In order to assuage fears that China would not be open to debate a criticism during the Olympic games, the government has set up three “protest zones”. Says Mo Yuchuan, director of the Research Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law at Renmin Daxue 人民大学:

The move to set aside protest areas is in line with Beijing’s promises to the International Olympic Committee to adhere to the Olympic traditions, such as free expression outside the sporting venues. It offers a new channel for the protestors (sic) to better express their opinions by attracting the eyes of tourists, reporters and officials during the Games.

So how is this arrangement turning out? Quite well if you believe that nobody wishes to protest. Not so much if you travel to the three zones and find them empty. Even worse when you realize that some applicants have been arrested. When questioned about why nobody has been allowed top protest, Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games vice president Wang Wei said:

China has stepped forward. The ordinary Chinese in the street will give the same answer. Do not underestimate the wisdom of the Chinese people. Do not think that you are smartest.

In related news, five US activists have been detained after unfurling an LED “Free Tibet” banner in Beijing. Regrettably, Tibet remains quite expensive.

First China vows to open access to media during the Olympics. Turns out that was a joke. Now the International Olympic Committee has sent its minions accross China to tape over unauthorized displays of the Olympic rings. Although the Chinese government has a substantial lead in the Douchebagoffery, the IOC is gaining ground. Who will reach the bottom first?

Windows only: PPstream is a peer-to-peer (P2P, or if you must, PP) video client that allows for live streaming and sharing of television and movies from China. Catch favorites such as CCTV (中国中央电视台) channels 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 17, movies of questionable legality and plenty of Olympics. The PP streams offer a golden opportunity to soak up immerse yourself in dip your toe into watch a deluge torrent bunch of TV from China. Sorry.

Direct link to installer here. Instructions here.

China is rich in natural and cultural resources. Which resources? you ask. Scienticians have revealed the new Periodic Table of Awesoments, which supplants the now-obsolete Periodic Table of Elements. Let us briefly consider which elements abound in China:

1. Bacon: yes
2. Ninja: no
3. Batman: no
4. Explosion: yes
5. Mountain Dew: maybe
6. Beer: yes
7. Chocolate: yes
8. Cheese: yes
9. Pirates: YES
10. Sniper: yes
11. Chuck Norris: yes

Other criticism of the 2008 Beijing Olympics pales in comparison to the newest shocker: Athletes will not compete in the nude, even though the Greeks originally competed with nary a loincloth. Viewers and gods alike will be forced to imagine the glistening, olive-oiled bodies under mounds of confining cloth. Oh China! What have you done to our beloved games? If we wanted to watch a bunch of never-nudes, we’d watch some cheap Roman rip-off. Boycott?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has admitted that the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) will indeed censor the internet during the upcoming Olympics.

Says IOC press chief Kevan Gosper:

“I regret that it now appears BOCOG has announced that there will be limitations on website access during Games time.”

In related news, there is no need for direct access to information, according to the CCP Central Committee’s limb, the People’s Daily:

“The Games will definitely act as a window through which people staying at home and coming from outside can exchange glances in a free and friendly manner. There is no need to peep into each other’s realms, as the new window encourages people from different backgrounds to meet halfway through direct communications.”

-and-

“It is evident that any mature host would like to open itself to criticism from its guests, and any constructive criticism would only help the host improve. It is also well-documented in Olympic history that any din or noise, loud as it is, has no reason to disrupt the Games, as the Olympic spirit will eventually survive and foil any fault-finding attempts. That is why the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee has decided to initiate communication by granting freedom to the media.“

In summary:

• 0*½=∞
• shut up you!

UPDATE:

“China’s openness to foreign media would remain after Games.” The subjunctive begs the question: This openness would remain if what?

We’re all really hyped up about the Olympics here at ESinophile Headquarters, so we’re going to do a few posts about the games.  Consider this the pollution post.

Here comes the Olympics!  Hooray, right?  Unfortunately, It seems that the air in and around Beijing, not to mention the waters around Qingdao, haven’t gotten the memo about the need for a harmonious particulate count.  Here’s are few reports after the jump:

The Boston Globe is running a stunning photo-essay on the final preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Don’t read this, just look. Favorites below.

