Today in China

Tomorrow is Friday 13th… and well there will be plenty of reason for not staying at home! hehehe…

First, you have the launching party of AujourdHuiLaChine.com, an French language website with informations and videos about China. Thanks to Camille and Hikari Productions for this party that will take place at The Bed near HouHai and starts at 20:30

Then you also have the Wig-or-Hat Party at the Taniwha next to Bar Blue and Cheers in Sanlitun. The good news is that we will have a Happy Hour from 8 to midnight, buy one get another one for free! But of course do not forget to bring your most scandalous wig or your weirdest hat and, why not, a pair of funny glasses…

By the way… Taniwha… Tanewha… Is it the same bar as the one that used to be in the old mythic Sanlitun South Street?

Links:
Aujourd’hui la Chine Website
Post on Camille’s Blog

Chinese, Japanese, Korean? Can you tell the difference? While I agree that it is quite easy to determine the origin of a group of CJKs I think it is quite difficult to tell for a specific individuals…

If you think it’s easy, then I challenge you! Go on AllLookSame.com and try their test. You have to identify the country of origin of 18 CJKs… And remember that a random pick would give you around 6 correct answers

I myself got 7 correct answers, which is 1 more than the average but still very bad. Just for fun, I asked a few Chinese colleagues and their results were pretty… 3/18, 9/18, 8/18!

So, is it true??? Do they all look same? Pass the test and share your results in the comments!

Thanks to Emilie, we now have a nice video of our second scuba-diving at Beijing Blue zoo… It seems that you can see JJ and me around 2′45! ^_^

Have a look at this video, it might be the singer you will listen to in all cabs around China after she wins the Super Girl Contest this year!

Any comment?

Some people stayed enough time in Beijing to remember the Havana Cafe, which was located near the North Gate of GongTi a few years ago. It was THE Latin dancing bar of Beijing! And then… it disappeared.

We then discovered the Latinos at the South Gate of Chao Yang Park. That area was really crowded on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays with the Rock’n'Roll Disco but also smaller Chinese bars like the Fever Bar. Latinos became the reference in Salsa, Mambo, Bachata, Merengue, etc. with its lively band. And then again, for some obscure reason… it disappeared.

But I just read somewhere that the Latinos was coming back! I had a look on the Internet and… BINGO!!! The new L A T I N O S will be located at NanXinCang (behind the new Poly Plaza) and will consist of 2 floors with Latin-American excitement!

The ground floor will provide a bar and restaurant while the dance floor will be upstairs with a band of 9 people from Colombia and Venezuela.

And the opening is for… This Friday the 18th of August!

Link
Latinos Official Website
Map to go to the Latinos Club

According to a survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are 4100 family names for some 1.3 billion people in China. 94% of the Chinese sharing the 300 most important familly names such as Li, Zhang and Wang!

And the situation seems to be getting worse and worse… No wonder they have problems when identifying people when you know that more than 100 000 persons share the name Wang Tao (王涛). Here are some of them:

. 王涛, the table tennis champion
. 王涛, the first female academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences
. 王涛, the football player
. 王涛, the calligrapher and painter
. 王涛, the musician
…

Do you know any Wang Tao (王涛) to add in my list?

Source
China Daily, 2006 08 03

In the last advertisement from Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in China, you can see an old Taoist and his followers enjoying KFC chicken burgers. The advertisement is based on Seven Swords movie, originally written by Liang Yusheng.

Cultural experts in China find it ridiculous to have the old Taoist Fu Qingzhu recommending chicken burgers because he and most Taoists are vegetarian. For them, killing animals is wrong.

I’m quite puzzled… Is this really offending the Taoists beliefs?

Anyway, I tried to find the advertisement on YouTube or Google Video but could not find it. I only have this still image from the China Daily Website.

Source
China Daily, July 14th 2006

No, I’m not going to discuss once more about the Chinese Gold Farmer playing days and nights World of Warcraft just to resell their virtual money, magic items or full characters on eBay…

Today, I just want to share a funny advertisement made together by the producers of WoW and Coca Cola

And then, just for your information, Coca Cola in Chinese is written 可口可乐 (Ke Kou Ke Le) which gives the idea of deliciousness and happiness.

Next Sunday, it will be the Final between the 藍精靈 (lán jing líng - literaly blue fairy elves, Smurfs in English, Schtroumpfs in French) from France and the ones from Italy. We know this since today 5:00AM (Beijing time) after the French won the semi-final against Portugal thanks to a penalty from Zidane.

If I understood correctly, the Italian will be the real Smurfs while the French will have to get dressed in white. Anyway, the only thing I’m sure of is that The Pavillon (a bar near GongTi 工体, just opposite to Baby Face) will be overcrowded and a lot of people will sleep on their keyboard on Monday… Indeed, the game will start at 2:00AM!

Can you read the following warning?

If not, try to stretch your eyes like asian people and you will be able to read it! Amazing, isn’t it? The question now is… are asian people able to read it straight away??? ‘_^