Drawing from narratives straight from the socialites and journalists of the time, Field painted a vivid picture of the cabaret-and-ballroom-filled world of 1930's Shanghai, complete with jazz,"taxi girls," (beautiful women hired to entertain paying customers at the presentation of a ticket - hence, "taxi girls") and the powerful gangsters who loved them. Shanghai was the Chinese front for the jazz revolution. Guys like Whitey Smith and Buck Clayton (who went on the play for Count Basie) fused Chinese folk melodies to jazz beats, inducing young Chinese to swamp the dance halls.

Fun things we learned:

1. The extravagant Shanghai ballrooms, perhaps, were the antecedents of disco studios. One featured a floor made up of glass plates fitted over colored lights.

2. The Nationalist government banned cabarets in 1927, but because Shanghai was divided up in foreign concessions and separate from Nationalist control, ballrooms and dancing halls continued to flourish in the city.

3. Shanghai-based gangster Big Eared Du ran the opium trade, owned the police, worked with the Nationalist government, and loved dance halls. When he entered a venue, he was "like the pope." Why aren't there 1000 Martin Scorsese films about him already?!

Separate from its historical context, though, the first-hand accounts described the exhilaration of late nights, heavy drinking, beautiful girls (Chinese and otherwise), and finding the best music amongst the 23-or-so venues around the city. It struck us as a very familiar story.

So, next time you go on a late night bender in Shanghai -- remember -- you are following the finest of traditions that characterized the city and revolutionized its culture.

And if you haven't been to SILF, what are you waiting for?!

Here's one option: Joining some lovely folks for a nice candlelit Earth Hour dinner. BEAN Shanghai is heading to Pomodoro Bistrot, a newly opened Italian restaurant, to dine in the dark and they want some of you to join them. They'll be turning off the lights from 8:30 to 9:30pm, the same time as the Jin Mao Tower, the Bund and other usually well-lit locations in Shanghai. A dinner will cost 120RMB for a three course meal and two glasses of wine.

Besides the BEAN folks, you'll also get to meet Daniel d'Andrea, the person who brought Earth Hour to Shanghai three years ago.

Reservations are a MUST since there's only room for 50. Email beanearthhour (@) gmail (.) com and head over to BEAN's website for more information.

The picture is from Earth Hour 2009

On the south side of the street, two stores were open. Approaching one, we saw a few disappointed expats emerge empty-handed. The store, usually bright and bustling, was dim, empty (except for us), and operating with half its original floor space (the other half, unseen behind a hastily erected partition, presumably contained the contraband items). Old, dusty but legit films lined the shelves. Seeing my disappointment, the girl at the counter told me to come back around 7 or 8 p.m., when they would bring out the good stuff. "The Expo cops come often. We can only bring out the DVDs in the evening." I asked why they dared to do that when inspections have been stepped up. "Because that's when they are off work."

As soon as we stepped into the next open store, which featured the same dusty but legit DVDs, the guys in charge told me to "come back tomorrow - we have a shipment of new movies coming in." How often is the street checked, I wondered. "Almost every day, but only at certain times. We can guess when they won't come. We still sell." As we left, he reminded us to come back the day next for "a better selection."

The DVD stores across the street, not as lucky or enterprising as their competitors, seemed closed for good, with curtains pulled and doors double/triple locked. Neighboring businesses told us that the stores had just recently shut down thanks to "Expo inspections, orders from Beijing," and that they had no idea if they would reopen.

So there you have it - the Dagu Lu DVD strip lives on, barely. You can still get your shanzhai DVD fix there, but it will take some work. We'll miss the stores as they were, especially the proud 'Even Better Than Movie World.' Whatever your stance is on pirated DVDs and copyrights, the fact is they had an excellent variety of international and regional movies to fill our film-starved souls, stuff we wouldn't have gotten otherwise in China.

• We don't know what's worse: listening to one of China's richest women bitch about the impending burst of the bubble who made her that way, or her escalating her hustle of overvalued real estate the midst of said burst. Actually, we're voting for the picture of her smiling and standing like Shirley Temple next to statue of a cartoon Deng Xiaoping.[Forbes]
• The USA's annual Human Rights Report has, as expected, taken aim at China's admittedly less-than-stellar record in the arena. But we were more taken by the eighth line of the report: "Widespread violent crimes in the United States posed threats to the lives, properties and personal security of its people. [The Wall Street Journal's China RealTime Report]

• Not only is free media (generally) not allowed or recommended in China, it isn't tolerated! Hubei's provincial governor obviously wasn't having a good day last week when he literally threatened a reporter for asking him what appeared to be a harmless question. [Global Voices Online]
• It's been revealed that China make actually be substantially helping impoverished African nations reduce their poverty - as a means of helping itself. Seem underhanded? Maybe. But consider that our nation has decreased it's poverty rate from over 50 to under ten percent in just twenty years. Where there's a will, and all that jazz. [The China Beat]
• The Chinese government is so shady that it doesn't even directly reform its new recruits of their recruitment. Among other cases, a Peking University professor recently learned he'd been tapped to sit on one of the nation's "top political advisory body" learned of this while watching a television news report. [Global Times]
• Shanghai may have provided refuges to Jews fleeing Europe during World War II, but that doesn't mean China's got Israel's back. As Israeli develops unveil plans to build more than 100 Jewish apartments in East Jerusalem and 1000 homes in the West Bank, our government's stance couldn't be clearer: "China urges the Israeli side to immediately stop building the Jewish settlements and make real efforts to revive the talks." [People's Daily Online]
• What's the best way to sidestep being corralled into the reporter's area at your next press event? Well, having a vagina seems to be a good start. In addition to the benefits provided by being female and at least somewhat attractive, it's apparently also adviseable that you grope the man you'd like to interview as he walks by. [Global Times]

Photo: [Eddie Awad's Photostream]

This weekend is the weekend for bookworms and art buffs, as both the Shanghai International Literary Festival and the JUE Art + Music Festival will be vying for your attention. For the night owls, though, the weekend's evenings are particularly packed with some amazing live music sets. Be sure to check our Calendar for more info.

FRIDAY

Today is the start of the JUE festival, a showcase of music and art in Beijing and Shanghai in full swing 'til 29th March. There are over seventy events to choose from, click here for the full JUE schedule.

The Shelter is spoiling us again: the legendary 'John Coltrane of hip hop' DJ Vadim is bringing his mood shifting, universal sounds to the club tonight. He'll be sharing the stage with street-sassy MC Yarah Bravo. Expect a big one.
50RMB cover.
The Shelter, 5 Yongfu Lu near Fuxing Xi Lu, 永福路5号

A new club, Node Lounge, soft opens at Red Town tonight. Chic atmosphere and free booze between 9pm and midnight? Sign us up!
A2-101, 570 Huaihai Xi Lu, near Hongqiao Lu, 请带我去淮海西路570号A2-101, 近虹桥路

SATURDAY

As we wrote earlier this week, the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Shanghai is the (free!) pinnacle of Irish Week. Get in the festive mood and join at Fuxing Park. We can only hope today's sunshine will follow us there.
10:30am to 1pm Fuxing Park and Yandang Lu, Luwan District （复兴公园进雁荡路）

The Lit Fest will be continuing its successful run this weekend. The following are a couple of sessions not to be missed:

If you enjoyed Paul French's slides of the dirty decadence of old Shanghai, then Andrew Field's discussion of cabarets, nightclubs and ballrooms will surely please. Field will also look at how, and why, Shanghai society adopted this westernized entertainment to suit themselves in an era when Chinese national identity was being forged.
RMB 65, tickets available from www.mypiao.com
11am - 12pm, The Glamour Bar, 6/F, Five on the Bund, 20 Guangdong Lu,near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. 广东路20号，外滩五号6楼，近中山东一路.

At 3pm, Tess Johnston will be discussing her memoir, From Berlin to Shanghai in Half a Century. Be prepared for a ride through the Cold War in East and West Berlin, Vietnam, Laos, Tehran between revolutions, and finally, nearly three tranquil decades in Shanghai.
RMB 65, tickets available from www.mypiao.com
3pm - 4pm, The Glamour Bar, 6/F, Five on the Bund, 20 Guangdong Lu,near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. 广东路20号，外滩五号6楼，近中山东一路

2009 Man Asia Literary Prize winner Su Tong explores the themes of inspiration, memory and childhood in this afternoon session. Moderated by Didi Kirsten Tatlow with interpretation by Tina Chou.
RMB 65, tickets available from www.mypiao.com
5pm - 6pm, The Glamour Bar, 6/F, Five on the Bund, 20 Guangdong Lu,near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. 广东路20号，外滩五号6楼，近中山东一路

One JUE event that caught our eye was 'The Light of Day', Beijing-based Han Lei's first solo exhibition in Shanghai since 2004. Expect new works and pieces from his acclaimed Portraits and Pagodas series.
m97 Gallery, 2/F, 97 Moganshan Lu. 请带我去莫干山路97号2楼 （中文版请看下面）

SUNDAY

Not sick of the Lit Fest? Then check out 'Why You’ve Probably Never Heard of Me (and other Filipino Writers)', a talk by leading Filipino author Jose Dalisay. Dalisay will explore why the Philippines remains a literary blur to most readers around the world.
RMB 65, tickets available from www.mypiao.com
3pm - 4pm, The Glamour Bar, 6/F, Five on the Bund, 20 Guangdong Lu,near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. 广东路20号，外滩五号6楼，近中山东一路

For the curious art buffs, JUE will be hosting a workshop entitled 'The Art of Seeing: Decoding Chinese Contemporary Art' at OV Gallery. There are three art appreciation classes, each costing 300 RMB, or 850 RMB for all three. The price includes dinner at a nearby eatery from 7-9pm.
Workshops: 5-7pm. Workshops + Dinner: 5-9pm.
19C Shaoxing Lu, 请带我去绍兴路19号 近陕西南路

If JUE and Lit Fest don't sway you, tonight is the last chance to see Jin Xing Dance Theater's modern dance show entitled Made in China - Return of the Soul.
Email jinxingdancetheatre@yahoo.com or the Shanghai Grand Theatre box office for tickets and more information. Tickets range from 50RMB to 380RMB
7.15pm - 9.45pm. Shanghai Grand Theatre, 300 Renmin Da Dao, People's Square, near Huangpi Bei Lu, 人民大道300号 近黄陂北路

According to the Times, the owners of the zoo ran out of money and fed the predators just one or two chicken carcasses a day over the past few weeks:

Six of the tigers died recently on a single day at the privately owned Iceberg Animal Zoo in Shenyang, the Liaoshen Evening News reported.

The animals had been confined in small, wet cages, it said...

A zoo official said: “The zoo is in a financial crisis and we haven’t been able to provide the tigers with sufficient food for the last two years. An adult tiger eats about 20lb of meat a day, but the tigers here can barely get a chicken to quench their hunger every one or two days.”

The zoo first claimed that the eleven tigers, who had died over the past three months, were victims of China Daily:

"Many privately-owned zoos were under financial pressure, and most of them fail to feed the animals well," said Liu...

As for regulating the privately-owned zoos, there were legal loopholes which made enforcement of the regulations impossible, said Liu.

"Wild Animal Protection Law" does not provide for any punishment for irresponsible zoo owners who abuse the animals.

In addition, "Property Law" stipulates that zoo owners have the right to keep animals and animal protection authorities have no right to interfere, said Liu.

Which means that until someone or something addresses these abuses, we're probably going to hear even more about tiger deaths as the year drags on. After all, Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo still has a good 20 Siberians left. It's funny - earlier, we discussed the threat against wild tigers, who knew that the captured ones were in just as much trouble?

