Regulars

The world’s priciest steak
Chinese media speculates on the merits of spending $2.11 million on a lunch
Jul 3, 2009 (WiC 22)

"You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant,” was Warren Buffett’s response when asked whether America’s $787 billion stimulus package was working. His meaning: no matter how much stimulus you apply, it takes ...

Man’s best-dressed friend
Man’s best-dressed friend
Jul 3, 2009 (WiC 22)

Beijing-based Hu Xi is making waves in China’s fashion industry. But she doesn’t dress women, or even men. She makes clothes for dogs. According to CCTV, Hu has just set up the country’s first fashion studio for canines. So far eager ...

A more expensive tank
In 1988 a government-mandated hike in commodity prices proved so calamitous that there was a run on the banks. By…
Jul 3, 2009 (WiC 22)

In 1988 a government-mandated hike in commodity prices proved so calamitous that there was a run on the banks. By that standard, this week’s decision to raise the prices paid by motorists at the pump was met with relative calm. According to ...

Wait for the third drum roll
Cao Gui, master of momentum
Jun 26, 2009 (WiC 21)

The Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) of Chinese history is named after the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the State of Lu. At the time, Zhou dynasty kings held only nominal power; the empire was divided between twelve feudal ...

Shi Yuzhu
Shi Yuzhu
Jun 26, 2009 (WiC 21)

Shi Yuzhu was born in Anhui province in 1962 and graduated from Zhejiang University with a degree in mathematics. He became a civil servant but then decamped to Shenzhen in 1989 to complete a masters degree in software. His big ...

Caught on camera
Caught on camera
Jun 26, 2009 (WiC 21)

Caught on camera. Parents will often say “too much television isn’t good for you” in the futile attempt to regulate their children’s leisure hours. But the maxim has come true for a man in Fuzhou. According to the Chongqing Economic ...

Going swimmingly
Symbolic swims and drinks at the Water Cube
Jun 26, 2009 (WiC 21)

Mao Zedong loved to swim. In fact, in July 1966 the 73 year-old took a vigorous and well-publicised plunge into the Yangtze River to signal that he was in robust health – and that he was launching a counterattack against his critics in the ...

Napoleon complex
A rather small Corsican once forecast that China would “shake the world”. But Napoleon might better have predicted that China…
Jun 26, 2009 (WiC 21)

A rather small Corsican once forecast that China would “shake the world”. But Napoleon might better have predicted that China would “make” the world, given its huge manufacturing capacity. And there was another symbolic milestone this ...

Shaobing
Shaobing
Jun 19, 2009 (WiC 20)

What is it? Shaobing is a type of sesame-covered flat bread that can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD). In Beijing it is a layered brown pastry, shaped like a hockey puck. In Shanghai, it is lighter and ...

Kit off
Kit off
Jun 19, 2009 (WiC 20)

Li Jun, the general manager of the Yuping Mountain Scenic Spot, refers to it as “a form of art”. He’s talking about nude bathing. Li’s bathhouse has just reopened seven years after local authorities in Sichuan pulled the plug on his ...

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