture of a woman pooping on a platform in a station along Shenzhen’s Luobao Line has already been forwarded by three respected, Shenzhen-based microblogs: Shenzhen’s Big and Small Issues, Shenzhen Metropolitan Round-up, and Baoan Life. ...

Ignore the 2010 timestamp. This video just appeared yesterday on Youku, titled, "Most insane motorcycle driver in history," and not only is that true, but this guy makes a good case for being history's funniest. ...

A big hole formed in Shenzhen Longgang District's Henggang Road yesterday at around 9 pm, killing three people. The road collapse is under investigation. Sinkholes are particularly deadly in Shenzhen, apparently. On March 26, surveillance cameras caught footage of a five-by-eight-meter sinkhole killing a man. ...

Murong Xuecun has seen all his microblogs deleted (May 11), reinstated (May 17), and deleted again (May 18). Anyone who gets jerked around like this has reason to be upset; Murong, more so, considering he had millions of followers and thousands of entries accumulated over three years, and because, as he himself puts it, "to a writer, the words he writes are more important to him than his life." ...

The problem with gringo lit about the gringo experience in China is it inevitably and unsubtlety reinforces the foreigner's sense of Otherness while feeding his inflated sense of importance. In doses this is not necessarily bad – it can be therapeutic to read, even for lesser voyeurs – but in bulk it becomes obnoxious, not least of which because it is both disingenuous and vapid to pretend that foreigners d ...

One of our favorite Chinese directors just released a new film, and by all indications, it's excellent. Jia Zhangke's A Touch of Sin, starring his wife Zhao Tao, is a Palme d'Or contender at Cannes, where it premiered on Thursday. The 133-minute film has alternatively been described as "a corrosive depiction of Chinese society" (LA Times) and "a scathing portrait of China's economic boom" (Globe and Mail). ...

So belated. But better than never links. ...

Young thrill-seekers in Shenzhen's Bao'an District were caught doing the above on May 15. You'll note that there's no guardrail on the edge of the rooftop, slanted at a scary 45-degree angle. Was this a dare? A challenge that could only have been accepted by eager preadolescents with something to prove, to themselves if not their friends? One thing is for sure: this video not for those afraid of heights. ...

Even Chinese television execs know when too much is too much, apparently. "China's television regulator has ordered a crack down on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines," Reuters reports. ...

It's finally happening. "Sky City," by the Chinese firm Broad Sustainable Construction (BSB), will be 838 meters (2,749 feet) tall upon completion, making it taller than the Burj Khalifa by 10 meters. Whether it takes 90 days to complete -- as BSB has advertised -- or longer, it will nonetheless be a huge accomplishment, and another feather in China's architectural cap. ...

May 13 - May 19 ...

Stay fresh, party people. We'll be right back. ...

Alcohol makes us do the damndest things. In Jiangmen, Guangdong province on Tuesday, a young woman flipped off her heels and began dancing on top of a police car. The Nanfang reports: "By the time she was on top of the police car, a large crowd had gathered and, despite not knowing what to do, police eventually managed to subdue her." ...

Jonathan Alpart, who legitimately cares about Chinese music for Chinese music's sake, is the one-man driving force behind The Sound Stage, a bilingual show that spotlights local bands you might also care about. This week, he profiles Second Hand Rose, a musical favorite that's been around for 13 years and counting. "No other group blends Chinese elements and sounds with rock and roll music so seamlessly," A ...