One of the most underrated China-related sites is, in my opinion, the excellent Asiapundit. For a taste of what this guy can do, go and have a read of the latest China Economic Roundup. And I’m NOT just saying this because he frequently links to my posts. How could you even think such a thing.

In the round up, you’ll also see a link to Brian Schawarz’s blog which I won’t link to as it’s blocked in China. It’s also a great site.

August 29, 2005 @ 2:17 am | Comment

Sorry to ask again, but does anyone in Beijing have any info about the Edward Norton movie being filmed now? thanks

August 29, 2005 @ 6:00 am | Comment

Kevin, I’ll see if I can track that down today.

Dave, I’m reposting my comment about books from the open thread below…

ave, have you read Ronald McFarquar’s excellent three volumes on the Origins of the CR? It’s kind of dry and dense but really good, more an academic read than a popular history.

I’ve got so many books on my shelf I could go on at great length – most are older though. I just got an interesting looking one called “when the legends pass away,” about the images of recent leaders and how they are manipulated.

August 29, 2005 @ 10:19 am | Comment

It’s called the Painted Veil, filming August 15 – November 2005, at Beijing (Beijing Film Studios), Shanghai and the southeastern province of Guangxi.

That’s all I know!

August 29, 2005 @ 7:02 pm | Comment

Has anyone tried accessing blogspot blogs via proxy server since around midnight last night? Everything was hunky dory until sometime after 11.30pm and it’s starting to become really frustrating.

Does anyone know if the CCP is currently in full swing of a Beijing clean-up operation assault on all fronts? Yesterday wasn’t a good day for me – first I got swept up in crackdown on motorcyclists riding without a valid license (nevermind that I don’t, I still ride/drive better than those who do) and then the inaccessibility of blogsites. I’ve just tried Bing Feng and ACB, who are on different servers, and still no luck.

August 29, 2005 @ 7:17 pm | Comment

occasionally the bcchinese site, which hosts the bingfeng teahouse, breaks down for maintainance (clean spams, etc.)

last week we had many crackdowns here in shanghai, our apartment building doesn’t allow deliveryman into the building, and several swimming pools are asked to shut down because of sanitation concerns

August 29, 2005 @ 7:58 pm | Comment

anybody thought about putting out a podcast on current issues/news/commentary on china?

August 29, 2005 @ 8:53 pm | Comment

podcasting… ok, I’m in the middle of all sorts of computer issues. I’m shopping for some broadband (god I miss China), and my desktop here is a bit slow, especially for editing and archiving the 3000+ digital photos I have to go through. I’d love to do a podcast though. Unless anyone has any other suggestions, I think I’m gonna shell out for a powerbook.

Lisa: I went to the Strand in Manhattan and picked up the following:

The Chan’s Great Continent
&
The Search For Modern China
– Jonathan Spence

Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nat1on@lism in the PRC
– Dru Gladney

Familiar Strangers: A History of Muslims in Northwest China
– Jonathan Lipman

Narcotic Culture: A History of Drugs in China
– Frank Dikotter

The Dust of Empire: The Race for Mastery in the Asian Heartland
– Karl E. Meyer

I also ordered for delivery:

Ti@n@nm3n Pap3rs
– Zhang L1ang

China’s New Rulers
– Andrew Nathan

China’s Cultural Heritage: The Qing Dynasty 1644-1912
– Richard Smith

Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia 500 B.C. to 1700 A.D.
– Erik Hildinger

And if anybody can help me find a cheap copy of Hodong Kim’s “Holy War in China”, I’ll give you my first born child. But I ain’t payin’ 60 bucks for it.

August 29, 2005 @ 9:26 pm | Comment

Anyway, back to podcasting: I always meant to find some resources for how to do podcast interviews; in other words take my laptop somewhere, interview someone and turn it into a podcast, relatively hassle-free.

Instead of me pontificating from my basement.

