We know laowai song-and-dance videos are passe -- thanks, Jesse Appel, et al. -- but the effort in this latest one is simply too rich to ignore. Matt Sheehan -- who you recognize around these parts as the China Eastern airport rumble writer -- teamed up with his friend Matt Allen to write, direct, shoot, and produce "We Livin in Xi'an," and the result is a perfectly outlandlish little paean to the capital of Shaanxi province, and perhaps the foreigner experience in China. Read more »
The facts behind this video are unverified, but people on social media are claiming that a gang of hired goons was recently released on the relatives of a deceased patient at Maoming Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Maoming, Guangdong province.
It's not clear exactly what grievance, if any, the patient's relatives are filing (or trying to), or what set off the fracas (fists start flying at the 50-second mark, after a chaotic buildup with lots of shoving). Read more »
Oh geez, more adventures on buses. In Suzhou, Jiangsu province on Saturday morning, an old man began striking and kicking a young woman he felt should have given him her seat. Of course it's traditional in China for passengers to offer their seats for elders -- we are constantly reminded of this via prerecorded messages on public transit -- but why was this one particular girl singled out? Read more »
In Jiyuan, Henan province on Friday, a 26-year-old woman bumped into a 10-year-old girl, which in itself shouldn't have caused a near-riot if not for the words that came out of the driver's mouth...
"I come from an influential family."
Reports SCMP: Read more »
An 83-year-old man was riding bus No. 606 in Tianjin on the morning of May 22 when he missed his stop. Instead of doing what normal people might, which is to get off at the next stop and backtrack, he threw a massive fit, lost control, and berated the bus driver, "I didn't see you stop at all!"
And then the old man seized the driver by the shoulder while the bus was still moving -- something no one should do. Read more »
The French won gold, silver, and bronze at the European Mahjong Association's French MCR Championship in Toulouse, France on May 18-19. Italians finished fourth and fifth. A Dutch player finished sixth.
The Chinese, who invented mahjong, only had two players place in the top 13 -- Yang Zhang and Cao Lihua finished 7th and 8th, respectively.
What gives? Read more »
If you're going to deface an ancient artifact in Luxor, Egypt, it's best not to use your real name. That's the lesson we're learning from the Ding Jinhao incident.
A microblogger named Shen, visiting the Luxor Temple earlier this month, noticed Chinese characters scribbled over a sandstone relic alongside hieroglyphics. Mortified, Shen posted a picture of this vandalism onto Sina Weibo, where it went viral. Netizens were furious, claiming the incident was a "loss of face" for the Chinese, according to China Daily. Read more »
They finished the Boston Marathon on Saturday as thousands of runners completed a one-mile run at Kenmore Square, along Boylston Street. This great idea was made doubly so by the display of solidarity above, with runners holding flags to honor the victims of the bombing on April 15. The Chinese flag, of course, is for Lu Lingzi. Read more »
By now, you’re probably familiar with Ai Weiwei’s “Dumbass," the Beijing-born artist-cum-activist’s widely-publicized collaborative heavy metal music video with Zuoxiao Zuzhou that was unveiled last week to promote the pair’s upcoming full-length effort, The Divine Comedy.
Directed by well-known Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle -- you may recognize his work with Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-Wai -- the highly-polished video offers a surrealistic interpretation of the 81 days that Ai, 55, reportedly spent in detention in mid-2011 for tax evasion Read more »
![“You Speak Very Good Chinese,” NDRC Chairman Tells Female Australian Reporter [UPDATE]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/“You-Speak-Very-Good-Chinese”-NDRC-Chairman-Tells-Female-Australian-Reporter-150x150.png "“You Speak Very Good Chinese,” NDRC Chairman Tells Female Australian Reporter [UPDATE]")
