Brian Yang, who produced the 2012 documentary Linsanity (directed by Evan Jackson Leong), is in Beijing for the Beijing International Film Festival, which means now’s a good time as any to remind everyone that you can watch his 88-minute doc for free on iQiyi (embedded above; just turn off your VPNs, China people).

Jackson was following Lin before his career took off in a two-week flurry in February 2012. You might remember that time: Lin, then playing for the New York Knicks, took the world by storm (no hyperbole), averaging 27.2 points over five games and making the cover of Sports Illustrated and Time. It was a gold mine for the filmmakers: Linsanity debuted at Sundance last year and was an official selection at SXSW.

Lin, now with the Houston Rockets, scored 14 points — including a few key late buckets — in 34 minutes in the opening game of his team’s playoffs series against Portland. Houston lost 122-120 in overtime.

The Houston Jeremy Lins played the Indiana Pacers in an exhibition in Taipei on Sunday, and as you might expect, a capacity crowd was firmly behind the Jeremy Lins from the start. Some highlights are above.

The man who sparked “Linsanity” finished with 17 points in 35 minutes, missing only two shots. He made three of four from beyond the arc. Also, four assists, three steals, three turnovers. His team won 107-98.

Lin, of course, is Taiwanese American. The NBA followed him on his latest trip to his parents’ birthplace and came away with the following video. Is he really like the Beatles there, though? Possibly. SIGN THE SHOE.

Game highlights on Youku:

The Literary Death Match is returning to Beijing Bookworm on September 11, and I’m to inform you that I’ll be one of the readers. Click here for more information links.

More on Charles Xue. “Cai [Xia, a professor at China’s Central Party School,] further emphasized that Xue’s arrest, though intended to warn outspoken critics that they might easily be publicly humiliated, should actually spark conversation about protection of individual rights and limits to government powers – changes that would be good news for both celebrities and sex workers.” (Tea Leaf Nation)

Corollary 1: “A Short, Incomplete History of How China’s Web Sites Handle Internet Rumors.” (Fei Chang Dao)

Corollary 2: “Politically-Motivated Farce against Popular Microblogger Backfires.” (China Change)

Chinese book piracy: “After Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012, publishers around the world rushed to print copies of his books—none more enthusiastically than China’s infamous book pirates. In China, where piracy is so blatant that street booksellers hawk illegal copies of Mo’s work in front of his house, counterfeiting is rampant and prosecution infrequent. In the case of Mo, the authorities have made some effort to crack down; on April 9, 2013, the Haidian People’s Court sentenced bookseller Wan Yongshen to six months in jail, and fined him 2000 yuan, for violating copyright and pirating Mo’s books, and announced plans to pursue and prosecute illegal book production. Mo Yan is perhaps the most prominent case, but far from the only writer to fall victim to this pervasive practice.” (Ye Yonglie, translated by Alice Xin Liu, Words Without Borders)

Corruption investigation. “The head of a cabinet agency overseeing the 100 largest state-owned enterprises is being investigated for corruption in what appears to be a widening probe into the state oil industry – a key powerbase of former senior party leader Zhou Yongkang. // Jiang Jiemin, director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) and former chairman of the country’s biggest oil company, is suspected of ‘serious discipline violations,’ Xinhua reported yesterday, using the party’s euphemism for graft.” (SCMP)

Another trial: the official taken down by a smile. “Yang Dacai, a formal work safety official from Shaanxi Province, pleaded guilty to bribery as his trial opened at a local court on Friday. He also stands accused of having a suspicious property portfolio.” (Sina)

In a preordained move: “Yahoo China, which is operated by Chinese e-commerce and Internet services behemoth Alibaba Group, has closed its Web portal. The site now displays a good-bye message before redirecting visitors to now.taobao.com, a news site run by Alibaba Group’s Taobao. // The good-bye message says the decision to shutdown Yahoo China’s portal is in accordance with a 2012 agreement made between Alibaba Group and Yahoo and that Yahoo China’s employees will move on to new positions within Alibaba.” (TechCrunch)

Recommended book. “Hi all, the book is out! If you’ve enjoyed reading this blog over the past two years, please go out and buy a copy or spread the word to a friend.” (Blocked on Weibo)

