See whats new with the latest iPhone 3G video guide. A 10 minute video clip that will guide you through all the features of iPhone.

This is a funny parody video clip providing a guided tour to iPhone 3G courtesy of the guys at Funny or Die.

My July 4th this year was a bit different than one's I've had in the past.  The Olympic Torch came through Xi'an today.  So instead of sporting my American pride on my home country's independence day, it was all about China for me today.

Xi'an's torch ceremony started at the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, then wound its way to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and then finally to Tang Paradise.

Seeing how close I live to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, I was intent on seeing the torch there around 9:00AM.  I didn't care too much about actually seeing the torch.  As it turns out, I didn't even get a chance to catch a glimpse of the torch.  Instead, I was more interested in seeing the scene that having the torch in Xi'an was sure to create. 

What a scene it was.

Below are some of the pictures I took today:


A street completely full of people as far as the eye could see


The designers of this guy's T-shirt obviously took the direct translation of "jia you!"



Cute lil' baobei


A vendor trying to hawk some China gear


Jackie sporting her nationalist pride


Me sporting my wicked new 中国加油 T-shirt in front of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda



The crowd getting pumped up

This video is pretty indicative of the spirit of the day today:



I had an awesome time today.  Seeing everything that surrounded the torch being in Xi'an will not be something I soon forget. 

Today also got me excited about the Olympics next month.  Amidst political problems, pollution concerns, and everything else I talk about on this blog on a regular basis, I'd almost forgotten about the pomp and circumstance, competitive sporting events, and everything else that is going to be sweet about the Olympics.  It is going to be really cool witnessing these games from within China.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss America today though.  July 4th is right up there with Christmas as my favorite holiday of the year. 

To all my family and friends back in America celebrating America's 232nd birthday: be safe and have an awesome day in the Land of the Free!

Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell was photographed posing in a swimsuit in Nha Trang city June 30, 2008.

The 57th annual Miss Universe pageant will be held in Vietnam's central Nha Trang resort city on July 14, 2008.

source

I've previously tried to explain the concept of laowainess, but the longer I live in China, the worser my English gets. Just in case you're still unclear and, for some strange reason, a little curious, feel free to take the following test.

(With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy)

If you look before crossing the street, you might be a laowai.
If you carry tissue for any purpose other than to use as toilet paper…
If you look for the back of the line…
If you think there should be a line…
If you wave at a waitress instead of yelling at the top of your lungs…
If you don’t interrogate the waitress for fifteen minutes before ordering…
If you have ever thanked a waitress…
If you spit inedible items into a napkin instead of onto the table…
If you blow your nose in public…
If you hold the door for a stranger…
If you hold the elevator for someone…
If you don’t insist on controlling the elevator buttons…
If you wait for the elevator door to close on it’s own, without mashing the "close door" button…
If you think that mashing the "open door" button three floors ahead of time will make it open faster...
If you wait for people to get off the elevator before trying to get on…
If you wait for people to get off the subway car before trying to get on...
If you let an old lady sit on the subway when you could have beaten her to it…
If you pick up after your dog…
If your small child does not wear split-bottom pants…
If you don’t think large hunks of fat are just another type of meat…
If you drink anything but soup at breakfast…
If you don’t think Growing Pains is the greatest television show ever…
If you’ve ever tried to get a tan…
If you like cheese that’s not on a pizza…
If you balk at corn on your pizza…
If you think footprints on your toilet seat are strange…
If you think your eggs and your bacon should arrive at the same time…
If you order eggs and bacon…
If you step in a puddle…
If you think a contract is binding…
If you’ve ever had a job without a contract…
If you’re over 30 and never been married…
If you’re a man and have ever done laundry or washed dishes…
If you’ve never taken your pet bird out for a walk…
If you’ve ever neglected to make a “V” sign while being photographed…
If you’ve ever taken a photograph without you or your friends in it…
If you think Karaoke places are for singing…
If you don’t believe foot massage to be an effective treatment for either an earache nor kidney stones…
If you believe that pastry should have sugar in it…
If you insist on either cold water or cold beer…
If you’ve never used a shower head to fill a bucket from which to wash yourself…
If you think fine dining is a nice, quiet restaurant…
If you think a bicycle should give way to a bus…
If you think fireworks are for a one hour display, put on by someone else…
If you think 1 yuan ($.14 and rising) isn’t worth arguing over…
If you think software is something you pay for…
If you’ve never stored produce in the hallway…
If you've ever taken the plastic, protective wrapper off of something…
If you think Mickey Mouse is for kids…
If you think people should understand the meaning of a holiday they've just sent you a greeting for…
If you’ve ever had the same cell phone for over a year...
If you think white socks with a business suit is strange…
If you believe that some parts of an animal should not be eaten…

You Too Might Be A Laowai!