Again, there is a newly digitized collection of old China photos placed online for us to enjoy.  This time the danwei to be thanked is the Library at Duke University.  Consider my hat doffed to you, oh fine librarianites.  Outstanding photos at outstanding resolutions.  As I couldn’t say it any better, for background, I’ll make bold to nick their entire intro blurb:

From 1908 to 1932, Sidney Gamble (1890-1968 ) visited China four times, traveling throughout the country to collect data for social-economic surveys and to photograph urban and rural life, public events, architecture, religious statuary, and the countryside. A sociologist, renowned China scholar, and avid amateur photographer, Gamble used some of the pictures to illustrate his monographs. The Sidney D. Gamble Photographs digital collection marks the first comprehensive public presentation of this large body of work that includes photographs of Korea, Japan, Hawaii, San Francisco, and Russia. The site currently features photographs dated between 1917 and 1932; the 1908 photographs will be digitized and uploaded as part of future additions to the site.

More excellent  photos after the break:

Robert Scheer, Editor in Chief of Truthdig, inspired progressive, consummate broken-record, articulate polemicist, and occasional weirdo has written an article entitled “Taiwan Declares Peace on China” in which he excoriates neocons for wasteful military spending by holding up the example of the truce between China and Taiwan for comparison.

The question is, does he too eagerly succumb to the self-interested rhetoric of both sides when he declares that “this long chapter of Cold War conflict has been closed and a new era of peace proclaimed by once strident foes”? A provocative, if problematic, read.

So, for the first time in roughly, forever, the friendly folks at your neighborhood Chinese bank have issued a new ten yuan note.  No biggie you say?  Take another gander.  Not only are they special Olympic notes, there’s no Mao anywhere to be seen on them!  Personally, I haven’t actually seen one in my hands though.  I’m suspecting that he’s hiding up at the top of the bird’s nest.  Hang on…  I think I need to take a closer look at that image from the other side after the jump…

Do you:

• like sappy, saccharine, melodramatic pop
• view China and Chinese society as a monolith
• require cameos from famous stars
• have poor musical taste?

If yes, you might be interested in the official theme song for the 100-day countdown celebration to the 2008 Olympics, “Welcome to Beijing” 《北京欢迎你》

It’s not my cup of tea, but have at it:

Lyrics in Chinese below:

As fluent speakers of Chinglish, the world’s best language, we welcome the advancement of this venerable and pleasing tongue. A recent article in Wired forsees an even greater influence of Chinglish on English in the future. Don’t agree? 去死吧你 “Go die, You!”

Chances are that you are sitting there, like I was, trying to read some scrawled chicken-scratchings purported to be Chinese.  You know that the word you are looking at should be ‘died,’ but the glory of Chinese allows for many different combinations that mean that.  To do a decent transcription, you certainly need, like I did, 166 synonyms for ‘die’ in Chinese.

God, i love the internet.

Behold the majestic Shanzhai Glider 山寨滑翔机 (shānzhài huáxiángjī). See how it lifts gracefully into the air. Dry your sweaty palms as you await its landing. Will our intrepid hero make it?

More on the fascinating term 山寨 shānzhài here and here.

The Chongqing Wild Zoo 重庆野生动物园 has taught wolves how to sing and hopes to teach them how to dance. Says zookeeper Luo Yong:

“Once I was playing guitar and singing the song ‘I Am A Wolf From The North’, and a young wolf I raised walked up to me and stared at me. Suddenly he howled with the rhythm, and even patted the strings with his claw.”

Well then!

Coco Wang has produced a series of simple and shattering comics strips about the 5.12 earthquake. Do not miss them!

Link (via BB and MF)

Instead of the normal 0 penises on the back, this adorable baby, born to a farming family in Henan province, has 1. In related news, 2 penises are funnier than 1.

Link (NSFW, I guess)

It seems that the beloved term jia you 加油 (come on!; go!, lit. “add oil”) is being replaced by an official Olympics cheer. The Beijing Olympic Organising Committee and the Ministry of Education plan to indoctrinate introduce the new cheer to tens of thousands of potential Olympic attendees. Facelessness will be harder to teach.

Via Foundinchina and BBC

All readers of the internet turn with undying devotion and respect to our beloved People’s Daily. Despite the blatantly false lies of a minority of lying liars, those who know anything will agree: The Beijing Olympics are to be the best ever held in Olympic history.

Also, what is Nancy Pelosi Really Up To?

