The crane, of course, is the national bird of China.

Image created by Andrew Frank. Quiz time: can you identify the neighborhood?

(H/T Madeline Gies)

Hmm.

Spotted on the east side of Ginza mall at Dongzhimen.

Cartier panther spotted near Wangfujing, Beijing. Courtesy of Shi Jin, @ChineseCurrents

As far as celebrity group shots on the Great Wall, this sure beats Justin Bieber.

Manny Pacquiao is in China, of course, to fight Brandon Rios on Saturday, in Macau. Despite losing his previous two bouts, Pacquiao’s camp seems… confident:

“I know I predicted Manny would knock Rios out inside six rounds, but based on our last workout, I don’t see how Rios makes it past the fourth round,” said trainer Freddie Roach.

The Pacman’s a heavy favorite, but you never know with old boxers. One of these days, they’ll take a stunning blow to the chin, go down, and retirement’s upon them before fans have paid their proper respects.

I’m not telling you to watch Saturday’s fight. But if it’s on CCTV (the listing says there’s boxing on Sunday at 11 am, though it doesn’t specify who’s fighting), you might as well.

These guys are not worried.

Pictures sent by Charles Desmeules from the Beijing Marathon on Sunday.

Taken at the Dongzhimen Inner Street Police Station on July 19. The banner reads, “Severely punish assailants, uphold law and justice.”

If you haven’t yet, read Matt Sheehan’s story about Frank Turner, a British musician who plays at MAO Livehouse at 9 pm tonight. The above picture was posted on Turner’s Instagram yesterday. It’s almost as good as Sheehan’s post. Almost.

Ed’s note: The above is a previously unpublished photo from the portfolio of Kevin Schoenmakers, whose book, 118 Photos from China, is available for purchase on his website.

Our favorite is the cat in the section “Beijing in Blue,” which reminds of this.

The traditional dress of the Chou, China’s 57th ethnic minority group. Here we see what must be a quite wealthy member, for as one of China’s most notoriously frugal ethnic groups, they usually travel 10 to a car.

Found yesterday. What do you suppose that red thing is on that lovely snow sculpture? I mean, it’s almost certain a pepper, but what does it represent? Guess away in the comments.

(H/T Alicia)

“Corrupt official!?” reads the characters on this Audi.

This was found near the Huixin Xijie Nankou subway stop (where Lines 5 and 10 intersect). I should note it was one in a line of about eight cars all with stuff written on them — mostly anti-Japan slogans or gratuitous curses.

(Ed’s note: the Peugeot in front has “SB” drawn on its back window — “stupid cunt.”)

Eric Fish blogs at Sinostand. (POSTSCRIPT: Audis, man.)

Photo from last week: a day like any other, only the sun is melting and we’re all going to die. Or the sun admires itself in the water and bends down for a closer look. Or…

Jacob of the excellent YouTube channel Beijing Shenghuo shows here that he can take great still frames as well. We sample some more pictures from his 39-image album after the jump. If you’re interested in purchasing large prints of pictures he’s taken from around this city, you’ll want to go here.

I’ve been to Tianjin enough times to know it deserves its appellation as the armpit of Beijing. But today was one of its good days. Here was the view about 30 minutes ago from East Railway Station.