I recently registered the domain dumblaowai.com , in hopes of providing more content for your amusement. OK! Maybe for my future enrichment as well, if I can ever figure out why someone would want to give me money!

My problem is that I started out with a small, apparently techno-challenged host and the site has been giving me, as well as hundreds of others, fits for about a week. Any suggestions for finding a host suitable for a dumblaowai?

The American president has made up his mind. He’s going to attend the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. If it is true that the Chinese leadership had promised the IOC significant improvements in its human rights record, it is probably fair to say that Bush’s policy towards China isn’t principled.
That will come as a disappointment for [...]

Date: Jul 4th 2008 11:27p.m.

Contributed by:
davidfeng

Who This Is For: People with more than one car who live in a family and want to remain mobile during Games time; Beijingers interested in getting to the wrong end of the Straits; and everyone else

Countdowns: 35 days before the Olympics, 64 days before the Paralympics

On Page One...

• Do the maths: Husband + wife + 2 cars + need for mobility Games time + both cars have same suffix (eg both are odd) = OK to change one suffix. Let's say that Mr and Ms Zhang live together: Le Monsieur has license plate 01234, La Madame 45678. Both are even (if you look at the suffix). Now, all that's needed to remain mobile during the Games (when the number restrictions kick in) is an application to change one license suffix, and that's it. (Big Headliner)

• Weekend charter flights from Mainland China to Taiwan are now reality. (Big Pic)

• 12315, your faithful Consumer Rights Hotline, now does SMS, too. Most likely, though, in Mandarin only. Bu shuo ying yu...

• 48°C on AccuWeather (RealFeel). Beijing was scorching hot. Now, the massive deluge is cooling our capital.

Elsewhere...

• Taiwan's thinking of doing Jiantizi or simplified characters to welcome mainland guests. Something that makes your traditionalist Beijingologist faint with horror. (Page 3)

• Olympic through lanes are now reality. From July 20 through to September 20, unless you're an Olympic or otherwise Games-connected (and nope, being a spectator doesn't count), you'll need to keep off these lanes. Feel free to infiltrate bus lanes, however. Keep clear of the lanes with the Olympic Rings. (Page 4, pics)

• A new bridge is ready near Dujiakan, finally making side road users go back on the highway instead of the Jingshi Freeway. This isn't exactly a bridge for real; they're demolishing ...

Recently, many blogs have been commenting about how Xiaonei.com (The Chinese version of Facebook) blatantly copied its website design off of Facebook. So I thought, if Xiaonei is the Chinese version of Facebook, can I register Premier Wen Jiabao or President Hu Jintao on Xiaonei like the ones on Facebook.
Not surprisingly, I cannot (the [...]

Meg: Aren’t you leaving for work soon?

Eric: No, Meg. In this country we have a holiday called Independence Day, and most people have that day off from work.

Meg: Oh, right, it’s that day when a couple people light off a few fireworks. Boring!

Family ownership can imbue a firm with a sense of purpose and values its rivals may lack. John Elkington, turning to China’s emerging entrepreneurs, says it’s time to consider best practice in this much-overlooked sector.

Rarely do women pursue me in the way they did recently in São Paulo airport. Heading home after an intensive week in Brazil, my luggage was too tightly packed to fit a large transparent bag, in which were embedded 12 multi-coloured miniature flip-flops. This mini-footwear display turned out to be a female magnet – several women stopped me to ask where I had got them. I explained that they were a gift from a local company, a container for a set of documents I had requested about their thinking around corporate responsibility and sustainability.

My admirers seemed fascinated when I told them the company that had given the bag to me, less so when I mentioned what the contents were. My reactions, however, were precisely the opposite. The crucial role that family-owned firms play in all economies, particularly in emerging market and developing countries, had largely passed me by for several decades. Yes, I knew that companies like SC Johnson could take an early lead in the environmental area because they were family-owned. And, nearly a decade after SustainAbility began working with Ford, it is still striking to me how its CEO Bill Ford's family links have helped give him the mandate to advance a sustainable mobility agenda internally—even if that agenda is only now gaining traction as soaring fuel prices dent the company’s sport utility vehicle business.

