Hai from Shanghai

The Mystery of the Nanjing Ooze

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:11:34 +0800

The Mystery of the Nanjing Ooze

"Not for the faint of heart or weak of bladder, Wang Bing’s two-and-a-half-hour “Three Sisters”..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 08:38:55 +0800

“

Not for the faint of heart or weak of bladder, Wang Bing’s two-and-a-half-hour “Three Sisters” documents extreme poverty in rural China with the compassionate eye and inexhaustible patience of a director whose curiosity about his country’s unfortunates never seems to wane.

Filming for six months in a remote hillside village in 2010, Mr. Wang follows the spirit-crushing lives of a short-tempered peasant and his three little daughters….

“Three Sisters” makes its point in lice-infested hovels and with the bleeding feet of endlessly coughing children. A communal meal at a great-uncle’s house reveals village elders sniffing at the government’s proposed “rural revival,” knowing that it really means extra land fees for already strapped peasants. Clearly, the country’s economic boom is not trickling down, leaving them frozen in a way of life as ancient as the ground beneath their feet.

”

- From The Times’ review (a Critics’ Pick) of Three Sisters (no relation to Chekhov’s), a documentary opening today in the States.

Not sure I can stomach this one, but it sounds eye-opening, for sure.

Hard Knocks: Shanghai

Sat, 04 May 2013 06:25:27 +0800

Hard Knocks: Shanghai:

Can the NFL plant its flag in China?

China's 'Iron Man 3' Release Aided By Local Talent And Footage

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:05:07 +0800

China's 'Iron Man 3' Release Aided By Local Talent And Footage:

When superhero film “Iron Man 3” makes its Chinese debut, it will include top Chinese actress Fan Bingbing and some footage shot inside China - additions aimed at tapping into the country’s lucrative and booming cinema market….

Ben Kingsley plays the “Mandarin”, a half-Chinese villain - the kind of thing that could be a red flag for censors. In the Chinese version, however, the name is translated as “Man Daren”, removing the overtly Chinese connotation.

Luoyang entrepreneur erects a statue of himself as Buddha

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:08:50 +0800

Luoyang entrepreneur erects a statue of himself as Buddha:

Yep, seriously.

climateadaptation: Chinese ship runs into protected UNESCO reef...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:29:46 +0800

climateadaptation:

Chinese ship runs into protected UNESCO reef in Philippines — while transporting 11 tons of illegal Pangolin meat

A Chinese vessel that ran into a protected coral reef in the southwestern Philippines held evidence of even more environmental destruction inside: more than 22,000 pounds of meat from a protected species, the pangolin or scaly anteater.

The steel-hulled vessel hit an atoll on April 8 at the Tubbataha National Marine Park, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site on Palawan island.

Coast guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said Monday that 400 boxes, each containing 25 to 30 kilograms of frozen pangolins, were discovered during a second inspection of the boat Saturday.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines said the Chinese vessel F/N Min Long Yu could have been carrying up to 2,000 of the toothless, insect-eating animals rolled up in the boxes, with their scales already removed.

The boat’s 12 Chinese crewmen are being detained on charges of poaching and attempted bribery, said Adelina Villena, the marine park’s lawyer. She said more charges are being prepared against them, including damaging the corals and violating the country’s wildlife law for being found in possession of the pangolin meat.

The poachers posed as fisherman and now face up to 20 years in prison. Via NBC

Here’s a NatGeo video of the endangered pangolin.

Chinese businessman buys world’s most expensive iPhone for 15 million dollars

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:18:52 +0800

Chinese businessman buys world’s most expensive iPhone for 15 million dollars:

I’m not even gonna comment on this one.

HOW JON STEWART BLEW UP IN CHINA

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 05:29:43 +0800

HOW JON STEWART BLEW UP IN CHINA:

The Chinese reaction to [Jon Stewart] ranges from bewilderment—his Peter Dinklage reference in a joke about Kim Jong-un’s height may have lost something in the translation—to envy. His homage this week to his Chinese viewers sparked a discussion of its own. “I hope everybody sees this. Don’t mistake it for just a comedy show,” wrote one person on Weibo, the micro-blogging site. “When will China have its own Jon Stewart?” asked another.

[Here is the “Big Ratings in Giant China” segment from The Daily Show.]

In China, Feudal Answers for Modern Problems

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:11:05 +0800

In China, Feudal Answers for Modern Problems:

The corruption, income inequality and environmental degradation that have accompanied China’s breakneck economic development over the last 30 years have provoked social unrest. In 2010, China had 180,000 “mass incidents,” the official euphemism for protests — a fourfold increase over the previous decade. Methods of social control that once worked like charms are now losing their efficacy. So the Central Party School and its provincial subsidiaries, which train China’s leaders, are revamping curriculums. Each year they send student-officials to Harvard to study Western management.

