The controversy began a little over a week ago, when on February 12 in Puning county of Yunnan province, a public security bureau announced that inmate Li had sustained fatal brain trauma during a game of 躲猫猫 (eluding the cat) with fellow prisoners. 躲猫猫 appears to be a physical game of rough and tumble played by inmates within some Chinese prison systems, and the term 躲猫猫 has since become a hot search term on the Internet in China, generating over 35,000 comments on QQ.com alone. Continue reading »
Mar 01
minipost-The Mysterious Death of Li Qiaoming
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, General, News, politics | Tags:chinese civil society, chinese justice system, chinese netizen, Li Qiaoming, police brutality
19 Comments » newest
19 Comments » newest
Chinese officials in Yunnan have recently taken the unusual step of inviting internet users to help in investigating the suspicious and controversial death of Li Qiaoming in policy custody last month.
Feb 26
minipost-Tibetan Losar 2009
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, politics | Tags:losar, tibet
281 Comments » newest
281 Comments » newest
Well – the New York Times just pronounced that first day of Losar 2009 is a Day of Mourning in Tibet.
Here is another version of Losar 2009 from the People’s Daily. Continue reading »
Feb 24
Internal Divisions and the Chinese Stimulus Plan
Written by: Steve | Filed under:culture, General, politics | Tags:economy
17 Comments » newest
17 Comments » newest
I ran across this article today on Stratfor, the geopolitical global intelligence service. It discussed a side of China’s political and economic situation that we have touched upon here and there but never delved into that deeply. It highlights some of the intraparty differences within the CPC and expands on the philosophies of those factions.
I’d like to hear everyone’s comments, and especially those from our bloggers living in China, about how they view the two primary economic factions and their strategies within the party. There are several links within the article that take you to further analyses of those particular subjects.
Feb 23
minipost-Paris court rejects China’s Saint Laurent art claims
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, Analysis, culture, News, politics | Tags:chinese imperial art, lost treasures
297 Comments » newest
297 Comments » newest
A few threads ago, we discussed the topic of who owns the Chinese imperial arts in the context of Taiwan vis-a-vis the Mainland.
Well – it may be timely to also discuss who should own the Chinese imperial arts in the context of China vis-a-vis great collections of art in the West looted from China during her century of shame. Continue reading »
Feb 17
minipost-Letter: Who owns the Chinese imperial treasures?
Written by: guest | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, News | Tags:China, Forbidden City, National Palace Museum, taiwan
145 Comments » newest
145 Comments » newest
When Chiang Kai-Shek retreated with the Nationalists to Taiwan, he brought with him over 600,000 pieces of artefacts removed from Chinese imperial palaces during wartime. These artefacts are now stored at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both China and Taiwan have claimed title to these Chinese imperial treasures.
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
Feb 14
[Editor’s note: Previously we have translated Back to Lhasa (Part I) . The following are translations by Allen of journal entries 回到拉萨之六七八 Back to Lhasa (chapters 6-8)– originally posted on Jan 25, 2009]
Return to Lhasa (6): Drinking with the sky burial masters
North of Lhasa, in the Nyangri mountains, is a famed temple named “Pabongka.” Located on a turtle shaped stone, the temple surprisingly receives few outside tourists these days. According to legend, Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wen Cheng once lived there. The temple is also the birthplace of the Tibetan language. Stored in the temple are the earliest stone tablets of carved Tibetan alphabets known. Although the temple is small, it occupies a special place in Tibetan hearts for its historical importance both in the context of Tibetan language as well as Tibetan Buddhism. Continue reading »
Feb 13
minipost-Celebrating Valentine’s Day in China
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, General | Tags:valentine's day
1 Comment » newest
1 Comment » newest
The Chinese Valentine’s Day is on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month in the Chinese calendar. So this year’s Chinese Valentine’s Day is still a while yet.
In the mean time – how does one celebrate the Western version of Valentine’s Day in China? Continue reading »
Feb 11
[Editor’s note: The following are translations by Charles Liu (Introduction and Chapters 1-4) and Allen (Chapter 5 and overall editing) of journal entries Back to Lhasa (回到拉萨 （未完待续，超长慎入）) – Part I (chapter 1-5) posted on Jan 18, 2009.]
