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March 2006 - Posts

Ich bin auch ein Beijinger

Posted Friday, March 31, 2006 5:22 AM by will
Imagethief will put in a little promotion for the April issue of That's Beijing magazine because he filled in for his friend, Kaiser Kuo on the "Ich Bin Ein Beijinger" column that closes the magazine every month. Kaiser and his wife had a new baby last Read More...
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Friday PR Blog: Oh-novo! Reds under the beds!

Posted Friday, March 31, 2006 12:09 AM by will
Half cocked. Imagethief was faintly depressed to read this week (BBC link - blocked in China) of calls for an inquiry into the sale of Lenovo computers to the US State Department to ensure that the PCs aren't being used to spy on America. Lenovo, you Read More...
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NFL China not quite ready for prime-time

Posted Thursday, March 30, 2006 5:49 AM by will
Imagethief was astounded to see the following, brief AP article as part of the NFL roundup in today's San Jose Mercury News : NFL may play pre-season game in China BARRY WILNER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. - With the Summer Olympics headed to China, Read More...
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Hey kids, watch out!

Posted Thursday, March 30, 2006 3:59 AM by will
Smoking while young may permanently pixelate your eyes: Man, Imagethief feels exactly the same way when he smokes down a Cohiba too fast. From this China Daily story , which follows this 6park story (blocked in China) from last January, and which was Read More...
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Snack row succumbs to night of the long jackhammers

Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 11:47 PM by will
Monday morning this week they started demolishing the building on the corder of West Dawang Rd. and Jianwai. No chai or notice had ever appeared as warning. One morning they were simply tearing out the innards, and the next day they were jackhammering Read More...
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Ruggedize this!

Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 8:41 PM by will
You know what Imagethief hates? He hates the word "ruggedize", and all its derivatives. It has been his bad fortune to encounter this word used in anger a couple of times this week, and it puts the taste of battery acid into his mouth every time. In one Read More...
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Year of Italy in China cancelled

Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 4:39 AM by will
1) Be Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy. 2) Wait until it's the "Year of Italy in China". 3) Say this at a political rally : “Go and read the black book of communism and you’ll find that under Mao’s China they didn’t eat babies but boiled them Read More...
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And now for something completely the same

Posted Tuesday, March 28, 2006 5:55 AM by will
Imagethief feels that he has not been paying enough attention to Singapore of late. This is easy to understand. If you are living and working in China, Singapore tends to recede to a tiny, little blip on the horizon. In fact, this is exactly what Singapore Read More...
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Keep those bubbles propped up, ladies

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 11:44 PM by will
I was going to write about the use of body-painted thong-babes to add some zest to Shanghai's flagging property bubble, but Virtual China, via AsiaPundit , has done such a fine job that I'll just send you there instead . Hey, what's that in her ass? Read More...
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The radioactive hairy donut of Anhui

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 9:08 PM by will
When I think Anhui, I think nuclear fusion. In fact, Anhui's capital, Hefei, has long been known as the "Berkeley of China", both for its constant efforts to push back the frontiers of technology, and for its large population of stoners. OK, so I made Read More...
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Wait a minute Mr. Postman...

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 7:43 AM by will
...so I can bitch-slap you for putting a parcel in my letter box that's too goddamn big to remove through the little door in front. How the hell am I supposed to get that big parcel out through my little mail door? Is this yer idea of a freakin' joke? Read More...
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Motel hell

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 5:11 AM by will
Last Thursday Imagethief spent the night in Shanghai prior to an event. The event was held at the luxurious and swank Shangri La Pudong, a hotel so grand and impressive that they supply binoculars in the conference room so you can admire their spanning Read More...
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5000 years of civilization and the most popular car is a...