But they are often finding that it’s the old feudal customs, so repugnant to Mao, that help them keep a grip on society.

Elite in China Face Austerity Under Xi’s Rule

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:58:58 +0800

Elite in China Face Austerity Under Xi’s Rule:

Life for the almighty Chinese government official has come to this: car pools, domestically made wristwatches and self-serve lunch buffets.

In the four months since he was anointed China’s paramount leader and tastemaker-in-chief, President Xi Jinping has imposed a form of austerity on the nation’s famously free-spending civil servants, military brass and provincial party bosses.

Cost of Environmental Degradation in China Is Growing

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:11:42 +0800

Cost of Environmental Degradation in China Is Growing:

The cost of environmental degradation in China in 2010 was about $230 billion, or 3.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, an official Chinese news report said this week….

The estimated loss for that year was three times that for 2004, in local currency terms. The $230 billion figure, or 1.54 trillion renminbi, is based on costs rising from pollution and damage to the ecosystem, but the figure was incomplete because the researchers did not have a complete set of data.

wuluwu: SHANGHAI’S GANGNAM GRANNIES

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:16:14 +0800

wuluwu:

SHANGHAI’S GANGNAM GRANNIES

Shanghai on a Dime? Pretty Close

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:25:53 +0800

Shanghai on a Dime? Pretty Close:

The Times’ “Frugal Traveler,” Seth Kugel, profiles the ‘Hai.

bridgers: Hogwash.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:16:52 +0800

bridgers:

Hogwash.

Chinese Skype Surveillance Trigger Words Uncovered by Researcher

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:31:00 +0800

Chinese Skype Surveillance Trigger Words Uncovered by Researcher:

Some of the thousands of terms included on the lists are predictably political. Translations show they include “student demonstrations,” “oil protest,” “Tiananmen slaughter,” “Amnesty International,” and “Reporters Without Borders.” But there are also a large number that are sex- and pornography-related—like “sex chat,” “live nude chat service,” and “kinky cinema.” Some cover violence, such as “Molotov cocktails” and “hired killer.” And it doesn’t end there. The software scans for references to drugs like ecstasy, methamphetamine, and ketamine—while bizarre terms that translate into English as “ancient horse recipe” and “throwing eggs” could also land users on a watch list.

theatlantic: 2,800 Dead Pigs in a Shanghai River: How Did This...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:18:02 +0800

theatlantic:

2,800 Dead Pigs in a Shanghai River: How Did This Happen?

In fact, waste related to animals made up about 90 percent of organic pollutants in China’s water, according to Wang Dong of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning. In a2012 study from Huazhong University, waste from pigs, cattle, sheep, and other animals left 228,900 tonnes (252.6 tons) of biochemical oxygen demand, a standard measure for organic pollution, in part of the Han River in central China. Now, about 15 percent of China’s major rivers are too polluted for safe use, not just from local factories, but farmers who throw animal carcasses and waste into nearby streams.

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

Stole this one from the webz, but couldn’t not post.

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:38:48 +0800

Stole this one from the webz, but couldn’t not post.

theatlantic: Chinese Politician: We Must Allow the Chinese to...

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:37:13 +0800

theatlantic:

Chinese Politician: We Must Allow the Chinese to Have a Second Child

As recently as January of this year, the head of China’s National Family Planning Commission affirmed that the policy was in place for the long term. In response to the statement, NPC delegate He Youlin said, “That isn’t right. You can’t consider such matters from the perspective of your professional department. You should think about it from the perspective of a people’s development, of the future strategic development of our country.”

Read more. [Image: Reuters]

THE PRICE OF IVORY: From Elephants’ Mouths, an Illicit Trail to China

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:14:09 +0800

THE PRICE OF IVORY: From Elephants’ Mouths, an Illicit Trail to China:

Disturbing, if not surprising.

China destroying 2 million graves to make room for more farmland

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 04:39:00 +0800

China destroying 2 million graves to make room for more farmland:

climateadaptation:

Development knows no bounds.

Two million tombs in Zhoukou, one of the oldest cities on the mainland, have been removed over the past few months under a new provincial government policy to make more land available for agriculture.

A spokesman from the city’s civil affairs bureau, which is in charge of the grave demolitions, said the city government had no intention of halting the campaign, even though the State Council last Friday struck out a clause from regulations that allowed for forced demolition of grave sites.

“We are still clearing graves for farmland and we will definitely continue doing that,” he said. The spokesman said the State Council announcement only meant the civil affairs bureau had no right to carry out compulsory demolitions. “The courts and the police bureau will instead take responsibility for execution,” he said.

The revised version of the funeral and interment control regulation removed a sentence in Article 20 that allowed for forced demolitions.

South China Morning Post