For perfectly understandable reasons, activists and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) “industry” have tended to focus on publicly listed companies. Partly this has been because such businesses have had the scale to create globally visible problems, but in part, too, campaigners have discovered that corporate brands and reputations could be leveraged against those who owned them. In the past, few large family-owned firms controlled brands that were vulnerable to activist and media attack, with exceptions including companies like the confectionary company Mars and the packaging manufacturer Tetrapak. Now, as globalisation increasingly sucks in – and is driven by – emerging economy players, we must work out how to peel the lid back on these businesses.

Family-run enterprises include the sort of companies we increasingly encounter in countries like Brazil and India. In the case of my seductive baggage, made by the flip-flop brand Havaianas, the ultimate owner is Camargo Corrêa, which straddles a diverse array of businesses ranging from cement and construction through environmental engineering to the manufacture of footwear. Here, much of the drive to engage the wider corporate responsibility and sustainability agendas comes from the family shareholders, whose father founded the firm. In India, the Tatas – already in the fifth generation – and the Birlas both run giant family-owned conglomerates that bring a strong sense of values and ethics to the business.

China may not have major family-owned businesses of the scale of the Camargos, Tatas or Birlas, given the predominance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), or former SOEs that have been privatised. Even so, smaller family-owned Chinese businesses, both in China and the Chinese diaspora internationally, are a major force. One estimate is that private Chinese companies, many family-owned and many located outside mainland China, are the world’s fourth economic power after North America, Japan and Europe.

Whether in China or the rest of the world, it is clear that Chinese family-owned businesses present similar opportunities and challenges to advocates of corporate responsibility and sustainable development as those in other countries. The opportunity lies in the fact that the owners can imbue the business with a sense of purpose and values that includes, but goes beyond, making a profit—something difficult to achieve in a large listed company with dispersed ownership, no matter how good the corporate mission statement may be.

Two inspired Chinese entrepreneurs, who are doing just this, are Zhong Kaimin of egg-producer Deqingyuan, and Zhang Yue of Broad Air Conditioning. Broad Air was founded in 1988, producing absorption air conditioners which operate without using electricity. This technology was critical to realizing Zhang Yue’s belief that environmental considerations should be core to the company’s R&D and sales activities. 

However, this was a belief that would be put to the challenge in the late 1990s, after a decade of successful trading. The crisis came as changes in energy supplies and government policies meant electricity was markedly cheaper, resulting in a loss of market share for Broad Air’s product to less expensive and easier to use electric air conditioners. The easy way out for Broad Air would have involved switching to the manufacture of electric models. But true to his vision, Zhang Yue redesigned his non-electric air conditioner to be cheaper, even lower on energy consumption and easier to maintain. Growing success, both in China and internationally, has been the result.

In the case of Deqingyuan, Zhong Kaimin’s challenge came at the very outset. The company set out to produce and market a high-quality egg for the Chinese market – a challenging business environment indeed, considering both the series of food safety and health issues in the country and the fragmented nature of the industry, where prices are under pressure from huge numbers of small producers. But Zhong Kaimin bet – correctly, as it turned out – that his high-quality eggs would mesh with the growing health-consciousness of Chinese consumers, who would be willing to pay a price premium if Deqingyuan could build a brand associated with quality and health.

Despite the successes and environmental credentials of Broad Air and Deqingyuan, real challenges remain. Family businesses are not known for the types of systematic governance, transparency and accountability to stakeholders that are increasingly expected of listed companies internationally, although Deqingyuan, for example, has made clear steps in this direction. One of SustainAbility’s coming tasks will be to look at best (and worst) practice in the family-owned firm sector, to get a better sense of how such businesses can be helped to address the sustainability challenge.

John Elkington is founder and non-executive director at SustainAbility (www.sustainability.com) and founding Partner at Volans Ventures (www.volans.com). He thanks Jodie Thorpe, manager of SustainAbility’s Emerging Economies Program, (www.sustainability.com/emerging-economies) for her help in preparing this article.

