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Extra! Extra! Apple in Beijing, sex workers at the Olympics and an Orthodox revival

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  • Just after we so recently expressed our jealousy over the upcoming arrival of the iPod 3G in Hong Kong, Apple has announced the opening of its first botique store in mainland China this August. Sorry Shanghai, the honor is slated to go to Beijing, which will see a three story giant open at Sanlitun Village.
  • The BBC, the only British media allowed into Olympic stadiums, has announced they will not hide demonstrations and protests that may occur at the games. Tensions are also mounting over China’s restrictions on where foreign media can shoot and delays on permits. The Peking Duck wonders how much media access will be allowed at the Olympics, and how much should be. Meanwhile, Asia Times considers another potential problem for Beijing: the massive influx of sex workers to participate in some off-the-field “action.”
  • In other Olympic News, China Daily tells us that the Olympic torch’s journey has been reworked to avoid Tibet (at least for now), a statement it immediately follows with detailed explanations of other, past route changes, while no reasons for the current switch are given.
  • China Supertrends examines which is more important economically: the sliding dollar – yuan conversion rate or transportation costs, the rising cost of oil especially. This is especially relevant after recent price hikes in Shanghai brought fuel costs to unprecedented levels.
  • Two Chinese Orthodox priests were allowed to lead a special Sunday service held inside the Russian consulate in Shanghai yesterday, the first time since a 1964 government ban that native Chinese have been allowed to participate in so public a service for the religion. Wang Quansheng, 84, and Lu Yafu, 81, are the only surviving Chinese Orthodox priests on the mainland, and they conducted the service in a Slavic dialect to a group of around 40 Chinese and Russians. Both men expressed hope that the government in Beijing would open up to more public religious worship in the future.

    • Photo from gruntzooki

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By Hilary Faxon in on June 16, 2008 6:18 PM

Comments [rss]

  • DaffyDuck

    It's actually called an 'iPhone 3G', not an 'iPod 3G' (there is no such thing).

  • booggerg

    Sex workers in Dubai bars? Really? I was there for a week and didn't anything of the sort.. Maybe it was because of the crew I was with..

  • EL JEFE

    Is that the new Zarva zPod? Finally...

  • nanheyangrouchuan

    It'll be interesting to see the Russian mob's prostitution go head to head with China's.

  • Kenneth Tan

    Well, guess what, Chinese prostitutes are also now in Afghanistan: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080614/ap_on_re_as/afghanistan_chinese_prostitutes



    Looks like there is nowhere where they aren't present.

  • I was surprised to see the number of Chinese sex workers frequenting bars in Dubai recently. Given that the only thing that matters is money I'd have thought it expensive be in the middle East when a massive influx of potential business is coming to Beijing.



    The most interesting comment in the article cited is "There was no open prostitution 25 years ago," Jing Jun, a sociology and AIDS policy professor at Tsinghua University told the Washington Post in a 2007 article by Maureen Fan titled "Oldest Profession Flourishes in China". "Fifteen years ago, you didn't find sex workers in remote areas and cities. But now it's prevalent in every city, every county."



    This is what happens when money is the only thing worth achieving as the mantra goes in China now (and on Fox television I might add).

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