The China Blog

One Last Photo from the Window

Austin Ramzy — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:33:51 +0000

In keeping with a China Blog tradition, I'll sign off with a photo from the bureau window. Only this time there's no snarl of cars to be seen. Amazing how a few tanks (they're practicing today for the Oct. 1 National Day parade) can clear out traffic.

Farewell!

Ling Woo Liu — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:26:06 +0000

We've had a good run, but alas, the China Blog is indeed shutting down. Come visit us elsewhere on Time.com. You'll find most of our stories on the World and Magazine pages, ie the current issue of Time Asia includes the China 60th anniversary cover package. And if you want to respond to any of [...]

China Blog: The End

Simon Elegant — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:57:31 +0000

All good things must come to an end and, sadly, that applies to the China Blog too, which will shutter at the end of today. I and my colleagues have thoroughly enjoyed doing this (mostly) and equally been interested to get feedback from readers. There was a lot of puerile drivel, too (you know who you [...]

Surgery for Ai Weiwei in Germany

Austin Ramzy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:22:41 +0000

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei underwent cranial surgery this week in Munich to treat lingering pain he's suffered since being punched by a Chengdu police officer last month. (He's posted pre- and post-surgery photos on his Twitter page.) Ai, who organized a campaign to tally student deaths in last year's Sichuan earthquake, was detained with other [...]

A Family Journey

Ling Woo Liu — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:42:37 +0000

Heads up: here's my essay in this week's TIME Asia, about why, after nearly 100 years, China is suddenly honoring my great-grandfather.

A Beijing-style Variety Store

Austin Ramzy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:09:19 +0000

Small shops in China can change their operations with remarkable frequency. In a matter of weeks this summer I've witnessed a storefront near my home in Beijing's Dongsi area transform from the mundane to the salacious. For more than a year the shop was a dingy general store filled with military surplus goods, toiletries [...]

The New Normal For Urumqi

Austin Ramzy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:25:37 +0000

It has been a tense few days in Urumqi, the western Chinese city that saw renewed unrest last week, two months after rioting left nearly 200 dead. Late Friday the government said five people had been killed during the previous week's unrest, including two "innocent civilians." On Saturday it announced that Urumqi's Communist Party Secretary [...]

More Unrest in Troubled Xinjiang Region

Austin Ramzy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:57:13 +0000

The details of recent violence in Urumqi are surprising, but the news of further unrest in the capital of China's northwestern Xinjiang region isn't. State media reported that police arrested 15 people this week for attacks using syringes. Possibly in response to those stabbings, residents of the city gathered today to protest poor security conditions, the [...]

Why China Could Turn Green

Ling Woo Liu — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:39:17 +0000

Austin was in Guizhou last weekend to interview Tony Blair and Jet Li for this piece: Why China Could Turn Green. (Read Time Asia's 2008 cover story on Jet Li here)

$1,000 Tea and $21 Soy Sauce

Ling Woo Liu — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:26:46 +0000

China wants Puer tea to become an international favorite--but first it must overcome fraud, fakes and foreign competition. Here's Emily Rauhala's full piece. And here's my piece on Yuan's soy sauce, which, at $21 for 125 ml, is the most expensive in the world. The manufacturer, I Ho Yuan, still produces its line of gourmet sauces [...]