I just stumbled across a new Web site dishing out answers to all your China legal questions - for free!
The rather IM-ishly named 15minutes4u.com believes that most legal questions us foreigners have about China could be answered in under 15 minutes of a legal professional’s time and they are striving to deliver just such advice - and did I mention it’s free?
The questions are answered by “a group of experienced legal professionals practiced or law students studied in China, US or other jurisdictions.” [sic - because I can't really make sense of it]. Questions seem to range from the expected trade/business law queries to advice for ESL teachers done wrong.
I remember back at the turn of the century, as I was just getting out of college and heading into a job at a music magazine, thinking how depressing the music scene was. As a highschooler growing up in the early-mid 90s indie scene, it was depressing to see the majority of listeners having turned to pre-fab crap sung by no-talent tarts.
But then in a blink of an eye the music was back (with a disproportionate number of “the” bands - The White Stripes, The Hives, The Strokes, The Vines, The Music, The Killers) and life was good.
And what’s the reasoning for this useless anecdote? To illustrate that all good …
The Story
Pastor/Professor Eddie Romero came to Beijing to “speak for those who can’t speak for themselves,” i.e. imprisoned dissidents Hu Jia or Shi Tao and others. He did some guerilla mural painting in a few Beijing hotel rooms, which is pretty ballsy for sure. Check out one of his videos below. Lets be thankful that he’s Christian, otherwise he might have had dynamite strapped to his chest.
Well, they’re over. With the barbarian hordes headed home and 1.3 billion Chinese looking around asking “what now?” - here are a couple links to some amazing moments captured on film during the course of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The first is a slick collection from the New York Times complete with a bit of audio commentary, the second is a random collection of Olympic images (warning butts and boobies abound) from the Games.
If ever an argument needed to be made for watching less TV, the groups of Western “Free Tibet” protesters that have snuck in to China are it.
There’s a four-page article running on the Washington Post’s site which explains in detail the mission of a group funded by Students for a Free Tibet (cue Mission Impossible music - or that 24 countdown tone).
I mean, I respect that these folks want to stand up for a cause they feel is very important. I admire that they travelled to an unknown land and risked unknown punishments to try and get their voice heard - but it’s hard to read about their …
To the jaw-dropping disappointment of all 1.3 billion Chinese watching the Olympics - Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110m hurdles just minutes ago. An injury to his hamstring has been plaguing Liu for weeks, but he was hopeful he would be able to compete. It would be little surprise if he or his couch calculated it was better to not compete at all than to compete and fail in front of an entire nation that had pinned their Olympic hopes on him.
This week’s photo comes from famed Lost Laowai commenter Matthew J. Stinson - who is evidently quite handy with a camera as well as words. I know there are plenty of “purists” out there who disagree with HDR photos, but I love ‘em. I particularly like this shot as it looks like it could be from a dark graphic novel.
The streets are clean, the people are smiling, the transportation is free and the staff is able and willing to answer any and all questions. Is this Beijing or Disneyland?
The city cannot be compared to any other city in Mainland China. All construction has stopped for the games which not only helps eliminate some dust in the air but more importantly cleans up the noise pollution of drills and jack hammers that has become part of daily life in China.
In “Should we give China a break?“, the Washington Post’s John Pomfret explains why maybe, just maybe, we need to lighten up a bit on China. The blog post rightly criticizes two recent pieces that appeared in the NY Times and Washington Post and that rather unabashedly attempt to paint China with a single stroke. Pomfret reminds his compatriots that they’re talking out of their ass. I say good on ‘em.
Floating around on the internet right now is a rare example of Chinese self-deprecating humor. It’s a parody of the Beijing Welcomes You song, which makes fun of the poor performance of the Chinese men’s soccer team. It’s called 国足欢迎你 or the National Soccer team Welcomes You, and particularly funny is how they take “our door is open” and turn it into “our goal is wide open.” Even the infamous and incredibly annoying Furong Jiejie has joined the fun.
There’s a certain admirable maturity in being able to laugh about your misfortunes, and I think whoever wrote this song should be bought a few beers. Something to catch his falling tears at least. I don’t suppose I can say much else about this, as Canada’s men’s soccer team is even worse… Hell, we don’t even have a medal yet.
Here’s a video of the song with the lyrics below.
Subscribe to our feed