This is the first nationwide survey of youth attitudes towards Chinese environmental issues and awareness, conducted as part of MaGiC (Made GREEN in China), a Greenovate initiative encouraging the development of greener products and lifestyles in China. Divided between in-depth interviews in Shanghai and an online survey of over 400 students and young professionals across China (72% of whom were based outside Shanghai), the organizations aimed to discover what defines a modern quality of life for China's young, as well as attitudes towards green products and brands. As enovate said:

when asked to select the quality of life factors that are most important in their lives, personal health and education were most often chosen by Chinese youth. (...) Owning a personal automobile and living a big city - though common goals of China’s mass youth population - were ranked the least important among China’s leading progressive and socially aware youth.

Besides this, participants also demanded greater transparency among green bands. The survey found 58% of participants had verified green product claims online and spoken of a lack of easy indicators of which products were truly 'green'. As a result, enovate predicts that brands will face more "pressure to align with relevant youth causes, especially those that address China’s ongoing environmental issues."

For enovate, this meant that the views of China's youth have shifted "to a more idealistic, attainable, and personally beneficial lifestyle, rather than one that is fast-paced and spendthrift with the goal of improving material wealth." Based on this conclusion, then, we can only assume a sizeable portion of the participants belonged to this group we covered earlier in the week.

Chinese won't be a pure language in a couple of years (...) In the long run, Chinese will lose its role as an independent linguistic system for passing on information and expressing human feelings.

In his defense, Huang went on to say that English newspapers (we assume those published in China...) rarely carry Chinese characters, relying instead on pinyin. But, as Stan Abrams from China Divide says, pinyin is not really English. Yes, they share the same Roman script, but otherwise it is simply another way of expressing the Chinese language (albeit, Abrams admits, without doing justice to its artistic nature).

Besides, as Abrams says, acronyms are convenient, a luxury that's pretty difficult to argue against in this day and age:

It makes sense to use “WTO,” three keystrokes, instead of “世界贸易组织,” six keystrokes (actually more than six, once you factor in a menu-driven Chinese character input system). We’re all busy, Mr. Huang, give us a break here!

But for Huang, the issue was a non-negotiable:

Some of our people mistake using foreign words as being open minded and international. I don't think so. Instead, we should have confidence in our own language. You cannot expect others to respect you unless you respect yourself first. So, too, your language.

We're not entirely sold on this correlation between speaking your country's language and confidence. But Huang is not alone on this one. Cai Jianfen, editor-in-chief of the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, has also expressed concern over the 'impurity' facing the Chinese language:

I understand the worry that cultures and languages would be assimilated with globalization going on, which is already happening, yet I believe that people in general, or even writers, should be given more freedom to make their own choices. (...) It might be controversial, but language is alive. The Chinese we use today is a product of historical development and assimilation. We should trust the vitality of it.

So, if Chinese is on a collision course to obliteration, what is to be done? Huang came up with three answers:

1. All documents and speeches of top government officials should be written in pure Chinese, without the use of GDP, WTO or CPI.
2. A law or regulation should be made as a guideline for the use of foreign words in publications.
3. A national translation committee should be organized to translate foreign names and technical terms, which can then be published on a website.

Hmmm. Perhaps China has more pressing issues to deal with rather than legally regulating the use of foreign words in publications. Besides, what would these guidelines even contain? Huang needs a gentle reminder that languages evolve and change. And it will take a little more than 'CEO' to taint the 'purity' of Chinese.

This multimedia work combines contemporary dance and visual art and is performed to a tailor-made musical score. It is not a new production - the act had its world premiere three years ago and is now back in Shanghai. But this is not the first time Jin Xing has reused old material, lucky for those of us who didn't have the opportunity to attend the original performances.

The creation originates from the Chinese kunqu opera The Peony Pavilion and its leading character Du Liniang. Jin Xing has taken the opera's central scene Dream in the Garden (You Yuan Jing Meng) - to reflect the reality of urban society in China today.

"Made in China" is the label of millions of products coming from the world´s biggest factory. Behind this label and in the factory people are heavily pressured by the dynamic rhythm of modern life. The idea of pure and romantic love slowly fades out from reality. But the dream of love still exists as subjective reality of millions of men and women, a reality outside of this urban world where the people can live their loves and desires.

The piece contrasts the abstraction of metropolitan life with the fragile individual fate of Du Liniang yearning for love, longing for the dreams to come true.

Jin Xing and her company have had a quite hectic schedule lately: in October last year, Jin Xing put together the fourth round of Shanghai Dance, a festival visited by highly acclaimed international dance troupes and performers. Last month she gave the melodious and esthetically thrilling Shanghai Beauty at the Shanghai Centre Theatre. Just two weeks ago the troupe managed to squeeze in a trip to Australia, where they were the first private Chinese dance company to take part in the Adelaide Festival, where "the four evenings were full house, sold out and great" according to a Radio Australia interview with Jin Xing.

And so, this weekend feet will work the floor and legs will swirl the air again. Sore muscles anyone?

1. China has been looking into a new guideline that will make it much easier to rescue teenage girls from the clutches of human traffickers - which will in turn lead to a 100% reduction in the possibility of incidents where a dad in China goes all Liam Neeson in Taken.

The new guideline will help "speed up the investigation and filing of cases involving girls between 14 and 18, who often fall through the cracks of anti-trafficking legislation," says China Daily.

What was wrong with the rules before? Seems like missing girls younger fall under the anti-trafficking law for children, but many feel the anti-trafficking law for women only relates to those older than 18. Those in between get kind of screwed.

2. Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have women in Space! China's newest generation of astronauts have been selected and two of the seven are women! While the identities of the two new astronautettes haven't been revealed, people suspect they may have been chosen from five Shandong Province girls out of the 15 possible female choices. Says China.org.cn:

Wang Yaping from Yantai City flew rescue missions during the Sichuan earthquake, and rain reduction missions for the Beijing Olympics. Xing Lei is the only straight-A student in the Air Force Academy, and Liu Lu is a skilled pilot who also studies literature and is an expert on the Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions. Cao Yanyan comes from an air force family. Her husband and mother-in-law are both pilots. Sun Jing lives for her flying.

Ok, some of those seem a little forced. But how exciting is it that the nation's first Sally Rides are about to take off?

3. It turns out that half the world's self-made lady billionaires procured their fortunes on the mainland. That's seven out of 14! That means they make up about 5% of the billionaire population, since according to the Hurun Rich list, there's about 130 in the country altogether. If you count it by Forbes standards, there's only 79 in China.

While it's a little sad that there are only 14 female billionaires on the planet, how cool is it that women are so able to pull ahead economically here? In comparison, the United States has 360 (by Forbes standards). Even if the rest of the world's female billionaires were from the States, that'd still be a pretty depressing ratio.

The seven and what they made their fortunes in: Wu Yajun (real estate), Xiu Li Hawken (shopping centers), Chu Lam Yiu (runs flavorings company Huabao International), Zhang Xin (runs Soho China), Yan Cheung (paper), Chan Laiwa (real estate), and Lei Jufang (runs Tibet Cheezheng Tibetan Medicine)

Created by Taiwan-based animator Ou-Bao Tsai, this haunting digital short was shown at last year's "Taiwan's New Generation of Art" exhibition at the Shanghai Art Museum and the 2009 Prix Ars Electronica festival.

As is the way, China will probably be expressing its discontent about the nominees soon enough - though I'm quite curious to see whether they end up issuing individual denouncements for each candidate they don't like... or if it'll come in just one sweeping "Hey Nobel people, quit it with all the dissident noms already." There's also the off chance that they've realized the winner seems more dependant on fame than any actual deeds (cough cough Obama cough cough Gore) so these China troublemakers will probably fade from view if the government just doesn't say anything... who knows?

Anyway, in case you were having trouble getting your dissidents straight, the nominees have been listed below:

Liu Xiaobo, from BBC News

Hu Jia

Picture of Chen Guangcheng from Under the Jacaranda Tree

Picture of Gao Zhisheng from Human Rights Watch

Picture of Bao Tong from Radio Free Asia

Rebiya Kadeer
Who is she: The leader of the World Uighur Congress, which either "represents the collective interest of the Uyghur people both in East Turkestan and abroad" or a terrorist organization with a separatist agenda, depending on who you ask.
Where is she now: Last we checked, she was in Washington D.C., where she's in exile. This makes her probably the most comfortably situated out of the people on this list. Not that we think that influences the Nobel Peace Prize committee's decision making process... but it's worth mentioning.
What did she do to hurt China: Instigated those riots last summer, of course. The Xinjiang riots killed hundreds and injured thousands, not to mention caused the entire region to undergo an internet block out that, to this day, hasn't been completely lifted. Sure, she denies her involvement and argues that it was supposed to be peaceful until someone came to muck it all up - but even her family doesn't believe that. Oh yeah, and thanks to her, Facebook's blocked in China.

Then again, considering what the USA Pavilion has turned into - maybe this is a tit for tat: a showing that China can also spend extravagant amounts of money to make something cheap and cluttered and boring... at their own event?

Photo from Adam Minter

By Claire Barco

Shanghaiist caught up with Eoin Murphy, President of Le Chéile, the Irish community organization of Shanghai. (Le Chéile is pronounced “Luh Kay-luh” and is Irish for “together”). We got the skinny on the all the craic that will be had this year. Read on below!

This is the fourth year for the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Shanghai. What will be different about this year?

Well, it’s grown over the last four years and we’re expecting this year to be our biggest yet with few thousand people. We have an impressive stage this year on Yandang Lu and the whole event will be very professional.

Who are the performers this year?

During the parade we have two marching bands from local international schools. One of them is over 90 people, so that should be impressive. Also we have some children that have been practicing traditional Irish dance, and they will be singing some songs as well.

There will be, as well, two Chinese dance troupes that have been learning Irish dance from the Riverdance DVDs. One is called Celtic Storm, and they actually trained with the Riverdance troupe when they were here in January. Bill Whelan himself was actually here, and he mentioned how impressed he was with these dancers’ enthusiasm to learn, even if all they had was a DVD when the started. The other troupe is from Fudan University. Now they have an exchange programme with UCD in Dublin. The students that go there definitely gain a huge appreciation for Irish culture, and it’s just a great example of how academic exchange can lead to cultural exchange.

As an organization Le Chéile is very proactive in promoting this kind of exchange so we’re very proud to provide an opportunity for these dancers and musicians to showcase their talent.

Also on the stage we’re lucky to have some traditional musicians flying in from Ireland. They are technically the most proficient artists you can find, so we’re very pleased that the Irish government sponsored their trip here.

I find some people don’t actually know much about real Irish culture. They think all the Irish do is lock themselves in the pub all day, but they aren’t aware that there is real tradition and culture to be found there.

Yeah, you know there’ s a big connection between Chinese music and Irish music. For example I was listening to a violin lesson my son was having with his tutor, and it was “Down the Sally Gardens”. The tutor told me it was a traditional Chinese folk song that all Chinese students learn when they’re first starting out on the violin, but it was in fact “Down the Sally Gardens”. So sometimes you will have something Irish that everybody knows, but nobody knows is actually from Ireland. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade offers an opportunity to showcase Irish talent and allows the Shanghai community to connect that talent, the music and dance, with Ireland itself, so people aren’t just listening to Enya in yoga classes thinking she’s American.

Who are some of the guests at the event?

Well, we have a piper from Newfoundland coming in to lead the parade. You know there are only two other places in the world that celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday. One is Montserrat in the Caribbean and the other is Newfoundland, so we’re very excited to have him.

In terms of VIPs we have a very senior Chinese official as the Grand Marshall who I can’t pre-announce, but you’ll see him wearing the green jacket. He has very strong ties to the Irish so we’re simply over the moon to have him. We have officials from other consulates as well, including the US consulate, Italian consulate, Swiss consulate, and Danish consulate.

We’re really developing a good buzz this year. It’s not just about Ireland, it’s about expressing Ireland’s, I suppose, appreciation of every nationality and trying to bring them together. I think St. Patrick’s parade is a unique event in that it’s now happening all over the world. You know, millions of people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and it’s a very cultural, peaceful and celebratory kind of event.

And it’s just good fun.