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 12:22 AM by will
To live in China is to be constantly reminded that you are in a completely different society; a society with different cultural rules, norms and values. As a foreigner in China, it is expected that I should be sensitive to these differences, and to try Read More...
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By chopstick to the moon

Posted Wednesday, March 22, 2006 6:48 AM by will
Imagethief was interested to read in today's China Daily that China's government is slapping a consumption tax on several items, including disposable chopsticks and luxury yachts. I think this is just and wise, and should be done. The reason why think Read More...
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Short shout 2: Free Hao Wu

Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006 11:53 PM by will
Global Voices stalwarts Rebecca MacKinnon and Ethan Zuckerman have launched a blog (blocked in China - proxy link or alternate link ) campaigning for the release of recently detained returnee Chinese filmmaker, blogger and fellow Global Voices editor Read More...
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Short shout 1: New Mongolia blog

Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006 11:49 PM by will
Luke D., an American student in Mongolia, has asked me to give a shout to his new Mongolia blog. How new? He just started yesterday. But he's already seven posts in. I remember when I was young too. Nevertheless, it looks good so far. If you're interested Read More...
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Hey! Where's my daily Imagethief?

Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006 11:08 PM by will
Your correspondent is having a brutal week in the office, marked by late nights, panicky days, and generally elevated levels of stress hormones that will contribute to my no-doubt early and unlamented demise. Or at least to further thinning of my hair. Read More...
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Fifty-two episodes of Five Friendlies fun

Posted Monday, March 20, 2006 12:20 AM by will
From the People's Daily , the newspaper that normally jumps to mind when I think "cartoon", the entirely un-shocking news that Beijing's "Five Friendlies" Olympic mascots will shortly be starring in a 3D-animated cartoon: SHENZHEN: The nation's only authorized Read More...
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The incredible vanishing sidewalk

Posted Friday, March 17, 2006 4:07 AM by will
It is my solemn belief that road widening, which is something of a municipal pastime in Beijing, will continue until every building in the city has been destroyed and there is nothing left but one colossal, asphalt plain. And even then, the traffic will Read More...
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Sinosplice: Grunt your way to better communication

Posted Thursday, March 16, 2006 6:25 AM by will
A funny post from John at Sinosplice. Language isn't all vocabulary finesse, you know: My Chinese grunting makes me feel much more at ease in my environment. For the longest time, whenever I would bump into neighbors on the way out of the building and Read More...
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Thursday PR Blog: Are journalists an endangered species? (Updated)

Posted Wednesday, March 15, 2006 11:56 PM by will
A friend of mine, who is one of the editors at ITJourno Asia , a trade publication for IT Journalists in Asia, wrote to me recently and asked me to comment on a speech given by Richard Edelman, CEO of the eponymous public relations firm at a PR awards Read More...
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Update: Socialist concepts of honor and disgrace - Now translated!

Posted Wednesday, March 15, 2006 12:14 AM by will
Now that the NPC is concluding, I note that the air is clouding up again. It may be coincidence. Or, now that the deputies and the legions of foreign journalists are leaving, perhaps they've turned the factories back on. Speaking of foreign journalists Read More...
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Damn you bird flu!!!

Posted Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:50 PM by will
Bird flu ripples in the high-powered and intrigue-filled world of professional badminton, courtesy of the China Daily (although it reads like an unattributed wire story): Bird flu threat ruffling shuttlecock feathers LONDON: The feathers of the badminton Read More...
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Google mainlines the pervs to Imagethief

Posted Tuesday, March 14, 2006 2:51 AM by will
Here comes the bride! The nice thing about a blog is that it is the gift that keeps on giving. And when you write a post that references nud!ty or p*rn in any way, you can pretty much guarantee that Google will ensure that your post continues giving thrills Read More...
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All your face are belong to us

Posted Monday, March 13, 2006 6:38 AM by will
Dead Helmsmen Imagethief literally had one foot out the door of his office and was contemplating an evening of freedom immersed in his knockoff "Lost" season one DVDs when he stumbled across an article that deserved some comment because it concerns a Read More...
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Press releases with Chinese characteristics

Posted Sunday, March 12, 2006 9:00 PM by will
In my job I am regularly exposed to Chinese press releases from various sources (often not my clients, I hasten to add). We sometimes send these releases for translation into English for our clients. As one of the few native English speakers in the office, Read More...
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$42 billion spent on 800 million people equals...um...