August 29, 2005 @ 9:32 pm | Comment

bingfeng said:

last week we had many crackdowns here in shanghai, our apartment building doesn’t allow deliveryman into the building, and several swimming pools are asked to shut down because of sanitation concerns

Bingfeng, those don’t sound like crackdowns. The sound more like positive measures. Thieves could be posing as delivery people and if people are relieving themselves in the pool it could be contaminated with e coli bacteria.

August 29, 2005 @ 11:26 pm | Comment

Strange, I couldn’t open the Worker’s Stadium comments this morning. It wasn’t until some of the titles in davesgonechina’s book list were changed that the problem went away.

Renxu

Sorry, I just saw your question way back in one of the threads regarding China’s Petriotic Education. As far as I know, there’s not much that I’ve seen on the www. However, I’m notoriously crap at searching for stuff.

Let me get back to you on that.

August 30, 2005 @ 1:13 am | Comment

yes, a reminder – for the convenience of readers in the PRC, watch certain sensitive keywords – the Fajita Loving Guys, for example…

August 30, 2005 @ 1:40 am | Comment

i have a few “pet words” for china-related discussions, “crackdown” is one of them 🙂

August 30, 2005 @ 2:06 am | Comment

The best debate of the day is breaking out down at the 8th Rebellion thread.

August 30, 2005 @ 2:47 am | Comment

By the way, being a Chinese blogger yourself, what’s your take on Sister Furong? So far, my familiy and friends haven’t been motivated enough to give me much of an opinion on her past a small shrug of the shoulders. Total indifference.

I’m therefore totally unable to explain the west’s near-obsession with her.

August 30, 2005 @ 2:50 am | Comment

Sorry, that above post was meant to be directed to Bingfeng.

August 30, 2005 @ 2:51 am | Comment

Martyn, thanks for the plug and the kind words. Though as its still only about four months old, I prefer to think of the AP site as undiscovered rather than underrated.

August 30, 2005 @ 3:17 am | Comment

Lisa, what are you doing up at this ungodly hour??

Asiapundit, I love your site and agree, it’s a bit undiscovered, but give it some time. In the blogosphere, the good stuff tends to rise to the top.

August 30, 2005 @ 3:24 am | Comment

I didn’t know AsiaPundit was only four months old. Yes, ok, undiscovered it is then.

Mind you, keep up with those fiendishly-addictive round-ups and, as Richard says, AsiaPundit will undoubtedly rise to the top. I’m sure about that.

August 30, 2005 @ 3:36 am | Comment

asiapundit, one of the best

sister furong, super voice girl, i have no interest in them, good to see people are creating their own idol, not the one imposed by others, but it’s still not as good as being free from any idol or slave master

August 30, 2005 @ 6:59 am | Comment

Finally opened this site- having a hell of a time with google search, as well for some reason

August 30, 2005 @ 8:10 am | Comment

Jo, I can access your blogspot site and other blogs via proxy servers. There was some problem yesterday that seems to have cleared today.

Oh and fact fans: Edward Norton’s dad also has Chinese connections – he’s involved in setting up a Nature Conservancy project to protect the Three Rivers area near Zhongdian/Deqin.

August 30, 2005 @ 9:05 am | Comment

I should also add that I had bought Richard lunch today at our office canteen before he went off to Shanghai. I’m sure he will tell you more details about his undercover inspection tour of our premises when he gets back to blogging. He even met our boss, who had no idea who he was talking to, and they swapped anecdotes about Arizona. Funny old world.

August 30, 2005 @ 9:10 am | Comment

Funny old world indeed.

For some inexplicable reason TPD was very difficult to access this afternoon (China time). For a few hours the site traffic nose-dived. However, back to normal now thank goodness.

August 30, 2005 @ 9:25 am | Comment

What a relief! I was getting quite obsessive there and clicking on the ‘refresh’ button every 5 minutes. So back to unfettered blog access… for now.

August 30, 2005 @ 10:09 am | Comment

Where’s all the international relief to help the victims of hurricane Katrina?
 

