"I look at the DaVinci case and I'm reminded of something that happened over a decade ago. At that time, we were often extorted by the media. They'd often say to us: The negative reports we have prepared for you have all been typeset and are ready for print. Bring your ad dollars in exchange for them. We were miserable. Eventually we published two books in which we detailed all our mistakes, customer complaints and criticisms from other industry insiders -- and the extorting journalists stopped appearing." more ›

Pan Shiyi, a real-estate developer who called for cheaper iPads for the public, was ridiculed with requests for cheaper housing from netizens, including viral mockups made of a new currency in his namesake. Now, he's busted out his savvy PR chops, by issuing a personal version of his own currency. Well played sir, well played. more ›

Pan Shiyi, real estate tycoon and president of SOHO China, posted the following tweet on Weibo earlier today, "The Board of Apple should decide right now to mass produce a new iPhone and iPad under 1000 yuan, and allow more people to afford Apple. This is the best way to commemorate Jobs." more ›

[Monday, 10pm] People are currently aTwitter with news that that Beijing's CCTV headquarters has gone up in flames, and from the following pictures snapped and uploaded by various eyewitnesses (including some amazing on-the-scene photos by real estate tycoon and CEO of Soho China Pan Shiyi), the fire looks pretty damn bad and appears to have engulfed the part of the complex that houses the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Beijing. Given that today is Yuanxiao Jie (元宵节) which marks the culmination of the Lunar New Year festivities, it is not unlikely that stray fireworks were the cause of this disaster. Follow what the China Twitterati is saying at #cctvfire. Videoclips after the jump. more ›