Hunky Spartans took over Beijing this week... well, for an hour or so, until the cops arrived. It was good while it lasted. Also: China's fu'erdai get an education on selfies.
The fallout is in from last week's Uniqlo fitting room sexcapade, and it doesn't look good for one certain young couple. You know who does always look good? Beijing Blend hosts. Here they are talking about the most-talked-about social media story of the year.
Wild Pigeon is a special book. It is of the moment and simultaneously untimely. It distills the dreams of millions of Uyghurs who live without the legal right to move beyond the borders of their home prefecture in southern Xinjiang. It shows us glimpses of these dreams; and in the strength of their numbers, the poignancy of their looks, the feelings of their words, they wear us down – wounding our hearts a thousand times.
It doesn't have to be Uniqlo. (Actually, better if it isn't -- spread the wealth.) It doesn't even have to be a dressing room. But here's an honest chance for us, the little people, to make a real difference in the fight against censorship: we can -- by a simple bit of sex in a public place, a camera phone, and an Internet connection -- show the world just how fucking dumb this fucking government can sometimes fucking be.
I passed by Uniqlo just now on my way home, the infamous Sanlitun branch where a young man and woman had sex in the fitting room and put the video of it online. Maybe that part of Sanlitun Village always has a large crowd of young folks milling about. Maybe there are those who ironically take selfies in front of retail chains, and journalists often un-ironically do work there (CNN!). I don't know. Or maybe shoppers are lining up for this season's hottest new item:
If you've been anywhere near WeChat or Weibo today (or China's corner of Twitter, for that matter), you've likely heard that a young man filmed himself having sex with a young woman in a fitting room in the Sanlitun branch of Uniqlo in Beijing recently. The video was uploaded to the Internet yesterday evening and has been making the rounds. It's out there. Someone was gonna post it. [...] Here it is.
Everyone! Please meet Beijing Blend, a social media news digest / e-magazine doing very cool things both IRL (creative events, talks, etc.) and on the intranet (WeChat, namely). For the past couple of months, they've been uploading short videos on their YouTube page in which a rotating cast of genial hosts discuss a series* of current events. We'll be posting them here every Tuesday. It'll be fun. Oh, and go follow them on Twitter.
Captain Beijing is a "comical strip" produced by the People's Committee of Panel-Based Cartoon Cultural Enrichment for the purposes of modest entertainment. It is famous and popular at home and abroad, and was solemnly declared "Most Charming and Splendid China Cartoon Art." It will appear on this website every Monday, or the cartoonist will be punished.
Captain Beijing is a "comical strip" produced by the People's Committee of Panel-Based Cartoon Cultural Enrichment for the purposes of modest entertainment. It is famous and popular at home and abroad, and was solemnly declared "Most Charming and Splendid China Cartoon Art." It will appear on this website every Monday, or the cartoonist will be punished.
May 27 saw the gathering of several writers in The Bookworm for an event called Scotch and Stories, presented by the Anthill in collaboration with Whisky Wednesday and with support from Ai Whisky. We're reliving that event in today's podcast, timed with the last of those stories going online on the Anthill and The Bookworm's launch of its new whisky menu.