The good servant. ” Bo Xilai, the fallen Communist Party official, said in secret testimony during his recent trial that he was obeying orders from a powerful party agency in charge of security when he took steps to cover up the flight of his police chief to an American Consulate, according to a court observer’s written record of trial statements.” (NY Times)

Oops. “Firefighters in east China’s Jiangsu Province have saved a seven-year-old girl who accidentally got her lower lip stuck in a music box.” (The Telegraph)

Good timeline but does not mention persecution of Xue Manzi MT @caixin Police Campaign against Spread of 'Net Rumors' http://t.co/bvN9Bz2xBT

— Jeremy Goldkorn 金玉米 (@goldkorn) September 2, 2013

https://twitter.com/cuishaoyu/status/373606112144412672

Sad story: "Sick father takes his life over financial fears about son's college fees" in China http://t.co/zb9gzURVvS

— Prep Beijing! (@PrepBeijing) August 31, 2013

Headline of the year: "'Chinese Dream' to resolve misunderstanding." http://t.co/f5AV7Oxeoe Oh, and we are all "on the Chinese Dream team!"

— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) September 2, 2013

While many CN officials seem to go out of their way to fuck the citizens,few do it so literally. http://t.co/r4C9Cf6e17 via @shanghaiist

— Ivan L Petrov (@Ivan_Petrov) September 2, 2013

Here's NYT's @FrankBruni autographed "tip" endorsement left at Beijing restaurant King Join 京兆尹 (via Weibo) pic.twitter.com/X9vntFp1T9

— Abe Sauer (@abesauer) September 1, 2013

Graham Earnshaw at the Beijing Embassy, 30 years ago, via Hongkie Town:

Finally…

Chinese children and their bizarre childhood photos. (Tech in Asia)

“Hedda Morrison’s Hong Kong: Photos from 1942, Beautifully Restored.” (Hong Wrong)

On King Liu, the founder and chairman of Giant. (NY Times)

“China’s flight team performs first show abroad.” (China Daily)

Finally, finally…

Asia Adult Expo in Hong Kong, via Hong Wrong [NSFW]:

This is going to be delicious:

One more:

Cyclops kitty is heartbreaking, via  Huaxi Metro Daily via Shanghaiist:

The Jeremy Lin story reached such prodigious heights, to the level of insanity, because he was the ultimate underdog who dared us to doubt. We did so at our own peril.

Those two weeks in February 2012, when Jeremy Lin had the American sporting public in the palm of his hand, he could do nothing wrong. Each game was better than the previous. And then, this – a game-winning shot in Toronto that had the opposing team’s crowd jumping out of their seats, an unscripted moment of pure magic.

Whether you like Lin or not — hell, whether you like sports or not — give the trailer of the documentary Linsanity: The Jeremy Lin Story a watch. It’s the type of story that doesn’t come around often, and that we can count ourselves lucky to have witnessed.

(H/T Ball Don’t Lie)

We haven’t checked in with Jeremy Lin for a while, but it appears he’s been busy. Currently in Taiwan, Lin gave an emotional speech at a youth camp recently about his struggles last season in his first full season as a starter. SI.com’s Point Forward blog has this excerpt, via a two-hour video on YouTube.

As the 2012-13 season started, I was supposed to be the cornerstone of the Houston Rockets. I was supposed to be their new leader, the main guy to finally lead the Rockets back to the NBA playoffs. I was expecting to come in and pick up right where I left off [in New York]. I was ready to invigorate the entire city of Houston. All across Houston, you could see my face on the billboards. I thought I looked so cool.  I was supposed to save Houston basketball, but most importantly I was ready to be Linsanity. As I’ve seen many times in my life, what actually happened was nothing like what I had planned.

First off, we signed James Harden. … With the addition of James, I went from being the franchise guy to taking a back seat. On top of that, I started the season playing terribly. Less than 10 games into the season, I started getting benched. In many games, our back-up point guards were playing more minutes than I was. At this point in the season, my stats were significantly worse. The coaches were losing faith in me, the basketball fans were making fun of me. Journalists were criticizing me. My Twitter feed was filled with all types of hateful words. I heard, ‘overrated, overpaid, a flash in the pan, a bust, a nobody.’ As a result I became really, really frustrated.

