Category Archives: Books

New Book From the Writers of ***

Posted on 2005-05-12 by Joel Martinsen

Chen Guidi and Chun Tao, the husband-and-wife team who wrote Chinese Peasants: An Investigation, have a new book titled The Remains of Magistrate Bao (包公遗骨记).

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Self-censorship: the 2,000 pound rhinoceros on the dining table

Posted on 2005-04-25 by Jeremy Goldkorn

In sum, the Chinese government’s censorial authority in recent times has resembled not so much a man-eating tiger or fire-snorting dragon as a giant anaconda coiled in an overhead chandelier. Normally the great snake doesn’t move. It doesn’t have to. It feels no need to be clear about its prohibitions. Its constant silent message is “You yourself decide.”

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Zheng He and the Old Book Bazaar

Posted on 2005-04-08 by Joel Martinsen

Two news bits inexplicably paired together as they make the rounds of news websites: 1. The 25th Annual Old Book Bazaar runs from 9-17 April at Liuli Chang in Beijing (photo is of last year’s event). Nearly 10,000 different titles … Continue reading →

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Serve the People: an excerpt

Posted on 2005-03-29 by Jeremy Goldkorn

The ESWN blog has translated Chapter 6 of the banned novella, Serve the People. Here is an excerpt: Everything was heaven sent.  The heavens had arranged them to lock themselves inside No. 1 court and they could do whatever they … Continue reading →

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Tang Jiali nude photos

Posted on 2005-03-25 by Jeremy Goldkorn

At the same time that the the Department of Culture is banning mildy pornographic network games, search engine Baidu reveals that actress, dancer and minor celebrity Tang Jiali (汤加丽) is currently the top search request on its list of “beautiful women”

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Nanny strikes back: squeezed BBS and banned books

Posted on 2005-03-22 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Nanny Nonsense 1 There’s more on the current crackdown on Internet forums on the ESWN blog, which has translations of “a number of announcements and letters by various organizations and individuals”. Former CNN Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon has posted … Continue reading →

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Asimov Published, Interviewed in Beijing

Posted on 2005-03-18 by Joel Martinsen

Cover story from this week’s Book Review section of The Beijing News announces the publication of a Chinese translation of Isaac Asimov’s complete Foundation series. Yup, the Beijing News has scored a fictional interview with “I, Asimov”. They’ve been taking similar liberties recently in their entertainment sections, captioning photographs of celebrities with made-up quotes.

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“I am famous, everyone knows me, but I have no money!”

Posted on 2005-03-13 by admin

There’s an interesting article by Mike Meyer in this week’s NYTimes Book Review about publishing in China. Downstairs, the crowds are dense and the juxtapositions jarring. ”Monica’s Story” lies between Bill Clinton’s and Hillary Clinton’s autobiographies. A box set of … Continue reading →

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AIDS book wins award, but no one’s buying it

Posted on 2005-03-11 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Last week Xinhua reported that a book called ‘Ten Thousand Letters’ (一万封信) about the HIV/AIDS situation in China’s countryside won the first Chinese Publications and Media Awards for the best book of 2004. The awards were organized by the newspapers … Continue reading →

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Peacock Hotel

Posted on 2005-03-02 by Jeremy Goldkorn

Philip Cunningham is an American writer who has lived in Beijing, Bangkok and Tokyo, among other Asian places. He has just published a novel called Peacock Hotel. This is from the blurb: California-born John Joyce returns to Bangkok on a … Continue reading →

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