Homepage photo by zinlee

Stick left today, which was just as miserable as the last time he left China. Airport goodbyes don’t actually get any easier with practice. We had a really insane 36 hours getting him ready to go. Finally, as he was stuffing the last few things in his bag, the seam popped! I sewed it back together, hopefully my hasty stitches will last till Raleigh…

Manfred and Xuemei called later, to ask if I’m ok and if I want to stay at their place. It was so sweet! I’m really going to miss them.

I’ve got to say thanks for all the kind emails, comments and Facebooks you’ve sent me. It’s awesome to know I have computer friends! Thanks so much.

I don’t know what’s next for us. My school says they’re able to get me a visa, but I don’t know if that’s true. Anyway, that magical Z-visa comes with a year’s employment contract, and I don’t want to take it if Stick can’t live in Beijing with me.

I’m hoping we can keep living abroad, maybe teach in another country, maybe even come back to China when things are more normal. Maybe I’ll spend a couple months in the US, I’d love to see my family and my home friends. I know in a few months, I’ll be on my feet again and I’ll be posting about how great it is that I ended up where ever I am, and how having to leave China worked out fine for us.

Yesterday, Forbes released this list of China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities. Rather than debate what it means to be a “powerful” celebrity, here is how Forbes determines it:

To generate the annual list of China’s 25 Most Powerful Celebrities, Forbes’ China bureau surveyed both the earnings and fame of China’s leaders in film, sports, media and publishing. As is the case with the Forbes Celebrity 100, the list is determined by a combined ranking of income and celebrity, or appearances on Web sites, print publications and other media.

In this case, Forbes looked at 27 magazines, 27 newspapers and 18 television programs over the course of last year. To qualify, contenders needed to be born and raised in mainland China (those from Hong Kong or Taiwan weren’t included).

And to save you the time of going through the slideshow, I have listed them below.

1. Yao Ming (NBA)
2. Liu Xiang (Hurdler)
3. Jet Li (Actor)
4. Yi Jianlian (NBA)
5. Zhang Ziyi (Actress)
6. Fan Bingbing (Actress)
7. Zhao Wei (Actress)
8. Zhou Xun (Actress)
9. Li Bingbing (Actress)
10. Zhao Benshan (Actor)
11. Gong Li (Actress)
12. Xu Jinglei (Actress)
13. Guo Degang (Actor)
14. Zhang Guoli (Actor)
15. Zhang Liangying (Singer)
16. Huang Xiaoming (Actor)
17. Ge You (Actor)
18. Lin Dan (Badminton)
19. Sun Li (Actress)
20. Huang Shengyi (Actress)
21. Leon Lai (Actor)
22. Lang Lang (Pianist)
23. Zhang Yimou (Director)
24. Chen Daoming (Actor)
25. Yu Dan (Writer)

Date: Jul 4th 2008 7:47p.m.

Contributed by:
davidfeng

Who This Is For: Subway people who do the Beijing Super Pass to get from A to B (like your Beijingologist)

True story. Tragic story. Truly tragic story. Tragic true story. From the local Subway forums:

Beijing has just started using the AFC system, and as a result, there is a sizeable percent of the population who are just getting used to the whole AFC thingy. (Your Beijingologist has gotten used to the whole system since Day One, but hey -- he excludes himself from this list.)

As a result, we have cases where con artists take advantage of unsuspecting passengers who lemonize (as in freeze) in front of a faregate.

A lady stood in front of an AFC faregate with a Super Pass (Yikatong) in hand. She had no idea how to do these faregates. (Simple: Just touch and go -- but hey, remember, this AFC thing is not even a month old!) At this moment, a guy came and said something to the lady (something along the lines of: "Don't know how to touch in? You want my help? Give me your card, I'll touch in for you") and disappeared into the Subway system -- with her Super Pass!

The lady lemonized herself in utter disbelief. This guy, totally unbeknownst to her, had just -- stolen and run off with her Super Pass!

And yes, she was pretty. (If you must know.)

Don't let this happen to you! Linger not in front of an AFC faregate! Do what you're supposed to do: Touch and go!

Poor Tommy.  He climbed to the top of the armchair from where he stood on some cushions and tried to claw at the curtains, as cats often do. But he got his claw stuck, which I found highly amusing, and although animal rights groups may protest, instead of helping to release him, I rushed to the bedroom to get my camera to grab a few shots before he eventually freed himself.

Michael Phelps has had his Beijing Olympic program confirmed. He has entered enough events to beat Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals at a single Olympic games.

