Not a month after they revealed their newest landmark would be a pretty blatant knockoff of some other building, Chongqing is drawing ridicule once again for copycat architecture. Its newest project is a 280-meter, 70-floor tower on the bank of the Yangtze river to be completed in 2017. Designed to imitate a pair of rapturous figures posing in the form of "庆," Chongqing's second character meaning "celebration," the design is being compared to Beijing's CCTV tower. more ›

To start off our Holiday Superlatives extravaganza, let's take a good look here at home first. Wonder what Shanghaiist readers were flipping through this year? Here are the top five most looked at stories from January to June of 2009. more ›

One of the weirdest controversies we've been reading about has been whether or not the Beijing CCTV is “profane.” We're not sure when rumors that the headquarters of China's media mammoth was a “monument to pornography” surfaced, but it seems like it's now serious enough for Rem Koolhaas himself to categorically deny that he ever meant the building to look like genitalia. “I'm extremely sad that the best intentions, the best work of so many people, literally thousands of people, from the architects to the company to the workers, is compromised by this rumor, which as I said has no truth whatsoever,” he told CCTV. What are that chances that this will be enough to convince errant netizens that they shouldn't blow up the building since it shames the Chinese people? Source:Danwei more ›

Egads! Another CCTV fire! Luckily, this one was not nearly as damaging as the one that happened in February, which basically rendered the not-fully-built TVCC building completely unusable. Yesterday's incident was minor: smoke had been rising from the CCTV building's roof, but the flames had already died by the time firefighters arrived. Unfortunately, the current explanation is not particularly relief inducing. According to a translation by Danwei, the fire possibly "occurred because of the scorching weather, which caused the film on the glass to spontaneously ignite." Great. Isn't flammable exoskeleton the thing that caused the TVCC building to become a fire beacon as well? more ›

Well, would you look at that! The iconic CCTV building (whose neighbor, we all remember, burned up earlier this year) has appeared in The Simpsons as Milhouse's school project. "Big Hemmorhoids" now has equal billing as the Westminster Abbey and the Taj Mahal. Hurrah! If you want to check it out, here's the entire episode below. The CCTV building shows up at the 18:08 mark. more ›

Caijing has a spectacular article looking at some of the troubles still shrouding the CCTV fire from last month, and they don't all have to do with the destroyed building. The blaze that gutted the TVCC building on February 9 may have also uncovered questionable financial deals made by high-level CCTV executives. more ›

By Kate Ray more ›

According to the twitter grapevine (@zhongnanhai), CCTV might be using its recent disaster to cut down on the little benefits that come with office life. It's allegedly removed water coolers, mini-fridges, humidifiers and microwaves in the building inan attempt to prevent fires. Are the staff bonuses (adorably named the "Cultural and Ideological Progress Bonus," by the way) also a victim of the burning of TVCC? more ›

12 people have been detained by Beijing police over the illegal fireworks that allegedly burned up the TVCC complex. Four CCTV staff members and the eight employees connected with the company hired to fire off the fireworks display have been detained for their suspected roles in causing the fire. CCTV said the fireworks had been powerful enough to require a special permit, but the broadcaster had not applied for one and deliberately ignored police safety warnings. Source: AP more ›

CCTV has publicly apologized for the fire that ravaged the TVCC building yesterday night, saying that it was their fault since their employees had illegally staged fireworks too close to the unfinished complex. In an official statement posted to its website, the network said it was deeply grieved “for the severe damage the fire caused to the country's property.” Altogether, the blaze destroyed the Mandarin Oriental, the TVCC's theater complex, killed one firefighter and injured six others. Source: IHT more ›

It's the morning after, and people in Beijing are reporting that last night's burning building, the TVCC Center right across from the main oddly-angled CCTV headquarters, has been put out. By people, we mean the twitterati, because most media organizations here aren't covering it (yet) at all. more ›