Beijing

Changing the Guard

City Weekend’s Beijingologist David Feng reports on an emotional scene in Tiananmen Square last month as the guards responsible for the PRC flag quietly rotated back home after two years. “The whole thing got quite emotional,” writes the Beijingologist, “with folks not just waving, but a lot of teardrops. The whole thing started at 6 a.m.; it went by pretty quickly, with those remaining on the national flag team on the square by 7:10 a.m. to raise the national flag for yet another day. Those leaving saluted the flag, shook hands with their friends and made their way to the railway station, which was decorated with slogans and lanterns wishing those in the military a pleasant journey.” Check out more local dope from The Beijingologist at www.cityweekend.com.cn.

RoboCop

How about this for a headline: “Robot Police Officer Begins Work.” That’s right, officials in Changping, a suburb of Beijing, have built a humanoid robot complete with four video cameras and an emergency telephone line. According to police, the robot, which can be moved around, will be used as a criminal deterrent in areas where cameras can’t be installed.

Shanghai

Language Cops

The Shanghai Language Work Committee has levied fines against 36 stores for having signs with “non-standard Chinese characters and foreign words.” Apparently, all signs must use simplified Chinese and have Chinese translations of foreign words.

Mummy Gets Sinified

Brendan Fraser’s “Mummy” series will be making a stop in China next summer. Shooting has just wrapped in Shanghai for “Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” It’s set in Xi’an and promises a Chinese costume drama worth getting excited about. Fraser reprises his role alongside Hong Kong action stars Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh. The film is set to open in July 2008, and, best of all, will hit mainland movie theaters a week before it is released in the West.

Sanya

China Beauty Crowned

China gets another feather in her cap as Hebei native and super meinu Zhang Zilin was crowned Miss World 2007 in Sanya. When not out-babing the competition, Zhang, 23, works as a secretary in Beijing. Not only that, she’s an avid runner. According to the Miss World website she’s into “100 meters jump & hurdle, triple jump.” Wow.

Singapore

Government Rap

The most recent YouTube rage is the promotional rap video made by the Singaporean Media Development Authority. The video, which has gotten more than 56,000 hits, features middle-aged executives moving and shaking to a rap tune, mouthing lines from a corporate brochure. Search “MDA Senior Management Rap” on YouTube.

China

Chinese the World’s Most Avid Webheads?

Young Chinese are leading the cyber revolution. According to a recent Edelman survey, nearly half of the respondents said they had done some blogging or posting on the Web, way above the regional average of 30 percent. It also turns out that Chinese trust Net news more than any other source, with “foreign media” a close second. In different surveys, 80 percent of Chinese respondents ranked digital technology as something they "must have," compared with only 68 percent of Americans, while 61 percent of young Chinese say they lead a “parallel life” on the Net.

Essex, UK

Widow Wills Millions to Chinese Restaurant

Relatives of Golda Bechal have sued to have her will forestalled. The recently-deceased woman left 10 million pounds to Kim Sing and Bee Lian Man, owners of the Lian Chinese Restaurant. The woman claimed that her relatives were all ingrates and that Man’s leek and beansprout dish was the best in town.

Xi’an

Celebrity Couple of the Moment

The ex-diving prince, Tian Liang, tied the knot with Super Girl finalist Ye Yiqian at the five-star Shangri-la Hotel in Xi'an on Nov. 29. The two were first spotted together at the Beijing airport in March 2006 and rumors were soon flying. Naysayers suggested Ye was trying to hedge in on Tian’s spotlight, but this unlikely Cinderella eventually won the heart of the prince, and the high profile wedding attracted paparazzi from across the country.

Digits

650

The average amount of tax in RMB for an international flight originating from China

5.4 million

The number of migrant workers in Beijing as recorded by the Population and Family Planning Commission. That’s one out of every three people.