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July 2006 - Posts

Escalation

Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 9:48 PM by will
Getting from point A to point B in Beijing, assuming point A and B aren't right next to each other, is one of the daily adventures that makes life here so interesting. Aside from a certain hyper-linear approach to walking that can make the most casual Read More...
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Hunker down

Posted Monday, July 31, 2006 6:21 AM by will
Imagethief read with interest that Shanghai has completed a " vast bunker " to be used in case of explosions, emissions of poisonous gas or nuclear radiation: China's largest metropolis has completed building a vast bunker in case of explosions, emissions Read More...
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A few underwater pictures from the Lion City

Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2006 11:36 AM by will
Most readers will now know that Imagethief spent the weekend diving on an archaelogical site at Qiandaohu, a 35km long reservoir near Hangzhou. The site is Lion City (狮城), a village several hundred years old that was flooded when the Xin'an River was Read More...
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CNET 18: Keep your eyes on the road

Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2006 8:21 AM by will
Keep your eyes on the road 26 July, 2006 I apologize to my regular readers who have been wondering why I dropped off the face of the blogosphere for the past week. In fact, I spent several days traveling over the weekend because I was scuba-diving on Read More...
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Didn't drown, but still on the road

Posted Wednesday, July 26, 2006 2:23 AM by will
Imagethief is pleased to report that he did not drown at the bottom of Qiandaohu while diving on the sunken city last weekend, although he did very nearly perish from heat-stroke as a result of wearing long underwear, a winter fleece and an enormous rubber Read More...
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Adventures in silica gel

Posted Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:07 PM by will
I'll be away this weekend, scuba diving on a sunken city in a reservoir somewhere in Zhejiang province. If all goes well --which is to say the fiddly and temperamental equipment performs as advertised-- I'll be shooting some underwater video in the reservoir. Read More...
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CNET 17: Chinese YouTubes courting controversy?

Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 11:07 PM by will
Chinese YouTubes courting controversy? 18 July, 2006 Ten years ago if you had asked me if I would ever want to spend time at a site where millions of average people could upload their home videos, I would have sniffed in disdain. That is why, despite Read More...
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Feel the love

Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 9:20 PM by will
Imagethief did not go see the Black Eyed Peas, although he was offered two separate chances to attend. He considers them the height of middle-of-the-road, recombinant, inoffensive exurb rock, and they do little to get his blood pressure up. They're one Read More...
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Spotted on the subway this morning...

Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 4:22 AM by will
Two people arguing vigorously with the ticket aunties over whether they should be allowed to haul their five-foot by five-foot painting onto the subway at the height of the morning rush hour. In addition to the question of whether it would even be possible Read More...
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PKD: Ghost malls

Posted Monday, July 17, 2006 9:38 PM by will
Richard is at his best when he has the time to reflect on his own China experiences and include some of his personal observations into his posts, something that, for time reasons I am sure, he doesn't do often enough. But I enjoyed both his recollections Read More...
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The zwaaaannggg of death

Posted Monday, July 17, 2006 6:23 AM by will
Longtime readers will know that my list of complaints against mobile phones in China is long and generous. Phones for the Chinese market are often goofy looking to my eye, with far too much chrome. It's a miracle more people aren't struck by lightning Read More...
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China Daily on decline of print news in China

Posted Monday, July 17, 2006 2:45 AM by will
The China Daily is often and justly mocked in this space, but they do have their moments (although those moments are occasionally lifted from elsewhere). Via an interesting Danwei post , here is a worthwhile article on the rise of Internet-based news Read More...
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Futbol crazy!

Posted Sunday, July 16, 2006 10:39 PM by will
So the World Cup is over. Italy won the low-scoring, tied, all-European finale in a penalty shootout. They managed this after needling the golden boy of French football into a self-destructive, pre-retirement implosion guaranteed to ensure that, despite Read More...
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CNET 16: How not to study Chinese online

Posted Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:48 PM by will
How not to study Chinese online 14 July, 2006 I have to be honest. Most Chinese websites break my head completely. Clicking into your average Chinese portal or social networking site is like being dropped into the web equivalent of a raging, psychedelic Read More...
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Say what?

