A small group of Tibet activists held a small demonstration at the entrance of the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park not far from the Olympic stadium yesterday around 12.30pm. According to Austin Ramzy of TIME Magazine who was there on site, the demonstration was "hardly a blockbuster". He described the protest as follows:The first attempt at unfurling a banner on the overpass was apparently a diversionary tactic, so the other demonstrators could barricade themselves behind a......

You may have heard of the three official protest areas that Beijing set aside for pre-authorized demonstrations during the period of the Olympics. According to The Australian, these "protest pens" have been of little use, since — so far — no protests have been allowed.......

After Xinhua reported that county officials in Weng’an—including its Communist Party secretary, Wang Qin, and head of the county government, Wang Haiping—were fired on Friday following the June 28 riots, Western media has hailed Weng’an as a turning point for China. Both WSJ and TIME remark that Xinhua’s handling of the Weng’an incident is remarkable in itself; not only did state media report the riots almost immediately, but quickly produced "unusually long investigative stories." Adding......

While yet more versions of the Weng'an, Guizhou riot have surfaced on the internet, the Guizhou provincial government has also finally given its version — which, believe it or not, has sparked off a new pop phrase on the Chinese internet — "I'm here to do push-ups" (我来做俯卧撑的). Netizens are now suddenly flooding the forums with pictures of TV host Ou Zhihang (区志航) doing push-ups in his birthday suit by famous Chinese landmarks such as......

As usual, Roland Soong of EastSouthWestNorth is on top of the incident, busy piecing together all the information he can find. He informs us that Weng'an is now a sensitive word, the uncle of the female student is still alive, and the body of the student is still resting in a refrigerated coffin awaiting autopsy despite this popularly-believed story. Soong also observes that the Xinhua story (which all Chinese media are made to carry) opens......

Several thousand rioters have gathered in Guizhou's Weng'an County, torched a police station, ransacked government buildings and overturned police cars, after allegations of a cover-up over a 15 year old girl's death blew up. Ming Pao reports the son of the county's vice-deputy mayor had raped and murdered the girl along with another youth and tossed her body into the Ximen River. Police only detained the suspects for five hours and released them without charge.......

You've probably been on the edge of your seat waiting for the latest Olympic torch relay news so here it is. The beleagured sacred flame is making its way through Hong Kong today at the start of its tour of China following a few, shall we say, hiccups during the international relay. Despite the rain, the torch route has been mostly been lined with supporters throughout, many hoping to catch a glimpse of the flame......

Depending on where you read your news, the nation-wide boycott of, and protests against, French supermarket chain Carrefour in China were either a well-attended show of nationalistic pride or were over-shadowed by the bargains on offer inside the stores. Angered by events surrounding the Olympic torch relay in Paris last month and by President Sarkozy declining to rule out a boycott of the games in Beijing in August, the protests had been arranged through on-line......

Taikang Lu has developed rapidly in the last few months — expanding from the original alleyway into a sprawling collection of labyrinthine lanes populated by galleries, arty shops, and some great restaurants. However, the revitalisation of Taikang Lu hasn't been welcomed by everyone. Yesterday, on a gloriously sunny afternoon that saw large numbers of people flock to the area, some local residents decided to voice their dissent against the ongoing development. Three white and blue......

READ THIS: Volunteer in China: "I was not in fact attacked by a mob" Editor's note: This post has been updated. Details after the jump. Here's an email we received from a volunteer teacher from an Ivy League university volunteer programme in Hunan Province (who shall remain unnamed to protect the identities of everyone involved) — a chilling account of an attack on his colleague by an anti-Carrefour mob in Zhuzhou. The matter has been......

Danwei informs us that Carrefour.com.cn is currently "undergoing a website update and maintenance", but CarrefourS.com.cn is alive and hopping with nationalist messages and other "user-generated propaganda". Crazy times.......

Protests, protests everywhere — in Europe, within China, and all across the United States. Quite frankly, we can barely catch up with it all. Watch protestors shout "CNN liar! Cafferty fire!" in this video of the anti-CNN demonstration which took place outside CNN's studios in downtown LA that we told you about earlier. [h/t to Danwei] Related links Photos: Chinese students show their love for the motherland at Place de la République in Paris Anti-French,......

We're somewhat late bringing this to you, but yes, over the weekend, anti-French protests took place over the weekend all over China outside Carrefour stores in Hefei, Qingdao, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Xuzhou, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Jinan and Kunming. Although these were mainly anti-French anti-Carrefour protests, they were described by People's Daily as "protests against Tibetan independence". As usual, ESWN has been on top of things bringing us the latest news. This incident related last Thursday by ESWN......

Photos from Hélène Franchineau Shanghaiist's Paris correspondent Hélène Franchineau brings us these photos of a demonstration conducted by the Chinese student community there on Saturday in protest against the western media's biased reporting of events within China. On the same day, similar protests were conducted by the Chinese community across the United States. The anti-CNN demonstration which took place outside CNN's studios in downtown Los Angeles attracted "thousands of Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese"......

A Chinese student at Duke University seen by other Chinese students taking part in a Free Tibet demonstration (see video on the right) now has her pictures, US phone number, Chinese identity card number, parent's address and home number in China splashed all over the internet as a "human flesh search engine" ensues, writes John Kennedy of Global Voices. The Tibetan protestor who tried to snatch the torch away from Chinese paralympian Jin Jing in......

