So much for those "Good Samaritan" laowai. Footage of a British tourist sexually assaulting a Chinese woman in a Beijing public scene hit the Web this week, igniting a firestorm of anti-Laowai hysteria in the Weibo-sphere and beyond. more ›

Well, slug us with a sideways shovel six ways from Sunday! Youku and Tudou have just announced that they will be merging into a single company today, in an agreement that would see the two companies engage in a 100 percent stock-for-stock transaction. The marriage between the two online video giants results in a new (and unimaginatively titled) entity called Youku Tudou Inc. The move means netizens in China now have a single web destination that combines a huge cache of content, licensed, unlicensed, amateur and otherwise. more ›

“Youku think they can live on free traffic without paying for the content,” said Tudou CEO Gary Wang in a statement, “and they are trying to hide the fact that they are actually not as competitive as they pretend to be.” more ›

The latest in original content from Youku comes in the form of 'Happy 59 Centimeters' (幸福59厘米), a 47-minute dark comedy about Little Ma, a Beijing musician with a bed-wetting problem looking for that one girl in a million. Features some pretty excellent English subtitles from the Youku team, as well as some genuinely giggle-worthy moments like an inner dialogue with Spiderman and a diaper suicide. more ›

Every now and then, having a Chinese IP address actually works out in our favor. We thought we'd point out that the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards is currently available for streaming in its entirety on Youku! The popularity contest took place at L.A.'s Nokia Theatre on Sunday night, and garnered the highest ever ratings in the show's history. A who's who of the world's most distributed artists were on hand, including Lady Gaga showing off as her skeezy Tony Clifton-esque persona Jo Calderone, performing a rendition of Yoü and I with Brian May of Queen. Later, Gaga/Calderone nearly kissed Britney "I'm Still Here!" Spears when presenting the former princess of teen-pop with a Video Vanguard Award. If you want your fill of pregnant Beyonce, Kanye and Jay-Z duets and Amy Winehouse tributes, click here now! NOTE: Due to licensing issues, the video is available only for those physically or virtually in mainland China. more ›

Apparently there are entire chopsticks gangs running around busy Chinese streets, preying on pedestrians ripe for the plucking! Who knows the necessary extent of kuaizi dexterity one must weld to pull metal and plastic from unsuspecting pockets, but these guys are clearly cashing out on their insane skills. more ›

"Are you post-80s? Are you bored?" Then the latest music video from the Shanghai Soundtrack duo is for you. more ›

After releasing uber popular original short "Old Boys" last year, Youku seems to have done it again with their new short "The Ultimate Winner" (赢家, yíngjiā). Uploaded only three days ago, it has drawn millions of views and thousands of comments. Props to Youku for uploading it with English subtitles (bumbling translations at times, but they'll do.) more ›

On March 19 at approximately 3.40pm, a red helicopter landed on the field in the south campus of Dezhou University in Shandong province. Lots of bemused students watched as a female student boarded the helicopter and flew away. This video, taken by a student at the university on his mobile phone, gained 320,000 views within the first three hours of its appearance on Youku.
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This video, supposedly of an extraterrestrial spotted by a cameraman in Hong Kong, has racked up 2.5 million views over the past week on Youku. Can't imagine how this made it into an actual news broadcast. It looks like somebody's bad attempt at a viral marketing campaign. Except that somehow it's totally successful, and Chinese net users are eating it up -- 'extraterrestrial' (外星人, wàixīngrén) is now one of the top 20 trending terms on Sina Weibo. more ›

Check out this supposedly record-breaking clip that's trending on Youku right now, entitled "Kung Fu Iron Fist." It's been posted multiple times, each posting drawing hundreds of thousands of hits and hundreds of comments (mostly speculation as to the type and authenticity of the bricks.) The guy counting says 37, but I only counted 36... more ›

Back in November 2010, the government said it would ban any form of trading and supplying of unauthorized foreign TV shows. We heard that, said "Yeah, okay" and then went back to watching the new season of Mad Men on Tudou.com because well, if it was gonna be anything like the smoking ban, then we'd have nothing to worry about, right? more ›

True love exists! It really does! Maybe not in Shanghai, but in a smaller city not far from here -- Suzhou. more ›

Youku has created a site covering Monday's fire and the aftermath. Unfortunately, the site appears to have become more like an official media mouthpiece: the only videos being uploaded to the page are either news broadcasts or home videos from a distance, most of them simply reshuffling the same footage. We found that almost any Youku video uploaded by eye witnesses has been removed (when searching for 'Shanghai Fire' - 上海大火 - all top results failed to load properly.) Anyway, here are a few clips covering different angles of the day:
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Wave farewell to the Shanghai World Expo without much sorrow, because our very own Shanghai Disneyland is expected to start construction in November 2010. Overseen by the Shanghai Shendi Shendi Group corporation, the park will be developed alongside many other facilities such as film studios, arts and media areas, a book-publishing hub and other attractions. The Disney madness has only just begun, with Youku, China's largest video hosting site, joining forces with Disney to stream some of the studio's TV shows. So put on your headphones, because a dose of Desperate Housewives isn't the worst way to drown out the construction clang out over Pudong. more ›