Posted Thursday, March 09, 2006 8:45 PM by will
The Economist this week has an interesting leader (subscription) on the challenges that the CPC will face in dealing with the problems of rural poverty in China. They have done a very simple bit of math that illustrates the problem nicely: Beyond recognising Read More...
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Yahoo's Yang on operating in China

Posted Wednesday, March 08, 2006 9:15 PM by will
A week after Google's Sergey Brin went on the record about his company's involvement in China during Google's recent analyst conference, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang has done the same. Like Brin, Yang has chosen a professionally oriented forum --in this Read More...
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We agree your education is too expensive -- now pay up!

Posted Wednesday, March 08, 2006 5:41 AM by will
Not much time to go into depth, but I found these duelling headlines on Xinhua interesting. First this: China to blacklist students defaulting on loan payment www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-08 00:17:44 BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhuanet) -- China plans to blacklist Read More...
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The Academy Awards and the National People's Congress: Connected?

Posted Tuesday, March 07, 2006 8:55 AM by will
You like me! You really like me! The concurrence of the National People's Congress and the Academy awards has not escaped Imagethief's attention. Brain damaged as he is by years of fast living and exessive exposure to television radiation (don't sit too Read More...
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Chinese swoon at Oscar victory of censored film

Posted Tuesday, March 07, 2006 12:47 AM by will
It's nice to see that all China is reveling in the Oscar win of "Chinese" director Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain . In a China Daily story that somehow manages to omit all mention of Taiwan, or Lee's Taiwanese origins, it is reported that the film's "best Read More...
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Safety tests for Chinese cars

Posted Tuesday, March 07, 2006 12:13 AM by will
If, like me, you are subject to the periodic near-death experience that is virtually any Beijing taxi ride (I find myself growing more spiritual every day), you will be interested in the following news from Xinhua, on plans to publish China's first passenger Read More...
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Official: Communist icon Lei Feng was "hip with his times"

Posted Sunday, March 05, 2006 9:22 PM by will
It's always a tragedy when your propaganda icons lose relevance to the younger generation. A couple of years past the fortieth anniversary of the original "Study Lei Feng" campaign, China's propaganda moles are clearly hard-up for a way to make the much Read More...
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Sorry my feet got in the way of your luggage

Posted Saturday, March 04, 2006 12:13 AM by will
Beijing is hard on shoes. Last Sunday I spent an hour painstakingly cleaning and polishing my black and brown dress shoes. A week later and both pairs look like unraveling turds again. This always happens, and it's why I simply don't bother to polish Read More...
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Friday PR blog: How to make an ass of yourself in one easy step

Posted Friday, March 03, 2006 5:29 AM by will
One of the basic laws of PR is to think very, very carefully before you sue someone who is making fun of you. The main reason for this is that, no matter how proud and noble you or your organization may be, you can instantly reduce yourself to the level Read More...
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China broadcast shocker: SARFT to limit period dramas!

Posted Friday, March 03, 2006 5:16 AM by will
Dudes with swords and ponytails are about the only thing I watch on Chinese television (god knows I rarely watch the news), so this hits close to home. But Danwei's Jeremy Joel Martinsen (oops) tells the story better than I ever could: Are you frustrated Read More...
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Let's give the National People's Congress a big hand

Posted Friday, March 03, 2006 12:03 AM by will
To ensure that the city is appropriately patriotic for today's kickoff of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (say that five times fast), the municipal government of Beijing is replacing the left hands Read More...
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Google's Brin on operating in China

Posted Thursday, March 02, 2006 9:48 PM by will
Having recently suggested that it was important for the founders of US Internet companies at the heart of the China/Censorship issue to address it themselves, I was interested to see that Segey Brin of Google has in fact done so. He didn't do it in direct Read More...
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Kitty-snuff shocks China!

Posted Thursday, March 02, 2006 4:30 AM by will
Imagethief loves cats. He has ever since he was a kid. In fact, he has two of the spoiled, pampered, ungrateful beasts at home, both imported to China at great personal expense and with much paperwork. For all the love and tenderness he shows them, his Read More...
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Och aye! China invented golf!

Posted Wednesday, March 01, 2006 5:47 AM by will
Imagethief is a fan of the original Star Trek from way back in his brain-damaged, television-and-sugar-drenched youth. He recalls a character named Ensign Pavel Chekhov; an enthusiastic lad who was fond of claiming Russian responsibility for any invention Read More...
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