August 30, 2005 @ 8:57 pm | Comment

People in my office think Furong a riot. It’s not a complement.

Echo sentiments on Asiapundit. Indispensible for my dish on Singapore as well as China. Keep up the good work.

Sites have been acting slow recently, but it’s seemed more like congestion than anything sinister.

August 30, 2005 @ 9:50 pm | Comment

Boy, I had no idea Katrina was as bad as it was until about 2:30 pm. I think it’s taken almost everyone by surprise.

I donated to the Red Cross, personally…

August 30, 2005 @ 10:16 pm | Comment

Oh, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered aid. Just to show there’s no hard feelings over that Pat Robertson wanting to kill him thing…

August 30, 2005 @ 10:38 pm | Comment

I was expecting devastation from Katrina but not this. 80% of New Orleans under water? 80 people dead in more single county? Absolutely horrific. My heart goes out to those people.

I’ve been reading that some the US bloggers will be ‘blogging for relief’. Thurday was touted by Glenn Reynolds/Instapundit. I think the whole campaign was started by him.

August 30, 2005 @ 10:44 pm | Comment

I turned on CNN this afternoon and could not believe some of what I saw. It really does look as bad as the December tsunami in places. Huge gambling cas1nos picked up and carried intact a quarter mile away from their moorings. Gulfport looks like nothing but rubble. And New Orleans…it seemed so hopeful this AM but now that the levees are breached, no one can say how bad it will get. As many as 100,000 people were unable or unwilling (mostly the former) to evacuate the city. They have to get everyone out of there now. New Orleans may not be livable again for a long time. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll have some grasp of what a horrible tragedy this is – for the people who’ve lost their city and also for the culture of the entire world. New Orleans is a very special place.

August 30, 2005 @ 11:24 pm | Comment

A monumental disaster! New Orleans, one of the few American cities that still has some individuality and character! The whole Gulf Coast ravaged! There must be hundreds dead!

I just can’t believe how bad it is! To think a major city will be uninhabitable for … weeks?

August 30, 2005 @ 11:34 pm | Comment

I’ve heard that people are being told, don’t expect to return home for a month at least.

Hundreds? I would not be surprised if the death toll goes into the thousands. I’d be surprised if it doesn’t. But let’s hope I’m wrong.

August 30, 2005 @ 11:36 pm | Comment

I’ve been following the links on Instapundit for my Katrina coverage. He also has a long list of support organisations.

August 30, 2005 @ 11:51 pm | Comment

Another link page for disaster relief on my post below…

August 31, 2005 @ 12:12 am | Comment

Photos of the damage from Katrina

August 31, 2005 @ 12:36 am | Comment

My friend was heading down to Tulane to start classes this week. He only got as far as Atlanta – who says leaving at the last minute is a bad idea?

Man, somebody get some Chinooks or something over to the Superdome and pronto. Those people gotta get outta there.

Does anybody else think China would have a PR coup if they offered Bush a relief package when Hu comes to visit?

August 31, 2005 @ 1:29 am | Comment

Hu sent a letter to GW to express his sympathy, perhaps he should bring something with him when he visit the states next week? pandas? blankets? china-made shirts and slippers? any good idea?

August 31, 2005 @ 7:05 am | Comment

Kier

I just watched 1904 on the telly. Ha! It was wierd watching a TPD commenter on Chinese TV I must say. Good job though, you and your mate and “Younghusband.”

I heard you accent, I didn’t know that’s where you were from.

I was a show called Road To The Republic a few years ago. I was the dashing Italian Military officer. Good money like.

Same old theme for these CCTV productions: nasty foreign invaders defeated by heroic Chinese patriots with bows and arrows.

