With his co-host in England for the month, the news comedy show C4’s Stuart Wiggin took a trip to the Shaolin Temple and returned with a travel diary that has gone viral in China. Why? There’s an interesting story here…

Luo Yonghao, the creator of the Smartisan phone who first rose to fame through English schools, recently posted on Sina Weibo a picture of a Japanese soy sauce pot, complimenting the Japanese on their attention to even small things.

As you might expect, some of the comments were positive, while some were not. And then — to illustrate how much attention the Chinese give to seemingly insignificant objects – someone posted a screenshot of this C4 episode in which Wiggin pretends to confuse a rubbish bin for a valuable ancient carving:

“And then my weibo account blew up and the show started to circulate,” Wiggin said via email. “Needless to say, some people think I actually legitimately didn’t know it was a bin. Obviously don’t get the idea of scripted comedy.”

Should’ve gone with that crosstalk skit.

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Part 2:

On Youku:

Those of you who follow us will know about C4, the sometimes funny, certainly unique, not-unnoteworthy comedy/variety show via China Radio International that we sporadically syndicate. Among the fun things that hosts Rob Hemsley and Stuart Wiggin have done recently — though not quite as good as “The Panda” — is a bloopers segment that featured none other than Xi Jinping.

A Xi Jinping impersonator, that is:

Everyone at the office reportedly liked the short, inoffensive segment — inoffensive not least of which because the impersonator isn’t even that great — but some higher-ups got cold feet, deemed it too sensitive, and knocked it off both Youku and the C4 website.

Luckily, thanks to Google Cache, we have the clip, above. (A Youku version has been in moderation for the last six hours. Update, 4/16, noon: Youku version has been approved!) The Barbra Streisand effect strikes again!

(“Join C4, China’s funniest comedy news show as we take you on a special behind the scenes look at our weekly planning process,” goes the website’s original description. “You won’t believe who the guys pay a visit to in order to get the stories that they need for next week’s episode.”)

You can watch the segment in its censored form — without Xi Jinping — here.

Today on C4: Love is easy, marriage is hard — ever tried drugs? Don’t do it. The hair loss will ruin you.

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Today on C4: Rumors of a great C4 hosting explosion were greatly exaggerated. Here’s Stuart and Rob with their 100th (!) episode. Maybe they’ve just had some miscommunication problems. What?

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Today on C4: Year-in-review this year, featuring the best of outtakes (above) and best of sketches (below).

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Best of Sketches (Ep.90):

Today on C4: Making sense of the holiday schedule. Alternatively: this is what sick people at work look like. Probably the worst episode yet!

(Jump to the outtakes.)

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Today on C4: Arnold was in Xi’an. One of the co-hosts has also been to Xi’an. Serendipity?

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Today on C4: China goes for bronze with a soft moon landing attempt. Plus, this:

Stuart: “Chang’e, by the way, is the goddess of the moon… and the shuttle is her Jade Rabbit.”

Rob: “Her Jade Rabbit, I bet she has a lot of fun with that, doesn’t she?”

(Fast-forward to the outtakes at the 9:50 mark for the less subtle rabbit joke.)

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Today on C4: A celebration of World Toilet Day — “Well Stuart, how many times a year do you go to the toilet?” Ah yes, you know this one is going to be good.

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Today on C4: In which two Brits team up against an American for messing up British history, or something. Cao Cao, etc.

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Today on C4: Rob partners with someone you might recognize: John Artman! Austin Powers.

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Today on C4: Remember when our hosts parodied Ylvis’s “The Fox”? No? Here’s your reminder.

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Today on C4: The demise of reality TV shows, Qing Dynasty frescos, and the red leaves of Fragrant Hills.

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Today on C4: The history of peeing against the Forbidden City wall… and, look, while we’re talking about this, let’s mention that there’s a scene in this episode that you simply aren’t going to see in any other state media outlet. I’m not talking about “robot testicles in my face,” which, while we’re thinking about it, seems pretty unlikely to be repeated on CCTV, either.

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Today on C4: Drinking makes you feel like you have a brain tumor. It’s Sunday afternoon, so surely you know what we’re talking about, reader. Rob can relate.

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