He withdrew the 200 meter backstroke at the United States Olympic trials. He has now qualified for the 400 individual medley, 200 freestyle, 200 butterfly and the 4×200 freestyle relay.

He still has two more events to compete in, the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. If he can qualify for these events he will be in five individual events and three relays.

The forecast said there will be a thunderstorm this afternoon, I just hope it get here soon.  My girlfriend told me it’s raining at Yonghe Temple which is 4 subway stations away.  WHY ISN’T IT RAINING HERE AT XIZHIMEN!  It’s so so so hot here in Beijing.  The so-called sauna weather is upon us, the [...]

It is not often a story with a title like "Liugang No 2 converter put into production" attracts my attention. Especially from India. But something caught my attention.

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Jeremy Wariner beat rival LaShawn Merritt in the men’s 400 meter in 44.00 seconds.

“I’m not surprised that I won,” said Merritt. “I train to win. That’s my motto. I didn’t feel like I was the underdog coming in. This is what I do. Just like this is what he does. It was down to a fight and I won. In my mind, I’m always the favorite.”

Wariner also has his eyes on the world record, currently held by Michael Johnson in 1999

“I want to be on top, so I’ve got to train harder,” Wariner said last night. “I’ve got to move past my last loss. It’s great to have a rival. He’s going to make me work even harder. When I start getting down to the mid-43s, he’s going to have to start PR-ing to beat me. I’ve just got to keep running how I’ve been running.”

Read more: Wariner eyes world record - and more gold

How Ronald McDonald Talks to Communists

He’s still “lovin’ it” in translation, and is simple and direct with the party too, according to Gregory Gilligan, McDonald’s government man in China. Recorded at an AmCham-China event
Download Podcast
Download Podcast

Most of this paper has talked about Western companies in general, and aims to provide recommendations on how Westerners should seek to market and sell themselves to Chinese businesses. It is worth, however, considering how companies from different Western nations are considered. Figure 9 summarises the main strengths and weaknesses of companies from the four largest Western economies, as perceived by Chinese buyers and business owners.

Read the rest of “Marketing and Selling to Chinese Businesses - Part 4″ or post a comment>>

Beijing nightclub Block 8 is having a party tonight to celebrate Independence Day it starts at 9 pm and goes through to 3 am.

Entrance cost is 100 yuan. Block 8 is located near the west gate of Chaoyang Park. Take an umbrella because it looks like we might be in for some heavy rain!

Seems like Hong Kong is taking no chances over the recent spate of flu outbreaks in schools, so they've been closed until after Easter.

People over here are already wearing masks, which is confusing...do they have the flu or are they protecting themselves from the flu?

I guess the solution would of ...

Grand Theft Auto 4 reached Hong Kong yesterday, especially with the huge publicity around the world and a mention on local news. So I thought I'd have no chance in getting the game, as a few days earlier Toys R Us mentioned they couldn't pre-order the game anymore...although yesterday I ...

This amazing sculpture is by Tsang Cheung Shing a ceramic art tutor and product designer, also from Hong Kong. It's part of a collection of work shown at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

This particular piece called Yuanyang II is modeled in a distinctive form with two figures indulged in ...

This is not related to China, but maybe some of you have experience from the following:

One of my birth marks sort of ‘fell off.’

After starting to run several times a week I have noticed that my sport bra has resulted in chafing around my chest. One of my birth marks are located just where the sport’s bra ends and last week, after my long run, it started to change colour, going red and all weird. So I booked an appointment to remove it (although it is tiny! Just like a little dot!). After yesterday’s work out, however, I noticed the birth mark had been removed.. by itself. Only a small edge of it is left? And the redness around it has started to go away… Hm… so what now? Do I still go to the doctor and ask him to look at the edge of a previous existing birth mark?

By Jim Boyce

If nothing else, food and wine pairing makes for fun research.

To this end, I will post a photo of a Chinese dish every week in the hope that readers will suggest a wine pairing (or two).

Call it the Friday food fight.

Of course, I’ll post photos of well-known favorites such as Peking duck, Sichuan chicken, and dim sum, but first up is the delicacy that gets tourist cameras clicking - scorpions on a stick.

Why?

To be honest, because I pledged today on my nightlife blog beijingboyce.com to monitor foreign scorpion-on-a-stick coverage during the Olympics and thus this is the only photo I have handy.

