As I've pointed out before, it’s interesting to see how Western media (Australia, in this case) and Chinese media portray the same issue. Here are two articles on the same event – new changes in how individuals can register websites in China.

The Age shows this as a new restriction in the Chinese internet while the China Daily shows this as a loosening of a previously tightened rule. Both seem factually correct, but the tone and interpretation are different.

As I mentioned before, it's probably best to read multiple news sources and form your own opinions.

 

The article from The Age:

China launches strict new Internet controls

February 23, 2010 - 9:35PM

China's technology ministry moved to tighten controls on Internet use Tuesday, saying individuals who want to operate Web sites must first meet in person with regulators.

The state-sanctioned group that registers domain names in China froze registrations for new individual Web sites in December after state media complained that not enough was being done to check whether sites provided pornographic content.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that ban was being lifted, but would-be operators would now have submit their identity cards and photos of themselves as well as meet in person with regulators and representatives of service providers before their sites could be registered.

It said the rule was aimed at cracking down on pornography.

China has the world's biggest online population, with 384 million Internet users. The government operates the world's most extensive system of Web monitoring and filtering, blocking pornographic sites as well as those seen as subversive to communist rule.

The new regulations come as the government is in talks with Google Inc. about whether the U.S.-based Internet giant will be allowed to continue operating in China after saying in January it would no longer cooperate with the country's Web censorship. The two sides have given no details of the status of their discussions.

Chinese authorities have launched repeated crackdowns on online pornography and the government says nearly 5,400 people were detained last year.

 

The article from China Daily:

China resumes individuals' website registrations

By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-23 14:12

Individuals in China are now allowed to apply for websites, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, but applicants are requested to hand in a full-color photo, cnr.cn reported today.

The administration said both companies and individuals are allowed to register a website. Authorities will evaluate an applicant’s information in 20 weekdays and keep the information secret, the report said.

Individuals' domain name registration was called off December 14, 2009 in fighting against pornographic websites.

I saw this on one of my co-worker's Facebook profile. It caught me a bit by surprise, although I guess it shouldn't.

Happy Tiger New Year! (Oh, and Happy Valentines Day too!) We spent New Year's Eve in our apartment in Beijing this year. The fireworks were absolutely crazy. They started around 6:00pm and kept going until well past 2:00am, non-stop.

There are no "official" fireworks shows like you'd think of them in the US. These are just random people who buy fireworks at the million fireworks tents that pop-up around Beijing near CNY. They drag their load onto random street corners and then light them off. As you can see from the photos and video below, these are often pretty serious shows, very close to buildings. You can buy a "show-in-a-box" for around $75-150 USD or maybe even higher; light one fuse and the step back.

I imagine the scene was repeated on virtually every block in Beijing (if not more, since we live in an area with lots of expats and hotels.) Spring Festival lasts two weeks, so we have a lot more fireworks to go...

This was probably the coolest set of the night, next to our apartment.

We were pretty much right underneath this one.

Here's Michael (9) playing with a sparkler.

Here's video I shot from our apartment at midnight. You can hear a roar in the background; that's from fireworks going off all around us. The big dark spot in the scene is a construction pit, so we have an even better view of the mayhem near by. The light colored building in the middle of the scene is the Shangri-La Kerry Centre Hotel.

Last night, Michelle, our good friend Stacy, and I went to Apothecary, a hot new-ish bar in Beijing. It's in Nali Patio (next to Mosto) in the expat-friendly Sanlitun area.

The place has a clean feel with good service and nice jazz and standards filling the air. The drinks are definitely the highlight, with a strong emphasis on classic drinks made well. The menu is a delight, with nice explanations of the drinks. I had a great Manhattan, a stellar Old Fashioned (with Old Overholt -- kind of a nice twist) over one of the now-ubiquitous hand-shaved round ice balls, and an equally great something else or another (now lost to the drink haze). The ladies' drinks were equally well made and perfect.

The food was a bit mixed. Stacy and I shared a really delicious pork pate po boy (Michelle doesn't like pate) -- it was well-balanced with just enough pickled veggies to add a little bite to the pate. The beef sliders were probably the best burgers we've had in Beijing so far; we ordered a second plate of these -- great beef on sweet potato buns. Again, nicely balanced with a perfect proportion of meat and bun with just enough pickley stuff to kick it up a bit. Unfortunately, the gumbo and red beans and rice were terrible; they were bland, blended smooth like baby food, and served as almost a veneer or topping on too much rice. I'm biased towards Michelle's stellar Southern cooking, no doubt, but this was not good.

Fortunately, the drinks more than made up for the spotty food. We'll definitely go back for drinks and snacks.

3/F, Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Beilu, Sanlitun
三里屯北路81号那里花园3层4
5208-6040

(Note: they open at 7pm. We thought they opened at 6:00 and wound up milling around for a while.)

More images/comments on City Weekend.

I'm a big fan of the Bird's Nest Stadium (even though they're not quite sure what to do with it now.) I think it's a lovely piece of architecture, especially from inside the shell. Here are a few shots I took earlier.

