China's hopes of hosting another Olympics any time soon will have to be iced, as International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge announced that a wait of at least 20 years after the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be required before another Olympics happens on the mainland. more ›

Taking a gander at the various viewpoints on China's recent large-scale campaigns, Jeffrey Wasserstrom finds similar threads through the old leaders much more than they mirror anything Mao Zedong did. more ›

The FIG, the international governing body of gymnastics, has recommended that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) strip the Chinese women's gymnastic team of their 2000 Olympic bronze medal for violating competition age requirements. The two gymnasts at the center of this investigation were Dong Fangxiao (董方霄) and Yang Yun (杨云). more ›

What a difference ten years has made for China, from the new kid on the block to one of the world's most influential movers and shakers. Since 2000, China has turned the notion of "New World Order" on its head. During those 10 years we've watched China experience some breathtaking highs and painful lows. I first started watching China early in 2001, when I moved from the US to Hong Kong, and still remember exactly where I was and how I felt when I heard the big news that made it to No.1 on my Personal Five Most Significant China Stories of the decade. more ›

Attention, all y’all who want to capture some of that Olympic vitality: 5,000 official condoms distributed to athletes during the Beijing Olympics are finding their way to the auction block November 29 for…ahem…hard core collectors. The bidding price for the condoms, in special packages printed with “faster, higher, stronger,” (the Olympic motto), will start at 1RMB. Officials believe that most of the condoms were not in fact used, but taken home by participants as souvenirs - let’s hope these are the ones up for bid. more ›

• Former Beijing airport boss executed in China [AP] "The former head of Beijing airport's management company was executed Friday following his conviction on corruption charges, state media reported. An intermediate court found 60-year-old Li Peiying guilty in February of accepting almost $4 million in bribes and embezzling about $12 million in public funds over the past 14 years, the Xinhua News Agency said."
• Australia Plans to Make Arrangements for Second Hu China Visit [Bloomberg] "Australia will soon be making arrangements for a second consular visit with Rio Tinto Group executive Stern Hu, detained in China for allegedly stealing state secrets, a government spokeswoman said. 'According to the consular agreement, visits must take place at least once per month,' a spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who asked not to be named, said today in an e-mailed statement."
• Uighur unrest shows China's failures - Dalai Lama [Reuters] "Ethnic riots in northwest China have exposed the failings of Beijing's minority policies, and a more "realistic" stance toward Tibetans and others could emerge within a decade, the Dalai Lama said on Thursday. The Tibetan spiritual leader said the Uighur unrest in Xinjiang province in July, in which 197 people died according to the official death toll, showed the need for the Chinese Communist Party to rethink its approach."

Yao Ming may or may not be out for the count, but Shanghai sports lovers can still count on Liu Xiang to possibly bring them sports glory. The 26-year-old hurdler was in top form during an open training class at Shanghai's Xinzhuang Training Base, according to China Daily. Because of his Achilles tendon injury - the one that made all of China wail during the Beijing Olympics - he could still only train with sneakers, rather than spikes. But Liu Xiang put on a brave face, even ripping his shirt off and running aorund topless near the end of the session. That's all well and good, but our PC radar perked up at one of the reactions China Daily recorded from one of his foreign fans. French student Juliette Borque told the paper, "He is the first Chinese to win the Olympic gold medal (in the event). I thought it's interesting, since normally it is always black guys that win. So I started to follow him." Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep? more ›

Thought that the Beijing games was the only time China might have used underaged gymnasts? Think again! Two athletes who participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics have had an investigation into their ages turned over to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG)'s disciplinary commission. Questions of Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun's eligibility first rose during the FIG's probe into the Beijing Olympics team, when Dong's birthdate changed from 1983 to 1986. This would have placed Dong at 14 in Sydney. Meanwhile, Yang accidentally let slip in a CCTV interview that she was also 14 in Sydney, though she later told the AP that she had mispoken. Both could have their results wiped out from the Sydney Games, but it is up to the International Olympic Committee whether they would lose their medals. Source: AP more ›

The latest exhibition at the Art Labor gallery on Yongjia Lu is a satirical take on last summer's Beijing Olympics. more ›

• Chavez says world 'center of gravity' now Beijing [AP] "The world's center of gravity has moved to Beijing, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told his Chinese counterpart Wednesday during a visit focused on boosting Chinese oil purchases. The frequent U.S. critic also praised China's response to the global financial meltdown that has sent prices of his South American nation's key export, oil, down sharply."
• Auto Makers Flock to Web to Woo Chinese Buyers [WSJ] "Global auto makers think the Internet is the way into the hearts of a new generation of Chinese car enthusiasts. Both foreign and domestic auto makers here are pouring ad money into online ventures, even as their overall spending remains flat. Market-tracking firm iResearch expects outlays for online auto marketing to reach 1.75 billion yuan, or roughly $256 million, this year, up from 1.38 billion yuan in 2008."
• Professor beaten ahead of Tiananmen anniversary [ABC] "The approaching 20th anniversary of China's Tiananmen Square crackdown has brought tensions to a head, with a 75-year-old, retired professor brutally beaten for trying to honour the memory of a Chinese leader who supported the students in 1989."

