There's been lots of rumours lately that literary bad boy and professional rally driver Han Han is going to write about Baidu's disrespect for copyright in his first column for the NYT. In his latest blog post, Han Han looks at all the victories that Baidu's been winning in court, and wonders aloud if CEO Robin Li's dad is Li Gang. Hilarious!

Yesterday, negotiations between several publishing industry representatives and Baidu broke down. In the early stages, Shen Haobo, Lu Jinbo and Hou Xiaoqiang had told me on various occasions that Baidu has been causing damage to the entire publishing industry, to which I responded: “Let’s sue them”. They then said several cases had been brought against them, none of which were won. Baidu has plenty of money and access, in effect they pretty much control the courts. They also have first rate public relations capabilities, so in addition they control what is being said about them by most media outlets. I sighed and wondered: “Could it be that Robin Li’s dad is Li Gang?” more ›

• Learning to drink like a local in Qingdao, China [CNN] "Another round of toasts and exclamations of "hajiu" sounded out around me. I took a sip and set down my small glass of Tsingtao beer as my new friends downed theirs and refilled. Our seafood dinner, perched on the single cluttered table of a tiny antique shop, was punctuated regularly by such moments. I joined in happily, although somewhat bemused, at each increasingly beery celebration of our host, the worldly Captain Jau. My company, a gathering from four regions of China, was engaging me in Chinese drinking etiquette, in the city of Qingdao."
• At Frankfurt book fair, only official China can show its face [NRC Handelsblad] "Censorship in China is the theme Dai Qing chose for her lecture in the margin of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, which opens on Wednesday. She was supposed to have been an official guest of the book fair, which this year has chosen literary China as its main theme. But Dai Qing, who is well-known outside China for her campaigns against political repression and costly projects like the Three Gorges Dam, is not welcome at the official event."
• Xinhua vs Financial Times [Danwei] "Two headlines from the home pages of The Financial Times and Xinhua, two ways of looking at the world. The Financial Times: US hardens stance on renminbi rigidity; Xinhua: China not currency manipulator: U.S. government"

Déjà vu all over again? Here it is once more, Shanghaiist's nearly quarterly review the Douban book Top Ten List: Annie Baby - "Sunian Jinshi" (Beijing-based author, photographer and blogger who writes about love and self-exploration in the big city.) JK Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (Official Chinese version, published by the People's Literature Publishing House.) Markus Zusak - "The Book Thief" (Australian author of Austrian-German heritage writes a WWII book... more ›

One of our favorite Chinese sites seems to have run afoul of the net nanny: vip.bokee.com has been on again off again, but perfectly viewable with a proxy. Using the proxy we saw an article about a list published in a Chengdu newspaper of the top-grossing authors in China, at least based on royalties from the sales of their books. At the top of the list was a Guo Jingming, a young author (born in... more ›

We had a good laugh when we saw this "patriotic" banner by Chinese blogger Xiucai ("秀才") which reads: "Joyfully welcome the 17th Party Congress, building a harmonious society together. Xiucai is a good comrade. This site has temporarily shut down comments and forum features." [h/t to Rebecca Mackinnon] more ›

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So a writer from The Gazette, a popular Montreal newspaper, was in China recently. And he was awed by the same things that most writers who haven't been to China recently are awed by: the shiny skyscrapers, the intoxicating energy, the pirated DVDs. But the writer's trip to China also coincided with the "most exciting Quebec election in decades," and he desperately wanted to follow the news from back home. And thanks to this thing called "the internet" he was able to ... in Beijing. In Shanghai, he claims, it was a different story. Here is a snippet from the story, entitled "Don't try reading The Gazette online in fashionable, ultra-modern Shanghai": more ›

Shanghaiist likes reading sciencey stuff. We are often seen browsing through the archives of Science Magazine, The Scientific American and New Scientist magazines akin to how your Mum might flick through weekly gossip rags like Who Weekly or OK! magazines. more ›

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. more ›

At least that's what celeb writer Yu Qiuyu (余秋雨) said at a recent public function. From Slate Indiaenews.com we found this report: more ›

The wearing of jammies in public: amongst people who have been in the city for less than 15 minutes, no issue has better served as a focal point for passion and vitriol. But what of the people who have been here longer? The so-called “lifers” who have lived in Shanghai for 16, 17 and, in some cases, 18 minutes? These have been eerily silent on the issue, avoiding it in public conversation, referring to the phenomenon only furtively from behind closed doors and in darkened back rooms. more ›

