It is a dark and stormy night. The rain lashes vertically while lightning intermittently illuminates the eerie sky; bone shaking claps of thunder reverberate through the gray apartment blocks. Huddled over a mulberry candle, the electricity box still empty from the day before, my eyes hungrily devour the pages of ... Read more »

On the Track

There may be no bigger star in Chinese athletics than towering NBA center Yao Ming, but it is hurdler Liu Xiang who is truly the face of the Beijing Olympics. Just three years ago, we met Liu in grand fashion when he tied the world record to ... Read more »

Be prepared for a wild ride as the U.K. band the Infadels herald in the third installment of the Bacardi Sino Sessions in Beijing and Shanghai with animal magnetism, piercing screams and a bit of the robot. Put on by local event organizers Spli-t Works, the Sino Sessions introduce ... Read more »

Emerging in 2001 from the breakup of several well-established Seattle area bands, Pretty Girls Make Graves was a group of musical misfits, talented but oddly formed with styles ranging from punk to folk, from shoegazer to electronica. Collectively forcing all of these styles together, they created a sound that captured ... Read more »

If Huang Rui was central to the development of Factory 798, he has been perhaps more central to its mythology. "As a child in the 1960s, recalled Huang Rui, an artist, nothing seemed nobler than to become a worker, and no workplace seemed better than the 798 Electronic Components Factory ... Read more »

"Here the vendors sell steamed baskets of xiao long bao, the dumplings Shanghai is famous for .... Aiyi motions for me to stay off to the side, encouraging me to disappear the best I can with a roomful of people staring at me from my red lipstick to my cowboy-style boots ... Read more »

In the back of Shanghai's Club JZ sits a woman with flaming red hair and a glass of wine in her hand, waiting for the musicians to pick up their instruments. She leans on the bar with a slight smile, warmly greeting friends and glancing towards the stage to ... Read more »

1920s

The Shanghai Conservatory considers jazz to be a "bad form of Western music.”

1927

Musician Li Jin Hui begins developing "Sinified jazz,” combining elements of Chinese folk music and big band jazz, securing Shanghai's title as the "Paris of the East.”

1933

The Paramount, which soon becomes the ... Read more »

Humanity is always searching for a dream, whether it is love or something else. I am still searching for that dream.Humanity is always searching for a dream, whether it is love or something else. I am still searching for that dream.

Ballet belongs to the ballerina: The prima donna ... Read more »

Du Liniang, the protagonist of Tang Xuanzu’s Ming dynasty kunqu opera “The Peony Pavilion,” is the tragic figure behind Wang Yuanyuan’s ballet version.

Juliette Yuan, co-author with Wang of this contemporary retake, sees Du as a “simple, kind, extraordinarily beautiful young girl on the cusp of womanhood,” literally ... Read more »

Young, intelligent, well educated and passionate about his work, Du Chengfei could easily be a high paid manager in a private company or a successful entrepreneur amassing his own fortune. But Du has chosen a different path. At 32, he is the executive director of Baoji Xinxing Aid for Street ... Read more »

Originally founded by the international group Medecins Sans Frontiers five years ago, Xinxing Aid for Street Kids is now fully independent and China’s first NGO for street kids. The center offers safety, protection and an environment where children have a chance to rebuild their lives. If possible, Xinxing reunites ... Read more »

When people discover Glenn Alexander is a hypnotist, many think he spends his days waving a silver pocket watch back and forth like a pendulum in front of his subject’s eyes while chanting, “You are getting sleepy. Now bark like a dog!”

While Alexander sometimes uses the watch, he ... Read more »

"The smarter you are, the easier it is to hypnotize you,” says Glenn Alexander. Why? “Because the mind is being asked to do something very specific.” If they wanted to, the duo could make you bark like a dog. “You can give them an alternative reality. They know it’s ... Read more »

In Beijing, they gather in groups at W Bar, run by a Swedish Ping-Pong champion, or at Purple Haze Thai Restaurant, also owned by a Swede. Purple Haze’s owner, Tobias Demker, says that Ikea is also popular, as Swedes can go there to pick up meatballs or other homegrown ... Read more »

Three years ago, Per-Erik "Peken" Ronnestrand could never have imagined where he'd be today. As the coach of the Swedish national cross-country ski team at that time, the Swedish native knew little about China, and less about China's ski scene – for good reason. Back then, skiing in China ... Read more »

If world-renowned yoga guru Max Strom had to spend the rest of his life in one pose, it would be royal dancer, a standing pose, which makes a lot of sense as Strom has never been the type to just sit around.

From starting life as a 12 pound baby ... Read more »

Keeping Busy

Her First Project

Releasing the album,

“A Wishful Way,"

with Hopscotch in 2002

She Became Known

Two years ago in her

debut film “Butterfly"

Now in Theaters

Go see her in Wang Chao's “Luxury Car”Just Finished Shooting “Adolescence” in Beijing

Tian Yuan’s panda-shaped purse and ... Read more »