flickering pictures

Go on, find Palau on a map without Googling it — I double dog dare you.
Its 21,000 citizens have only had a country for 15 years, but the Pacific mini-state of Palau is already distinguishing itself by welcoming 17 Chinese Guantanamo inmates with open arms, and inviting them to settle wherever they like on its […]

[Read more →]

Mao would be pissed.
Along with a bar and hair salon, the store offers 38,000 square feet of blonde-haired, big-boobed dolls. Despite its location, only 10 per cent of the store’s dolls will look Asian, apparently because of Mattel research that indicates Chinese girls and young women want American-looking Barbies.
The GlobalPost reports:

The plan is to […]

[Read more →]

Just a little stub of a post today — I’m swamped at the moment, and I my typing fingers need a rest after that little novella the other day on press freedom in Gaza.
A new mall in Nanjing, China will apparently host only stores that sell knockoff brands, such as “McDnoald’s,” “Pizza Huh” and “Bucksstar […]

[Read more →]

If this isn’t the strangest thing you’ll read today, it’s up there.
A woman in China has apparently lost all hearing in her left ear after a session of “passionate” kissing with her boyfriend.
The BBC reports:

The doctor who treated the girl in hospital was quoted in the paper explaining what had happened.
“The kiss reduced the pressure […]

[Read more →]

Surely it had nothing to do with the title of G&R’s new record. And since when do Chinese foreign affairs officials moonlight as music critics?
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reports:

In a rare comment on rock’n’roll, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang dismissed the creative output of US rock band Guns N’ Roses as […]

[Read more →]

Husain Amer, a photographer, filmmaker, modelling agent, erstwhile English teacher and good friend of mine has been tromping through China for the last year and is recording his exploits as he goes. Recently he documented a trip from Beijing to Xi’an via the ancient trading city of Pingyao, in China’s northeast.
And for all you […]

[Read more →]

Man, you can’t make this stuff up. From the BBC:

An Asian elephant that became addicted to heroin after being fed bananas spiked with the drug is to return home after undergoing a detox programme.
The four-year-old animal, called Xiguang, received methadone injections for a year at five times the human dosage, state media said.
It was […]

[Read more →]

Brazilians, Italians and Brits all claim to be the world’s biggest sports fans, but flag-waving and beer-swilling is lightweight stuff compared to this guy’s latest stunt. Looking to show off his patriotism and his excitement for the upcoming Beijing Olympics, a Chinese man named Wei Sheng did the natural thing and jabbed 2008 pushpins […]

[Read more →]

There are more than 210 million Internet users in China, and according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly all of them want Big Brother watching over their shoulders when they surf.
From the report:

Many Americans assume that China’s internet users are both aware of and unhappy about their government’s oversight and control of […]

[Read more →]

Last night I stumbled upon one of the most chilling and touching print journalism pieces I’ve seen in a while, courtesy of the Guardian’s Tania Branigan. It is painfully human and will make you want to cry. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Tenderly, she eased the clean fleece over her little boy’s hand […]

[Read more →]