It's that time of the year, when plainclothes policemen outnumber ISB students in Sanlitun. This from the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China via China watchers on Twitter:
People's Daily, the gift that keeps on giving, did a most glorious thing at 1:39 am today by "publicly condemn[ing]" a parody Twitter account, The Relevant Organs. "We have noticed that a Twitter account has been misleading people by stealing People's Daily 's web address and National emblem of China to make false impression that the account is related to China officials or People's Daily," reads PD's tweeted statement.
Hairong Ma is a Chinese artist based in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. You can check out his work here -- they include paintings with lots of bright, bright colors, such as the above. But we haven't spent much time with his pieces and can't tell you much more about them (they're really bright). What we do want to talk about, however, is his Twitter account.
If you're a China correspondent, you're likely in Jinan, Shandong province right now, where disgraced former Chongqing Party Chief Bo Xilai, 64, will stand open trial for corruption tomorrow at the Jinan Intermediate People's Court. Let's have a peek at all the fun.
That was quite the collective experience, Beijing.
An hour ago, a dam in the sky broke. Rain turned into pellets of ice, the sound of its steady assault only interrupted by thunderclap that set off car alarms. One imagines Qu Yuan sitting somewhere with his feet propped up, enjoying the show.
As quickly as the storm came, it departed -- but not before the sun shone out of a hole while the clouds were wrung dry. Now it is quiet, the singing of birds and rustling leaves beginning to fade amid the resumption of human activity, vehicles, construction.
You've heard by now, but Ai Weiwei did something yesterday. And while most reactions to Dumbass, his foul-mouthed song about his 81 days in prison, were predictably enthusiastic, there's a segment of commentators who believe Ai Weiwei is overexposed, and have reacted with what amounts to a protracted and very loud sigh.
Marc van der Chijs, a successful businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded Tudou, is leaving China, and he thought you should know about it. Because he’s leaving China. Or have you not heard? No? Huh, that’s weird. Anyway, he’s leaving, and CNN Money published his farewell letter, so now you know. Basically, Marc van der Chijs is... Read more »
Sarah Peel wins the day. The self-described “cocktail lover, single mom, singer, casual yogini, opinionated Asia watcher, and a master of the preschool dark arts” has just completed tweeting a 27-part homage to Spring Festival. Like Dickens, it’s meant to be read in serial, but if you missed it, here it is all in one place:
