Given free reign to do whatever they want, Chinese people sometimes choose the weirdest names. One of our friends has a guy in his office named Elvis, another has a student who calls himself Valerie (and yes, he knew it was a girl's name when he chose it). Now two authors, Valerie Blanco and Ellen Feberwee have written a 176-book on the cultural ramifications behind the strange names you see. more ›

U.S. President Barack Obama’s China-residing half-brother, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, has now launched his first novel, “Nairobi to Shenzhen.” in Guangdong province. The book is “semi-autobiographial” and about his life rather than that of his slightly more famous kin. more ›

On the Washington Post is an amazing amalgamation of audio clips and transcripts of former CCP Premier Zhao Ziyang about the tragedy-that-must-not-be-named. Zhao, who fell out of favor partially because of his comments against Deng Xiaoping, was largely ignored for the last 16 years of his life and almost erased from history. When he died four years ago, the party reacted by forming an "Emergency Response Leadership Small Group" and declaring "a period of extreme sensitivity. more ›

Danwei brings us pages from the "Old China" book by Graham Earnshaw, called Tales of Old Shanghai. more ›