Category > offbeat news

Chinese Retirees Cover Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance

If you have ever thought to yourself that you would really like to hear Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” covered in the Hunan dialect by Chinese retirees dancing with young women in miniskirts playing traditional Chinese instruments…then this amazing video will be your dream come true.

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what’s in and what’s out in chinese popular culture

A few months ago in my spoken Chinese class, my teacher displayed this fascinating list of what was in and out in Chinese popular culture as part of her lesson about the internet and slang. Through the miracle of Baidu, I managed to track down the original list to the June 1st edtion of The [...]

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Beijing Traffic Cop Dances Cha Cha, Directs Traffic

Just when I’m about to give up on this blog, I come across this most awesome video that reminds me why I started this blog in the first place! This video is of Beijing traffic police officer He Changqing, directing traffic and doing the cha cha in what is sure to be the patented “He [...]

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mr. wu of tongzhou: farmer, robot creator

This is an old YouTube video that I’ve been wanting to blog for a while.  Over in Tongzhou, there is a farmer who makes robots despite a lack of any formal training. He loves making robots, but his wife is not so fond of them, especially after Mr. Wu burned down the house.  On the [...]

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in praise of china scene

One of my favourite sections of China Daily, the official English-language daily here, is China Scene. Divided up into regional sections, China Scene compiles the offbeat and slice-of-life stories around China, with fun illustrations. Here is one example about a would-be thief: Shoplifter is head-trapped (from February 27, 2008) A shoplifter in Fushun, Liaoning province, [...]

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