A girl in Chengdu sparked a "mass incident" this week when she appealed for a boyfriend on a campus message board at the University of Electronic Science and Technology. Potential suitors were to call out her name outside her apartment, but it seems she got more than she bargained for when over 1,000 guys turned up below her window; EastSouthWestNorth provides
the details.
We live in a city partly known for its big-name and bigger-selling artists. Don't know where to find said creativity? eCitiesChina has a post this week about the
North Village Art District in suburban Xindu.
Chengdu residents will probably feel a bit deprived upon learning that Peter Hessler has "postponed" his scheduled appearances at this year's China-based literary festivals, including the
Chengdu Bookworm's Literary Festival. If this at all can make up for it, he writes a long post about how
snapping away with a digital camera has aided his writing, with examples from his new book,
Country Driving.
It was Lei Feng day last week, and it seems like the man himself came back to life to talk about how to do good deeds in the 21st century. Danwei translates the
micro-blog parodies. (Requires proxy.)
Finally, back to EastSouthWestNorth, which transcribes an
interview with artist Ou Zhihang, a Guangzhou TV host who has won a prize at the World Press Photo (WPP) competition for his photography series depicting himself doing naked push-ups around China. The artist discloses how he manages to avoid arrest while photographing himself in front of Chinese landmarks and the locations of major social events as well as his motivations for his nude photography.
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- China blogs: Blood donor scandal, China stereotypes, pollution
- China blogs: Half-price abortions, gender guessing, surrogate mothers
- China blogs: memoirs, Win in China, sports-medal scandal
- China blogs: Peter Hessler's latest, Beijing scene, schoolgirl video
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How can the countryside in China regain a attractive image and develop sustainably?
This post on Asia Snapshots holds Chengdu's local organic food farm in Anlong as a worthy model after they chat with Gao Qingrong from the Gao Family Farm in Anlong, Sichuan.
Chengdu and Sichuan have both come under fire during the crackdown on soccer corruption. China Sports Daily has a
round-up of the latest scandals.
The state-owned newspaper
The Global Times has run a
particularly open article about the extensive controls on the internet within China and their effect on users and Internet companies. If you're too lazy--er,
pressed for time--to read the whole thing, DigiCha posts some
choice quotes.
China Beat has a
long and wide-ranging article by Ross Terrill, author of the biography
Mao, about the book's publication in China, Mao fever, and Mao's changing place in Chinese thought.
The stereotype of the old, baijiu-quaffing, banquet-eating male government official might soon be displaced by the under-qualified but connection-rich and altogether cuter next generation.
To Rise From Ashes and
ChinaSMACK translate skeptic netizen reactions to the appointment of 20-something-year-olds high up the hierarchy of officials.
There's still no access to YouTube here for most of us, but you can always head over to Youku Buzz, which has
a selection of the most-viewed videos to hit their site this week, including the hottest beggar ever to stroll Chinese streets and Chinese cross-talk comedy.
Related articles:
- China blogs: 1980s turkey, corruption show, Copenhagen, top lists
- China blogs: Aliens, a pregnant teen, 2012, and, of course, Obamarama
- China blogs: memoirs, Win in China, sports-medal scandal
- China blogs: Peter Hessler's latest, Beijing scene, schoolgirl video
- China blogs: Police on hairstyle safety, Mao's new look, sex festival
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Do you believe there are UFOs or aliens living among us? You're not alone!
GoKunming interviews Zhang Yifang, founder and former director of the Kunming UFO Research Association and the organizer of the 2009 International Astronomy Year and Extraterrestrial Life Forum about
extraterrestrial activity in China.
The dismal state of sex education in China is illustrated by this post on
China Hush about the reaction of a small town to a 14-year-old girl who managed to
keep her pregnancy secret until she gave birth to the baby in her dorm room.
The disaster movie
2012 has been under the spotlight for its perceived
positive,
neutral, and negative portrayals of China. But the comments translated by
ChinaSMACK hint that people are getting a little bored of nitpicking over anything that might possibly be construed as negative about China's role in big foreign movies.
For all those pondering the potential of tennis in China after the
low turnout for the ATP Champions Tour in Chengdu this month,
China Sports Today has an interview touching on these matters with rising
tennis star Zhang Shuai.
Naturally, much of the China blogosphere is buzzing about U.S. President Obama's three-day visit to China this week. Adam Minter of
Shanghai Scrap was
deeply unimpressed with the phrase "big supporter of non-censorship", while Sam Crane at
the Useless Tree notes the negative coverage and
rises to Obama's defense (Requires proxy).
China Digital Times and
China Beat do a good job of
summarizing (requires proxy) media coverage, and the
New York Times Room for Debate blog invites opinions from scholars on China about whether or not Obama was
too soft in approaching China's leaders on the issue of human rights.
And in an amusing piece (yes, there is one this week!), Evan Osnos of the
New Yorker writes about the experiences of the
press corps that follow the president on trips abroad.