I’m dedicating this feature to Singapore-based Ch’ng Poh-Tiong, publisher of The Wine Review and founder of the International Congress of Chinese Cuisine and Food. The ICCCW met in Beijing in May for its first conference and I’ll soon have a (very belated) write-up about a weekend spent searching for good wine-Chinese food matches.

(Photo: MH)

Japan’s Bank for International Cooperation, the government’s main overseas lender, told Bloomberg it will increase yen loans and investment in clean-energy technology to help cut greenhouse emissions in China and India, Asia’s two economic powerhouses. japan is believed to be the regions greenest country.

Japan, together with the World Bank, the U.S. and the U.K. plans to raise a US$5.5 billion fund to help poor nations develop clean technology. Finding ways to convince developing countries to agree to emissions targets is likely to be a focus of the Group of Eight industrialized nations summit in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido next week.

“We have to focus on major developing countries, and as a financier we are going to put more and more money into private- sector investment in these countries, not only by lending but also by equity financing,” Takashi Hongo, director-general of environment finance at JBIC, said in Tokyo. Hongo declined to say how much money the bank has set aside for the projects.

(more…)

My friend knows a friend who works at Schwarzkopf hair salon in Shanghai, and now they are searching for hair models, so I can dye my hair for free! Schwarzkopf sounds very professional and I would like to do a change with my hair. I have never dyed my hair before so it would be fun to do it once in my lifetime, right? I'm considering brown highlights. I'm supernervous, think I will do it today after work. Promise to post pics after haha :)

OK, tomorrow saturday I'm going to dye my hair at 4pm!!!!!!!! Last day with black hair, haha
Well, if it really looks bad I can just dye it back to black.

I'm in such a PARTY MOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tonight AND tomorrow will be friggin awesome!

Nestled down a winding, hilly, single-track road in southern Hebei, the Village of the Yu’s （于家村）feels as if it were located on an entirely different planet than glitzy Beijing, less than 200 miles away. Out here days are long and life is slow. Locals reside in houses comprised entirely of stone, and built during the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. Little has changed since those times in the Village of the Yu’s, and even today the only automobile one sees is the bus which comes every two hours to transport villagers to the neighboring town of Jingxing.

The Village of the Yu’s derives its name from its original progenitor 于谦之(yu2 qian1 zhi1), who migrated to the area 500 years ago. Along with his five sons, he founded the village which was to become the Village of the Yu’s. Per Chinese tradition, the sons of the Yu Village would marry and remain within the village in order to take care of their parents in old age. The daughters, on the other hand, would be married off to families in other villages. Thus, even today, 90% of Yu Village’s 1600 inhabitants still carry the surname Yu.

What makes the Yu Village unique however, is that it is in possession of the longest-known continuously updated Chinese family tree. Using the family tree, every resident of the Village of the Yu’s can trace their roots back to one of Old Lord Yu’s five sons. The family tree currently lapses over 26 generations, and takes up five floor-to-ceiling canvases, one for each son. The canvases are hung on three walls of a rectangular building, specifically constructed as its enclosure.

Like many of such villages in China today, the Village of the Yu’s is almost completely void of people in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. “They’ve all gone to Shijiazhuang to work. There are many more opportunities there. There’s nothing to do here except farm,” one villager told me. Even middle school and high school-aged children are rarely seen, as the better schools are all located in Jinxing, where many students board. This leaves a population mainly of the elderly and children, with the working adults only returning during the Spring Festival. It also serves to preserve the lifestyle and character of a village which still feels like China from back in the day. Regardless, I would imagine Old Lord Yu would be quite proud today to see his village and his progeny still subsisting of off the land he originally settled. The following are some of the pictures I took during my day in the Village of the Yu’s.  Enjoy.

The live music program at The Stone Boat is taking an intermission as concerts at the Ritan Park spot have been suspended by authorities due to security concerns. The Stone Boat will continue to operate from 10 AM until late for those seeking to enjoy a beverage in the park (or some fishing).
Tonight will see [...]

They’re weird, they’re wacky, and they’re just the thing to make the folks back home go, “Ewww, gross.”
They’re scorpions on a stick!
You just know foreign journalists will use these little suckers during the Olympics for a quick laugh in a pinch (scorpions, pinch, get it!?). I guess that’s fair. After all, people in Beijing eat [...]

British blogger 'I love China' has a great blog 'Xiao Nei - Now available in English', read here.

Date: Jul 4th 2008 3:07p.m.