We also learn that Lin keeps a diary.

But moving on from that — take a look at the above video, the latest skit from a dude who’s sorta great at starring in them. Steve Nash and James Harden are both in it.

Chris Tang caught our attention in February 2012, when it looked like he might be the best Chinese high school basketball player on the planet. He has the size (6-foot-3 last we checked, though he’s likely still growing), the athletic ability, and the shooting touch. He’s also enrolled at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, a veritable basketball factory that sends players to elite college programs across the country.

Grantland’s Jay Caspian Kang caught up with Tang in December and wrote this profile for Grantland. We’ve been curious about the kid’s progress ever since.

It turns out he’s currently buried at the end of the bench at Oak Hill, still waiting his opportunity. If that reminds you of someone, we don’t blame you, because Tang reminds everyone of that someone: Jeremy Lin.

That’s part of the problem. Tang wants to be his own man. “He’s Jeremy Lin, and I’m Chris Tang,” he says. Here’s to hoping he’s able to carve out his own identity.

“There aren’t many basketball stars who step off the bench and directly into the dictionary,” begins 60 Minutes’s Jeremy Lin story — only slightly belated.

The part that’s probably most interesting is when Lin talks, frankly, about race and stereotyping. This from the show’s transcript:

He was named California Player of the Year. And he could pass and shoot, plus was incredibly fast. But when it came time to look at colleges, not a single Division One program came calling with a scholarship.

Charlie Rose: Not one PAC-10 team?

Jeremy Lin: No.

Charlie Rose: Not UCLA. Not Stanford, your hometown?

Jeremy Lin: No.

Charlie Rose: What do you think they didn’t see

Jeremy Lin: Well, I think the obvious thing is– in my mind is that I was Asian American which, you know, is a whole different issue but that’s– I think that was a barrier.

Charlie Rose: When you say because you’re an Asian American, what is that? But there’s nothing about being Asian American that doesn’t give you the ability to play basketball.

Jeremy Lin: Yeah. I mean, it is just– I mean, it’s just– it’s a stereotype.

Stereotypes are nothing new for Lin. Growing up, he was often the only Asian player on his teams, and frequently heard racial slurs from opponents on the court.

Charlie Rose: What would they say? What kind of things would–

Jeremy Lin: Pretty much anything you could think of from stereotypical, you know, Asian food, you know making fun of my complexion, my skin color, or, you know, the way Asians look, pretty much everything.

Lin believes that if he were black or white he would have had multiple scholarship offers, including one from his hometown’s Stanford University. But Stanford’s offer was for a walk-on opportunity — while Harvard, like all Ivy League schools, could not offer a sports scholarship. It did offer a place on the team.

Give it a watch or read.

We’re given no details as to why Jeremy Lin posed with former NBA All-Stars Dikembe Mutombo and Yao Ming, but when you stand next to people who are 7-foot-2 (2.18 meters) and 7-foot-6 (2.29 meters), you’re bound to look, in Lin’s words, “like an infant,” even if you stand a whopping 191 centimeters.

Keep your head up, Jeremy. You are and always will be a better three-point shooter.

(H/T Alicia)

Is there any pro athlete who stars in as many amateur short films as Jeremy Lin? When it comes to humility, this future pastor is the real deal. Check him out in the latest, “The Last Pick,” produced by Jubilee Project for the Jeremy Lin Foundation (brought to us by 8Asians).

And here’s J-Lin in his first SportsCenter commercial:

Youku versions:

Jeremy Lin caused us to launch prematurely. We had a date in mind for Beijing Cream’s debut — February 21, for reasons that now elude me — but Lin began tearing it up in New York earlier in the month, and I just couldn’t sit on Linsanity. Who could? Five of the first seven posts that appeared on BJC were about him. (All of them except this one completely sucked, but that’s beside the point.)