Preface
The author of this journal, Zhen Fu, then a college student, traveled alone to Tibet for the first time in 2003. It would be a life-changing experience. Not only did she fulfill her life-time dream of traveling to the mysterious land that is Tibet: to see its majestic beauty, to meet its remarkable people and to witness their remarkable culture, but Zhen also met her future husband, Mingji Mao, during her journey. Together they would write a book “Diaries from Tibet” based on their true love story. They made a promise to return to Tibet together. Five years later, Zhen and Mingji fulfilled this promise. This article is about what they saw on their return to Lhasa at the end of 2008.
Feb 10
Cultural Differences: Can American Workers Compete?
Written by: bianxiangbianqiao | Filed under:culture, media |
97 Comments » newest
With the Big Three US auto makers begging the US government to bail them out of bankruptcy, there have been many images on TV and in newspapers of American auto workers at the production line. I watched closely and unconsciously compared them with images of Chinese and Japanese workers, mostly from the same media outlets. My brain computed a couple of differences between images of American and Chinese industrial workers. Continue reading »
Jan 26
Welcome Year of the Ox – and Happy New Year!
Written by: Allen | Filed under:Announcements, culture, General | Tags:Happy New Year
63 Comments » newest
63 Comments » newest
It should be Chinese New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day throughout most of the world by now … so I just want to wish everyone here a very Happy and Prosperous Year of the OX (牛)!
According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Ox symbolizes prosperity and is associated with fortitude and hard work. Those born under the influence of the Ox are natural leaders, are dependable, and possess innate abilities to achieve great things. Continue reading »
Jan 24
minipost-Opinion: Dear Mr. Dalai Lama … please tear down this wall!
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, General, politics, religion | Tags:dalai lama, featured, serf emancipation day, tibet
486 Comments » newest
486 Comments » newest
On January 19, 2009, Tibetan legislators endorsed unanimously a bill designating March 28 as Serfs Emancipation Day, a day designated officially to mark the freeing of 1 million serfs from serfdom 50 years ago.
For many ethnic Tibetans, this day represents a celebration of freedom (from cast and class based oppression), economic empowerment, and social and political liberation that has been a long time coming. The day has been held hostage for so long partly because the government, in hopes of trying to convince the Dalai Lama to return back to China, had not wanted to mark the occasion while the Dalai Lama was still in exile. But one cannot hold back a celebration of freedom forever, and fifty years has been a long time… Continue reading »
Jan 20
minipost-Climate Change: Tibetan Plateau in Peril
Written by: Allen | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, Environment, General, video | Tags:climate change, environment, tibet, tibetan people
7 Comments » newest
7 Comments » newest
Too often when we discuss Tibet, we reflexively focus our attention on the political spat between the CCP and the Dalai Lama. However, Tibet is much more than the current political spat.
For one thing: there is the people; the indigenous culture; the land – and of course the important environmental role the Tibetan Plateau plays in regional as well as global environment.
The following is a video from Asia Society on the Peril the Tibetan Plateau is under – as well its implication for all of us in light of global climate change. Continue reading »
Jan 19
minipost-Serfs’ Emancipation Day for Tibet
Written by: Steve | Filed under:-mini-posts, culture, education, General, News, politics, religion |
75 Comments » newest
The following article appeared in the BBC News Online today:
Serfs’ Emancipation Day for Tibet
By James Reynolds
BeijingChina has declared a new annual holiday in Tibet called Serfs’ Emancipation Day, to mark the end of what it says was a system of feudal oppression.
The local parliament in Tibet has passed a bill which declares 28 March as the new holiday.
The announcement comes in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the escape into exile of the Dalai Lama.
The 49th anniversary a year ago led to widespread protests by monks and others in and around Tibet.
Jan 19
Chinese American Art & Culture
Written by: Steve | Filed under:culture, education, General, music |
4 Comments » newest
Heart Sutra: Calligraphy by Wendy Lee
The San Diego Chinese Art Society recently presented the Thirteenth Annual San Diego International Music & Arts Festival. Sometimes we tend to forget about Chinese who have emigrated to other countries but continue to keep in touch with their culture in a new environment. The San Diego Chinese community has many organizations dedicated to keeping their ancestral culture alive, and the events these organizations hold are supported not just by Chinese Americans but by the San Diego residents from all ethnic groups.
