Results tagged “pandas”

In this video, a hapless zookeeper is outwitted by two mischievous panda cubs. One playfully distracts him long enough for the other to open the zoo gate. Both then make a dash for the real world. Oh pandas, if only you knew how ill-adapted to the real world you guys really were.

So we stumbled upon one of the longer articles we've seen on China Daily lately and it's about... a BBC presenter that doesn't like pandas. Wildlife expert Chris Packham told Radio Times magazine that he reckoned they should “pull the plug... Here's a species that, of its own accord, has gone down an evolutionary cul-de-sac. Unfortunately, it's big and cute and a symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature and we pour millions of pounds into panda conservation.” After controversy reared its ugly head, Packham apologized for his statements. Oh geez, if people could get Packham to retract his comments, maybe we've got to tone down on our panda hate too.

• 'China's YouTube' Pries Path Through Profit Puzzle [PC World] Youku.com, China's leading video sharing Web site, faces a challenge shared by YouTube and other rivals worldwide. The Web site has worked to expand its revenue from video ads, mobile downloads and elsewhere, and it claims a massive audience of 25 million visitors each day. But despite all that, Youku — like YouTube and similar sites worldwide — has yet to become profitable.
• Winning Designs in China: Standing Out to Fit In [Tom Doctoroff] "The Chinese consumer is becoming increasingly modern and internationalized. However, while "egos" and ambitions are huge, the "new generation" is not becoming "individualistic" in the Western sense - i.e., the peoples never define themselves independent of society. The middle class, those who can afford non-essential items, is torn between two impulses. The first is projection of status which leads to a desire to be noticed (in public contexts), aggressive self-expression and experimentation with new modes of style and design. The second, in vivid contrast to the projection, is protection, a fear of sticking out too obviously or challenging existing hierarchies and social restrictions."
• And then there were two: Obama meets the Chinese; transcript of president's speech [Los Angeles Times] "Well, today there was the first meeting of what you might call the G-2, between Beijing and Washington, arguably the two most important capitals in the world. Another one is scheduled in November, when Obama makes his first trip to China. … Obama did not mention directly the recent deadly ethnic unrest between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang Province. But he noted that Americans "strongly believe that the religion and culture of all peoples must be respected and protected, and that all people should be free to speak their minds. That includes ethnic and religious minorities in China."

• Mandarin Chinese profanity [Wikipedia] "While many offensive words and expletives involve insulting someone's mother, it is also common to show contempt by scorning another person's ancestors. Other Mandarin insults accuse people of not being human. Unlike English, Mandarin words for excrement or feces are less commonly used in slang and insults. Also, there are few parallels to English's blasphemous phrases, such as 'God damn it'."
• NKorea premier ends China visit [AFP] North Korean Premier Kim Yong-Il Saturday wrapped up his first visit to China, which came two weeks before Pyongyang's planned launch of a satellite, the Xinhua news agency reported. Kim's visit, which began Tuesday, was his first since taking office in 2007 and was officially to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
• Earthquake Pandas Go Home (with video!) [BBC] "Eight young pandas have returned to their native Sichuan province, after being relocated to Beijing, following last year's earthquake. Large crowds turned out to visit the pandas on their last weekend in Beijing before they are flown back to Sichuan province. The pandas will have a new home in Sichuan province with indoor air conditioning and outdoor swimming pools."

According to the following report, a panda has mauled a man at the Beijing zoo. The cause for the violent outburst appears to be stupidity: a man was trying to recover a toy his child dropped in the bear cage. Though there are many that think it's silly to give a child your seat on the subway, jumping into a bear cage has to be considered a major victory for the xiao huangdi camp.

Yuanyuan and Tuantuan, two giant pandas who made the headlines two years ago when Taiwan's government refused to accept them as a gift from mainland China, will now at long last be moving to Taiwan. Since the pandas' names together form the word "tuanyuan" (团圆) or "reunion", the gift was seen as having rather political undertones. With the newly elected KMT ruling the island, the welcoming of these two cuddly bears might be viewed as a symbol for a closer relationship with the mainland.

• This weekend, in just 14 hours, the panda population of China increased by four, as three female pandas at different zoos gave birth. An event worth noticing, since giant pandas in captivity hardly ever seem to mate without the right encouragement.
• Olympic athletes with time on their hands will not have to be bored for long, the Olympic Village provides a training center where athletes can learn basic Chinese, or brush up on their calligraphy skills.
• China's economic growth is likely to rebound in the second half of the year, at least according to BOCOM, the Chinese Bank of Communications who issued a statement on CCTV's website this Saturday.

The first post-earthquake panda birth took place Sunday when twelve-year-old Guo Guo gave birth to twins at the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base outside Chengdu. Guo Guo was one of 63 pandas moved from the Wolong Nature Reserve to other facilities after the quake caused the death of one panda and damage to the reserve, endangering the province’s 1,800 pandas.

"The Beijing Olympic flame will spend just one day in Tibet next month rather that the three days originally scheduled, an official with the torch relay department of the Beijing Organising Committee said on Monday."

As reported earlier, the epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake was not only near the city of Wenchuan, but it was also very close to the Wolong Panda Reserve. Xinhua informed us that some pandas at other facilities were safe, but the status of the Wolong pandas was still known.

Few animals get tabloid coverage of their sex lives splashed across international media like our furry friends the pandas. Their being few is what the fuss is about. And now their enclosures have become Big-Brother-animal-sex episodes where their lack of procreativity is monitored as scientists continue to ply panda eyes and orifices with strategic tactics.