And, the Tibetan Youth Congress is worse than al-Qaeda.

And, political attempts doomed to fail.

And, media abroad have reappraised not only the contemporary China but also its armed forces.

In part three of our ongoing series, we turn toward the best kind of nationalism—needles in the head. Apparently, Dr. Wei Sheng surpassed his previous word-record of 1790 needles, a laughably tiny number, with, you guessed it, 2008 needles.

In related news, Pinhead is showing his Olympic spirit with spikes of his own.

Link (via Neotorama)

To celebrate the addition of BMX Racing to the Olympics games in 2008, Nike and BMX legend Bob Haro are putting on a multimedia art show in Beijing. Called “Lightning Bolts,” the show has ramps, screens, and best of all, stylized number plates. Pics here and here.

In slightly related news, some people are riding their bikes from Athens to Beijing. Sheesh!

The U.S. plans to dig deep into its pockets and give the staggering sum of $500,000 to China to help with the earthquake. In related news, asshole deadbeat dad gives ex-wife $1 to raise their son.

Link

Most of people have seen the photos of Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Qiu Jin (and check the Qiu Jing Project), and many other revolutionists when studying the 1911 Revolution. Now Princeton University Library provides another way to look into this critical point of Chinese modern history. Through 31 poster-like block prints, we can nee the struggle between the revolutionists and Manchu government, the contemporary viewpoints, the forms of media, and the issue of “modernity”.

Most of them are propaganda prints that side with revolutionist. One of them shows the foreign relations of China in the form of caricature map. (BibliOdyssey has more detailed discussion on this map)

Just a quick note to put up a clearinghouse for some of the best news sources for information on the Chengdu Earthquake. We should probably be calling this the Wenchuan (汶川) Earthquake, but for the sake of the googlers, I’ll keep both placenames on the title and in the tags. Newest updates are on the top.

Updates 5/14

• Via EastSouthWestNorth
  • The HK Apple Daily has more musings on the omen side of things.  Article in Chinese and translation over at ESWN
  • They also have a fairly good roundup of the most moving earthquake-related photos- Some of the photo links seem to be dying, but most are still good
• Via Danwei.org
  • Newsweek’s blog has an interesting piece on the Chinese media - state and ‘independent’ and their newfound apparent ability to be more transparent and active
  • The entertainingly named “Hugh Jorgen” of the Zhongnanhai blog is much less impressed with the CCTV coverage.

Updates 5/13 1:08 pm PST

• New York Times’ The Lede blog discusses briefly the discontent in China about the overly celebratory images of the Olympic Torch immediately after the earthquake. (Via China Digital Times)

• Again, Shanghaiist seems to have the best roundup in English.
• One of the themes that is coming out of this that Shanghaiist among others ferrets out is the anger that is being expressed toward local governments for the assumed corruption that led to shoddy ‘tofu buildings.’ The Guardian has a representative piece
• Danwei.org has an interesting article about possible warnings from nature - including the bizarre frog exodus that was covered (again) over at Shanghaiist.
• Some, the Warrior Lawyer among them, are talking about the Tangshan Earthquake of ‘76 and the Mandate of Heaven. Even Time Magazine published about omens regarding the Myanmar cyclone before the earthquake hit.
• Some interesting thoughtfulness on the role of twitter yesterday by Digitalwatch
• Via Imagethief, the Olympic torch will still run through Sichuan
• A slide show of Reuters images from the Australian. (some fairly graphic)
• As much as I dislike CNN’s “iReport” shtick, they’ve got some interesting images and videos here’s their tag for Earthquake, and here’s China

Updated5/12 9:01 PST

• Xinhua is trying to repair my opinion of them by putting up a site in English with updates.
• National Public Radio’s Robert Seigal and Melissa Block are actually in Chengdu doing some good reporting.
  • A terrifying audio clip of a very cool and collected Melissa Block in-progress interview when the earthquake hits.
    • Click on “Listen: The sound of the earthquake in progress, recorded by Melissa Block” (it hits at about 40 seconds into the interview)
      
  • Chengdu Diary
• Sina.com has a page for minute-by-minute updates (in Chinese)
• Global Voices has another good update and list of links
• Here’s a Chinese Forum with some more photos - Beware, there are a few gruesome ones there.
• Shanghaiist - good regular updates
• Twitter feeds - Good stuff coming out in English from a few regulars
  • inwalkedbud - In Chengdu
  • Kaiserkuo
  • Imagethief
  • Summary tagged “earthquake”
• Even if you’re not 太CNN 了, They’re still putting out better info than most Chinese sources
• Xinhua seems to be doing better than usual in Chinese, but their English side is understandably lagging a bit.
  