Jan 17
Hakka Tulou in Fujian Province
Written by: Steve | Filed under:culture, education, Environment, General, technology |
71 Comments » newest
Huaiyuan Lou Tulou; built in 1907
We’ve had discussions about Hakka culture in the past with several of our commenters being of Hakka ancestry, so I wanted to show some photos taken by Ted of tulou (土楼; 土樓) in Fujian province. 60% of Hakka are from the Xingning/Meixian area of Guangdong province and over 95% of overseas Hakka were originally from that region, but tulou exist only in Fujian.
Jan 14
We covered China’s underground music scene in a previous thread and with the new year approaching, I wanted to introduce some alternative artists from Taiwan. I’m sure everyone already knows the most popular Mando-pop stars, so here are a few that are a little less known. Most of these musicians either made their debuts or saw an upsurge in their popularity over the course of 2008. An article I read recently in the Taipei Times was the initial catalyst in my search for finding newer artists.
Jan 07
minipost-Chinese Government publishes list of “vulgar” websites and information
Written by: Arctosia | Filed under:-mini-posts, Analysis, culture, General, politics, technology | Tags:freedom, freedom of speech, generation gap, internet
69 Comments » newest
69 Comments » newest
For many Chinese website operators, 2009 didn’t start very well. China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Centre, a semi-government agency, has published a list of websites which contain “vulgar and unhealthy information” deemed to be harmful to the country’s youth. The list (in Chinese) can be found here.
The interesting thing about this list is that it covered majority of the most popular websites in China. Google was ranked number one “vulgar” site (see, e.g., NYTimes article), followed by Baidu and Sina.
I’m very confident that every Chinese netizen have visited at least one of such vulgar websites. I myself must have visited at least 75% of the websites listed and would probably be diagnosed as psychotic under the Chinese guideline. Continue reading »
Jan 07
Reflecting on 45 Years of Modern Sino-French Relationship
Written by: Allen | Filed under:Analysis, culture, General, News, politics | Tags:international relations, sarkozy, sino-french relationship
10 Comments » newest
10 Comments » newest
Later this month will mark the 45th anniversay of French’s diplomatic recognition of the People’s Republic of China.
I had not known that 45 years ago, France was the first major Western nation, despite stiff American opposition of that time, to recognize the People’s Republic of China.
I also had not known that – contrary to the faux paux spats that occurred between the two nations the last year – the modern relationship between France and China had actually started on a high note of mutual respect and admiration. Continue reading »
Jan 06
minipost-中国的2009年：毛泽东归来 (China’s 2009: The Return of Mao)
Written by: snow | Filed under:-chinese-posts, -mini-posts, Analysis, culture, politics |
2 Comments » newest
中国的2009年：毛泽东归来
2009-01-02 作者： 侨报评论员