Here's how the organizer describes the Asia Blog Awards: more ›

Xinmin Wang (新民网) has an article on Chinabounder (in Chinese) that adds a few more puzzles to the story. It seems that the Oriental Morning Post (东方早报） has been getting leads and tips from the internet now claims to know the identity of Chinabounder. more ›

How many times have you found yourself sitting around your living room just itching to attend a local expo? Didn't think so. Well, for those out there who are interested, get those reading glasses ready. If the previously mentioned Sex Expo ("Sexpo"?) isn't quite your cup of naughty tea, then perhaps this might better suit your uptight needs. As reported last week in Shanghai Daily, the 2006 Shanghai Book Fair will be held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center (the former site of Jewish millionaire Silas Hardoon's Old Shanghai garden estate) from August 5 to 11. more ›

From Reuters: more ›

What do you do when you write a book about running a business in China, you get a book deal and then the publisher backs out at the last minute? Well, after shouting several bad words, you get the book published piecemeal until another publisher shows interest. And so Mark Kitto, one of the folks who started the whole That's Shanghai "magazine empire" back in the late 1990s, only to have it "stolen by the state" six years later, tells his tale in the April issue of Prospect: more ›

Shanghaiist received the same email press release about the new book Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer that Danwei and China Herald did. The book is written by Tom Doctoroff, Greater China CEO of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. And the press release includes a list -- “Twelve Facts About the Confucian Consumer” -- that was "compiled by JWT to coincide with" the release of the book. Are all Chinese consumers Confucian consumers (whatever that means)? Are all Chinese consumers the same? Of course not. But they, obviously, are different than your average Western consumer, and we believe Doctoroff is trying to explain to his (mostly Western) audience just how they are different. We are publishing JWT's list below. As Danwei said, some of the items "ring true." Others can, and should be, contested. We'd love to hear what you have to say about this list, especially our Chinese readers: more ›

That's Shanghai magazine is looking for two Senior Editors: more ›

It seems everyone, including UN health officials, are giving the Chinese government kudos in terms of embracing greater media transparency in avian flu reports. This new style of Chinese government was even lauded on US network news, where they noted that the Chinese, rather than trying to keep things hush-hush like with SARS, were now showing everything the government was doing with gusto, a reality TV show about the formerly corrupt and ineffective government that turned a corner and changed its ways. more ›

Yu Hua (余华) the author of To Live, a novel that was adapted by Zhang Yimou into a film, released his newest work of fiction in a decade this past July. Entitled Brothers (兄弟), this novel tells the story of a pair of (step) brothers and the trials and tribulations of childhood and adolescence in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. more ›

What is the deal with local magazines making drastic changes and leaving their readers in the dark? First it was 8 Days and its unannounced switch to SH Weekly. And now That's Shanghai -- in an unrelated move, we assume -- has given itself a facelift. The September issue has a new look and the cover is emblazoned with gold lettering proclaiming itself a "Collector's Edition." But inside the magazine Shanghaiist finds nary a word explaining to readers the thinking behind the redesign, no explanation about what makes this edition so collectible. And don't bother looking for insight on the magazine's website -- on Sept. 4, they still had an image of August's issue under the words "This Month's Magazine." It's a shame, really, because the new look is a big step in the right direction. While the content is mostly still the same, the magazine looks cleaner and classier now, and they've livened things up a bit with some well-placed color. more ›

Yes, that's all, folks. Local weekly English-language magazine 8 Days -- that band of merry castoffs from the pre-awful-website days of that's Shanghai -- has published its last issue. (Grab a copy, put it in a Ziploc bag, and then 10 years from now throw it away when you realize it will fetch absolutely nothing on eBay.) 8 Days, which launched less than nine months ago, is disappearing with no formal announcement, no goodbye. Sure, rumors have been swirling for months and there were two pretty big hints on Thursday's cover -- headlines said columnists Tiffany and Mel were getting the axe. Although, to be fair, those moves could have easily been mistaken for sound editorial decisions. more ›

There are few working filmmakers today so near and dear to the art house film crowd as Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai ( 王家卫 or Wang Jia Wei in Mandarin pinyin). For those who enjoy Wong's poetic (he often collaborates with noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle) and elliptical (Wong shoots scriptless, relying on the flexibility of actors' improvisations and moments of inspiration) films, Wong is one of the world's most original directors, an auteur of the first rank. more ›

UPDATE: Chinese government: Sister Hibiscus "must be disappeared"! more ›