Dispatches From Xinjiang: Success Stories Of Going Abroad And The Uyghur Pop Star Möminjan

Success Stories Of Going Abroad And The Uyghur Pop Star Möminjan
Of all the performers in the upper echelon of Uyghur pop music, Möminjan is perhaps the most widely traveled independent artist. Möminjan and his brother, the famous composer Ablet Ablikim, grew up in the shadow of their famous uncle Abdulla, the King of Uyghur pop. He and his brother have been following in their uncle’s footsteps for more than a decade; they even recorded a song together called “We Brothers” (Qerindash Biz), which sounds a bit like a Uyghur version of the Everly Brothers.

Dispatches From Xinjiang: Ablajan, The Uyghur Bieber, Channels Michael Jackson In Debut Mandarin Video

Ablajan
Ablajan Awut Ayup, the Uyghur Justin Bieber, is trending again in Uyghur cyberspace. Uyghur Weixin and popular social media sites like Misranim have amped up Ablajan’s meteoric rise in Uyghur pop culture, but this time it’s not just his highly orchestrated K-pop-style dance-ensemble performances, his catchy rhymes and bad-boy persona. Ablajan is crossing over. China, meet A-bo-la-jiang.

Poets Wanted! BJC And Pathlight Present “Poetry Night In Beijing” At Bookworm Literary Festival

Poetry Night in Beijing thumbnail square
Poets! Yes, you. Beijing Cream and Pathlight are excited to present Poetry Night in Beijing at the Bookworm Literary Festival on Sunday, March 16, a curated community event to promote English-language POETRY in this wonderful city of ours. We need your help. We are seeking four poets enthusiastic about reading their work at the March 16th event for a keen audience of peers and poetry lovers.

Watch: Liu Xia, Wife Of Jailed Nobel Laureate, Reads Two Poems Under House Arrest

Liu Xia reading poems
I've written about Liu Xia's house arrest before, the disgrace and heartbreak of it, forced into isolation for the past three years because her husband happens to be Liu Xiaobo, the activist and 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient who's currently in a Chinese jail. In the above video, shot last month, we get a rare glimpse into her world, bounded physically -- no metaphor needed -- by the wall of her Beijing apartment. But as she reads two poems, "Untitled" and "Drinking," it's apparent she occupies another place whose boundaries are less defined, depthless.

An Old Tibetan Town In Shangri-la Burned Through The Night [UPDATE]

Shangri-la fire featured image
Xinhua reports that a massive fire swept through Dukezong Ancient Town last night in the northwest Yunnan county of Shangri-la, a tourist resort ever since marketers changed its name from Zhongdian in 2001. Preliminary reports say the began at 1:30 am from a local shop, then spread due to windy conditions and the prevalence of wooden structures in Old Town. The exact cause is under investigation.