Absolutely. It’s good fun for everyone.

And what is it I saw about the dragons in the parade?

Yes, we have two dragons, Finbarr and Shamrock. They’re beautiful. They are Chinese dragons but they’re green, and they are absolutely gorgeous.

One thing I should mention is that our naming sponser is the Ireland Expo Pavillion, and that they will be providing a preview of the Ireland Pavilion. There will be a number of booths set up for the Expo there near the stage. Our other sponsers are Pepsi Co, Murphy’s Irish Stout, Tourism Ireland, and Bord Bía, which is the Ireland food board.

How long approximately will the parade take?

The parade itself starts sharply from Fuxing Park at 10:30, not 10:30 Irish time (which is anywhere from 10:30 to 12). It will take half an hour for it to reach Yandang Lu where there will be about 2 hours of performance on the stage.

What should Shanghaiist readers know about this St. Patrick’s Day parade?

We’re the only national group allowed to have a parade on Shanghai’s streets. No other national group is afforded that honor. And we would want ensure that the event is respectful that honor.

**(Note: This means don’t show up pissed and start a fight.)**

And we can guarantee that it will be a great family day out where everyone will feel included and will enjoy themselves.

Are there any other events around town for Ireland Week that would be of particular interest?

Well, the Shanghai International Literary Festival is showcasing a number of Irish poets this year. And on Friday night from 6 pm to 7 pm there will be an event for the musicians to get used to playing on the main on Yandang Lu that anyone is welcome to attend.

There’s also the St. Patrick’s Ball on Saturday night, which is the largest charity ball in Shanghai now in it’s sixth year. However, for this year the tickets sold out in about 10 minutes, so it’s the main event to be at.

For Americans, St. Patrick’s Day is a tradition. Every year, you go out to your local main street. There’s always the Leprechaun contest where the kids dress up. And last year in Dublin the parade just had so many American marching bands coming over from Texas and Nebraska. So with a St. Patrick’s Day parade you get not only Irish culture, but in a strange way American culture.

Yes, the parade in Dublin has really transformed into an international carnival, and that’s what we’re really trying to do here as well on a smaller scale. As we were telling some of the officials, you know every great city has a St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Shanghai is a great city. This parade is getting on to be the largest in Asia and we’re getting very enthusiastic about where we can take it next year.

So this Saturday morning get yourself moving and bring the children, or if you haven’t got any bring your mates that surely act like children, to this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. You can start on the pub after.

More photos on 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 (and here).

• Apparently, China's in the midst of a "golf boom," despite the percentage of our population who plays the game being negligible - and the fact that course construction has been officially banned since 2004, according to a story written by Shanghaiist founding editor Dan Washburn. Surprisingly, more than 400 new courses have popped up since then. Not so surprisingly, the government doesn't think twice about bulldozing multimillion dollar investments that are illegally built. [Slate]
• The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority has owned up to its bad RE: forced internment of Chinese immigrants by erecting a memorial to honor them. The chairman of the organization said he was "sorry the early immigrants [...] were denied their civil rights and denied a decent burial" but that he's "glad we're finally honoring them by righting the wrong." Well, half of the wrong, anyway. [The Los Angeles Times]
• In a surprising twist, it seems that China may end up the champion in one leg of its green energy marathon against the US: developing a "smart" power grid. China's advantages include a less-developed existing grid which is easier to modify without service interruptions and a strategery - less cute polar bears, more energy security - more aimed at winning the race than public support.[Solve Climate]
• Word on the street is that a forcible ban on eating dog and cat meat is still on the table, this time from Guangzhou, where city officials are engineering a facelift in advance of the upcoming Asian games. Specifics are still very similar to those we reported on in our last comment on the matter, but since then, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has weighed in that the matter could take "as long as a decade" to pass nationwide. [CNN]
• More than 50 people are missing after a landslide buries more than ten homes in Shaanxi province early this morning. 20 people have so far been rescued from the rubble and out of those still missing, eight have been confirmed dead. [Shanghai Daily]
• True or false? Premier Wen Jiabao said that "we must let the people criticize the government and monitor the government, giving full play to the supervisory role of news and public opinion, so that power is exercised in the full light of transparency!” [China Media Project]

Not only was the award-winning author’s scheduled participation in the Shanghai International Literary Festival canceled (as were his speaking engagements in both Beijing and Chengdu), but the 65-yeard-old Dessaix reported feeling “humiliated,” “insulted” and “snubbed” by China’s imposed ban against HIV-positive foreigners.

Apparently, his feelings are also shared by China’s citizens, as the recent incident has triggered a call for authorities to lift the two-decade-old HIV ban, which some argue as archaic and discriminatory. Li Dun, a professor at Tsinghua University Center for Study of Contemporary China, tells the China Global Times: “The restriction equals discrimination.”

The ban, which currently states that foreigners visiting China on a short-term basis must declare they are free of HIV and those who want to stay longer must undergo a blood test, was initially imposed in the late 1980’s after China reported its first AIDS case. Back then -- a time in which the spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS was largely unknown and widely feared -- the instituted ban seemingly made sense. But based on recent international health studies conducted by the World Health Organization, HIV should not be among the communicable diseases that disqualify a person from entering a country (among the diseases listed are active tuberculosis, infectious gonorrhea, syphilis and infectious leprosy).

Li states: "Historically speaking, confining people has proven to be ineffective, if not meaningless, in preventing the spread of this disease."

In October, the United States lifted its 22-year-old HIV travel ban on the platform that it was taking a step towards ending the stigma against people with HIV/AIDS -- a stigma that has stopped people from getting tested and, consequently, helped spread the disease. On January 1st, South Korea quickly followed suit by dropping its travel restrictions against HIV-positive foreigners. Among the countries that still have restrictions on entry, residence and length of stay for HIV sufferers are Cuba, Egypt, North Korea, Israel, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Iraq and Russia.

Despite its restrictions, China granted a waiver during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing that allowed people with HIV/AIDS to enter the country. Following this temporary reprieve, China Daily reported that the Ministry of Health was working with the government to finally lift the HIV ban once and for all. The goal? To have the ban eradicated by the May 1st World Expo in Shanghai. Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jeifu opined to China Daily: "I hope China will remove the ban thoroughly and forever by the time of the Shanghai Expo.”

Well, with less than 2-months to go until the Expo's début, Dessaix's recent Visa rejection only underscores that China may have a long way to go before it drops the ban "thoroughly and forever."

And while special visa waivers may be granted during the Expo to ensure "access for all," this concept is something people would simply like instituted all year-round.

Ballard, who passed away last year, was born in Shanghai in 1930 and is best known for "Empire of the Sun" - a work of autobiographical fiction that draws extensively on his childhood in the city's colonial era and his experiences during World War II. His old home at 31a Amherst Avenue (now 508 Panyu Lu, now a concrete block) was a mock Tudor mansion built by English architects in 1925, and featured prominently in his memories of Shanghai. It was a "magical" place where his family enjoyed the glamorous life of club receptions and horse-racing before the 1937 Japanese invasion led to their internment at Longhua Camp in the south of the city (now Shanghai Zhongxue).

Ballard's house has been a sort-of pilgrimage site for historians and fans. In 2008, Shanghaiist accompanied Canadian Rick McGrath on his search for Ballard's home and other places related to the author's boyhood experience in the city. This wasn't some impulsive, hurried trip on McGrath's part, but an extensively planned journey that involved years of correspondence with other Ballardians, and hard work compiling maps and satellite views of Ballard's Shanghai. The story of McGrath's trip, and photos of the house, are meticulously recorded on his website.

James Fallows also took a tour of Ballard's childhood home, which he recounts here.

The house that McGrath and Fallows both visited was, at that point, an upscale restaurant called SH508. The original structure of the house had been left intact, and the property listed as a heritage building. But when the restaurant's lease on the property expired by October last year, the house fell into the hands of rabid developers. While the house has not been torn down, it is now unrecognizable - according to Moore, it has been stripped down to its beams and rebuilt in concrete, while plans are afoot to add a fake front and increase floorspace. You can watch a video tour of the current cemented-over monstrosity on The Telegraph.

Photo by Dan Butterfield, November 2009. From www.jgballard.ca

And so the battle between preservation and development continues, the former seeming on the losing side. With every small victory, tens of cemented-over former architectural glories appear.

But what would J.G. Ballard himself have thought of the gutting of his former home? Judging from his letters to Rick McGrath, he might have been a little desensitized himself, and accepted it as the inevitable. While he was excited and immensely curious about his fans' journeys to his old Shanghai haunts, he wrote that "one would expect any city in the world to have changed virtually out of recognition in 40 years, and know that the emotional pickings from the nostalgia dish to be pretty meager". In response to McGrath's news that his home had become a restaurant, his seemingly flippant reply was "if it's a restaurant, let's hope it's a McDonald's or KFC". He also revealed that these trips into nostalgia felt a little "intrusive" due to the length of time gone by; "In an odd way it's quite reassuring that everything has changed so much -- the Shanghai I knew, along with 31 Amherst Avenue and Lunghua camp, only survive inside my head."

Reassuring it may have been to Ballard, but not to us. Perversely, perhaps his home should have been a McDonald's or KFC - maybe if it had been a hopping commercial fast food establishment, the house would have been spared its fate as a cement block.

Designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, 70% of the 2,000 seat venue is actually underground, making it the world's largest underground theater.

Say the architects:

The site will be developed as a new city park with a 2,000-seat theater as its centerpiece. The theater will be built primarily below ground with paths and water flowing around it. The fluid lines of the building and its roof are intended to unite the theater with its context and soften its impact on the park. At the center of the building's lobby is "the funnel," the building's most prominent and symbolic feature. The crystalline glass and steel funnel flows out of the roof (the sky) to the ground (the lobby floor) reinforcing the importance of water in the Chinese culture and the development of Shanghai.

They're also adapting and reusing six historic buildings - which, considering the recent spate of bad architectural news we've been hearing, makes me giggle with glee. Speaking of historic, China Travel dug up some history on the area:

In 1928, a dog-racing stadium was built on the site, financed principally by Henry Morris, proprietor of the North China Daily News, whose family estate (now the Ruijin hotel) stood a short way to the east. The Shanghai Canidrome, could seat some 50,000 spectators and was a huge hit with the city's foreign population, who came to gamble, drink and dance in the stadium's ballroom, which featured performances from the likes of Buck Clayton.

Go over to their site to read more (and see more pictures). Frankly, the only way I could be happier with this design is if they told me I would absolutely be able to picnic on the grass.

That's right, not only did you already learn about the chance to win a ticket to Free The Wax earlier today, now you can also be one of two readers that gets to go to Le Castlevania, playing at Not Me, for the nice price of 0 RMB. Who is Le Castlevania - only an amazing indie-electro act who's played alongside Justice, MSTRKRFT and The Presets. Listen to his music here and we've even got a link to a free MP3. He's at the top of our playlists.

And if you think you want him to be at the top of yours, all you have to do is email "I Love Le Castlevania" to contest.giveaway (@) shanghaiist (.) com. The first two readers to email us there will get the tickets, which will be held for you at the door. Only one ticket per email though, guys - otherwise it'd be pretty unfair, eh?

The rest of our music picks below! For other non-music related things to do this week, check out our Pencil This In (out every Monday!)

WEDNESDAY

Take this uncrowded Wednesday as a chance to check out The Shelter's Swap Meet, a weekly night devoted to chill. Enjoy cheap drinks and sets by fave local DJs, art installations, and video games on the club projector. Get your Street Fighter on.

9 PM- 3 AM. The Shelter, 5 Yongfu Lu near Fuxing Lu (永福路5号 近复兴路)

THURSDAY

On the Thursday night before the DJ Vadim show at the Shelter (Friday, 12th March), FREE the WAX and Source will hold a free workshop and performance. This is a rare opportunity for fans to get an up-close and personal experience with one of the hardest working DJs on the planet. The Source will be supplying free Absolute vodka and signed posters will be given away throughout the workshop. Find out more about the DJs in our interview with them.

