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 ›

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When we first heard stories of people burning paper condoms at funerals for their dead relatives, we were a little creeped out. OK, maybe more than a little. But, just when things couldn’t seem to get any weirder, they did. Burning paper condoms? Fuggedaboutit! How about some hot, live striptease action at the service? Cyndi, Bambi and Randi (or whatever their Chinese equivalents are) gyrating their young, supple flesh over grandpa Zhang’s cold, dead body. What a great sendoff -- just as grandpa had always wanted. As usual, Shanghai Daily has the skinny: more ›

Both local and international media are reporting that American television and pop-culture sensation Desperate Housewives might be headed for Chinese television, with episodes dubbed in Mandarin airing by the end of the year. All 23 first-season episodes would air on CCTV-8's "Overseas Theater" timeslot, two episodes a day, according to the Shanghai Daily. more ›