While CCTV insists on appealing to the largest demographic and sucking, we’d like to remind everyone that Hunan Satellite TV has decided to take a chance on mainland rock’s alpha and omega, Cui Jian, to perform on its New Year’s “Mango” Gala on February 4 (7:30 pm). Rumors have been flying in the press that Cui would “likely not be playing his famous... Read more »Read more »
A Latvian tank manufacturer has its sights set on the Chinese market. Dartz, owned by Leonard Yankelovich, plans to roll out its first non-armored vehicle, called Black Snake, to ring in Chinese New Year. The $1-million-plus vehicle comes with a 5.5-liter twin turbo V8 engine that produces 557 horsepower. Whoa. Also, according to Forbes: The Black Snake... Read more »Read more »
Here's your ode to the Spring Festival migration: "Money or No Money, Home for the Holidays," composed by Li Ke and performed by Wang Baoqiang, about a person who longs to get home come hell or high water. Home is not where your heart is, after all; it's where your family's at. Godspeed, everyone. Read more »
Via Reddit Currently on a plane. Sorry there are no Friday stories in this Friday links section, but you know how it is with travel. Links go on. Read more »
On January 15, BBC News ran a report about a Trojan virus affecting millions of users in China. According to undisclosed security firms, there now exists a botnet on these millions of devices capable of “being used for fraudulent purposes,” including DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks and spam email campaigns. Of course, this does sound scary, and botnets (in any form) are becoming more and more prevalent and thus increasingly worrisome. Read more »
Here's the lede to AFP's write-up:
At least 26 people were killed as a bridge collapsed in central China on Friday after a truck carrying fireworks exploded, state-run media reported.
That's perfect. The who-what-when-where-why in one compact sentence, telling us so much with so little.
And leaving so many questions. Read more »
An update to the story of Cecil Chao Sze-tsung and his (one might say) Quixotic quest to marry off his daughter, Gigi, who’s into women — one in particular, Sean Eav, with whom she’s in a civil partnership. According to Financial Times, Chao is now giving his daughter the freedom to choose who she wants to... Read more »Read more »
Jackie Chan has been appointed as a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), according to SCMP. Chan Wing-kee, a standing committee member, said yesterday that Chan’s name was on a list of proposed members. No one — absolutely no one — should think Chan will do actual politics, as his closet comp appears... Read more »Read more »
What are the repercussions for a home crowd in which dozens of men jump from the stands to assault the referees after a basketball game? We suspected the punishment would be severe, and now we know exactly how much so. The WCBA has ruled that Zhejiang's professional women's basketball team, the Golden Bull, will not be allowed to play in its home city of Yiwu for a full year. Read more »
China’s national pole dance team — yes, this is a real thing — was sent to Dalian recently to perform some tricks on a pole in the snow. These pictures were snapped on Monday, posted to Xinhua (of course). We admire these ladies’ grit. They really ought to dress warmer though. Read more »
