Shanghai Baby, the somewhat trashy novel of life in up and coming Shanghai written by Wei Hui and popular a couple of years back, is now on the big screen, starring Bai Ling, Gregory Wong and Luke Goss.
The much hyped new CD from LA band Guns 'N Roses is now out - and available on download only at present. The only reason we're featuring this news is because the soon-to-be-released CD cover is cool, and some of our staff profess to dig their mega-hair air-guitar tune of the past, the long winded angst ballad "November Rain". Other than that, if crashing guitar chords, incessantly banging drums and the lead singers nascient whine are your thing, then cool, but however the as yet unrevealed secret behind the title is that we've found, upon playing it backwards, the entire record does appear to be Axl Rose singing verses from Chairman Mao's "Little Red Book". This is the transcript, handily translated into English, although Axl Rose sings it in (not particuarly good) Mandarin, together with literal translations of the original English song titles into pinyin. Track by track:
One of the delights of the hospitality scene in Shanghai is that many of the charming old hotels from the early 20th century still stand - and more importantly, still take bookings. In addition, some other interesting old buildings than began life for other purposes are now modern hotels. Because of its slightly unusual political status central Shanghai was largely spared damage during WW2, and you can still stay in many of these redoubtable old buildings.
If you had come to Shanghai in the 1930s you would have had the choice of several of grandest hotels in Asia. As a contemporary guidebook put it, "Shanghai offers ample hotel and hotel-apartment accommodation, with a wide variety of locations and tariffs". On the other hand, some Chinese observers of the time felt these foreign buildings were inappropriate. A 1932 local guidebook said, "these places have no relationship to us Chinese...and besides the upper class atmosphere in these Western hotels is very solemn, every move and gesture seems completely regulated."
You don't have to go to Kunming to enjoy a breathtaking array of China's flowers. Olympic cities from Beijing to Shanghai have crafted floral arrangements as tribute to the Games. Here are the official flowers for China's provinces. We've also included a list of venues country-wide where you can view them.
Chinese : 桂花 gui hua
English : Osmanthus
Latin : Flos Osmanthi Fragrantis
Cities: Suzhou Hefei Guilin Hangzhou
Three of the four cities that boast sweet osmanthus as their official flower are also some of the biggest tourist destinations in China. Tiny and delicate, they are particularly prominent in Suzhou's many world-renowned gardens. Similarly, Hangzhou has taken advantage of their autumnal blooming season to feature them during its annual West Lake Osmanthus Festival in September. Yet despite the efforts of these two cities to claim the flower as their own, Guilin, or ‘The Forest of Osmanthus," as its name means in Chinese, has them both beaten: botanists believe the plant has been in the city for more than 10,000 years, and you can still buy a sweet wine made from the flower in the city today.
Lang Lang, the Shenyang born Chinese pianist many consider the best of his generation, ("Stunning" - New York Times) has released a new joint CD and DVD, "Dragon Songs" on the Deutsche Grammophon label, the most prestigious for international classical artists. Comprising many of China's most loved classics, the pianist also made a documentary of the recording, included in the package.
The Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang has been creating a stir internationally with his recent installations, most notably his "Exploding cars" sequences, which have been showing everywhere from the Guggenheim onwards over the last few weeks. Described as "an explosive moment expanded in time and space as if in a dream" Cai Guo-Qiang's work is dramatic, severe and frighteningly beautiful.
It's July, and everywhere in China, the Water Lotus is now in bloom. Parks across the country have suddenly bloomed fireworks that looked like lotuses, with outer petals fading from white to pink and central rings of rose deepening to red. Always in lakes and ponds, the flower of July for China blooms in water. What could be more cool and refreshing during the hot days of July than contemplating the water lily?
The Yangtze River is one of the world's mightiest waterways - 6,300km in length, and stretching from Himalayan origins in the Chinese - Tibetan mountains of Qinghai (Amdo), heading south then dramatically making a U-turn to cross the entire nation and empty out near Shanghai. The 3rd largest river in the world, it is Asia's largest, compared to the Mekong (4,350km) and Ganges (2510km), with whom it shares similar beginnings. In fact, in the north of Yunnan, the Mekong and Yangtze run along parallel valleys - the former thundering down south to empty in to the South China Sea, while the Yangtze does a 180 degree turn at Shi Gu and remarkably continues east to drain at the East China Sea. That turn "The First Bend In The Yangtze" has had important repercussions for China's development - without the bend at Shi Gu, no Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing or Shanghai. The fish caught at Shu Ge - a large species of Trout - are reputed to be the tastiest in China. (We tried them, steamed and grilled. They are very good).
This is the peak of Mount Kawa Karpo, taken from the remote village of Fei Lai Si, north of Deqin on the China-Tibet border. Rising to a majestic 6,720 meters, it has long been considered a holy mountain - its peak has never been climbed. First seen by a foreigner in 1928, Joseph Rock, an eminent American -Austrian botanist, when he first glimpsed the mountain was in complete awe and originally thought it higher than Mount Everest. Certainly getting there is something of a trek. Deqin itself is a largely Tibetan community, a small village of about 30,000 nestling in a Northern Yunnan Himalayan Valley, while the county itself numbers a population of about 80,000, the vast majority of whom are Tibetans. Deqin is a six hour drive north from Zhongdian (now known as Shangri-La) over some of the most pristine country China has to offer - the route is one of the old Tea Horse Road passes and reaches way up into the mountains at over 4,000 meters before gradually descending to Deqin at a mere 3,500 meters. Fei Lai Si is just a few kilometers further on, and possesses a few hostels and bars, all with spectacular views. There are many treks and trails also crossing the nearby ranges.
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Chinese : 桂花 gui hua
