The massive Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial created by Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin out of 159 pieces of pink Chinese granite has been unveiled yesterday in Washington DC. While King's own son, Martin Luther King III says Lei has done a "good job", others are wondering out loud why an American artist couldn't have been commissioned instead. more ›

On Monday in Shenzhen's Longhua district, an aggrieved building contractor decided to protest for his rights (an act known as weiquan/维权) by unfurling banners from a building rooftop, along with stringing two dogs up by their necks. more ›

Spare the endless confinement, spoil the child, right? The AP reports that the 6-year-old daughter of Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), the blind activist who exposed forced abortions taking place in Shandong several years ago, has not been allowed to break her house arrest to attend school. Chen and his wife and daughter have been under house arrest, known commonly as 'Soft Detention' (软禁), since Chen's release from prison last year. For Chen's daughter, the house arrest began on February 24th, shortly after a CNN crew attempted to visit Chen at his home in Linyi (临沂市), Shandong. Fellow activist He Peirong says the girl had her books and toys taken away, but was promised that a decision would be made by September 1st regarding whether or not she could attend school. Chen's son is faring somewhat better as a current fifth grade student living with his grandmother, who he reportedly moved in with at an early age. more ›

A Beijing divorce court has started allowing evidence other than sperm tests for divorce cases relating to infidelity. As the aforementioned physical evidence is rarely conclusive, most divorce courts' judicial criteria involve assessing the "emotional connection" of the couple. Needless to say, raunchy text messages are definitely a step up. [China Daily] more ›

Today's post by Andrew Sullivan on his blog over at the Atlantic discusses the specter of racism within China, and the implications it could have on both the social and economic future of the country. As the ratio of retirees to workers is set to double within the next fifteen years, questions surrounding the economic sustenance will begin to necessitate an influx of emigrants to keep the economy growing. more ›

Some woman in Southern California was so upset by Miley Cyrus' “chink-eye” pose that she decided to file a class action suit... for $4 billion. Because that's the number of Asian Pacific Islanders who live in L.A. County (a little more than 1 million) times the minimum damages for a civil rights violation ($4000 USD - about 27,340 yuan). more ›

"China has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest Internet market by number of users, a research firm said on Thursday." more ›

People who made the news this week more ›

The contrarian and sometimes controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (艾未未), who was a consultant in the design of the new Olympics stadium (known as the "Bird's Nest"), has disavowed his creation: more ›

Shanghaiist has always been intrigued by the bits of Western history and culture that seep into the Chinese mainstream — the terrifying, ungodly mix of Buicks, Kenny G, and Da Shan gives us a headache, but is fascinating to behold. Though not quite as fascinating as washing your hair with birth control pills. more ›

This is from the website of Shanghai Racquet Club and Apartments: more ›