Cup of Cha
This is China

The Olympic torch has only visited a few places, but everywhere it goes, trouble follows. Athens was a disaster, with a press-credentialed person storming the stage. In London T1betan independent supporters ran afoul, with severe consequences the Chinese papers were only too happy to play up. Now in Paris thousands of protesters apparently forced the [...]

Continue reading “Any Way You Cut It, Trouble Ahead for Beijing Olympics” »

The Chinese Government has apparently acknowledged that there has been unrest in X1njiang Province, perhaps partially inspired by recent events in T1bet and other T1betan regions. It is little secret that Muslims and Han Chinese have poor relations in the northwestern province, and the unrest to the south and east seemed to have sparked [...]

Continue reading “Nothing Quiet on Western Front: Unrest Extends to X1njiang” »

Not to scare anyone, but the State Department is warning Americans they could be watched by the government during the Beijing Olympics. You know, not in a warrantless-home-searches-in-the-middle-of-the-night kind of way, real intrusive stuff. They are advising Americans to be vigilant while in China. The report said:

All hotel rooms and offices are considered to be [...]

Continue reading “US: Beijing Olympics Give Totalitarianism Bad Name” »

And so ended the great internet experiment. With the “excitement” in the western part of the country, internet sites have been getting blocked left and right (or at least there is an amazing series of coincidences).
While the NY Times and Washington Post seem to be working fine, here are some of the sites that seem [...]

Continue reading “Beijing Craps Itself” »

In a move that demonstrates the increasing power that Cup of Cha has with the Chinese Government, news outlets are reporting that dog meat restaurants are being forced to shut down in the nation’s capital. Loyal reader “OtherRichard” passed along this article from Sky News.
The move comes a week after popular blog Cup of Cha [...]

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As it turns out, concerns that Beijing will be brutally hot this August during the Olympics are completely false. You see, temperatures and humidity both begin to fall one week into the 8th month, according to Guo Liwen, head of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau. What a lucky coincidence then that the Olympics are set to [...]

Continue reading “Lunar Calendar Means Cool Olympic Weather” »

Here’s a Beijing picture that won’t be showing up in the 2008 Olympics guide:

I’ve heard it tastes like hedgehog.

Continue reading “That’s a Bunch of Dog Meat!” »

Another friendly reminder that it is almost impossible for me to imagine there won’t be problems during the Olympics: today I got a combination visit from the water usage reader and the PSB (bizarre tag-team). The Public Safety Bureau woman asked me to put down all of my information. Instead I informed her that I [...]

Continue reading “Don’t Worry, We Harass Everyone” »

When I first saw that the IOC was “allowing” blogging by athletes during the Beijing Olympics, I didn’t think much of it. However, the more I read, the more absurd and offensive I find the entire plan. It is an attempt to muzzle the very people who put money into the IOC’s greedy little palms. [...]

Continue reading “Shameless IOC Crushes Olympic Blogging Discourse” »

In the great spirit of “Queuing Day,” the one day each month when Chinese are supposed to line up instead of pushing one another, China has announced “No Spitting Day.” If only I were joking. But the best part is China Daily’s  description of the charming habit. Note that the passage hits the holy trinity [...]

Continue reading “Spitting: Even “Kate and Leo” Do It!” »