Posted Thursday, July 13, 2006 1:32 AM by will
One of the things that Imagethief is totally resigned to really likes about China is that it has absolutely perfected the art of hopelessly empty bureaucratese and sloganeering. Honestly, we should expect no less, this being the country that invented Read More...
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Put on a happy face

Posted Thursday, July 13, 2006 12:47 AM by will
Imagethief was not entirely surprised to read the following this morning in the Straits Times online: Singaporeans the least happy people in Asia LONDON - OF ALL the countries in the Asean region, Vietnam has the most to smile about and Singapore the Read More...
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Scarce this week

Posted Wednesday, July 12, 2006 12:14 AM by will
Sorry, I'm a bit scarce this week. There is a lot happening at the office and my father was in town until yesterday morning, which occupied some of the weekend time. Blogging will resume at its usual frenetic pace when I am back to having no life. There Read More...
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Relentlessly criticize Mr. Brown

Posted Monday, July 10, 2006 9:34 PM by will
This page would like to congratulate the government of Singapore for taking prompt action to rein in the so-called blogger and newspaper columnist Mr. Brown following his recent column in Today . As someone who lives in China, I have come to appreciate Read More...
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CNET 15: Videogames + Nationalism

Posted Sunday, July 09, 2006 9:41 PM by will
When videogames and nationalism collide 9 July, 2006 On average, the Chinese don't like the Japanese very much. The memory of the war has never entirely faded, not least because the government ensures that it doesn't. I am often struck by the casual hostility Read More...
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Imagethief and the hell of yurts: Video companion

Posted Saturday, July 08, 2006 11:04 AM by will
It's no Danwei TV , but here is Imagethief's foray into video production. During our recent trip to Xinjiang, Mrs. Imagethief used her point-and-shoot digital camera to take about eighteen minutes of video, including several off-the-cuff stand-ups by Read More...
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Yahsue!

Posted Wednesday, July 05, 2006 6:08 AM by will
Further illustrating the risks of surrendering control of your brand in China, Yahoo can now look forward to a lawsuit (also here ) filed on behalf of music publishers. Yes, this is aimed at Yahoo China but, as always, it will reverberate up to the global Read More...
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Typepad (not) blocked? / deconstructing the Great Firewall

Posted Wednesday, July 05, 2006 12:52 AM by will
Updated below Well, it didn't take long after State Council Information Office honcho Cai Wu's big announcement that China needed even more Internet controls to promote a civil society for someone to swing into action. I cannot hit any typepad blogs today Read More...
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It's for your own good, really

Posted Tuesday, July 04, 2006 6:47 AM by will
The China Daily has stood up for Chinese newspapers everywhere rolled over as expected and offered up a justification for the government's recently announced regulation banning Chinese news sources from covering, um, breaking news. Alright, I'm being Read More...
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CNET 13 (Wind power) and 14 (The new Tibet train)

Posted Tuesday, July 04, 2006 12:48 AM by will
The two most recent CNET posts are a bit of a departure from the Internet/high tech stuff. But I didn't want to dwell on websites all the time. CNET 13: Blowing in the wind July 2, 2006 Everybody who lives in China is familiar with the cost of the country's Read More...
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Earthquake?

Posted Monday, July 03, 2006 11:58 PM by will
Oriental Plaza just went for a little rock and roll. Felt like an earthquake. If so, it's the first one I've felt since leaving San Francisco nearly eleven years ago. The last one I experienced was while I was by myself manning the board at KSOL FM on Read More...
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Test animals

Posted Monday, July 03, 2006 9:43 PM by will
She was a young, Chinese professional. Articulate, intelligent and pretty, she sat at the desk across the aisle from me. She was also a new mother, having given birth to a son some six months before. I am not sure how we got on the subject of education. Read More...
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