7PM - 9PM, Source, 158 Xinle Lu near Donghu Lu, 新乐路158号

FRIDAY

So while there is no JUE Festival opening celebration here in Shanghai (the only one they're having on Thursday is in Beijing... booooo), there will be an awesome live act. Hanggai, the Mongolian four-piece throat singing rock band will be doing their thing at Yu Yin Tang. You can party there like IT is the start of JUE. 50RMB cover.

9PM, Yuyintang, 1731 Yan'an Xi Lu (entrance on Kaixuan Lu), 延安西路1731号 (入口在凯旋路)

Liked the workshop? Now attend the live act. DJ VADIM stands as THE skillful master of mood shifting, riding universal sounds throughout the world like a bad-ass pioneer on a mission. Partner in love & crime, YARAH BRAVO, on the other hand, is nothing but the goddess of streetwise defiant intelligence ripping MCs, soundsystems and soulful hipsters’ hearts apart in between every gorgeous breath she takes. Both will be playing at Shelter on Friday. 50RMB cover.

9PM, The Shelter, 5 Yongfu Lu near Fuxing Xi Lu, 永福路5号

Local King 三 heads to Mao Livehouse again. Come to check out some of Shanghai's best indie bands. Featuring Candy Shop, Pinkberry, Sonnet, Boys Climbing Ropes and Bomb Shelter. Free entry and some sort of free whiskey deal too.

9PM, Mao Livehouse, 570 Huaihai Lu Near Hong Qiao Lu 淮海西路570号32幢

Atlanta-based Le Castle Vania, commonly known as Dylan Eiland, quickly escaped the local trappings of his hometown in Georgia to play music around the world. Since the summer of 2006, Le Castle Vania has toured nonstop, taking his catchy electro dance beats on the road, DJing with the likes of Justice, MSTRKRFT, Justice, Busy P, Uffie & Feadz, Kavinski, Soulwax, The Presets, Steve Aoki and Crystal Castles. Supporting Le Castlevania will be R3, Adept, Mr Clumsy + friends. Tickets are 60RMB at the door.

10PM, Not Me, 21 Dong Ping Lu near Hengshan Lu, 东平路21号近衡山路

Jehosaphat Blow & The Blah Blah Blahs play trash rockin' garage/punk to make you shake your hips, along with a bunch of Chinese university student bands: Heise Xiuzhi, September, and PANK. OH YA! OH YA! Cover is 30RMB.

9PM, Live Bar, 721 Kunming Lu @ Tongbei Lu, Yangpu District

SATURDAY

Hell United is a heavy metal exchange between bands in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. After the last year of touring tirelessly, they are back here to rock out at Mao Livehouse. Featuring Chaos Mind, Six Shot, 十月摩羯，红色蔓延. Support by Forget and Forgive. 40RMB cover

8:30PM, Mao Livehouse, 570 Huaihai Lu Near Hong Qiao Lu 淮海西路570号32幢

St. Vincent aka Annie Clark will be delivering her hauntingly weird music to audiences at Yuyintang for the second day of the JUE Festival. She's kind of an indie darling back in America, so you really ought to catch her while she's here. 120RMB at the door.

9PM, Yuyintang, 1731 Yan'an Xi Lu (entrance on Kaixuan Lu), 延安西路1731号 (入口在凯旋路)

SATURDAY

The Backstreet Boys are... back? Surprising the entire music listening world by staying together all these years, they're now on their world tour. And you can check them out in Shanghai at the Shanghai International Gymnastic Center. Tickets are RMB480-RMB1600 and can be bought here.

7:30PM, Shanghai International Gymnastic Center, 777 Wuyi Lu, Zhongshan Park near Zunyi Lu, 武夷路777号近遵义路

It's a classic success story with a "larger-than-life" theme and a soundtrack fueled with megastar hip hop and RnB. With such a recipe, could anything possibly go wrong? The maker of the film, Kristopher Belman, was a newbie in film making who, according to a BDL-interview, "barely knew how to use a camera" when he took on the project. He had enrolled in an "Introduction to Documentary" film class, and the assignment was to make a 10-minute short film.

Belman decided to devote his 10 minutes to this "amazing group of basketball players" at St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School that he had heard about. What especially caught his attention was that some of them had played together for five years already before entering high school, a fact that made him realize that "there was serious potential for some amazing off-the-court relationships." And so the 10-minute short film grew into 105 minutes, and is now reaching out to cinemas around the world.

The film plot goes like this:

They may be the best high school basketball team ever. From humble beginnings, future NBA superstar LeBron James, along with boyhood friends Dru Joyce, Sian Cotton and Willie McGee, began a journey that would take them from local fame to national acclaim. Joined by Romeo Travis in high school, the five fused their talents and, with the help of a dedicated coach, rewrote Ohio basketball history. Now, experience their trials, tribulations and triumphs in this inspirational film about five young men who became more than a team.

Yes, they became the"Fab Five". Sure, most of us know that this is an epithet used by many celebs and wonders throughout history, everything from Broadway musicals, Disney characters, band members and sports idols - there are even several "Fab Fives" within basket ball already - but what the heck, why not reuse something that sounds epic.

Music-wise, the film features the single Stronger by Mary J. Blige, which she released in support of the film. On the soundtrack you can also hear Jay Z, Soulja Boy, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Toni Braxton, JoJo, Jordin Sparks, Ya Boy, Omarion, and Faith Evans. La crème de la crème, that is. To add on to the epic effect, More Than a Game also features some rare home videos from way back when the five ballers were pre-teens.

So how is this movie really? Well, all we can do is give some different voices from the net, and then leave it up to you to decide on your own. Some netizens are...somewhat cynical:

Some documentaries tell stories that are so suspenseful and crowd-pleasing that one would swear they were written by Hollywood screenwriters. The extraordinary series of events chronicled in "More Than a Game" has a trajectory and formula straight out of a classic "rags to riches" sports picture. Let´s hope Sandra Bullock doesn´t star in the remake.

While others are a bit more excited:

What a stroke of luck to undertake a basketball documentary about a grade school team that includes the undiscovered future NBA star LeBron James! Using film and game video footage interspersed with computer effect enhanced photographs, excellent editing and well-mixed music we get a compelling revealed story about four boys turning into men under increasingly intense public scrutiny.

Then there are those who are somewhere in between, like in this lengthy review.

Crowd pleasing or not, compelling or not, whatever description serves your liking, More Than a Game might still be interesting and educating as a document of sports history. See for yourself - here's where you can catch the movie in Shanghai.

Check out what other movies are showing in Shanghai this coming week. Links lead to info about times and venues.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Secret Garden: Vienna Café screening this coming Thursday. Helmed by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, this BAFTA-nominated family drama is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1909 novel of the same name. Check out British actress Kate Maberly’s outstanding performance as a young girl who was born and raised in India but has to start her life anew in Britain after her parents die in an earthquake. In English with Chinese subtitles. RSVP required. Free. 7:30pm.
• Sherlock Holmes (大侦探福尔摩斯): Sherlock Holmes, the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who first appeared in publication in 1887 has made it to movie theatres in many different versions. This time under the direction of Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
• Avatar: (阿凡达): James Cameron is back with this super expensive sci-fi thriller in 3D. Follow ex-marine Jack (Sam Worthington) as he explores planet Pandora as an avatar; a human mind in an alien body. On this paradise-like planet, he faces hostilities from exotic life forms and falls in love with a female alien. This movie used ground-breaking techniques and is being shown in 3-D. In English or Chinese depending on the cinema.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks (鼠来宝：明星俱乐部): The Squeakquel: Three sensational and oh-so-cute chipmunks Alvin, Simon and Theodore are returning to the silver screen. They end up living with owner Dave’s nephew Toby and meet their equally talented female counterparts, the Chipettes. In English or Chinese depending on the cinema.

CHINESE LANGUAGE MOVIES

• Turning Point 1977 (高考1977): Set at the close of the Cultural Revolution, Turning Point 1977 tells the story of a group of young idealists battling for the right to return home and restart their lives after years of toil on a state run re-education farm in China.
• Season of Good Rain (好雨时节): This is director Heo Jin-ho's most recent romantic movie after "Christmas in August", "One Fine Spring Day", "April Snow" and "Happiness". A traveling architect meets an old friend from his student years; the pair realize their connection has always been a romantic one. The film is in English, Mandarin and Korean.
• Storm Rider - Clash of the Evils (風雲決): This animated feature film directed by Dante Lam is based on the Wuxia Chinese comic series Fung Wan by Ma Wing Shing. The film is a spinoff of the original story and the two protagonists Wind and Cloud. The residents of Sword-Worshipping Manor, which houses the best sword-smiths in the world, are brutally massacred after they are alleged to be plotting a rebellion against the government. The young master of the manor, Ngou Kuet, is the only survivor. Ngou Kuet vows to finish forging the "Kuet" Sword, a task passed down by generations of his family which has yet to be completed. Ngou Kuet attacks Tin Ha Wui and battles with Wind and Cloud to obtain the blood of the Fire Kirin which can unleash the power of the sword. As the blood of the Fire Kirin runs in Wind's veins, he becomes Ngou Kuet's primary target.
• 72 Tenants of Prosperity (七十二家租客): A "throw-in-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-oh-what-the-heck-throw-that-in-too comedy". The story is a love triangle - two men in love with the same girl. One wins, the other loses, and they become enemies. But something larger happens that forces the men to form an uneasy alliance, along with their 70 fellow shopkeepers on the street: An evil landlord is set to raise the rent on the 72 tenants, threatening their economic survival.The film is a Lunar New Year's comedy, a movie genre that is often unabashedly silly with a childlike playfulness, with the simple mission to instill 90 minutes of happiness. "72 Tenants of Prosperity" certainly aims for that, but producer-director-star Eric Tsang has something more on his mind. His inspiration is the 1973 classic "The House of 72 Tenants," a film that broke Hong Kong box-office records set by Bruce Lee and became something of a cultural phenomenon. Tsang opens his film with the same style of credits, the same opening gag, and a spot-on re-creation of 1970s Hong Kong filming style.
• Little Big Soldier (大兵小将): Little Big Soldier is a 2010 Chinese action-adventure/comedy film directed by Ding Sheng and produced and written by Jackie Chan, also starring Chan and Leehom Wang. An old soldier kidnaps a young general of an enemy state and takes him on a long journey to collect the reward.
• True Legend (苏乞儿): Set at the turn of 19th and 20th century, the story of begins with Su Can, a wealthy man who loses all his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced out onto the streets, he dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero as he challenges foreign fighters at a boxing ring. The story is loosely based on the life of Su Can, nicknamed Su Qi Er (Su the Bagger), who developed his own fighting style, known as "drunken fist". This is Yuen Wo-Ping's first directorial work since 1996 and may also give a major boost to the career of 37 year old China's born martial-art star Zhao Wenzhuo.
• Hot Summer Days ( 全城热恋): "Hot Summer Days" unites a galaxy of stars in China's show business, including Jacky Cheung, Rene Liu, Nocholas Tse, Barbie Hsu, Daniel Wu and Vivian Hsu. The romance is slated for release across China in February the 11th. The film consists of six intertwining love stories, all set in a stifling and sultry summer. As Valentine's Day this year falls on the first day of Chinese lunar new year, the release date for "Hot Summer Days", February 11th, was chosen to coincide with the big occasion, aiming for a lion's share of the movie market.
• All's Well Ends Well 2010 (花田喜事): Director Raymond Wong heads up another all-star Lunar New Year comedy. "All's Well Ends Well 2010" stars Louis Koo, Sandra Ng, Raymond Wong, Ronald Cheng, Lam Tze-Chung, and "Ip Man" co-star Lynn Xiong. Plot: Princess Pearl of Flowerland is sent to Midland at a young age to learn her ceremonials duties. Her mother, the Queen Mother misses her daughter very much that the King orders his sister, the princess, to return home. However, the princess has fallen in love with Gerenal Wing of the Midland army and is reluctant to part from him. As their boat approaches the Flowerland border, Pearl & Wing save the life of a girl named Ying, who seeks to throw herself into sea after running away from an arranged marriage. Pearl, Wing and Ying are attacked by pirates and Pearl falls overboard in the ensuing chaos. On arrival in Flowerland, the King mistakes Ying for his sister, while Pearl is saved by Ying's father, Million.
• Fortune King is Coming To Town (财神到): This Chinese New Year celebration comedy tells a story that is very similar to "Santa Clause is coming to Town". Fortune King is a Chinese god who comes down from heaven to the earth to give money to people, similar to what Santa does for children. In this flick The God of Fortune is rushing to Earth, and a congregation of people must first finish a hilarious joke of a financial task before he comes. Lead Actor Tan Yonglin says the Fortune King only help people who watch out. "Our film is more than fun. If you don´t work hard, Fortune King will know and refuse to help you. The movie also tells us to open our heart and love others."
• 14 Blades (锦衣卫): Daniel Lee´s martial arts epic stars certified Kung Fu badass Donnie Yen in the role of Qinglong, or Green Dragon. He is the best of the so called Jinyiwei, an imperial elite force of assassins recruited from street orphans. Jinyiwei were masters of the 14 Blades, eight being for torture, five for killing, and the last blade being reserved for suicide when a mission failed. When the emperor is kidnapped and the court taken over, Qinglong takes on the mission of restoring the emperor to power. Also starring Vicki Zhao and Chun Wu.
• Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf (喜羊羊与灰太狼之虎虎生威): This movie is from the same title Chinese Animated Television series which tell stories of bouts between Family Sheep and descendants of wolf on the grassland. This time, the story happens in the world of snail. There is a serious bale coming to snails. The biological warfare happens between two of bacterial kingdoms, "Black Null" and "White Null", who exist on antennae of snails. The White Null Kingdom recruits all military force around the country to perish the black-hearted Black Null Kingdom. Sheep Xiyangyang sides with White Null Kingdom, and Wolf Huitailang is siding for the opposite.
• McDull Kung Fu (麦兜响当当): In animated feature "McDull Kung Fu Kindergarten," Hong Kong's most iconic cartoon porker goes to learn martial arts at Wudang, birthplace of Taichi, to prove that pigs can fly-kick at a national championship.
• Royal Tattoo (Huang Jia Ci Qing, 皇家刺青): The film is a costume kung fu comedy with a mix of a Chinese version of Prison Break. It´s a humorous reinterpretation of a classic plot about a Qing Dynasty royal secret treasure and tattoo treasure map.
• The Story of Hong Mao Lan Tu Huo Feng Huang (虹猫蓝兔火凤凰): The cartoon has a fan base of millions because of its TV version and tells of the adventures of a blue rabbit and a red cat.
• Jing Tian Dong Di (惊天动地): Local directors Wang Jia and Shen Dong´s latest disaster flick was shot in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sichuan, "Jing Tian Dong Di" recalls the quake by following one of the PLA´s rescue troupes in this fictional retelling. The cast of well-known actors includes Li Youbin, You Yong and Hou Yong. Mandarin only.
• Da You Cun Bright Future (大有前途): Da You Cun Bright Future, directed by Deng Zhiheng, may be the best comedy of this movie-packed season. Focusing on a group of people living in Da You Cun, a poor village, the movie tells the story of making dreams come true. The head of the village, Li Biao, who wants to improve people's lives, comes across a Taiwan hotshot who promises to invest in the real estate market. Unfortunately, all the money is lost and the village becomes even poorer. But the simple but optimistic villagers decide to build back their lives. After a series of battles with city folk, they eventually build a movie base in the village. Da You Cun Bright Future is a good choice for those who just want to kick up their feet and have a good laugh.

