Category Archives: Urban Culture and Cities

Changsha’s unruly drivers challenged to be like butterflies shaking their wings

Posted on 2013-03-13 by Barry van Wyk

The front page of the Sanxiang Metropolis Daily from Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, today unloads on the city’s unruly drivers. The front page is festooned with a line of images of orderly straight lines of traffic in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen, contrasted … Continue reading →

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Shenyang anti-spitting campaign, take two

Posted on 2013-02-19 by Barry van Wyk

The city of Shenyang is getting tough (or tougher) on spitting and other such unhygienic habits. The Shenyang Evening News front page reports today that 200 specialist hygiene supervisors have been appointed, and they will be able to dish out fines of … Continue reading →

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Wastelands of Beijing

Posted on 2013-01-25 by Robert Foyle Hunwick

About 20 km outside Beijing, tourists sitting in tour buses from Beijing north-eastwards towards the Badaling section of the Great Wall can spot the apparent remains of a medieval castle some distance from the expressway. Its concrete spires rising above … Continue reading →

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How to have a “convenient” Spring Festival transport rush

Posted on 2013-01-21 by Barry van Wyk

“It must be said, says Shenzhen Evening News today, “that going home for Spring Festival is a deeply ingrained desire of all Chinese people.” That’s to say, all of 1.3 billion Chinese people. Hence the annual Spring Festival rush is a migration … Continue reading →

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“A city besieged” with pollution, but life goes on

Posted on 2013-01-14 by Barry van Wyk

The main theme on the front pages of China’s newspapers today is the record levels of pollution that convulsed China over the weekend and into this week. The front page of the Henan Business Times (河南商报) today displays the smog horizon over the city … Continue reading →

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China’s ten ugliest statues (and the ugly goddess that started it all)

Posted on 2013-01-10 by Barry van Wyk

In August 2012, a huge statue of a Buddhist goddess went up in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Without consulting anyone, the local government had erected it right on a busy intersection. 11 days later, however, the statue had disappeared. Again without consulting … Continue reading →

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Legal Daily report on mass incidents in China in 2012

Posted on 2013-01-06 by Jeremy Goldkorn

The Legal Daily 法治日报 has published a summary of their ’2012 Mass Incident Research Report’ 2012年群体性事件研究报告, quantifying and analyzing ‘mass incidents’ in China – riots, civil unrest, and protests. The data sources and methodology behind the report are not made explicit … Continue reading →

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China’s “most severe traffic law in history”

Posted on 2013-01-04 by Barry van Wyk

China’s newspapers are today mulling over what is being portrayed as a sea change on China’s roads, a new regulation that has caused some consternation: Running a yellow light (note yellow, not red) will now be severely punished with an automatic deduction … Continue reading →

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China’s hottest “styles” of 2012

Posted on 2012-12-24 by Barry van Wyk

The Six O’Clock This Morning (今晨六点) from Shandong province today has a special feature rounding up the newspaper’s selection of the hottest “styles” of 2012, using an English word that has been popularized in China this year because of the global pop … Continue reading →

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Female mayors given extra classes on makeup, tea ceremonies and flower arranging

Posted on 2012-12-10 by Barry van Wyk

Wouldn’t it be great if you had female leaders in China that are not only strong leaders but also look attractive and know how to work with tea and flowers because these things make them more charming? Or does that … Continue reading →

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