China Hush has featured this short video of the average Chinese factory workers counting and assembling decks of cards at what can only be describes as the speed of a madman. Notice the young chap in grey can complete the task while focusing squarely on the camera. Watch the clip in full above, and expect a headache. more ›

We're not exactly who's behind these literal English translations of Chinese songs, but they seem to have gained quite a following! Youku user Ouzi (欧子, which could be literally translated into "Euro kid") has 27 videos of literal translations up on his page. The most recent one, about Chinese children's songs, was published 8 hours ago but has already garnered over 20,000 hits. more ›

It seems that the severely inflated housing market has spawned a lot of recent creativity. From the popular soap opera about the scandalous things people to for real estate to the lonely bachelor who pitched a tent on the subway to protest high prices (and the effect it has on his love life), people have been finding artistic expressions for the toll exacted on society by high property values and crippling mortgages. The latest expression is the craftily catchy "Happy Lane" by Beijing folk singer Chuan Zi. While he might be a little wanting in his singing capacity, the intensity he brings makes up for it in spades. more ›

So Haibao's been taking some dance lessons, and it looks like he's learned a lot. I mean, look at him: the precocious little guy's even figured out how to breakdance. The video above is originally from the Expo's website, and bears the awkward name of "Haibao Hip Hop 1." But the two step isn't all he's learned: he's added flying handspins and disco-esque splits to his repertoire, not to mention flying! more ›

Whoa: in an unprecedented move for a Chinese company, Youku announced their new copyright identification management platform on their blog today. Needless to say, Youku is the first Chinese company to attempt regulation of intellectual property rights on the internet. We know China's always "cracking down" on copyright infringement, or at least talking about it (remember the Expo IPR expo?), but this looks like the most legitimate attempt to enforce intellectual property rights we've seen yet. more ›

• The best way to show how hot the earth will be (thanks to global warming)? Strip off your pants in public. 20 people did just that in Guangdong. [Treehugger]
• Xinjiang is continuing to lift communications restrictions, including on international calls and *gasp* the internet? [Xinhua]
• Exactly how much have officials swindled out of China? It's hard to say, but a 2004 study places it at $50 billion USD. And this is before the stimulus. No wonder Beijing keeps on holding corruption conferences. [China Media Project]

Is it just us, or does it seem like China's just blocking websites for fun now? Just when we thought that the National Day security crackdown had passed us by without (much) damage, we wake up today to find our favorite video sharing website that isn't blocked in China, Vimeo, is now...blocked. O, China, how will we find viral videos that aren't on Youku or Tudou now? At least you've got some good options for leaping over the GFW. more ›

In our new Threesday feature, Shanghaiist takes the time to count out three of well... whatever catches their fancy that week. This week: Three Emmy-winning shows that you can stream from the Chinese internet. more ›

We can't seem to find any info on this kid (the video summary didn't offer much). But man does he know some great yo yo tricks! Ah, yo yo tricks! Doesn't that remind you of the 1990s? How nostalgic! more ›

So Linkin Park is performing this Saturday, August 15, at Shanghai Stadium (if this news somehow caught you by surprise, you can still buy tickets either at the Shanghai culture site or on mypiao, which lets you choose your seat) and as little as we personally appreciate their music, we did want to point out the excellent job they've been doing warming up their Chinese fans. more ›

• '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."

The title says it all: some guy is riding a scooter with a watermelon balanced on his head. Chinasmack has translated some of the Youku comments for us, but most of them are just people amazed that a guy is riding a scooter with a watermelon balanced on his head. Did you hear that? A GUY IS RIDING A SCOOTER WITH A WATERMELON BALANCED ON HIS HEAD. more ›

So not only is Wonder Girl's song "Nobody" a phenomenon here - we've seen it performed by groups of high school students and lonely androgynous chubsters, it's apparently loved everywhere! What is it about this catchy Korean tune that makes it so no one, no matter where they are, can stop humming/dancing to it? more ›

It's May, which means that we're about to see a slew of Sichuan Earthquake-related tributes to commemorate the one year anniversary of the terrible disaster. Right now, one of the most popular videos on Youku is of a sand artist drawing images related to Wenchuan. more ›

We've been told by some of our more avid TV-watching Chinese friends that the best way to win a super star competition in this country is to be curiously androgynous. In that case, get this kid a contract now! We haven't heard his singing voice, but his dancing has already beat half the competition. Also loving: his choice in music. Nothing like the Wonder Girls' Nobody But You to brighten up your mid-day. more ›