Category Archives: Urban Culture and Cities

Air pollution policy making and social media in Beijing, 2011-2013

Posted on 2014-04-24 by Johan van de Ven

This article is by Johan van de Ven, whose undergraduate dissertation at Oxford University examined the effects of factors such as environmental movements, diplomacy and social media on air pollution policy-making in China. In a study conducted from June to … Continue reading →

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Air pollution boosts companies in emissions analysis and filtration

Posted on 2013-11-07 by Eric Mu

It may just confirm what we already know — the smog is getting worse: China’s Meteorological Administration says that there were more smoggy days nationwide this year than anytime during the past 52 years. In Beijing, that includes half of … Continue reading →

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Shenzhen bans “skew weeing”

Posted on 2013-09-02 by Barry van Wyk

Errant weeing will no longer be tolerated in Shenzhen. From yesterday, new regulations made any instance of uncivilized behavior in public bathrooms in the city liable to a 100 yuan fine. As Shenzhen Evening Newsreports today, however, enforcing straight weeing is … Continue reading →

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Satan Lucky’s Floating World

Posted on 2013-08-29 by Alexander Ye

Satan Lucky is the pen name of cartoonist and illustrator based in Beijing. He publishes some of his work on Weibo. His style is based on Ukiyo-e — literally “pictures of the floating world”, the traditional Japanese style of woodblock prints and paintings … Continue reading →

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Chengguan go easy on man who constructed Beijing’s “most awesome illegal building”

Posted on 2013-08-16 by Johan van de Ven

The news has been dominated in recent days with stories relating to the somehow sudden discovery of a three-story villa covered in shrubbery sitting atop a 26-story building in western Beijing. Now, as construction (or rather, deconstruction) workers set about … Continue reading →

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“Temperature warriors” take on China’s heat wave

Posted on 2013-08-09 by Johan van de Ven

The front page of the Nanhu Evening News tells us today that “The news that everyone is paying attention to right now is the heat.” This has been the case for the past few weeks. As we covered on Danwei, newspapers in … Continue reading →

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Wild woman found living in a cave in Gansu

Posted on 2013-05-31 by Barry van Wyk

The “White-Haired Girl” (白毛女) was one of the first films made in the People’s Republic of China. Originally a Chinese opera and later a ballet, the film depicts the miserable life endured by a peasant girl whose poor father is … Continue reading →

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Gold rush in Guangzhou

Posted on 2013-04-18 by Barry van Wyk

The global price of gold has tanked, and Guangzhou’s gold market is booming. The front page of the Guangzhou Daily (广州日报) today has images of long queues that formed the last few weeks in the city of people seeking to part with loads of … Continue reading →

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Chengguan makes video to “clear up misunderstandings” of his profession

Posted on 2013-04-15 by Barry van Wyk

This is probably not going the get the hated chengguan any love, but one of their number has made a short video in the style of a popular recent television advertisement to try and “clear up some misunderstandings” surrounding his profession. His … Continue reading →

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Corner store consumption: profiles of small Chinese convenience stores

Posted on 2013-04-09 by Zach Hyman

Xiaomaibu literally means small selling department, and refers to Chinese corner shops or small convenience stores usually run by an individual or a family. The person who runs such stores may sleep inside the store. The range of products and services … Continue reading →

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