August 31, 2005 @ 7:05 am | Comment

One negative legacy of katrina will be public debt. Year back, as coastal communities in Florida and the gulf grew, and hurricane and flood insurance was so hard to come by, those communities pressured the federal government, which came through with federally backed (read tax-payer backed) insurance. Forecasters have been warning for years that a result similar to Katrina was inevitable, given the heavy development of coastal areas. Now, the Feds will have to ante up. This is going to hurt us all, eventually. As for lives lost, people in Louisiana are used to hurricanes, and do not take them lightly. I lived in Lake Charles in 1961, when Carla swept through, and remember the emergency broadcasts in both French and English, a requirement back when many “vrai chose” Cajuns did not have a mastery of English. So the number of lives lost is liable to remain relatively low, given the danger of this storm. But as for property losses, maybe this will be a wake-up call to cut back on federal subsidy schemes to private homeowners. In the end, they encourage coastal over-development, since Uncle Sugar is assuming the risk.

August 31, 2005 @ 10:21 am | Comment

read the editor & publisher piece I just linked to in the Katrina post below…

August 31, 2005 @ 10:36 am | Comment

I wanna see Hu Jintao walk up to GW and hand him a red envelope. That would rock.

August 31, 2005 @ 11:53 am | Comment

Oh man, this “Anti-Japan War Online” game would kick ass if they’d let you play the Japanese side. Imagine, thousands of Chinese guys in internet cafes playing as the Japanese just so they can commit sebuku… again, and again, and again. They’d love it!

August 31, 2005 @ 11:56 am | Comment

oh, I wanted to blog about that and didn’t have time…damn…

August 31, 2005 @ 12:44 pm | Comment

On a somewhat related note, I have been interested to observe a blatantly anti-Japanese housepaint ad now appearing in Shanghai’s subway system.

A bit ironic after the great hullaballoo raised by many Chinese over perceived slights in ads by the Japanese paint company, the athletic shoe company, and KFC.

This ad, from a Chinese paint company, is not terribly subtle. The central character is a half-witted sumo wrestler who is bested by two Chinese professional housepainters.

No double standards here, folks.

August 31, 2005 @ 2:25 pm | Comment

Speaking of the island of the rising sun, did anyone see crazy governor Ishihara’s article in FP about how Japan is the sleeping giant of Asia? I’ve written about it in my Asian Security Review blog.

August 31, 2005 @ 5:42 pm | Comment

Well if you’re bored out of your mind, you can switch the TV over to CCTV9 to watch the Chinese insult Tibetans with their public celebration of “40 Years of Tibet Autonomous Region”.

It’s complete with goose-stepping soldiers in front of the Religious Palace and the raising of the Chinese national flag along with a live band playing that natinal anthem.

I’m sure the Tibetans feel so glorious to have been a part of China for the last 40 years.

Not!

August 31, 2005 @ 8:10 pm | Comment

Hey! At least the soldiers aren’t shooting the Tibetans this time…

August 31, 2005 @ 8:37 pm | Comment

and xinjiang, nex mexico, north ireland, french pacific islands, chechen

actually shanghai was invaded and occupied by china about 1600 years ago, and heilongjiang, liaoning, jilin, innor mongolia, qinghai, yunnan ..

don’t forget hunan, i have travelled there and in qing dynasty, the government sent troops to crackdown the miao uprising, hunan was actually a colony of china

certainly hainan island was not part of china back 200 years ago

if you study the , you will understand that china “invaded” and “occupied” most of the land it has claimed to have today

same to india, russia, america, some south american nations, etc.

August 31, 2005 @ 8:59 pm | Comment

Sigh… Chinese television. I miss being able to see children singing at dog-whistle frequencies, dubbed German action shows vaguely reminiscent of Knight Rider, endless historical dramas and, of course, the same 10 second commercial played consecutively 3 times within a single 30 second block.

August 31, 2005 @ 10:52 pm | Comment

Hey Keir

In 1904 why didn’t you complement the Tibetans on their perfect Chinese? I guess they must all have already attended the Qing dynasty version of the Beijing Nationalities University.

PS Did you get to keep the groovy goggles? Good for keeping the Beijing grit out too.

September 1, 2005 @ 6:43 am | Comment