Today's Links: Chinese and sex toys, astronauts and Volvos, and gymnasts behind closed doors

sex_toy_beijing.jpg
  • Chinese sex toy market explodes [Sydney Morning Herald] "VIDEO: Chinese sex toy manufacturer, Sweet Secret, trains sales staff ahead of the opening of its first Beijing store."
  • More Chinese Astronauts Prefer Volvos [Wired] "Four pioneers in Chinese space exploration have made it their mission to purchase Volvo S80L sedans. That’s one small step for man, one giant sedan for the garage. After returning safely from the Shenzhou 7 space mission, taikonauts Yang Liwei, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng purchased matching luxury cars. According to Volvo Cars China, the quartet decided on the Chinese-exclusive S80L for three reasons: the car is safe, built locally, and the “brand image expresses premiumness and is not ostentatious.”"
  • Don't Mess With China's Kids [Forbes] "Given China's habit of punishing individuals who protest against the government, it takes a lot of courage-or rage-for comrades to come forward. What gets Chinese people out in the streets demonstrating every time? Forcing parents to abide by a one-child policy, and then letting someone kill the one child to save a buck."
  • Chinese Men Close Doors As Worlds Close in [International Gymnast Magazine Online] "China's top male gymnasts are a week into a month-long "closed door" training session in Tianjin, as the 11th National Games and the 2009 World Championships draw near. A year after its men captured seven of eight possible golds at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Chinese team is back at work preparing for the big events of 2009. The top contenders for the 2009 World Championships, to be held Oct. 13-18 in London, are training in Ji County in northern Tianjin."
  • The Great Paradox of China: Green Energy and Black Skies [Yale Environment 360] "This month, on the first anniversary of the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, Beijing's skies were a hazy gray. Walking down the street, one was left with a tickle in the throat and burning eyes. A recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, conducted jointly by Peking University and Oregon State University, found that Beijing's $20 million investment to scrub the skies for the Olympics in fact had little impact on air quality. The U.S. embassy in Beijing now maintains a Twitter feed posting data from an air-quality monitoring station on the embassy compound; readings of large particulates in the air in recent weeks have ranged from "unhealthy" to "very unhealthy" to "hazardous."
  • The China Paradox [WSJ] "Two developments yesterday in Australia underlined the paradox underlying its relationship with China: Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith confirmed that a scheduled visit by Vice Minister He Yafei had been cancelled by the Chinese government because of Canberra's decision to grant a visa to exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Also yesterday, the announcement of a 50 billion Australian dollar ($41 billion) liquefied natural gas deal reaffirmed China's economic importance to Australia and China's insatiable need for Australian resources and energy."
Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
user-pic
By Elaine Chow in on August 19, 2009 6:00 PM Comments 2 Likes Likes

Tags:


Comments [rss]