China

Beautiful Beijing

Beijing has been selected as the most beautiful city in China while Hong Kong has been deemed China's safest city in the most recent "Report on Urban Competitiveness in China." Hong Kong ranked as the second most beautiful city, followed by Shenzhen and Shanghai, while Macau broke in at number 10. Apparently, the judges attached more emphasis to Beijing’s ancient culture, dubbing the capital as China’s "most charming" city. The appraisal balanced factors such as urban planning, green space and infrastructure with architectural style, culture and public praise.

Poor Newlyweds

The Ministry of Commerce recently released a report on the wedding industry, reporting that in 2006, 372 million new couples spent an average of ¥120,660 on wedding-related expense. The cost includes everything from pre-wedding photo shoots, clothes, planning, banquet, honeymoon as well as purchasing household appliances. That’s one heck of a party.

Beijing

Microsnoop

Lu Feng, a student at Beijing University, has joined the chorus of complaints against Microsoft, claiming in a lawsuit that the company’s Window Genuine Advantage software, which is supposed to verify whether users are running legitimate copies of Windows, is actually illegally collecting private data from his computer, reports Information Week. The suit suggests that the WGA widget “poses a great threat to the information safety of his computer and his privacy and prevents users from exercising their property rights toward their computers.” Lu is asking the court to order Microsoft to apologize to him in a national newspaper ad and pay him US$88.28 in compensation.

Leggo My Legos

The Lego Company launched its first flagship store in China last month in the swanky China World Shopping Center. In existence since 1932, Lego is the sixth-largest toy retailer in the world. The flagship shop carries some of the newest offerings in the Lego series and promises to be a big draw for Beijing kids with elaborate, professionally constructed mega-Lego projects.

Hangzhou

Kid Ant Farm

A new theme park is set to open in Hangzhou which purports to give kids a taste of “adult life.” What that means is that kids will, yes, be put to work in a variety of jobs—everything from airline pilot to doctor. The 7:10 scale city comes replete with streets, hospitals, museums, supermarkets, schools and an airport. Adults will not be allowed into the city, but they can take photos from the glass-enclosed observation deck. The first kids only city opened in Mexico City in 1999 with one in Tokyo following soon after.

Worldwide

Sherlock in Shanghai

A new translation of works by “the Sherlock Holmes of China” has recently become available in translation. Cheng Xiaoqing, who was a prolific writer active during the May Fourth period and wrote fiction along the same lines as Conan Doyle, has recently been re-evaluated as one of the most important writers of the early 20th century. The book is available in paperback from Amazon.

Chongqing

Disguised Lottery Winner

Chongqing’s first ever ¥5 million lottery winner showed up outside the city’s lottery center wearing a mask and dark glasses and carrying a bunch of sacks. “I didn't know if I would get a check,” the lucky winner said, “so I thought I ought to bring enough sacks to hold the cash.” The middle aged man refused to take off the mask and glasses even when signing his name.

Venice

Lust, Caution

Celebrated Taiwanese director Ang Lee pocketed his second Golden Lion award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival last month for his new drama “Lust, Caution.” Drawing fire from many sides for its racy sex scenes between leads Tony Leung and newcomer Tang Wei, the film, set in Shanghai, nevertheless was hailed at Venice by critics who compared it to “Last Tango in Paris.”

Digits

51,194,805

The number of US$ earned each year from the toll gate leading to and from the Beijing International Airport. We want a toll gate, too.

40,000

The equivalent number of US$ you would be earning to support your lifestyle if your salary in China is roughly ¥100,000 a year, according to the Mckinsey Report on global markets.