They did it last month, and they did it again this time. A second trip organised by Beijing for a closed group of journalists (from Reuters, ABC News, and France's Le Point, among others) to Xiahe, Gansu, has been disrupted by a group of between 15 and 30 young monks who burst out of a building at the L*br*ng Monastery, demanding for human rights, freedom and the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet. From The......

Ahead of his first visit to China as prime minister of Australia, books on Kevin Rudd are selling like hot cakes in book stores everywhere. Speaking in Mandarin to students at Peking University yesterday, Rudd pointed out to "significant" human rights problems in Tibet, but reiterated his opposition to an Olympic boycott:"Australia, like most other countries, recognises Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but we also believe it is necessary to recognise there are significant human rights......

And here's an assortment of pictures that will give you a good sense of what we saw and experienced: Photos by Hélène Franchineau UPDATE, 02:32: The torch has been extinguished a third time. UPDATE 2, 02:48: This raw video of the protest just in from AP:......

Editor's note: Former Shanghaiist contributor Hélène Franchineau was present at the Olympic torch relay in Paris earlier today and tells us of what she saw and heard. Today at 12:35pm Paris time, the Olympic torch left from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. It was supposed to travel through the capital for 28 km along the Champs Elysées, the City Hall and the Louvre to end its journey at 5pm in front of the......

BBC: "Protests in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu turned violent as police made arrests outside the Chinese embassy." AP: "Greek officials handed over the Olympic flame to organizers of the Beijing Games on Sunday amid small protests by a pro-Tibetan group. The ceremony was held where the first modern Olympics were staged in 1896. (March 30)" AP: "Eight giant pandas from a breeding center in southern China are set to travel to Beijing for the Olympic......

Beijing's tightly scripted, carefully choreographed tour for a select group of 26 foreign journalists from 19 media organisations including the Associated Press, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the South China Morning Post, Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, Taiwan’s Central News Agency, Al-Jazeera and Russian and Japanese media, was upstaged by 30 young Tibetan monks, some clearly emotional and weeping, who pushed their way into a news briefing at the J*kh*ng Temple, as you see in......

From Al Jazeera English: Tenzin Wangmo Dunchu, EU representative of the Tibetan government in exile, joins Sir David and discusses the Tibetan protests, violence and deaths that resulted from them. She tells Sir David that the accusations against the Dalai Lama by the Chinese government are false and go against his teachings. The Chinese government has suggested that the Dalai Lama is responsible for the Tibetan protests and violence. She says an investigation team should......

Following last week's expulsion of 20 Hong Kong journalists from Lhasa that was roundly criticised by the Hong Kong Journalists Association, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has issued an updated call for China to grant reporters unhindered access to Tibetan areas:"Reporting interference is not in the interest of the Chinese government which is trying to show a more open, transparent and accountable image to the world," said FCCC President Melinda Liu." As of March......

The situation in and around Tibet Reuters: Tibetan riots spread, security lockdown in Lhasa AFP: Foreign tourists in China not allowed into Tibet: tour guides Reuters: Nepal closes Mount Everest over protest concerns PTI: China intensifies border vigil along Nepal-Tibet border Reuters: Visitors recount Tibet violence, tell of troops What China says China Daily: 11th Panchen Lama condemns Lhasa riot Xinhua: Shops reopen, vehicle back on streets as Lhasa calms Xinhua: Religious leader, locals......

We told you about the chaos happening simultaneously in Dharamsala, India and Lhasa, Tibet, and it looks like we're only at the start of something big, very big. Here are snippets of a conversation with a friend who is resident in Lhasa, but has since left the city to live in the countryside till some semblance of stability returns:"It's like war out there – there are soldiers everywhere" "There's been a curfew in place......

From Al-Jazeera English:The Beijing Olympics are still 5 months away but they're attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Human rights campaigners have been staging protests, demanding China be called to account for its human rights record in Tibet. Owen Fay reports on protests designed to place pressure on Beijing. Related stories: New York Times: Tibetan Marchers Arrested in India AHN: Tibetan Exiles Embark On Hunger Strike In India To Protest Against Arrests International Herald......

BBC's Shanghai correspondent Quentin Sommerville goes to the Pingyang neighbourhood south of Shanghai and finds that the anti-Maglev protests have not quite abated. In his report [VPN required], he makes the following observation:Rarely have protests in China been so well organised, or the protesters so well-dressed. The Maglev protests are really a case study in acts of civil disobedience with Chinese characteristics. Knowing that their protests would never be approved by the authorities, demonstrators decided......

Translation of captions:OPPOSING THE SHANGHAI MAGLEV ONSTRUCTION PLAN: 10,000 RESIDENTS TAKE PART IN THE 'HARMONIOUS WALK' NEAR PEOPLE'S SQUARE On 12 Jan, Saturday, as agreed through signs that had been placed through the various affcted neighbourhoods, people gathered at 2pm at People's Square for the "harmonious walk". At 2pm, over 100 people had gathered by the Urban Planning Museum. There were about 30 policemen and 10 police cars. These were all normal policemen, there were......

Yesterday, we were tipped off on our Contribute page that an anti-maglev protest was going to take place today 2pm at People's Square. Apparently that has been derailed by the police. From Reuters:Police in China's financial hub of Shanghai detained scores of people on Saturday after hundreds showed up to protest a planned extension of the city's magnetic levitation train, or "maglev", worried it would emit radiation. Police bundled demonstrators who had gathered in front......