I call it the Weibo Rule (though in my head, Kripke from The Big Bang Theory is the narrator, and it’s the “Weibo Wule”). Take any China number widely quoted in Western media and divide by 10. Forbes proved the rule recently, pushing the “Sina Weibo has more than 500 million users” line when, by... Read more »
Two-time Olympic gold-medalist Zou Shiming triumphed in his professional debut on Saturday, which you surely already know, if you follow Chinese news. He won a four-round unanimous decision against Mexico’s Eleazar Valenzuela in Macau’s Cotai Arena at the Venetian, the result alternately described as “dominating” and “a formality.” Ring announcer Michael Buffer, before the bout even... Read more »
The haute urban fad that is White Collar Boxing spread to China earlier this year, culminating in bouts that doubled as a black-tie charity event (November 17 in Beijing, December 1 in Shanghai). The highlight video for the Beijing event, "Brawl on the Wall," was just released to YouTube yesterday. More than 500 people reportedly attended to watch eight fights by amateur boxers who had spent the previous three months training.
Xiong Chaozhong (his name is rendered as Xiong Chao Zhong in many media outlets) won his country its first pro boxing title on Saturday night when he beat Mexico's Javier Martinez Resendez in a unanimous 12-round decision (119-110, 116-112, 116-114) to capture the vacant WBC minimumweight title (105 lbs/48 kg). A Yunnan native -- ethnic Miao, to be precise -- the 4-foot-10-and-a-half-inch (1.49-meter) Xiong was fighting on his home province in Kunming at the Kunming Municipal Gymnasium.
Today (by which I mean Friday) marks the official premiere of director Yung Chang's documentary China Heavyweight in New York. Far be it from me to tell you New Yorkers how to spend your Friday evening, but this movie looks like it's worth your time. (There are two more showings today at IFC Center, at 7:25 pm and 9:40 pm.) It's by the same company that made Last Train Home (though not the same director), a film that I've seen no fewer than four times while writing a 40-page amanuensis