OTHER LANGUAGE MOVIES

• We Are From the Future / Back in Time (古墓迷途): This russian flick from 2008 takes place in sunny, groovy present day St.Petersburg and during the fierce defence of the city in 1942. Four friends, a student, a skinhead, a geeky gamer and a rapper make their cash looking for Nazi relics from WWII. Motivated by greed they are hip, cynical and have no respect for the past. During a dig they stumble upon a bombed out bunker full of valuable treasures but also something strange. Among the documents belonging to a Red Army officer they find a photograph of themselves. Trying to come to their senses they dive into a nearby lake and surface… to a spray of gunfire in 1942.
• Sinking of Japan (日本沉没): "Nihon Chinbotsu" as the film is called in Japanese, is a 2006 tokusatsu film (action movie based on superheroes and special effects) directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on a 1973 novel by Sakyo Komatsu. Japan will sink down to the deep sea. The governments only hope is evacuate all Japanese to some other countries. The film stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on April 15, 2006. It was parodied in Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu ("Everyone but Japan Sinks").
• The Host (汉江怪物): The film, which also goes under the name of "Gwoemul" (meaning "Monster") is a 2006 South Korean monster film, which also contains elements of comedy and drama films. A monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people. The film was directed by Bong Joon-ho, who co-wrote the screenplay, along with Baek Chul-hyun. Starring in the film as members of an unremarkable family thrust into the middle of extraordinary events were Song Kang-ho, Byeon Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona and Ko Ah-seong. A combination of blockbuster plot and political commentary, the film also deals with the implications of America's military presence in Korea.
• La habitación de Fermat / Fermat´s Room (极限空间): Fermat's Room is a 2007 Spanish thriller film directed by Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopeña. Three mathematicians and one inventor are invited to a house under the premise of solving a great enigma, and told to use pseudonyms based on famous historical mathematicians. At the house, they are trapped in a room. They must solve puzzles given by the host, who calls himself "Fermat," in order to escape the slowly closing walls of the room.Four mathematicians who do not know each other are invited by a mysterious host on the pretext of resolving a great enigma...
• 7th Grade Civil Servant / My Girlfriend is an Agent (特工强档): This slick and tense thriller with comedic elements from South Korean director Shin Tae-ra concerns an aggressive unit of the Russian mafia, detached to infiltrate Korea and filch a cutting-edge chemical weapon. The Korean government issues two secret agents to stop the Russians - both masked by undercover identities: Ahn Soo-ji (Kim Ha-neul), a tough-as-nails female martial arts pro who continues to draw the envy of all of her colleagues, and her male counterpart, klutzy and inept rookie Lee Jae-joon (Kang ji-Hwan), whose unfortunate presence leads to a series of outrageous blunders. Complicating matters, it seems, is the fact that the couple (polar opposites, who hate each other passionately), were once romantically involved.
• Ne te retourne pas / Don´t Look Back (不要回头): A 2009 psychodrama about a photographer whose pictures tell a different story to that of her perception. Directed by Marina de Van and starring Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci. The film is in French and Italian.

FREE the WAX is back in town for a gig. This time they are bringing DJ Vadim and MC Yarah Bravo (Ninja Tune/BBE) to China for the second time running. If you had missed their explosive show last year, you know what to do this time.

Tomorrow night, DJ Vadim and MC Yarah Bravo will also hold a FREE workshop and performance at Source, with an open dialogue session that will let fans understand more about their music-making process. Source will be supplying FREE Absolut Vodka and signed posters will be given out at the workshop.

We talked to them about their plans, their history and everything else... AND we're giving you a chance to win free tickets to their show. Read on for more information!

When did you guys meet? Was it big-bang-pow-wow stars and explosions right from the start or did it take a while for you guys to decide that just music wasn't enough?

VADIM: Well for me it was fireworks and explosions from the first point we met. Music came later.

YARAH: There was definitely a special connection straight away. One that I've never had with another person...ever! We were extremely drawn to each other, and everything about each other was just so fresh... we built a bubble around us, which then became a musical bubble, and the bubble is still here... bubbling away!

You live in England, the country of fish n' chips. However, you guys have a very multicultural background (Russia, England, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Sweden, The States). Who wins on a kitchen fight over what dishes to make? What dishes you guys can't live without and why?

VADIM: Hahahah. Great question. We both love food and going to great restaurants. That's actually one of my few vices, going to high-end restaurants. We both love cooking and I would say 9/10 times we cook as good if not better than most restaurants we go to on tour etc... I love food from all over the world. In fact in most cultures there is something that I like that's why my preferred style of cooking and restaurants we go to we would call modern European or modern fusion, basically a plethora of different stuff from everywhere - not in one dish but hints of different things so we could have a fish prepared in a Cajun way with some mango salsa or almond-encrusted fish with some Thai spices or spinach pie or... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

YARAH: Well we just love flavors and also to cook for each other. For example if I'm all stressed out, Vadim will cook me a nice dinner, he did it last night actually... and brought it to me so I could eat it while working, and he was also working so I sent him a message and told him... this was better than any restaurant we've been to... you are by far the best chef i know!! :-) He cooked me a perfect tuna steak served on a bed of grilled asparagus, a rocket salad with roasted pine nuts, and poached pears... like blaaaow!! Hahaha and the presentation? Fantastic! I always joke with him I want him to go on those food programs on TV and whoop everyone's asses!!

How do you think each of you have influenced each other over the years?

VADIM: Well for me, Yarah influenced so many things consciously or subconsciously - my style of dress. I think so much more about that than before, matching colors and photo shoots. Also about communicating with people, I have learned to be more patient, reflective. I got into Latin music because of Yarah, the whole South American thing. We discovered a lot of things together like cooking traveling, loving...

YARAH: i think we have almost blended into one person hahahaha... no but Vadim keeps me on my toes while I help him relax... so it's a good team.

What has changed since the last time you were in China?

VADIM: Well I started to talk on the mic! Released a new album - U Can't Lurn Imaginashun. Started a new group The Electric and recorded that album, remixed loads of people and been around the world five times!

YARAH: Well I moved to Berlin. Set fire to my flat on my birthday and then launched my solo show around Europe, The Good Girls Rarely Make History Show. It's me, a drummer, a DJ, a back up singer and flutist. All ladies!! And it's the first time I've done something this big, where I'm 100% in charge and creatively I can get all my ideas out. It's an exciting time for me!

Both of you wear so many hats it's nerve-wrecking just trying to keep up. Which do you think was the most unexpected turn your respective musical careers have taken so far and why?

VADIM: Well for me it was getting and surviving cancer. It was a very dark chapter in my life but one I wouldn't want to take away because I feel that post-cancer, I am a happier, more loving person.

YARAH: Vadim's cancer was by far the most challenging unexpected thing we've had to deal with, anything else that might have seemed big before fades in comparison. Hat-wise... I've always been a collector of hats... and I believe you can turn just an average-looking person into someone very interesting-looking with just the right hat... or wrong hat too for that matter. I can't believe people who say they are not "brave" enough to wear a hat... I mean what's the worst thing that can happen? It ain't gonna bite you! Who knows, you might get a look from a cute girl... or guy!

(To VADIM) It's been a long road since your debut. Helping put instrumental hip-hop on the map, producing more abstract tunes, finely-tuned hip hop, soul, Latin, down through an amazing (mainly) reggae record and quite a few more electronic influences on the latest U Cant Lurn Imaginashun. Having said that, what seems obvious is that you make increasingly more accessible (i.e. pop), quality music. If so, is there a conscious effort in your part to make quality pop?

VADIM: I suppose I listen to music quite differently that I did 15 years ago. Now I think alot about choruses, the song in general. Not that I'm trying to be 'pop', just that I'm trying to think of the complete song - the hook, the verse, the music, the bridge. I spend much time listening to the Beatles, Michael Jackson, etc. studying their sound and what made them work in a sense. I think every artist wants to make something that is appreciated and stands the test of time. I don't want to just make some beats that sound like everybody else. I don't want to be somebody else's shadow. I want to create my own shadow that inspires people to create, innovate and take things to a higher level.

(To VADIM) Do you think an artist's output generally gets diluted when they make that transition from more "underground" styles to music that can be potentially mass-marketed and consumed?

