First of all, it’s eight minutes. Say what you want about “Survival,” London’s official Olympics song, but at least Muse had the courtesy to stop at a reasonable five minutes and 20 seconds. For what is essentially an overproduced, commercialized ditty, what couldn’t you possibly do in five minutes that you need eight? Actually, we... Read more »
On Saturday at Liushahe Cultivation Base in Nanning, Hunan province, people organized a swim meet with some peculiar competitors. At the sound of a whistle, nine spotted piglets jumped into the water and splashed down their lane toward the shore -- the "finish line." A pig named Hua Hua won and was rewarded with extra delicious pig feed.
Update after the jump. While Typhoon Vicente, which hit last night with winds exceeding 140 km/h (87 mph), has since been downgraded, it was the first time in 13 years that a typhoon maxed out the scale. Reportedly more than 100 people have sought hospital treatment due to the storm, but so far there have been... Read more »
Unlike Shanghai teammate Nicolas Anelka's rather tepid Chinese Super League debut, Didier Drogba made quite the impact yesterday in his first CSL match. Coming on as a sub after halftime, Drogba's first touch of the ball was a 40-yard free kick that AFP aptly described as "outrageous" (video of this strike appears after the jump). The former Chelsea striker would go on to set up his team's only goal, a beautiful through-ball into the box that teammate Cao Yunding converts in the 68th minute, to help Shenhua earn an away draw vs. Guangzhou R&F.
Manchester United landed in Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport just after midnight today and were greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic fans, according to the team’s website. This marks Man U’s first China trip since 2009, part of a wider effort to reach out to the Asian market. It shouldn’t surprise you to know that the Red Devils are... Read more »
Frenchman Jean-Yves Blondeau is known as "Rollerman" because of his custom-designed suit equipped with 31 skateboard wheels, ensuring he always rolls -- standing, crouching, prostrate -- wherever there's a hill. But why roll down hills when the world offers mountains? Specifically, Mt. Tianmen, one of the most scenic places in China, featuring a stretch of road -- which Alicia wrote about in April -- with 99 turns to symbolize Heaven's nine palaces.
Within Beijing proper on Saturday, Guangqumen Bridge on southeast Second Ring Road was among the most affected by the rain, and resulted in one of the earliest reported deaths. (Incidentally, Guangqumen is about a kilometer and a half from Shuangjing Bridge, where some foreigners were having a good time, surely unaware of the trouble that was just down the street.) In this video, you see rescuers attempt to get to a submerged car at around 10 pm.
The publicized death toll for Saturday’s Beijing rainstorm was three, then four, then 10… and now 37 — and might will rise in the coming days. According China Daily, 25 drowned during the 20-hour storm, while others died of related causes. The municipal government estimates losses of at least 10 billion yuan. More than 50,000... Read more »
We'll be learning, very soon, about the damages caused by the biggest torrential downpour Beijing has seen in several decades. There will be time to sift through the fallout and figure out how we pick up the pieces, i.e. drain and dry the whole damn city and find some of the many vehicles that were washed away in the storm. (By the way, today is another reason I'm glad I don't own a car in this city.) But for now, let's focus on the more lighthearted scenes from yesterday: fans having a good time at a Guo'an game; a foreigner delighting onlookers by swimming in the street; a party at Shuangjing, amid traffic.
The heavy rains found their way inside Fourth Ring Round around 1 pm today, and it's been sporadically pouring ever since: some deity simply dumping bucket after bucket of water over the city. I was outside around 1:30 pm to witness the sky and everything underneath it go eerily dark; 10 minutes later, a dazzling white mist rose out of nowhere, like the ash of a mythical sky creature. It was unbelievable. I put out both arms and said "What the fuck?" several times.
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