Extra! Extra! Sexy robots, space funerals and dissident punks

• There was a fire on the maglev train. The train was evacuated but no one was hurt.
• Google's blog service, Blogger, is now accessible within China without a proxy server. We tried it -- it works.
• If 2010 gets any better, Jesus won't have to come back -- in addition to Disneyland, the Expo, and 5,000 subway lines, we're going to be home to Asia's largest railway station, to be located somewhere in the Hongqiao area.
• A pilot with China Eastern Airlines is seeking political asylum in the US. The authorities were alerted to the man's intentions after one of his co-workers snitched on him, and they delayed the plane (this was the MU583 to LA, which probably explains why Shanghaiist's China Eastern flights are always late), but eventually let him go.
• The man that recently got a face transplant has gone home to his family (in Chinese). Check out the pictures -- if you really want to.
• Super Voice Girls has recently been at the center of controversy because one of the contestants lifted up her skirt and flashed some panties (they were, disappointingly, white). But that's nothing compared to a 17-year-old girl in a Chongqing district who danced for 90 minutes to the tunes blaring from a hair salon while wearing no underwear at all. For some reason, she always manages to slip into the crowd and get away before the cops show up. We don't like to editorialize too much, but honestly, those are some lazy ass cops.
• A Henan man decided that the pressure cooker that is the Chinese educational system wasn't good for his daughter. He wanted to live a more relaxed, carefree life so he decided to homeschool her. Then he decided that he would give her an unusual gift -- a trip to Beijing -- and so they walked the 800 kilometers, taking a month's time and picking up a couple of other kids whose parents shared the conviction that blisters and exhaustion would teach these ninnies something they couldn't learn in school.
• A comparison of living costs of 71 cities around the world found Shanghai at number 60.
• From China Daily via Gizmodo we find a report about China's sexy female robot, which is on display in Beijing. She can understand 500-1,000 phrases in Mandarin, and even greet people in Sichuan dialect (her final destination is Chengdu). Nothing happens when you try to talk dirty to her -- life-like, indeed. Her earrings suck -- we hope they are sold separately.
• A survey of 5,000 28-to-38-year-olds of the white-collar professional persuasion in Shanghai found that 75 percent of them have sleeping problems or sleep-related disorders.
• A funeral services company wants to offer, for the modest sum of 100,000 yuan, a space funeral, i.e. sending your ashes to space in a lipstick sized container. The authorities said no.
• Sex DVDs Spark Chaos reads the headline of this Shanghai Daily article. People started grabbing and fighting for free DVDs, and then began taking the ones that you're supposed to pay for! It's hard to believe that in this day and age, some people still don't know how to download their own porn.
• Daimler-Chrysler has run afoul of authorities in Beijing after the discovery of ancient graves in a construction site, some dating from as early as the Han dynasty.
• In order to control the spread of rabies into Beijing after breakouts in Shandong, all cats and dogs arriving in Beijing via railroad or plane will have their temperature checked, just like during the SARS days.
• The Washington Post characterizes Chinese punk as a "muted rebel yell" that emerges where "dissent is suppressed."

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