Archive for February, 2009

The Chinese Government: Environmentalists?

February 27, 2009
By C. Custer

In his remarks to the United States Congress on Tuesday, American President Barack Obama gave the Chinese government some unexpected props: We know the country that harnesses the power of clean, renewable energy will lead the 21st century. And yet, it is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their...
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Posted in Current Events, Opinions | 1 Comment »

A (Nearly) Forgotten Anniversary

February 25, 2009
By Chris Hearne

2009 is a year of anniversaries for China. It's been 60 years since the formation of the modern People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party’s formal ascent to power, an event sure to be lauded by the current regime and is to include the country’s biggest military parade ever and even...
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Posted in Current Events, History | 3 Comments »

Our Three Week Hiatus

February 10, 2009
By C. Custer

UPDATE: CCTV building in Beijing caught fire last night. No time to write about this in more detail, check Shanghaiist, ChinaSMACK, CNReviews, and Youku Buzz. The cause is unclear but looks to be stray fireworks from the holiday last night. China Daily has a story here indicating it was a hotel… It probably bodes...
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Posted in Housekeeping | No Comments »

The Worst Drought in 50 Years

February 9, 2009
By C. Custer
The Worst Drought in 50 Years

Northeastern China is suffering from what even the Chinese media are calling “the most severe drought for decades.” Affecting nearly 5 million people to date, the drought also threatens future harvests and has drawn a number of government responses including diverting water from the Yangzi and Yellow Rivers, inducing rain artificially, providing over US...
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Posted in Current Events, Links | No Comments »

Would You Break the Law for This Woman?

February 8, 2009
By C. Custer
Would You Break the Law for This Woman?

According to ESWN, lots of Chinese people apparently would. Lu Jiali, reportedly the mistress of some of Shanghai’s highest officials (many of whom are now embroiled in a scandal), is an attractive woman (88% of netizens polled agree!). Photos of her (after the jump) have been circulating the internet recently, which led to an...
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Posted in Current Events, Links | 1 Comment »

Was the Sichuan Earthquake Caused by Man?

February 7, 2009
By C. Custer

The New York Times thinks maybe: (h/t James Fallows) Nearly nine months after a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, left 80,000 people dead or missing, a growing number of American and Chinese scientists are suggesting that the calamity was triggered by a four-year-old reservoir built close to the earthquake’s geological fault line. A...
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Posted in Current Events, Links | 4 Comments »

What the Hell Does "Crackdown" Mean?

February 5, 2009
By C. Custer

If you’re reading this post right now, chances are this isn’t the first thing you’ve read about China in English. And if this isn’t the first thing you’ve read about China in English, you’ve probably read about a Chinese government “crackdown” before. But what, exactly, does it mean when the Chinese government cracks down?...
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Posted in China From the West, Opinions | 8 Comments »

Flying Shoes

February 4, 2009
By C. Custer

We didn’t want to write about the shoe thing, but here we are, writing about the shoe thing. Everybody knows that a month and a half ago, someone chucked a shoe at former (!) President Bush during a press conference in Iraq. Much merriment was shared by all, and the Chinese netizens, as one...
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Posted in China From the West, Current Events, International Relations, Politics | 2 Comments »

The Hidden Dangers of Cohabitation

February 3, 2009
By C. Custer

Any formal student of Chinese language who’s made it past the second year has likely gotten to the point where each chapter of his or her textbook takes the form of “: is it good or bad?” One of the most common social issues is 同居, or “cohabitation”, specifically, the cohabitation of men...
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Posted in Culture | 2 Comments »

Recommended Reading

February 2, 2009
By C. Custer

As anyone reading this blog is probably aware, there are a ton of valuable China related sites out there. Here’s a list of the ones we read regularly, or at least, most of them. This page will be edited regularly to add new blogs as we find them. General China Blogs Danwei.org - Chinese...
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Posted in Video | Comments Off