I bring this up because Lin, a year after setting the US media capital ablaze, finds himself back in the public conversation for something other than sports. The world premiere of a documentary about his rise, Linsanity, received a standing ovation from viewers at Sundance on Sunday, as Los Angeles Times reports:

“Linsanity,” the documentary about the rise of unlikely NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, premiered in Park City to rousing response, easily making it one of the most crowd-pleasing documentaries to play the festival this year. Sports fans stood up and cheered, while a coach said he thought it should be mandatory viewing for high school athletes.

Director Evan Jackson Leong had unprecedented access and the wonderful fortune to be following Lin during his senior year in college. Hit Fix has more commentary:

It’s a relief to report that while Leong’s “Linsanity” is a relatively familiar hagiography, the director had begun his focus on Lin before the madness and he was working with Lin’s candid cooperation. That means that while none of the facts or linear details in “Linsanity” count as a revelation, Lin’s personality is able to shine through. There are some very strange choices and problematic missteps in the storytelling here, but it turns out that I like Jeremy Lin and in a brisk documentary that goes a long way.

The Salt Lake City Tribune also gave the film three stars. We can’t wait to see it.

Unfortunately, no trailers are online yet, so you’ll have to settle for the following work by DaysideTV. It definitely did not premiere at Sundance, but it’s pretty good in its own right.

The play has obviously been whistled dead, which would explain why Xinjiang’s Von Wafer (No. 12) is walking away from the basket. Nonetheless, we love this picture. Everyone should be as happy as Yi Jianlian while playing sports, to say nothing of soaring above the rim to throw down a one-handed dunk.

Meanwhile, our favorite Asian in the NBA had this happen to him. You don’t have to smile if you have a lacerated head.

The Guangdong Southern Tigers beat the Xinjiang Flying Tigers 102-98, avenging their loss in the season opener (the CBA plays a true home-and-away round-robin schedule). More than halfway through the season, Guangdong and Beijing — the two finalists last year — sit atop the standings with identical 14-3 records.

(Image via Sina, January 4)

Jeremy Lin had a pretty good outing in his Houston Rockets debut on Wednesday, a 105-96 win at Detroit, scoring 12 points with 8 assists and notching a plus/minus of +23. He was overshadowed, however, by another Houston newcomer, James Harden, who played a more or less perfect game: 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals. That’s a max-contract player for you.

Thanks to these two, Houston has reason to be excited about this NBA season, and many more to come. Next Media Animation, recognizing this, came up with the above animation, which deserves to be highlighted for this GIF:

Indeed.

Jeremy Lin, you’ve truly made it. Following in the footsteps of Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, et al., Lin is the latest NBA player to film a Chinese commercial. How’d he do in his one-minute spot for KFC, featuring a lot of smiles, more than one spin move, and several dunks? Judge for yourself. I’m pretty upset they didn’t fully recreate his game-winning three-pointer vs. the Raptors (he actually shot from the top of the arc!).

Also: I’ve definitely seen him speak better Chinese, that’s for sure.

Asian YouTube sensation Kevin (of channel kevjumba) has a new video, and it features his Instagram-loving, high-expectations Asian dad (PapaJumba), and Jeremy Lin. The real Jeremy Lin, who signed with the Houston Rockets in the offseason and is expected to continue assuming his mantle as the most famous Asian basketball player in the world. The skit nails some stereotypes on the head. Kevin trying to say “I don’t know” in Chinese is probably the best part (it’s so, so consciously bad!), especially in light of Lin’s surprisingly decent Mandarin. I wonder how long he practiced his lines.

Stay for the bloopers at the end. Youku video for those in China after the jump.

(H/T The Good Doctor)

Jeremy Lin was in Taiwan on Saturday for the debut of his first TV commercial, a low-budget production (hey, gotta start somewhere) in which he delivers this line:

“No one expected me to be a starter, take game winning shots, or even play in this league. Well, I’m not here to live up to anyone’s expectations, I’m here to live up to mine.”

As China Post reports:

“It’s much easier to shoot a 3-pointer,” the 24-year-old point guard said, adding that he was really not that good at acting and that he “had to do everything 50 times.”

“I had to do it so many times, I don’t know, maybe he (the director) doesn’t like my smile or something,” Lin said of the shot of him smiling at a child at the end of the commercial.

Smiling at a child… like the ending of Twelve Monkeys?