Japanese ambassador Shinichi Nishimiya committing seppuku when he finds out he's been assigned to China is a nice touch, though perhaps a tad too soon:
We’ve seen beauty pageants for cows, so it would naturally follow that there would be a pageant for goldfish. In Fuzhou, Fujian province on Saturday, 3,000 fish from 14 different countries competed in the International Goldfish Championship. They were judged according to breed, body shape, swimming gesture, color, and overall impression, judge Ye Qichang told ITN... Read more »
Here is the cinematic intro to Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, a tactical shooter game released in October 2009. In it, an island originally owned by the Chinese, called Skira, is jointly colonized by Russia and Japan through military force in the 17th and early-18th centuries. After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan gains the entire island, then loses it back to Russia following World War II. Sometime during the Cold War, oil is discovered on this volcanic island but is "hard to reach."
The more I think about it, the more I want to believe these anti-Japan protests are just an excuse for people to catch some fresh air and blow off steam. The genuine anger in some parts isn't reflected in the above video, taken today by Jacob of BeijingShenghuo (who you'll remember took this video of Saturday's more volatile protests). The chants of "Little Japan, fuck your mother" are said so nonchalantly that a spectator who doesn't know Chinese could confuse this gathering for a high school prep rally. Look at all the people recording with cell phones: they're not angry; they're curious.
No two protests are ever the same, as the above video will show. In Changsha, people flip cars. In Dali, they sing the national anthem. In Qingdao, they chant. (Actually, they sing and chant everywhere, but you know what I mean.) There are a lot of banners that read “Japanese Devils,” a term that originates... Read more »
Tension over Japan’s purchase of the Diaoyu Islands appears to be escalating. Today, on what appears to be a gorgeous autumn afternoon in Beijing, thousands gathered outside the Japanese embassy to throw rocks, eggs, and bottles. Similar protests apparently happened in more than a dozen cities. Jacob, who runs the excellent YouTube channel BeijingShenghuo, was at... Read more »
We know that Kunming has a theme park called the Kingdom of the Little People, so of course it was only a matter of time it got shanzhai'ed. Uploaded a couple of weeks ago by YouTube user funkeymanx, here's a dwarf show in Yangshuo, China called "Pocket Kingdom Paradise." Yangshuo is one of the top tourism destinations in China -- for good reason -- but it's unclear how PKP fits in with the karst peaks, climbing walls, Moon Hill and Li River. Just roll with it, I guess.
These musicians filmed at Beijing's Temple of Heaven are quite good, but are they the best? If you know of any amateur orchestras or park singers that can give these guys a run for their money, please let us know.
This man on the Hangzhou-Ningbo Highway in Zhejiang province really had to use the bathroom, so he hopped out of his car (presumably) and took a leak right in front of a toll booth. Not sure that’s the best place: all these booths are equipped with surveillance cameras, as we’ve seen before. The operator first says,... Read more »
We've seen roadside buskers -- even drummers -- aplenty, but few are as impressive as this young man, identity unknown, who uses pots, pans and buckets to create music. This was posted on the Sina Weibo of @Ghost190 on Monday.
![CCTV Reporter Suffers Total Brain Meltdown During Live Interview About National Congress [UPDATE]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/18th-arab-150x150.jpg "CCTV Reporter Suffers Total Brain Meltdown During Live Interview About National Congress [UPDATE]"){kind=small}
![Acid Dumplings [09]](http://beijingcream.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Acid-Dumplings-09-150x150.jpg "Acid Dumplings [09]"){kind=small}
