This bicyclist has a spectacular fall in Xiamen City, China, after his bike hit a pot-hole submerged in rainwater:

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AKA The People’s Republic of Warhol. Cynical Realism is a contemporary Chinese art trend that began in Beijing in the 1990s, and has since grown to become the most popular Chinese modernist art movement in mainland China.

It arose through the pursuit of individual expression by Chinese artists that broke away from the collective mindset that existed since the Cultural Revolution. The major themes tend to focus on socio-political issues and events since Revolutionary China (1911) to the present. These include having a, usually humorous and post-ironic, take on a realist perspective and interpretation of transition that Chinese society has been through, from the advent of Communism to today’s industrialization and modernization.

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I love this photograph, from a November 12, 2008 article on China View, China reveals its 1st full map of moon surface — the giant “page” of moon surface photos, which make the two clapping men look like they’re only a few inches tall, the marching banner across the top, the orange reveal curtain dropped and disheveled to the floor of the hall, and the hint of goldish-greige curtains in the background, all of it is pitch-perfect…

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Sometimes the material just comes right to your inbox. Here’s an especially helpful piece of spam just sent to me by someone named Rain Chan in China, promoting a product so amazing I just have to quote his email verbatim…

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The Boston Globe published an article, How disasters help, making the case that “natural disasters can give a boost to the countries where they occur – and sometimes, the more the better.” A little over a month after a massive earthquake struck China’s Province, the Chinese government is claiming that despite the catastrophic amount of damage, thanks to the huge rebuilding effort the quake will actually boost national economic growth by .3 percent this year, and it may not be just government hype…

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In case you had any doubts about the frenzy of building activity in China, this graph from The Oil Drum paints an amazing picture…

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The New York Times has a great article from last july about the Buddha’s Caves at Dunhuang, China. The Mogaoku — “peerless caves” — are nearly two thousand years old and are filled with the most amazing cave paintings, which, alas, are in danger of being eaten up by the harsh desert conditions. Check out [...]

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