• Wikipedia already has a dedicated page up with some useful source links
• There are some decent photos on this Reuters page

If I find any more interesting links, I’ll pass them on.

Now this is a dictionary. With an active community, customization, and most important, rounded corners, nciku is thoroughly web 2.0. But is it any good behind the nice window-dressing? Yes. See below for a visual walkthrough of some of its features.

Chances are that if you are reading this, you are already happily typing away at your great American/Chinese novel in Chinese, but for those of you just getting into the most frustratingly rewarding language that is Chinese, you really do need to learn how to type in Chinese.

Now we’ve talked about the Google IME here (or was that the SoGou IME?), but as the resident reactionary (read: I still refuse to bow to the power and the pretty of the Jobbite Revolution), I’ve put together a primer on how to get your Chinese on with the Microsoft IME using Windows Vista. I also just installed a new screencap software, so there’s a visual step by step after the jump.

Chinese climbers successfully submitted Mt. Everest this morning at 9:17, Beijing time, carrying one of the olympic torches. Strangely enough, no protesters where to be found. They must have split from the scene.

Bonus! All your monk are belong to us:

“All people, including Buddhist monks, have their own motherland, and their hearts always yearn and turn to their motherland.” Link

Certainly one of the handiest dictionary tools for Chinese is Kingsoft’s Powerword - Jinshan Ciba (金山词霸). It’s an incredibly useful but very unfortunate piece of software. The way it works is that when you turn it on, all you have to do it hover your cursor over a word (or alternately hover and press an activation key, like Control), and up will pop a window, giving you a few options for translation. It works from Chinese into English or English into Chinese. It handles words, single characters, pulls from many dictionaries (see after the jump for a list), and even offers an audio pronunciation.

So, why do we call it a ‘unfortunate’ piece of software? Well, follow us beyond the jump for the downside.

When telling someone how to write a character, it is always best to used well-known names for the various pieces. Rather than describing the commonly-used radical 宀 as “that squiggly thing that looks like a roof,” you should say 宝盖头 bǎo gài tóu.

We present a list of the most common radicals below. Remember that some of the common names for these radicals belie the true source for the radical, such as in the case of “that swooshing thing on the bottom” 辶, which we call 走马旁 zǒu mǎ páng. The “proper” pronunciation would be 辵 chuò, but you’d be a jerk to insist on this. Don’t be a jerk.

亻（人）, 单人旁 dān rén páng—single person on the side
彳（ㄔ）, 双人旁shuāng rén páng—double person on the side
忄（心）, 竖心旁 shù xīn páng—vertical heart to the side
氵（水）, 三点旁 sān diǎn shuǐ—three dots of water
讠/訁（言）, 言字旁 yán zì páng—character for speech on the side
朩 （木）, 木字旁 mù zì páng—character for wood on the side
犭（犬）, 犬字旁 quǎn zì páng—character for dog on the side
礻（示）, 半礼旁 bàn lǐ páng—half of the character “li” 礼 on the side
*alternately 示字旁 shì zì páng—character for show/sacrifice on the side
王（玉）, 斜玉旁 xié yù páng—slanting jade on the side
艹（草）, 草字头 cǎo zì tóu—character for grass on the top
衤（衣）, 衣字旁 yī zì páng—character for clothing on the side
月（肉）, 肉字旁 ròu zì páng—character for meat on the side
辶（走）, 走马旁 zǒu mǎ páng—running horse on the side *alternately 走之 zǒu zhī—running “zhi”
阝（邑）, 右耳旁 yòu ěr páng—right ear on the side
阝（卓）, 左耳旁 zuǒ ěr páng—left ear on the side
扌（手）, 提手旁 tí shǒu páng—upward hand on the side
宀, 宝盖头 bǎo gài tóu—covering of character “bao” 宝 on the top
灬, 四点底 sì diǎn dǐ—four dots on the bottom

see below for traditional character version