Five Chinese swimmers received two year bans yesterday after testing positive for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol at a national competition last June. According to the AP the athletes' coaches also received one to two year bans. more ›

Is China's national baseball team getting better or worse? more ›

In a recent interview with a German gymnastics magazine called Leon, the President of the International Gymnastics Federation, a.k.a. FIG, Bruno Grandi criticized the female Chinese Olympic gymnasts as lacking aesthetic beauty and being underage. Grandi said, "The Chinese gymnasts were robots. From a geometrical point of view the moves were very well done, but compare with the way [Nastia] Liukin performs a single movement with artistry. You can see how she continues to move through to the end point. The other is a perfect geometric figure. But a Code [of Points] will never be able to completely reflect aesthetic moment." He went on to say that there was "strong circumstantial evidence" that some of the Chinese gymnasts were underage. Grandi is now serving his fourth four-year term as FIG President. more ›

Los Angeles Sol signs Chinese player more ›

Is it just us or does he sound and look a little stoned here? more ›

Netease has released a "Top Ten Musical Singles" list, compiled from the data generated from its 200 million or so Chinese users. So what have the Chinese been listening to a lot this year? Unsurprisingly, Beijing Olympics songs, Sichuan Earthquake songs and... Jay Chou. In fact, he was so popular that his album, Capricorn, mysteriously took 7th place on a list of "singles." more ›

DMG Entertainment has said it will not cancel its endorsement deal with Michael Phelps (菲尔普斯), notwithstanding the scandal over a published photo of him smoking a bong. The group said on Tuesday that it will be "standing by Michael." more ›

Michael Phelps (菲尔普斯) has signed the biggest ever endorsement contract for a Western celebrity in China, claims DMG Entertainment group, the agency that reportedly signed him to a seven-figure deal with Mazda. more ›

Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium has never had a particularly bright future. Plans to raze at least one of the two structures, built next to the much more commercially lucrative Wukesong basketball arena, seem to remain unchanged. This AP report indicates that, as China Sports Today has been told in conversations with China-based baseball professionals, the main stadium could soon be history. The reason is simple--lack of sufficient interest in the game to justify a substantial lineup of games. more ›

If Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) isn't in the pool, she must be in the tabloids. Post-Olympic rumors have the diver taking her gold medals and moving to Hong Kong, where the buzz is that she may marry her boyfriend Kenneth Fok and compete for Hong Kong in the 2012 Olympics. more ›

On the final day of competition, China took two gold medals and a silver in women's rhythmic gymnastics to end up with a total of 51 gold medals and 100 medals overall—its best Olympic medal haul to date. Number two United States and number three Russian Federation trailed China with 36 and 23 golds, respectively. more ›

Going into the final dives of the men's 10-meter platform competition, it looked like China was about to sweep all eight diving gold medals, with Zhou Luxin and Huo Liang in first and second place. But Australia's Matthew Mitcham, trailing the leader Zhou by more than 30 points, went for broke with a 3.8 degree of difficulty dive, a back two and a half somersault with two and a half twists. He got four perfect 10s and scored 112.10, the highest score in the history of Olympic diving, to snatch the gold from his Chinese competitors. Mitcham is the only openly gay man competing at these Olympics. more ›

The Bahamas. Again. One medal for every 153,725 Bahamians. They were followed by Jamaica, Iceland, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Cuba, Armenia and Belarus. Of the 87 nations that won medals, China ranked No. 68. The United States was No. 46. India brought up the rear. This is all good info to have the next time you tire of your friends arguing over who really "won" the Olympics. [Source] more ›

Summed up in 3 minutes and 37 seconds. more ›

After losses for its women's basketball and volleyball teams last night, China has just one shot remaining at a gold medal in a team sport. The women's field hockey team takes on the Netherlands in the final tonight at 8:30, Beijing time. China upset European champions and 2004 gold medalists Germany to reach tonight's final. more ›

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Chinese Soundbites, a podcast series brought to you by ChinesePod and Shanghaiist. Every week we'll be bringing you topics and words pulled straight from the headlines, in Mandarin Chinese. more ›

There's a pretty sweet interactive feature on the NY Times website right now that let's the reader have a virtual experience atop the 10M diving platform at the National Aquatic Center (aka "Water Cube"). It includes a minute long audio description from American Olympic diver Thomas Finchum, but the real highlight is playing around with the panorama. We wish we could be there ourselves except we're afraid of heights. And water. And mobs of people. And oh yeah, we're not Olympics athletes, so this will be a nice alternative. more ›

We heard that Beijing has made an effort to rid the city of Chinglish in all public places. Finally the public education banners are also in English so the foreigners can get some proper education too! more ›

For those of you still dwelling on the age of a certain Chinese gymnast, we've got good news for you: Someone is more obsessed about the controversy than you! A blogger has done some internet sleuthing (see here and here) that has some people convinced that He Kexin (何可欣) is all of 14 years old (Olympic rules state that gymnasts must be 16). All the cyber-digging might be in vain, however — we doubt the IOC is going to do anything about this. more ›

A win against Russia Tuesday night put China into the semifinals of the women's indoor volleyball competition. Defending Olympic champion China won the quarterfinal in three sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19. more ›