Contributed by:
jessy1533

So on top of everything else happening this week (see Your Next Seven Days ), also check out V Bar's soft opening at Pier One.

This multi-part complex by Suzhou Creek will be home to an Italian restaurant on the first floor (requisite DJ spinning dinner-time tunes: check), a boutique hotel on with 24 rooms on the second floor, and V Bar rocking away up top. The bar will host the normal house music fare, but what'll set this venue apart will be the terrace, summer barbecue ready, with a jacuzzi. We suggest you take a dip before enjoying the barbecue.

DJ Erwan Fontaine will be manning the decks at the soft opening this weekend alongside DJ Andreas Franco--giving Saturday night a mix of traditional Euro house and Latin rhythms. See you there.

Somebody caught 25 Miss Universe Contestants posing at a dinner for the 57th annual Miss Universe pageant which will be held in Vietnam's central Nha Trang resort city on July 14, 2008.

What's that guy up front and to the right smiling about, I wonder?

Okay, I don't wonder. 

Wow! Where's that press pass when I need it?

You may also be interested in:

China's Top 5 Nude Girl Posters for 2006

Japan's Hottest Girls - Numbers 1 - 24

Topless News Anchors and Naked News

6 Hottest Pictures of Zhang Ziyi Plus 3 of Her Nudity Double (SFW)

source 

Happy July 4th to all those celebrating the American Independence Day!  We have a long weekend here in the States, and I think everyone is happier for it.  For more information about the Holiday, check
here.  Those in America, enjoy the holiday.  (I know I will be as I enjoy watching fireworks every year)  Those [...]

According to Reuters:
China’s government has told discos, karaoke bars and other entertainment venues to install windows in private rooms and ensure staff dress modestly from Oct 1 as part of an effort to crack down on prostitution and drugs.
The rules, reports Reuters, state that, “Staff members should dress tastefully, and not be too exposing.”
This is [...]

Date: Jul 4th 2008 2:54p.m.

Contributed by:
jessy1533

Fourth of July festivities abound this week(end) as blue passport holders come out to party. Enjoy more traditional celebrations with AmCham, Blues Room, Bubba's (a barbecue and golf tournament), Otto, Bulldog Shanghai and Malone's, or take it to the next level with a more raucous time by raising a glass to Uncle Sam at Attica or I Love Shanghai. There's plenty more to keep you entertained this week once the stars and stripes have been put away. Make sure to do at least three of the following: check out the Second Mecooon Film Festival Screening at Downstream Garage (with 23 films, can you go wrong?), sample some South African red wines at Enoteca, hit up the Torres Wine Dinner at the House of Blues & Jazz, get your groove on at Bar Rouge's So Happy in Paris party, jam to PK-14 at Windows Underground, or rock to No. 1 Korean at Yuyintang or at Live Bar later in the weekend and, of course, party with The Bug at The Shelter. Muse Empire devotees can also hit the Summer Foam Party at BACI / Park 97 and DJ Scooter & Lavelle at M2. Also, don't miss the soft opening of Pier One's bar V Bar this Saturday.

I have just received the latest contingency plan from my friends at DHL.

Major update includes:

• Traffic control
• Traffic to skirt around BJ
• AFR DG embargo regulation
• OFR Tianjin
• Standby warehouse

For the previous plan, you can go to DHL’s Beijing Olympics Memo & Contingency Plan

If you would like me to send to you, please send me an email rbrubaker (at) allroadsleadtochina.com and I will send you a copy for your use.

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Was just forwarded an article from Reuters entitled China to shut factories ahead of Olympics-sources where the lead paragraph says:

Authorities in Tangshan, an industrial city in Hebei province north of Beijing, have ordered 267 firms to shut down operations by July 8 to improve air quality ahead of the Olympics, government and industry sources said on Friday.

So… once again I ask. Are you ready?

Have you booked your containers?

Are you stocked up?

What is your plan B should your supply chain be disrupted for 2 months?

to read more on this story, feel free to review my previous posts (which began in

• The Olympic Effect on China’s Steel Industry: Rising Prices
• DHL’s Beijing Olympics Memo & Contingency Plan
• Traffic Disruptions in Beijing Coming: I Hope You Listened to Me

• UPDATED: If You Are Manufacturing In Beijing, Tianjin, or Shanghai. PAY ATTENTION
• East China Province Gives Ultimatum to Polluters Before Olympics