【侨报1月3日社论】新年伊始瞻望世界的2009年，中国必然还是超级焦点：经济学家仍将继续争论这个全球市场新星会否率先走出金融危机的阴影而引领世界经济复苏，政治学者则会观察万众瞩目的新中国六十周年庆典（一般预料会有大阅兵）之前，北京将如何应对从三月到七月的一系列政治敏感事件纪念日——中国的牛年，似乎并不比2008年轻松。
如果说改革开放30年的记忆最终定格在邓小平的剪影上，那么对新中国60年的图像重现难离毛泽东。在最近60年的世界当代史上，这个名字并不曾冷却：
从政治符号上说，无论是天安门城楼那幅每年都要更换新作的毛泽东画像，还是对面的毛主席纪念堂，无论首都群众集会还是解放军大阅兵，历史场景必然重现天安门的象征——60年前，毛站在城楼上宣告“中国人民从此站起来了”。而今，面对动荡不安和风雨飘摇的世界，中国人的国家独立和民族复兴已经不再是遥远的梦想。
从经济符号上说，带着毛泽东头像的人民币如今成为世界上最具看点、大受欢迎的货币。毛泽东时代制定的最严格的外汇管理制度，不仅“成功保护中国免受十年前的亚洲金融风暴”（上海财经闻人童牧野语），也在当前危机暗影里发出光亮，以至大陆民间学者有人戏言：2009年的世界经济，将是毛泽东（人民币）和华盛顿（美元）的对话。
从社会符号上说，有谁会想到那本红色封皮的《毛主席语录》在台湾的书市已畅销三年，那只印有毛泽东书写“为人民服务”字样的绿色军用书包眼下已成外国游客在北京秀水市场最青睐的伴手礼……尽管在今天有宅男、有街舞、有互联网的时代谈到毛泽东看上去更像是一种时尚的象征，而无关信仰、思想、力量、革命甚或铁的纪律。
事实上，中国的2009年无论是在政治、经济领域还是民生、社会方面，中国人都将面对一个比改革开放30年更长的历史梳理。特别是在中国尚无一部官修的、权威的《共和国史》的情况下，当代中国人那种避谈新中国开国之初公私合营、避谈人民公社、避谈文化大革命、总之避谈共和国前三十年史实的现象，将会面临着理性的拷问。这些省思尤其是在当前世界的资本主义危机和中国特色社会主义的对视中显得更为必要。
历史当然不会是简单的轮回，中共更是在实践中通过不断的学习、反思、批评和修正才逐渐找到一条带领这个庞大国家走上民族复兴之路。虽然当年毛泽东发动的一连串内部政治斗争格局早已被一个新的经济增长时代所抛弃，但人们都不会忘记，追求独立自主建国的中国钢铁工业、纺织工业、化学工业、机械工业及军事科技（更包括成功造出原子弹和氢弹）如果没有毛泽东的时代，同样不会有未来甚至难以支撑改革开放30年。
如果把共和国六十年历史分成前后三十年的话，毛泽东的三十年在追求“有饭大家吃”（尽管政治内斗搞得最终快没饭吃了），而邓小平的三十年则是在追求“大家有饭吃”——这两个在经济社会学者眼中分别代表公平和效率的词组，成为某种简约版的社会路径预测：或许未来三十年，中国需要重新强调公平化分配的制度体系。
邓小平属于中国，毛泽东也属于中国。把毛邓相对立，相排斥，既不符合历史，也不符合逻辑，正如把追求公平和追求效率相对立会行不通。如果说过去60年的历史离不开毛泽东，中国的明天也需要重新发现毛泽东。因此，必须站在今天而不是昨天的坐标上，重新认识毛泽东的谬误和价值。而且，必须寻找和厘清从毛泽东到邓小平的历史逻辑。
中国充满希望，信心重过黄金。 2009年的中国又将在人类当代史上写下什么样的字句，的确是一个见仁见智的有趣话题。当前国际形势的深刻变化特别是国际金融危机的不断扩散和蔓延，很有可能会成为中国实现民族复兴图景的一个历史性机遇。本报相信，只要中国增强忧患意识，始终居安思危，就能抓住机遇，更上层楼，“沧海横流，方显英雄本色 ”。
已经来临的2009年，中国故事引人关注。如果毛泽东还活着，他会做些什么？
本文来源于“侨报网“，转载请以链接形式注明出处 www.usqiaobao.com
Dec 26
Recently, over 2000 Chinese citizens signed the document below, released on December 10th, calling for human rights and democracy with an eventual end to one party rule. I’ve used the translation from the New York Review of Books with sections of their Postscript included. This document was signed by Chinese citizens living inside China, not expat dissidents living abroad. The Postscript gives some information concerning the status of a few of the 303 intellectuals who had signed the document. The blog Global Voices also has an in-depth look at the current status of the more prominent signatories.
What do you think of this document? Should it be discussed or dismissed? Should the signers be arrested and jailed? Is there room in the current China for this type of discussion? Continue reading »
Dec 15
The Princess Tai Ping Crosses the Pacific Ocean
Written by: Steve | Filed under:culture, education, Environment, technology |
30 Comments » newest
And now for something completely different!
After sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a 15th century Chinese junk, Captain Nelson Liu and his crew of seven on the Princess Tai Ping spent their last few days at the San Diego Maritime Museum before making their way to Hawaii and eventually back to Japan and Taipei.
The 54 foot, 35 ton Fujian style warship, built and launched from Xiamen using the same materials as their ancestors, is following the conjectured route of 15th century Chinese admiral Zheng He who, according to some theories, may have arrived on the North American West Coast long before Cabrillo.
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