 

Last year, I wrote about the icy fun Beijingers enjoy on the frozen lakes here. This year, we decided to try it out ourselves. We had a rare combination of a warm (for a Beijing winter anyway) sunny day with clear skies (read: little pollution) -- perfect for day of riding ice chairs at Houhai (a lake near the Forbidden City). It's a picturesque area surrounded by old Chinese buildings including the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower (see in the pix below.)

Our driver gave us a great tip -- avoid the first two skating areas (first one is too small/crowded, the second is primarily for ice skaters) -- so we headed straight for the third and last skating area. We bought three tickets for 10RMB (about USD$1.50) to get on the ice and another 40RMB for unlimited use of two ice chairs (plus a deposit of 80RMB each to make sure we returned the chairs.)

As you can see from the photos below, the chairs are pretty rudimentary -- just a welded steel frame with two seats covered with a little scrap of carpet.

After you pick out your chair, you choose the poles you'll use to propel yourself on the ice. These are literally just screwdrivers welded to sharpened steel shafts. It's something of a miracle that none of us came back with new holes in our body.

As it turns out, you can really get going on the ice on one of these chairs. Obviously, this is super fun. Our driver explained that they all used to do this because they didn't have money to buy skates before.

Andrew (12) quickly figured out how to do spins on his chair and started doing 720s. Invariably, Michael (9) decided that ramming Andrew was more fun.

There was really quite a scene on the ice. There were vendors right out on ice selling drinks, cotton candy, kebabs (chua'r), and such plus midway-style games even including the electronic free throw basketball games.

Trains of ice chair riders were pretty popular. Somehow, it seemed pretty nuts to have so many with sharp sticks in such close proximity.

There were other ways of getting around on the ice. Ice bikes were a popular rental. These looked pretty fun and got moving pretty fast too, although sometimes the wheel would just spin.

There was also a guy with a sleigh pulled by some animal (alpaca?). I didn't see anyone riding the sleigh.

You could even rent an electric powered cart. These were clearly repurposed bumper cars. I only saw fat, smug boys riding these.

I have to say, it was a very enjoyable afternoon. There were families, couples, old folks, young folks, and piles of friends all having a great time. People were all smiling, pretty polite (even apologizing if they crashed into you), and clearly having fun. Even the vendors were nice (the cotton candy guy even offered me a cigarette). This was pretty different from our usual experience in Beijing and was evidence that at it's best, Beijing is an awesome place. We'll undoubtedly go back to Houhai for more ice play again.

I saw this sign at the entrance of a neighborhood near our place in Beijing. Not sure what they're banning. Car bombs? Burning cars? Couples arguing in the car? Whatever it is, I don't want it in my neighborhood either. Seems like an important sign...

Here are a few shots from my office window in Beijing of yesterday's eclipse. I've never seen an eclipse like this before. Amazing.

At first, I thought it was a Chinese Death Star coming to blow Google China off the map, but it was just an eclipse.

Here's something you don't see the US too often, but it seems relatively common here in China -- sheep grazing by the side of the road. I snapped this photo near our (now old) house in Shunyi, a suburb of Beijing.

I really needed a burger the other day in a deep way. The only place near my office that I know of to get a burger is the McDonalds around the corner so I headed out.

The store would be instantly recognizable to any American, but their menu is a blend of familiar with new/modified items. Fortunately for me, in China, they have these plastic menu placemats with English so I can point to what I want. In addition to the Big Mac, Double Cheeseburger, Chicken McNuggets, and Filet-o-Fish sandwich we see in the US, you can get a "Mala Grilled Chicken Sandwich" or a "Mala Crispy Pork Sandwich" (Mala means something like "spicy" in Chinese.) They also have fried chicken wings on the menu, and apparently corn is a popular side instead of fries. For dessert, instead of an apple pie, you can have a pineapple or taro pie. Their breakfast menu has the familiar (and delectable) McMuffin sandwiches; they also offer a "Egg & Ham McPuff".

(One side of the menu card - click to see the bigger version - semi-bad shot from my phone...)

The extra value desserts (< US$1):

There are some definitely advantages to the Chinese McDonalds. First, prices are pretty low compared to the US (about US$3 for a Big Mac meal -burger, fries, and Coke). Second, they deliver and are often open 24 hours a day. Finally, their spicy stuff is actually spicy. (And fried chicken is a great side for every meal.)

Delivery dude on his electric moped -- he's wearing a huge, hard, plastic backpack with the food in it. When he gets off the bike, he can carry the food right up. We've done this for lunch meetings before.   

I ordered a "Big N' Beefy" sandwich. It was not big and only vaguely beefy. It's basically a Quarter Pounder with cucumber slices, lettuce, and spicy Thousand Island Dressing. (I think it was called a "McCucumber" when I first arrived in China.) It's actually not too bad, for a McDonalds burger. I also had some chicken wings (because who can pass up fried chicken?) They're a little spicy and not bad either (although not as good as KFC in China).

McDonalds is simultaneously the same everywhere in the world and intelligently local. Their success may be due to this mix of global brand and consistency with local product. I think we all (including Microsoft) could learn something from this (albeit at a higher quality.)