VADIM: Well it's hard to say. In general I would concur that to be in the 'pop charts' as a 'pop charts' band, you will have to compromise your sound but saying that, there are many groups who have reached the pop charts who haven't compromised - The Roots, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Angie Stone, Mary J Blige... Fat Freddy's Drop from New Zealand sold a shitload of records, making a very uncompromising reggae soul album that touched millions all over the world. Ultimately music is either good or bad regardless if it's pop or underground. Some music in the charts is utter shit. Not because it's pop but because it's badly sung, cheesy, no content and just style, no chorus etc... it's there simply because it's so heavily marketed - like the recent Cheryl Cole song. It sold millions but it was crap.

(To YARAH) You sing in your song "Freedom Fighters" that your father was once executed, survived (!) and still has a bullet in his body to prove. How do you think it shaped your character as a child growing up in Sweden having such an atypical background?

YARAH: Well it took me about 10 years to write that song just because I felt I could never capture or give justice to how my parents' story truly effected me. I know I am extremely lucky to be alive, and to grow up in a society where I felt safe. Both my parents had to spend time in jail because of their political beliefs, thanks to Amnesty International they are both alive today, and therefore I am alive too. When there is a coup in your country, change of government, severe oppression of the middle and especially the lower class, you're trapped, you have no way out, you have no choice but to fight and try to stand up for your people, my parents survived... but many others "disappeared". I meet youths at concerts around the world... who share a similar story - their parents were also exiled, they also grew up in a foreign country, some lost a lot of family members... my story is not unique, which is what makes it so scary!!

(To YARAH) As a role model of female emancipation, what is your opinion regarding the state of hip hop music today? Any female figures influenced your attitude specifically in that sense?

YARAH: When I was growing up, I looked up to MC Lyte and Lauryn Hill. It only takes one girl to inspire many. One of the most beautiful things for me as an artist is when girls, especially younger girls, tell me I inspired them to start rapping or make music. What more can I ask for? That's a planted seed for a future generation right there... and I ain't even old hahahah. I think too many women in hip hop either act like dudes or complete sluts. How about just being human? This music is for everybody. I'm very confident in my femininity and I don't feel intimidated by other men in the business. I know what I bring to the table is unique.

Top on your to-do list in Shanghai this time round?
VADIM: Eat duck and drink tea!
YARAH: Try some exciting food!!

What's on the cards next?
VADIM: More shows, new album - The Electric and a holiday in Malaysia!!!
YARAH: CHINA!! Then we head off to a well-deserved holiday in Malaysia!!!

Please complete the sentence: "Ten years from now, we will most likely be ..."
VADIM: Living in Bahia, Brazil!
YARAH: In Brazil, on a beach, surrounded by kids and drums...

Courtesy of FREE the WAX, Shanghaiist is giving away a pair of tickets to the show on Friday. It's dead simple. Name us one song from DJ Vadim's most recent album U Can't Lurn Imaginashun. The first person to drop us an email at contest.giveaway (@) shanghaiist (dot) com with the correct answer, along with full name and contact number, wins! Good luck!

One of these mechanical Haibaos (which, in our opinion, looks roughly like a gas pump) made its entrance at Shanghai’s Infinity Plaza in all its robot-glory.

There will be thirty-seven of its kind at both international airports and Expo venues. The touch screens on their chests offer Expo-related information and transport options in six languages, presumably with beaming Haibao-smiles on their faces. They also - in our favorite function - take pictures for their users. Unfortunately, despite the resemblance, there seem to be no reports of whether they can dress up and make us food Jetsons-style.

On Friday, Reuters claimed Industry and Information Minister Li Yizhong told an “indeterminate parliamentary body” that the government has been in talks with Google over an alleged China-originating cyber-attack earlier this year.

The government claimed that Google never even filed a complaint...i.e., there were no talks.

Reuters reported that the government simply is waiting for more information, in order to prosecute the alleged hackers.

Google has not officially commented at all.

So there you have it, folks. Google may or may not be in talks with China over security breaches, Google may or may not have even complained about the hack, and Google may or may not stay in China.

We may or may not be confused.

Via betanews, image via Global Voices

Apparently, it goes something like this: an American consumer buys a car that was made somewhere in Asia. The carbon emissions produced to manufacture this automobile, proponents of this new concept argue, are the responsibility not of its country of origin, but of its end user. To extend this idea to a (seemingly) carbon-neutral product, imagine a hippie in, say, New York City heading to Whole Foods to purchase some pesticide-free organic apples that were imported from New Zealand. Said hippie would actually be harming his or her beloved planet if we take outsourced emissions into account - it's a long flight from AKL to JFK! So much for all those "Go organic!" bumper stickers we bought.

More damning, still, is the fact that perennial "green" champion countries like Switzerland and Iceland are among the worst offenders in this category, importing huge amounts of goods from smoggy places like Taiwan, South Korea and our beloved China.

Steven Davis, a researcher at the Carnegie Institute, explains the rationale behind this school of thought:

Where CO2 emissions occur doesn’t matter to the climate system. Effective policy must have global scope.

Right on, dude. Unfortunately, he continues, and in a rather bizarre direction:

To the extent that constraints on developing countries’ emissions are the major impediment to effective international climate policy, allocating responsibility for some portion of these emissions to final consumers elsewhere may represent an opportunity for compromise.

As wonderful as it seems that consumers should "take responsibility" for the pollutants produced along with their beloved hybrid cars, it would appear, logically speaking, that any benefit gained may only be semantic: we can hope all we want that importer nations will cease purchasing "brown" goods, cutting off the supply side and eliminating carbon that way. More likely, however, is that the low prices afforded by said goods being manufactured in developing nations will win out over ethics and the most obvious cause of pollution--archaic, dirty facilities and methods--will prevail unfettered and indefinitely.

While it was recently revealed that farms were significantly worse offenders than factories in China's first national census on pollution, the fact remains that the sheer quantity of the world's goods produced here necessitates, mathematically-speaking anyway, that there be only a slightly-brownward tendency in said factories to have catastrophic implications, carbon emissions-wise. And we all know that the majority of China's factories are more than a little sooty.

Given the less-than-eager disposition Hu displayed at Copenhagen - and the confrontation that followed - the Chinese government's feelings on the these issues are no secret. Our guess is that they'd probably care even less if they were of the mindset that the effective burden of said nastiness would rest on the shoulders of the very Western nations who quite literally backed them into a room earlier this year. Perhaps environmentalists should keep their environmental propaganda in universities, Western ones.

Many wore a set of very thick, quilted pajamas. They were usually quite stylish, printed with teddy bears or stripes. They looked warm and comfortable and we could see a sweater or turtleneck poking out of the open collar. The outfit was accompanied by warm weather-proof boots. It was strange - to be sure - but somehow endearing. These folks were strolling about the neighborhood in their jammies, as casual and comfortable as anything.

The longer we lived in Shanghai, the more accustomed to outdoor pajamas we became. My husband even joined, going on a few errands in his flannel jammies and T-shirt (he didn't have a matching set - a real faux pas) in the early morning when we had our first child to the Alldays 24-hour convenience store to pick up yogurt or other odds and ends that were required in those wee hours. As the seasons changed, so did the jammies: lightweight long sleeves for warmer spring days, cooler short sleeve cottons for the summer. We stopped noticing after a few years.

But now recently and sadly, a public campaign to modernize Shanghai in advance of the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai (May-October 2010) has citizen special forces roaming neighborhoods, reminding people that their quaint habit won't serve Shanghai well when all the foreign guests arrive. While not technically against the law, the public campaign is aimed to stop the "embarrassing habit".

What a shame, I say. One of the wonderful things about visiting a foreign country is seeing what locals do and how locals live. Wearing PJs outside is a typical Shanghai custom - one that every foreigner I've ever spoken with about it finds interesting and quaint. Yes, somewhat laughable; but not in a bad way. It's cute. I hate to see Shanghai become just one other city that looks just like any other - McDonald's, 7-Eleven, Starbucks, Gucci, Prada, Pizza Hut. Stand on that street corner and you could be anywhere in the world. Then watch the locals get off the bus and spot the lao ye ye (grandpa) in his fancy jammies off to do an errand. Yes. You are in Shanghai.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture.

Goodbye Jammies originally appeared on About.com China Online on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 at 20:30:15.

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It's frightening to think what an angry mob could do if a video were doctored or folks target the wrong person in their search for justice. But this cyber posse phenomenon, dubbed in Chinese "the human flesh search engine", can also be used for good purposes. Interested netizens help people find lost relatives and kidnapped children. I posted a story in August about an adopted boy in the US whose adoptive mother used the internet and the help of Chinese netizens to find her son's birth family.

The Human Flesh Search Engine phenomenon in China originally appeared on About.com China Online on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 01:54:38.

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There's a whole industry of fake goods in China that lots of visitors to China go wild for when they arrive but there's a healthy local market for them as well. It goes beyond pirated DVDs and fake Gucci bags (those are the ones the tourists buy). Very few locals will spend money on legal copies of software when copies of everything from Microsoft Windows and Adobe Photoshop are available for install at every cybermarket. There are smart phones on the market that look like iPhones, operate like iPhones and smell like iPhones for a fraction of the cost (just don't drop it, it will likely shatter and don't expect and after-sale warranties on fake goods).

As a travel writer, I get asked frequently where to buy the fake goods. The answer is easy to give: every large market in China sells fake products - be it eyeglasses, watches, bags, shoes, clothing or electronics. But I remind visitors that you get what you pay for. People are often surprised when they get home and their watch doesn't work anymore or their sunglasses don't actually offer any UV protection whatsoever. The best example comes from my poor husband who bought a "leather" briefcase at the old Xiangyang Market (Shanghai's famous fake market that's now been closed and moved). To his credit, he needed a new bag for an upcoming business trip. We lived close by the market so it seemed like a quick and easy option. After an important meeting in Frankfurt, he closed the meeting, grabbed his bag and left the room - with just the handle in hand.

You get what you pay for. If you come to China and do some shopping, it will be tempting to sample some of these fake goods. But don't pay too much money for them and don't forget, yi fen qian, yi fen huo.

You get what you pay for originally appeared on About.com China Online on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 20:00:08.

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If you're really stupid, you're a shabi - a stupid cow nether-region. If something is just average stupid, it's erbi - a number 2 cow nether-region. If you want to be cool and you're not, in English you're a poser. In Chinese you're a zhuangbi - a pretend cow nether-region.
As with the huang niu, we couldn't come up with an answer as to why the niu has such interesting connotations. The ox is generally thought of as strong, but being born in the year of the ox does not necessarily make you a niuren, an ultra-cool person.

The slang word niubi comes from Beijinghua - the dialect spoken in Beijing. China, as you may know, has thousands of dialects. To a student of Putonghua (mandarin), Shanghaihua is completely unintelligible to me, even after six years of living here. But the pronunciation and meaning of "bi", my teacher pointed out, is universal in most dialects. Therefore the cool?

Moo.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture.

More about our friend, 牛 the cow originally appeared on About.com China Online on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 11:51:16.

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Then I made a new friend, someone who'd lived in Shanghai for a lot longer than I had and knew the ropes. As we strolled our newborn sons down the Sycamore-lined streets, she introduced me to the shortcuts between main roads, the sudden quiet that engulfs the alleys, the community within the hub: Shanghai's longtangs.

It amazed me how a city I'd grown to know - or thought I knew - could surprise me in such a way. Shanghai is a city of layers. For the most part, buildings are like a lazy farmer's fence - rather than strip the paint, he just slaps on another coat. But underneath, there might be some beautiful original wood. Much of Shanghai's art deco and other grand architecture is hidden behind layers of shops-upon-shops. Small flats have been thrown up in the space between the front door of an old villa and the garden gate to house the multitudes that live in the city. Once you know what to look for, you can see the gems beneath.