Related articles:
- ATP Champions tour to bring tennis greats to Chengdu
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- China blogs: Peter Hessler's latest, Beijing scene, schoolgirl video
- China blogs: Police on hairstyle safety, Mao's new look, sex festival
- McEnroe in Chengdu? You cannot be serious
- McEnroe, Borg, other tennis greats to play Chengdu Open
- Zheng exits Wimbledon early, cites high pressure
- Zheng Jie returns to Sichuan to visit earthquake zone
- Zheng makes victorious return to Wimbledon
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A hilarious video of popular Chengdu "cop-reality" TV program
Tan's Traffic Talk Show with English subtitles by the
Veggie Discourse blog. In it, teasing traffic policeman Tan lectures a hairdresser on hair styles and road safety. The blog also explains key cultural terms. Viewing the blog requires a proxy, but you can view the video on
Tudou here.
Residents in Kunming protest the death of a tricycle driver at the hands of chengguan, the "city management" law enforcers. Translation and the usual comments railing against chengguan at
ChinaSMACK.
After the black-Asian
Oriental Angel Lou Jing controversy,
China Sports Today clears up misinformation about African-Chinese volleyball player Ding Hui and underscores sport's potential as an avenue to greater tolerance toward mixed-heritage Chinese.
Peking University student Tom shares his and his classmates' thoughts on China's growing role as a "responsible stakeholder" in international affairs over at
Six blog.
China Beat looks at how the writings of Lu Xun, hugely influential author, essayist, poet, editor and critic and textbook staple in Chinese schools, have been appropriated and over-simplified by the Communist Party.
Mao statues tend to feature the great helmsman hailing a taxi in a long overcoat, as at Tianfu Square, but it doesn't have to be so.
Danwei reports on a new, youthful, long-locked Mao statue in Changsha, capital of his native Hunan province.
And have you ever wondered what a sex festival is like in China? Adam Minter from
Shanghai Scrap stumbles upon one in Guangzhou and calls it a "seriously cold shower."
Fran likes surfing the China blogosphere, and every Sunday she shares her picks of the week with GoChengdoo readers.
Related articles:
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- China blogs: mixed-race Shanghai girl, advice to Obama, and more
- Smiling, saluting policewoman Chengdu's latest 'net sensation
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China Study Group reports on a group of migrant workers who protested at Chengdu's Regal Master Plaza claiming that they are collectively owed 30 million RMB.
China Beat has a selection of links relating to the laowai's laowai, Peter Hessler, including early reviews of his new book,
Country Driving.
China Geeks explains some of the reasons they regularly post about mistakes and bias in western media reports about China.
Chinamusicradar interviews Beijing indie-music photographer Matthew Niederhauser about the hype surrounding the capital's bands.
ChinaSMACK summarizes reactions to the "schoolgirl beating" video that made a splash on the internet this week.
Danwei features an
excerpt from
Apologies Forthcoming, a new collection of short stories by writer and Inside-out blogger Xujun Eberlein. Plus, Danwei shares some good news for us here in the Sichuan basin:
Smoking is to be banned (finally) in Sichuan's hospitals.
And, if you don't know your Li Bingbing from your Fan Bingbing, you might want to check out
eChinacities list of China's hottest female stars, a follow-up to last week's hottest male stars.
Fran likes surfing the China blogosphere, and every Sunday she shares her picks of the week with GoChengdoo readers.
Related articles:
- China blogs: annoying commercials, Jackie Chan gaffes, and more
- China blogs: digital dumps, ducks, journalist bloggers, Buddhist gaming
- China blogs: Half-price abortions, gender guessing, surrogate mothers
- China blogs: memoirs, Win in China, sports-medal scandal
- China blogs: Organic food, pollution, life in jail, "real China"
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Danwei features the introduction of and an extract from the recently republished memoir by "princess" Der Ling who recounts her two years spent in the Forbidden City serving Empress Cixi.
(Requires proxy)
Matt Schiavenza links to a
The National article about two Jewish Americans, both called Sidney, who lived in China during and after the civil war. Coincidentally, the New Yorker's
Letter From China blog features a short interview with one of the Sidneys about his views on China today.
China Beat interviews Ole Schell, director of a new documentary about the Chinese entrepreneurs who competed on the wildly popular TV game show
Win in China.
James Fallows' blog embeds a video from the Atlantic's "Doing Business in China" series in which a handful of Chinese high-flyers are asked a surprisingly tricky question: What is communism?
China Sports Today writes about the medal-fixing scandal afflicting the national games.
China Hush also has a full translation of an Sina interview with the informer who has made the accusations.
In what is possibly the saddest and most 'lei'
雷 (shocking) story on
ChinaSMACK (and there's a lot of competition), a prostitute shares all about her sexual health, her contraction of AIDS, as well as all the phone numbers of her clients.
And in a short post,
ChinaGeeks looks at a fellow who has recently been in the news, Mao's grandson Mao Xinyu, and the content of his popular blog.
Related articles:
- China blogosphere: 'net memes, sexual behavior, indie scene, jokes
- China blogs: annoying commercials, Jackie Chan gaffes, and more
- China blogs: Chengdu animation, lots of National Day coverage
- China blogs: digital dumps, ducks, journalist bloggers, Buddhist gaming
- China blogs: endangered love songs, virtual coal mining, fake condoms
- China blogs: Half-price abortions, gender guessing, surrogate mothers
- China blogs: IKEA's 'theme park,' China's husbands blasted
- China blogs: mixed-race Shanghai girl, advice to Obama, and more
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