If you ever want to understand what it means to live in China -- "real China," as some are fond of saying -- head out to one of the popular tourist sites this week. It doesn't matter which -- may as well be the Great Wall, shown above, or Xiangshan, or Jiuzhaigou, whatever. Advance warning: you'll need to prepare heavy doses of perspective and patience, and master a few advanced breathing techniques, because what you'll deal with will shock and anger you, and seriously test your resolve to be a compassionate, courteous human being.
A tragic story out of Nepal has renewed concerns about flight safety in the area. According to AFP, a twin-propeller Sita Air plane carrying 19 people, including five Chinese people and seven British, caught on fire and crashed on Friday, killing everyone onboard. The pilot reported hitting a bird moments before the crash, though Toya... Read more »
While Japanese and Taiwanese ships continue playing with their super soakers in the South Pacific, netizens have commented that the Taiwanese ships don't shoot very straight or with force. Indeed, in the video above, you'll see that it does look like they're just pissing -- which completely makes sense, since Japan and China are just having a pissing contest at this point.
China has been proudly showing off its new toy, the aircraft carrier Liaoning, for several days now. The above is an interview conducted by CCTV-9 with Liaoning’s captain, a senior colonel of the PLA navy named Zhang Zheng. The man makes a good impression. As Bill of Sinocism notes, “When will a US Admiral speak Chinese as... Read more »
On September 15 in Xi’an, Shanxi province, an anti-Japanese protest got so out of hand that a Chinese man was partially paralyzed when someone clobbered him over the head with a piece of steel. Fifty-one-year-old Li Jianli’s only crime? Driving a Toyota Corolla with his family. His wife futilely pleaded with the mob, “It was wrong of... Read more »
By The Good Doctor I still remember my first encounter with one of these trucks of death. I was walking near Xinjiekou when everybody suddenly scrambled into the nearest shop. I couldn’t figure out what was happening until I saw what looked like a firetruck watering the trees. Everyone else knew what I was about... Read more »
Ian Bennett, who runs the travel mini-video-series website Follow the Foot, caught some Chinese people engaged in very interesting park exercises not long ago, but instead of doing what most of us would -- watch from afar -- he hopped in. This enviable video is the result, with music by The Careless Lovers - "Blue Turning Grey Over You."
China loves its robots, and we don't mean Hu Jintao. As ITN reports, this country "currently tops the world in robotics competitions in terms of how many people take part." Take, for instance, the first Beijing College Student Robotics Competition over the weekend at Beijing Information Science and Technology University. About 300 people from 99 teams from Beijing and Taiwan took part, showing off robots that could dance like Michael Jackson and play five-a-side soccer. There was even one that performed moves (poorly, I'd say) to PSY's Gangnam Style.
In case you've forgotten, The Simpsons is set to begin its 24th season this Sunday, which is an amazing accomplishment no matter much you've complained about its last 15 seasons as being "not what it used to be."
As a preview, the producers have released this short -- viewed 2.7 million times already in four days -- to satirize the good ol' American election process.
The Chinese Basketball Association doesn't take the FIBA Asia Cup very seriously, as a glance at this year's roster will show: every player under 22 years of age, playing against several countries' senior-level teams. But what happens when your team gets paired against Japan in the knockout round amid nationalistic protests back home against this very country?
![SCMP Reporter Who Interviewed Jack Ma Accused Of Editorial Tampering, Resigns [CORRECTION]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Jack-Ma-in-the-shadows-150x150.jpg "SCMP Reporter Who Interviewed Jack Ma Accused Of Editorial Tampering, Resigns [CORRECTION]")