Now I live in a lane house with my family. An interesting mix of East meets West architecture, the row (lane) houses were built en masse in the 1920s and 30s to house the influx of people arriving in Shanghai from the outlying provinces. Usually home to single families, the houses are narrow with small gardens, three floors with small rooms on the half-floor landings. Now they house many families, each to a floor or a room. Some houses are bought by property owners and developers (like mine) and then rented out as a whole unit.

It's a nice lifestyle. While quiet when compared to living on a main road, new sounds like neighbors playing mahjong and mynah birds chattering in mandarin now wake us instead of honks and bicycle bells. To read more about life in a lane, read Tom Doctoroff's article on the Huffington Post or Kathy Pauli's blog From my Tingzijian.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture.

Discovering Shanghai's Lanes originally appeared on About.com China Online on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 10:46:56.

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Mr. Menzies' discussion focused on the maps he has used to establish his well-received (and much criticized) theory that not only did the Chinese treasure fleets led by Zheng He, the eunuch admiral under the Emperor Zhu Di, map the entire world by 1421, but that European explorers including Columbus, Magellan and da Gama, were armed with copies of these maps when they set out on their own "explorations".

What I found terribly interesting was the genesis of Menzies' interest in the subject. During a 1990 visit to Beijing, he found that many of the great accomplishments that are major tourist attractions in the area were completed in 1421. His guide told him that the Great Wall*, the Ming Tomb they had visited and the Forbidden City were all completed in that same year. This was during the legendary Ming Emperor Zhu Di's reign, a forward-thinking man who commissioned the treasure fleets and sent admiral Zheng He with thousands of emissaries to explore the world and bring back diplomats from the places he visited.

Menzies decided to go home and compare England at historically the same time. Where British rulers were eating dried cod from plates of stale bread, Zhu Di was celebrating with a massive banquet that included 26,000 guests eating from the finest blue & white Chinese porcelain. It is not difficult for me to make the leap, as Menzies does (with countless items of proof), that the Chinese did, indeed, circumnavigate the globe years before the Europeans did.

In any event, whether you're a believer or not, Menzies' theories are interesting reading and subject matter. Don't forget, if we are still to believe the commonly-held opinion that Europeans were the first to map the world, they did so all the while believing the earth was flat. They too were proven wrong.

*The Great Wall was not completed in one go. What most of us know now is a Ming Dynasty refurbishment of interconnecting walls begun as early as 656BC during the Chu State. Read more about the History of the Great Wall.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture.

Gavin Menzies, author of 1421 and 1434 visits Shanghai originally appeared on About.com China Online on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 10:25:52.

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As you know, the season for mooncakes just finished up, though every household in China has an abundance of them left to snack on until Chinese New Year. But you may not realize that the mooncake season is also a boon for the huang niu. Scalpers for mooncakes? What, if you can't get that coveted box of Shangri La cakes you'll go to all lengths until you have them? There is probably a good business for huang niu getting the good stuff to re-sell at a profit later. But that's just too obvious.

No, I'm speaking about the can't-pick-up-your-mooncakes-in-time huang niu who is actually doing a service. I'm not sure it's a legal service, but everyone involved seems to be happy.

Take my friend. Let's call her Zelda. Zelda received a lovely gesture from another friend: a voucher for a box of delicious Häagen-Dazs mooncakes. But when Zelda went to pick them up, that particular Häagen-Dazs outlet wasn't distributing mooncakes. She was told she'd have to go to another branch. Zelda didn't have time for that and she was going out of town the following day and would miss the mooncake pickup deadline (the vouchers have strict expiry dates). She shrugged her shoulders and prepared to go mooncake-less on her way.

Up steps Mr. Huang Niu. A group of young men who'd been hanging out inside the Häagen-Dazs were mooncake voucher scalping. Much to Zelda's benefit, the huang niu offered her 200 rmb for the voucher. Zelda walked away a littler richer. The scalper may resell the ticket for 230 and let's say the original cost of the ticket is 250, so some lucky mooncake buyer will get a discount of 20rmb on a box of delectable ice cream cakes.

Sure, Zelda's friend may be the only unhappy person in this scenario since she paid the full price. But all things considered, everyone ends up with something. While scalpers can, of course, do some serious price gouging on people who are really in need of hard-to-get goods and services, I think this little fill-in-the-gap economy is great.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture. You can also find me on twitter .

The Tale of the "Huang Niu" Mooncake Scalper originally appeared on About.com China Online on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 00:02:12.

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In the end, I think we would have been a bit bored had we gone. While impressive with shear numbers and regiments of military units and tanks and all kinds of equipment I haven't a clue what they are, I was expecting more of a spectacle along the lines of the Olympics Opening Ceremony. But it was a very serious affair with bigwigs like Mr. Hu Jintao and Mr. Jiang Zemin not cracking a smile.

Luckily, with the help of weather meddling, Beijing had a sunny day. Shanghai was not so lucky. But it has cleared out today so my son and I are going off to buy some mooncakes on Fuzhou Road. Maybe we'll get to see the full moon tomorrow during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Photos: these professional shots of the parade were taken from my living room in Shanghai, October 1, 2009. © 2009 Sara Naumann, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Happy Anniversary China! Photos from the October 1 parade originally appeared on About.com China Online on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 21:01:52.

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Despite nodding my head in agreement with the pundits who argued it was indeed a real decline, and apologies should be (and were) offered up, I found myself only days later in an interesting dilemma.

In China there’s a different notion about civility. Diners routinely snap at waitresses to hurry up. Horns blare at the first sign of a green light. It’s even difficult to say “please” in the same way we would in English. And saying “thank you” to a family member isn’t necessary. As I stood for what seemed to me too long in the front of the grocery line with my hand out dangling the cash for my purchases, while the checkout girl took a personal call on her cell phone, my recent agreement on the downfall of American civility vanished as I snapped in Chinese to hurry up.

So here I am in China, caught in my own, what my American side tells me is, lack of civility. I would probably not have done this in the US (though admittedly my local grocery store has moved to self-check out, but that’s another matter). I put it to my Facebook friends to see what they thought and most agreed that I didn’t act circumspectly.

Feeling slightly shamed, yet at the same time righteous, I took it to my Chinese lesson where my Chinese teacher was incredulous. Of course it’s OK to tell the service person to hurry up. It’s not even considered a lack of courtesy. My “outburst” wouldn’t even be considered such here in China. Here, many discussions would be considered arguments in the US. (I do not dare compare Chinese culture to any other than my own.) Where Americans are typically non-confrontational, Chinese people can openly discuss their disagreements and, as long as a level of face is kept by both sides, it can end rather amicably. It is not uncommon to see a crowd of people gathered around a traffic incident where the perpetrator is using a very loud and excited voice with the policeman at the site. I gawk at such sightings waiting for the officer to throw the person to the ground yelling “Spread’em!” but it just doesn’t happen here.

The discussion on civility led to another interesting topic – freedom of speech. I’ll save that for another post.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture. You can also find Sara on twitter .

Civil Society originally appeared on About.com China Online on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 01:53:22.

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So kudos to Beijing for their plans to reduce greenhouse emissions dramatically by 2020. In yesterday’s Financial Times, Fiona Harvey reports that a chief International Energy Agency economist stated “[China’s] emissions [growth] will have declined so much by 2020 that it will be the country that has achieved the largest emission reductions. China will be on the forefront of combating climate change.”

While slumped economies and funding cuts for new power stations are causes for much of the reduced greenhouse gasses in other countries, China, the land of burning coal and an insatiable appetite for raw materials plans to reduce the growth of emissions while its economy continues to grow. This is truly good news.

Source: Fiona Harvey, “China to lead on climate change,” Financial Times, September 21, 2009.

From Sara Naumann, About.com's Guide to China Travel, guest-blogger for Chinese Culture.

Good news for the environment from China? originally appeared on About.com China Online on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 01:53:47.

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blessings,

Brother Barnabas

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- For this end-of-year posting I wish to look at only two trends that were prominent in 2004 and are destined to escalate during 2005.

1)Perestroika. Openness, because of the way osmosis works, is the key which ignites an unstoppable trend towards reform. Openness must therefore be encouraged and used wisely as it provides the momentum and foundations for reform. Meanwhile perestroika (reform) is not an event that occurs at a moment in history, but a process that is fluid, and is a work-in-progress.

2)Liberty. Whose liberty? This is the question arising in multicultural democratic nations as growing Muslim minorities made zealous by the Palestinian Intifada, the War on Terror, and the growth of their own numbers, assert themselves politically and demand Muslim rights and privileges. These however, often involve the removal of others' individual freedoms.

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PERESTROIKA
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Events in 2004 in Belarus and Ukraine demonstrate the extent to which perestroika (reform and restructure) is fluid and remains a work-in-progress.

Freedoms that were gained in Belarus in the late 1980s have been decisively drained away. Russia's freedoms are slowly and quietly seeping away. Governments can clamp down on freedom but they cannot undo the influence of even a short-lived openness. Ukrainians have just demonstrated that peaceful-people-power can depose corrupt oligarcs and bring political reform. Ukraine's peaceful "Orange Revolution" will stand as a model for action in other authoritarian former Soviet states. This is what can happen when a splintered opposition unites behind a leader of integrity and the people publicly support him or her, and the church prays.

But as analysts note, the "Orange Revolution" was not "spontaneous combustion". For Ukraine, the Orange Revolution was the fruit of a society that has matured. In totalitarian Asia, the foundations that enable peaceful political revolution (some free mea, some political awareness, and the possibility of fair elections) are not yet mature, or even in place. Ukraine will however, stand as a model and inspiration to the region and beyond.

It might be helpful though, and encouraging, to view totalitarian Asia in the light of Eastern Europe. People often think that Communism fell in an instant in Europe - the terms used are cataclysmic and instant: the Berlin wall "fell", the USSR "collapsed" - and grieve that in Tiananmen Square (Beijing, China), the tanks prevailed.

However, it is more realistic and helpful to view these events, not as solitary, decisive "perestroika events" that win or lose the battle, but as positive or negative events in a larger, fluid "perestroika process" that has its own irresistible momentum. Regarding the Berlin Wall, while it did collapse in November 1989, that event was the fruit of a four year process of concerted undermining of the foundations.

National transformation is not fast food. It cannot be purchased in a drive-through. It takes time, and if transformation is to occur without bloodshed, revolution and anarchy, then the foundations need to be replaced in advance.

SOLZHENITSYN'S FRUSTRATION

In 1990, five years after Gorbechev introduced glastnost and perestroika, and one year before the disintegration of the USSR, Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote words of frustration and fear ("Rebuilding Russia" Harper Collins 1991). These are words that we could apply to totalitarian Asia today.

"Time has run out for Communism. But the concrete edifice has not yet crumbled. May we not be crushed beneath its rubble instead of gaining liberty." (p9). "And what have five or six years of the much heralded 'perestroika' been used for? For some pathetic re-shuffling within the Central Committee. The slapping together of an ugly artificial electoral system designed to allow the party to continue clinging to power." (p28)

Deng Xioaping introduced economic openness and reforms to China in 1978, but how far has China progressed towards freedom? Is totalitarian Asia today in the same position Russia was in 1990? The momentum for reform is gaining. Whether they realise it not, the Asian Communist Parties and the regime of Kim jong-il may be facing a situation of reform or perish.

ASIA'S PERESTROIKA-LITE

Totalitarian Asia has learnt from Gorbechev's accidental political suicide that openness and reform, if not carefully managed, may eventually prove fatal. Totalitarian Asia operates therefore, a sort of glastnost-lite, and perestroika-lite. But since the demise of Gorbechev, the USSR and Communism in Europe, the reins are held especially tight in Asia to ensure that the process does not gain so much momentum that the Communist Party loses control of it. The best way to slow down reform is to slow down and manage openness. Everything, especially information, is controlled by those whose main aim now is to hold on to power.

