Tag Archives: China

China has launched a mobile death chamber. Zhang Shiqiang, known as the Nine-Fingered Devil, first tasted justice at 13. His father caught him stealing and cut off one of Zhang’s fingers. Twenty-five years later, in 2004, Zhang met retribution once more, after his conviction for double murder and rape. He was one of the first people put to death in …

Another fantastic entry from Strange Maps, this one showing the populations of China’s 34 provinces relative to countries of similar population. The top ten: Guangdong (113 million) Germany Henan (99 million) Mexico Shandong (92 million) Philippines Sichuan (87 million) Vietnam Jiangsu (75 million) Egypt Hebei (68 million) Iran Hunan (67 million) France Anhui (65 million) Thailand Hubei (60 million) U.K. …

In what is being hailed as one of the most tremendous upsets of the Beijing Olympics, openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham won a gold medal today after his string of perfect 10’s recorded the highest scoring dive in Olympic history. Mitcham’s pulled off a stunning final dive in the 10 metre platform, scoring an incredible four perfect 10s, to …

The International Olympic Committee is finally looking into the ages of the Chinese female gymnasts. The IOC did not give details on what new information prompted it to act now, three days after the gymnastics competition ended. “With some questions still remaining, we asked the federation to take a closer look,” Davies said. The Chinese women won six medals, including …

Protests continue daily at the Chinese Consulate on the West Side Highway at 42th Street, where at night the Free Tibet crowd has been projecting a giant Tibetan flag and other images onto the bare face of the building. After the protesters posted a video of their projection of the Olympic rings turning into handcuffs, the International Olympic Committee lodged …

Via Gawker, a totally not Micheal Phelps but equally goofy tall guy gets mobbed by Chinese who can’t tell the difference. Steve Parry is a BBC commentator who won bronze swimming in the Athens Olympics. He’s very cute about the confusion.

For the first time since 1936, the total Olympic medal count winner may not be the United States or Russia.From the Dallas Morning News: The last time the U.S. failed to win the overall medal count was 1992, when the Unified Team earned 112 to America’s 108. That also was the last year in which the U.S. lost the gold …

Chinese gold medals won in women’s gymnastics are coming under question as proof has emerged that star competitor He Kexin is only 14 years old. In 1997 the minimum age for competing was raised to 16. Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made …

Nice photo that the New York Times provides us of the gold medal winning Chinese men’s gymnastics team, eh? Being stereotypical gays, we rushed back from dinner last night to catch the finals, but found ourselves mostly grumbling about NBC’s insistence on making us listen to the American team’s inane “we are gymnasts, but we are totally not gay” sports …

I’ve watched the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics three times now and I still cannot get over how fantastic it was. Despite all of my issues with the Chinese government, I must admit that the first 90 minutes of the show is quite simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen on any screen. But aside from the …

Eight is considered a lucky and “auspicious” number in China and that’s why the Olympics will begin on 08/08/08 at 8:08:08PM local time. Just so you know. “When you believe in things you don’t understand, then you suffer…”

China has taken dog off the menu at the official Olympic eateries and is asking local restaurants to do the same. Those who hope to taste dog meat when they visit Beijing for this summer’s Olympics may be disappointed. The Beijing Catering Trade Association has ordered all 112 designated Olympic restaurants to take dog off the menu, and has strongly …

Twice the size of the Pentagon at 240 acres, Beijing’s new airport terminal, takes the title of world’s largest building*. Adorned with the colors of imperial China and a roof that evokes the scales of a dragon, the massive glass- and steel-sheathed structure, designed by the renowned British architect Norman Foster, cost $3.8 billion and can handle more than 50 …

Yesterday afternoon, after a nice brunch down in the Bowery with Little David and visiting Chicago blogger Jake and his humpy fiancé, we wandered up to Union Square and ran into an anti-Olympics protest. I walked around to take pictures of the protesters with their signs, but aside from the woman below (I think she’s a nun), most didn’t want …

On today’s episode of The View, John McCain said that if he were president today, he’d boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. McCain: “I would say right now it depends on Chinese behavior. Unless there is some progress with the Dalai Lama, including conversations with him, including stopping this brutal crackdown that we’re seeing in Tibet, then I …

As part of a large protest against Chinese human rights abuses, activist Peter Tatchell was detained by London police today after he attempted to interrupt the relay of the Olympic torch through the streets of London. As the torch continued westwards through London, pro-Tibet supporters waved banners and placards calling for Gordon Brown to boycott the opening ceremony, for an …

Astounding foreign observers, China’s state-run newspaper, the China News, has published a story in which academics call for the legalization of gay marriage. Since decriminalizing homosexuality in 1997, China has been reverting to its traditional non-judgemental stance towards gays. Buddhism and Taoism do not consider homosexuality a sin and generally promote diversity. Last year China permitted the formation of its …

China is launching its first ever gay television program, a weekly internet-only show called Connecting Homosexuals. Gay life has been steadily improving in China, with homosexuality decriminalized in 1997 and no longer considered a mental illness. According to the linked article, the official government stance on gays is called “the three no’s”. No disapproval, no approval, no promotion. I’ve heard …