Since Thursday, mallrats visiting Citic Plaza on Nanjing road may have noticed the greeting card and painting exhibit on the ground floor, right across from McDonald's. We were struck by how atypically childlike the artwork was, and then we found out why: they were all produced by children. The event is called the "Share Your Love" Art Charity program and is organized and hosted by the SMIC Private School in Pudong. We'll let the website...

This is just waaaaay too cute. If these three videos aren't enough for you, then hop over to Life in the Fast Lane for more amazing pictures and videos of baby pandas from day 1 to day 120 of their birth that made us keel over from an overdose of cuteness. Have a fabulous Thursday, Shanghai....

Have you ever wondered what life must be like for someone who is watched everywhere she goes, whether she's eating, drinking, sleeping, shopping? It's the reason why Shanghai photographer Don Yap has tagged her "jailbird" in one of his recent portraits of her. Watch Paris eat xiaolongbao at Nanxiang and sip tea at Yuyuan, and go shopping at Lu Kun's (the greatest PR coup scored yet by any Shanghai-based designer!). The Shanghai municipal government...

This Youku video shows some women offering old men massage hanky-panky, all out in the open in an unnamed city, for as low as RMB5! The world's oldest profession is alive and well in China, and it is everywhere.

Jackie Chan, China's most famous actor/singer/producer/cartoon character/matchmaker (whew!) finds himself one sino-franchise poorer this week, as government officials have blocked mainland distribution of his newest flick, Rush Hour 3. E! News reports:

Share with us how you see Shanghai, or China! Simply post your photos on Flickr, tag them with "shanghaiist", and we'll select one favorite image per day. Or you can simply email your photos to photos[at]shanghaiist.com.

Because we know you had trouble sleeping last night wondering what the latest Survivor China news was, here's what Shanghaiist reader Louise emailed to tell us last week:

We're guessing most of you are hungover from St. Patrick's Day. We are too. But still, we're going to muddle on through our green haze and give you (drum roll please...) this Week In -ists.

Shanghaiist may be accused of going with the flow on occasions, and one of those areas might be to do with our narrow mindset on the lovely, cute and adorable panda. We've applied our finest available powers of research to bring you the following snippets on the flipside of China's panda tail, and yes, it is mucky in there. So let us be accused of panda-ring no more. Yes, this is reporting with bite.

Sure, your wife/husband/partner might slap you, but assure them that this is not a fanciful excuse, because it could really happen to you.

Photo by jules_shangahai taken from the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site.

Last month, our DCist colleagues celebrated the “one year of cuteness” for a panda named Butterstick (aka Taishan). Not to be outdone here in the mother country, though perhaps with a little less fanfare, Shanghaiist brings you a panda story of our own, about a week-old, unnamed female cub. (We shall call her Butterball.)

Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on a Civic Building, Blank on a Blank, and Penguins on a Freeway (warning: sad).

And we're not talking about those wild 20 year olds looking for man meat from the state of Washington -- we mean yaks and wolves and the like:

That’s right, Shanghai’s No. 1 fag hag ran into a sleuth of bears or "pandas”, as they prefer to call themselves, right in the heart of the French Concession. As Shanghaiist has previously mentioned, the city has its very own bear bar, Bobo. (See here for updated address.) Located in the basement of a swanky apartment complex, fortunately or unfortunately, the small drinking establishment was not filled with wild, gigantic, hirsute men as in Shanghaiist’s vivid imagination.

• Good to see Chinese entrepreneurial spirit is still going strong -- this time in Hunan province. Thirty-five-year-old Pang Zeng Sheng has seen a gap in the panda diplomacy market, and has bought 16 website domain names that are related to the two pandas that China gave Taiwan -- Tuantuan and Yuanyuan (maybe Jen Chung would be interested?). He has set his sights on 500,000 yuan bounties for sites featuring both names, and 100,000 yuan for a single name. He opined, "I am confident about these websites, which should be valuable. They are legal, because they don't violate anyone's rights", however some are saying that the government may snatch them from his hands as they are of public interest.
• More and more Chinese people are travelling abroad ...
• ... although finding a seat on a train inside the country, after the Spring Festival, is still mission impossible.

• Some random Google/China links we have come upon: "Google Is Destined To Fail In China" from ChinaTechNews.com; "How Much Did Google Agree to Censor?" from Google Blogscoped; "An Open Letter to Google" from Andrew Shieh; and "How to Outwit the World's Internet Censors" from The New York Times.
• The lift of the fireworks ban in Beijing is "redeeming people's excitement and appetite for the New Year." Meanwhile, at least 16 were killed and hundreds were injured in fireworks accidents over the weekend.
• The pandas the Mainland is trying to give to Taiwan have been given Chinese names that mean "reunion." Wonder how that will go over on the island.
• How many text messages will be sent in China during Spring Festival? If you guessed 5 billion ... you were off by 7 billion.
• Good news for Chinese women trying to keep their skin white: Less and less sunlight is hitting the country. This could be due to a haze caused by man-made pollution. Good thing China is building the world's first "artificial sun."
• Kashgar or bust! The days of the cross-country Chinese road-trip may not be too far away. "No other country can compete with China when it comes to the expansion speed of road building," brags Wang Yuanqing, a professor at the Highway College of Chang'an University in Xian. (Highway College graduates are always pompous asses.) We have to admit, the thought of RVs on Chinese roads scares the shit out of us.

• Continue reading "Extra! Extra! Super highways, pandas and more Google links"

A recent survey found that more than 21 percent of Chinese people -- some 273 million people -- have one of three surnames. Li is the most popular name and is shared by 7.4 percent of Chinese. Wang comes next at 7.2 percent, and Zhang is third at 6.8 percent. The survey covered nearly 296,000 people in 1,110 counties and cities. Included in that sample were 4,100 different family names. The story claims that China was the first country to use family names, starting the practice nearly 5,000 years ago.