Dear Slate, yes there are chocolate bars in China
Lot o' Hotpot: Three Travellers
How AIDS in China is spreading
Shanghaiist Scrabble: We have a winner!
Interview: Kerry Ann Lee, culture shock = inspiration
- A roller coaster ride attendant at the Shanghai Carnival was killed when he walked on the track and his coat got snagged, he got hit by the roller coaster, and fell off the highest point in the track. Actually, no one knows what the hell happened.
- Chinese beauty must have an oval face, willow-leaf shaped eye-brows and a mouth that curves upwards at the corners.The length of a woman's eyes should be 24 to 28 millimeters, with a distance of 35 millimeters between the two eyes. No, this isn't Shanghaiist's specifications, we're less picky (read: desperate). But this is what Beijing based Mirror newspaper said came from some International Cosmetics and Fashion week. Don't ask us, we just work here. Warning: this is not a joke, though Hitler might it find it funny.
- China has completed the world's highest railroad track, now connecting Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa, and is scheduled to go into operation July 2006. It goes through marshes, tundra, and the high plains, through some of the world's most inhospitable environments. They say the workers each carried 5 kg of oxygen on them whenever they worked in areas above 4600 m. OK, that's the basic info, and now we're going to talk shit about this railroad. First off, the article states that Western media have said that this railway could be compared to the Great Wall (被西方舆论称为“堪与长城媲美”). “媲美 （pi mei)" is an interesting use of words, because it implies that two things are of comparable use, goodness, or beauty. Shanghaiist cannot for the life of us figure out how in terms of aesthetic quality, railroad tracks in the tundra could possibly compare with the Great Wall. LeBron James isn't about to take his Nikes and digital camera out to Golmud any time in the near future. Secondly, the Great Wall was built thousands of years ago for the sake of protecting China, whereas this this railroad serves the more mundane purpose of
increasing the logistical ease with which China can put down insurrection in Tibet and bring more Han settlersallowing more trade, tourists, etc. to flow from Tibet to Qinghai and beyond. If you don't believe us, take a look at the part where the article says: 寄托西藏人民千年梦想, which means this railroad has somehow fulfilled a thousand year dream of the Tibetan people,the dream that all the unwanted Han Chinese can take the train back to where they belongfor greater connection with the motherland. (See also this Guardian story: The railway across the roof of the world.) - Lighting your farts on fire (yeah you know you've tried it) can be quite dangerous in microgravity environments, such as that of the Chinese Taikonauts aboard the Shenzhou-6. Read how they deal with perils of their anal biohazards in space, and then tell someone at a cocktail party here at earth. Guarantee you'll be the life of the party, like Shanghaiist is when we're not blogging.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
post to facebook
Post a comment (Comment Policy)