Solzhenitsyn grieved for Russia as we do now for totalitarian Asia, that the slowness of reform "represents years in the people's life given up to pointless suffering". (p35) However, he also notes that wholesale adoption of a foreign system can be ruinous and that patience is always better than a bloody and violent revolution which results in anarchy, which he describes as "the ultimate peril".

AVOIDING ANARCHY

Solzhenitsyn acknowledges in his chapter, "Is the system of government really the central issue?" that continuity and stability are essential to avoid anarchy, and hence, it is more important to resolve the most pressing issues of social reform before tackling government reform. Solzhenitsyn believed that the entire state organism could be eventually reshaped by introducing reforms gradually, progressively, starting at the margins and in grass-roots issues, whilst preserving the central authority until society is ready for political reform.

This is, of course, exactly what has occurred in Ukraine. This, and not "regime collapse" or a revolution that would result in war or anarchy, is what must be encouraged and assisted in totalitarian Asia, including and especially North Korea, where the situation is so extremely dangerous. While we grieve for the 100,000 believers incarcerated in North Korean concentration camps, regime collapse in North Korea would probably lead to their slaughter as the military machine shifted into self-preservation mode.

We do not wish for Korean Christians to be "crushed beneath the rubble" of a collapsing regime and system. We wish them liberty, so we pray for wisdom in 2005, for openness and reform to advance, and for liberty for the oppressed. "The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he turns it wherever he pleases." Proverbs 21:1

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LIBERTY
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There needs to be public debate about whether religious groups, because of a constitutional right they have to religious freedom, can demand that they exercise their own religious law in a way that denies others that same constitutional right.

This issue is affecting multicultural democracies that have growing Muslim minorities who are demanding Muslim laws and rights to accommodate those elements of Islamic law and culture that clash with Western, Judaeo-Christian-based laws and culture.

PARALLEL OR GRID?

Some governments are capitulating to Muslim demands out of sheer (or wilful) ignorance of what Islam permits and demands, or simply in order to capture the valuable Muslim vote or be politically correct and inclusive. Various degrees of Islamic arbitration or law for Muslims now exists in many non-Muslim nations - officially, as in Canada, and unofficially as in much of Europe, while the battle for Islamic courts is still on in Kenya.

We often picture a society that permits both Western / Judaeo-Christian laws and Islamic laws as one that has two sets of laws running in parallel. But really the situation looks more like a grid, as the two systems - Judaeo-Christian and Islamic - regularly intersect and clash as they head in different directions.

In Uganda, women have praised the government's new Domestic Relations Bill (DRB) 2003 (passed November 2004) because it prohibits polygamy, raises the marriage age to 18 years, protects against domestic violence and rape in marriage, which in turn protects against AIDS. The Bill promotes equal rights, bringing Uganda's laws in line with its own constitution. However, the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) is protesting against the bill claiming it goes against the Islamic faith and Islamic laws and customs. Hopefully the Ugandan government will not be moved by such protests, and the protections and rights granted to Ugandan women will remain available to Ugandan Muslim women.

Governments that capitulate to Muslim demands are actually stripping Muslims of their religious freedom and shackling Muslim women to the demeaning, discriminatory and oppressive demands and penalties of sharia. There can be no mistake, the two systems do not run parallel - they are in conflict.

VILIFICATION

Previously in the West, Muslims have had to endure the Western/European practice of open debate and free speech. Criticism was handled by apologists, not by lawyers. But times are changing. Limits are being placed on long-held and respected freedoms in order not to "offend", regardless of how unjustifiable that feeling of offence might be, as if the giving of offence is automatically an intolerable crime. In the process, all critical debate of Islam and the Qur'an by non-Muslims is being silenced.

On 17 December 2004, in Victoria, Australia, two Christian pastors were found guilty of breaching the state's Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001. The charge of vilifying Islam was brought against pastors Nalliah and Scot (photo, link 1) by the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV). The case was heard in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over the course of nearly two years. The ICV claimed the pastors vilified Islam and thus breached section 8 of the Act in a Christian seminar entitled "Insight into Islam", held in a church in March 2002.

The details are complicated and a more focused posting may be released in early February after penalties have been determined. The most serious element of this case is the fact that truth is not a defence. Section 8 of the Act states: "A person must not, on the ground of the religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons, engage in conduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons. Note: 'engage in conduct' includes use of the internet or e-mail to publish or transmit statements or other material."

As noted by Andrew Bolt, an associate editor and columnist for the Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun, 8 of the 13 reasons the judge listed in his summary of why he found the pastors guilty of vilifying Islam are actually quotes from the Qur'an. (Link 2). In fact at one point in the VCAT hearing, Daniel Scot was asked to justify his statement that the Qur'an is harsh to women. As he did, he was accused of further vilifying Islam with quotes from the Qur'an! Scot was ordered to refrain from quoting the Qur'an in his response to avoid further vilification of Islam!

Section 11 of the Act provides that a person may be granted an exemption if the conduct was engaged in reasonably, in good faith, and in the public interest. However, the judge determined that: "Pastor Scot's conduct was not engaged in reasonably and in good faith for any genuine religious purpose that is in the public interest... Having made that finding, he receives no protection under section 11 of the Act."

The President of the ICV, Mr. Yasser Soliman hailed the judgement as "a win for religious debate", adding, "This case lays some basic ground rules for religious debate in Victoria." Waleed Aly, a spokesperson for the ICV wrote in a Melbourne paper, that citizens have the right to "inform, but not inflame". This still leaves us with the problem of what to do with potentially inflammatory information.

DHIMMITUDE

This silencing of criticism has historically been part of the agreement with dhimmis, people of the Book living under Islamic domination. Dhimmis were granted "protection", that is, right to life in exchange for payment (jizya) and total subjugation. Any breach of the arrangement led to "protection" being withdrawn and a state of war resuming upon the individual or group. Laws that silence or punish negative criticism of Islam place non-Muslims in a position of dhimmitude.

In Britain, Prince Charles recently met with Christian and Muslim leaders to broker efforts to end the Muslim death penalty on apostates. The London Telegraph reported, "The Muslim group, which included the Islamic scholar Zaki Badawi, cautioned the Prince and other non-Muslims against speaking publicly on the issue." (Telegraph 18 Dec 2004)

Of even greater interest are the words of Ahmad Kamal Abul Magd, a prominent Islamic scholar who addressed the recent UN-sponsored seminar, "Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding", on Tuesday 7 December 2004.

Abul Magd believes the word "tolerance" is derogatory of Islam. "What we are aiming at is much more positive than the mere tolerance. Usually you don't tolerate something you admire or like but you tolerate something you are going to live with although you do not like (it)." (Islam Online 8 Dec 2004). Abul Magd is not interested in promoting tolerance - he is advocating that we should respect, admire and like Islam. He then gave reasons why we should revere Islam, reasons which were based on a totally revisionist view of history.

THE PROBLEM OF THE MISSING ABSOLUTES

Most Western governments are honourably keen to advance equal rights for all. But they are unwilling to face the fact that the "rights" of different cultures sometimes conflict. On top of this, they are so committed to secularism and appeasement that they can do nothing else other than advance the myth that all moral values (in the absence of moral absolutes) are essentially equal and good. They refuse to accept the fact that many Islamic laws and customs actually violate the laws of the land and the constitutional rights of citizens. They tolerate, and even advance, intolerance at the behest of pressure groups because that is preferable to, and easier than, imposing moral standards for the benefit of all citizens, including voiceless minorities (eg apostates and Muslim women).

So what will it take for governments and societies to realise how precious and worth preserving are their Judaeo-Christian foundations, rights and freedoms? Will it take sectarian murder and violence, as was seen in the Netherlands this year with the murder of film maker Theo van Gogh, who was slain by an Islamic militant? This followed the screening of his 11-minute film on Islam entitled "Submission", the script of which was written by Ayaen Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born woman who fled an arranged marriage and became a refugee, apostasised in Europe, and became a Dutch MP in 2003. The Dutch are now looking at issues of immigration, multiculturalism and assimilation.

In the light of the events of 2004, Bat Ye'or's new book "Eurabia" (due for release in April/May 2005) will surely beone of the most confronting, controversial and challenging books of 2005.

STANDING UP FOR LIBERTY

As Islamic rights are advanced in the non-Muslim world, Muslims who seek liberty find that sharia is an inescapable stalker, and non-Muslims are being forced to comply with elements of dhimmitude, commencing with self-hatred and advancing to submission.

Standing up for liberty means standing against sharia for the liberty of Muslims, and against dhimmitude for the liberty of the rest of society.

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Links

1) NALLIAH and SCOT
http://community.webshots.com/album/233515462eSqZeM 

2) Playing with fire. By Andrew Bolt.
Herald Sun. 22 Dec 2004
http://heraldsun.news.com.au/printpage/0,5481,11754577,00.html 

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      Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) www.worldevangelical.org/rlc.html. This article was initially written for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis mailing list.

Despite repeated government efforts to silence him, Liu Xiaobo refuses to back down. The former Beijing University teacher has been in and out of prison since 1989, when he spoke out in support of the students involved in the pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square.

Wednesday, the organization Reporters Without Borders honored his courage and his commitment to a free press, naming him the leading defender of press freedoms in 2004.

Vincent Brossel of Reporters without Borders says Mr. Liu has consistently championed an open society, and has called for the release of jailed reporters, at a risk to his personal freedom.  "He's facing a real risk," said Vincent Brossel. "He has been fighting for freedom of expression for years. He can be arrested at any time."

Forty nine-year-old Mr. Liu is the director of the Chinese PEN Center, the country's only independent advocate for the rights of journalists. He spent two years in jail for participating in the 1989 democracy movement. In 1996, the government sentenced him to another three years in a labor camp for criticizing the Communist Party. Earlier this year he published an online essay that criticized government use of subversion charges against some journalists.

Authorities cut off his telephone and Internet service in May, and repeatedly denied his requests for a passport. He and two other prominent intellectuals were briefly detained earlier this month, accused of revealing state secrets to foreigners.

Mr. Brossel says Beijing once again trying to tighten its control over its social critics, and cited a number of recent actions. "Officials are targeting respected intellectuals, journalists, freedom activists in the past three days one journalist has been arrested and one farmers' rights activist was under detention," he said.

Other press freedom awards went to an Algerian journalist who was jailed for libel after exposing corruption, and a Mexican weekly newspaper that saw three of its reporters killed after a series of investigative reports.

On his first visit to Macau as China's president, Hu Jintao praised the territory's record in the five years since its return to Chinese sovereignty.

The territory, administered by Portugal for more than 400 years, is enjoying an unprecedented economic boom, fueled by foreign investments in its recently liberalized gambling industry.

Mr. Hu says time has proven that the "one country, two systems" formula is, in his words, "entirely correct".

China's late leader, Deng Xiaoping, crafted the concept of "one country, two systems" to deal with the then impending return of Macau and the British colony of Hong Kong in the late 1990s. The policy provided for a high degree of political autonomy for the two territories and preserved their capitalist systems, despite China's communist system.

The model was also meant to entice Taiwan, which has been self-governed since 1949, to return to Beijing's rule.

But while Macau has experienced stability and growth, Hong Kong has been beset by economic and political troubles since Britain handed it back to China in 1997. The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome last year and demands for greater democracy have been among the many challenges the local administration has faced.

Beijing has refused to allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong in 2007 and 2008, when the next elections for the territory's legislature and chief executive are scheduled - prompting mass protests earlier this year.

On Sunday, Hong Kong's government suffered another embarrassment, when a court challenge forced it to scrap a $3 billion privatization of the commercial assets of its public housing estates.

At the Macau celebrations Monday, President Hu publicly berated Hong Kong's leaders, including Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who stood by looking uncomfortable as Mr. Hu spoke.

Mr. Hu told officials to reflect on what Hong Kong has gone through since returning to China, examine its shortcomings, and improve its capabilities.

President Hu has not visited Hong Kong since becoming China's president and Communist party leader last year.