Here’s a political sex scandal out of Jiangxi province with an unexpected twist. Qu Wenyuan, a village-level party secretary in Nanchang, Jiangxi, was recently suspended after his girlfriend posted a naked photo of him on Sina Weibo. Shanxi Evening News reports that Hu Dandan (pseudonym) posted the picture possibly as payback for his “corruption and gambling,” evidence for... Read more »Read more »
Newsflash, folks: there is pollution in Beijing, with or without pyrotechnics. Hope you enjoyed the fireworks like we did last night, because the public's not getting another chance to set them off again for a year. Post-Lantern Festival links. Read more »
The art of eroticism has come a long way since 2000 BC. Check out these petroglyphs from the Bronze Age – the Kangjiashimenji Petroglyphs — found in Xinjiang. Slate’s Mary Mycio reports they were discovered in the late-80s by archaeologist Wang Binghua, with Jeannine Davis-Kimball being the first Westerner to see them. Read more »
Beijing hosted its second Undie Run yesterday, a 3.5-kilometer jaunt through Olympic Forest Park, Xinhua reports (more pictures via that link). Organizers say the event was to promote nature and fitness. There were about 300 participants, including one who was as young as nine years old. Read more »
The Taiwanese-born Ang Lee, who previously won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain, has claimed his second Oscar, this time for Life of Pi. He beat out the favored Steven Spielberg, who directed Lincoln, and Michael Haneke (Armour), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild).
In one of the more notable acceptance speech moments this year, Lee thanked the 3,000 people who worked on the film with him, plus Taiwan. He ended with a "thank you" in Chinese and the Indian valediction "namaste." Read more »
At the end of every year, the meejah publish lists: what's what, what's hot, what's not, what's frot -- y'know, "Top 10 Worst Celebrity Red Carpet Frock Horrors!" and other such high-water marks for journalism.
But being lazy and living in China, we thought we'd wait until the end of the Dragon Year to do something similar. And seeing as we're cheeky and crass, we thought we'd take a slightly different approach. Read more »
A few days ago in Hong Kong, a young man was filmed yelling at, kicking and hitting a woman on the subway. The reason? According to Apple Daily English:
A middle-aged woman accidentally kicked a boy's trolley while rushing to get to an empty seat. She blamed the boy for being in the way, and cursed him, telling him to "go tomb sweeping for your family." Offended, the boy began beating the woman, dragging her out of the carriage. Read more »
So, it seems that some people have yet to fully understand why racism is a bad thing. With tensions in the South China Sea remaining high, we’re still being treated to bizarre examples of unhealthy nationalism. The latest can be found here in Beijing: the proprietors of a snack shop in Houhai called Beijing Snacks... Read more »Read more »
In the immediate aftermath of Taiwanese magician Lu Chen’s withering joke during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala — simultaneously seen live by millions, then re-watched over and over in the proceeding days, even after it got censored from subsequent reruns — we were told that all parties involved were cool with it. That might not... Read more »Read more »
