In the cold haze of Christmas morning, He Yu was waving a mask and dancing in Beijing's streets, with several empty plastic bottles on a rope tied around her waist. Suddenly, Yan Sheng-in a white clown mask-came and snatched her mask, leaving her sitting on the ground in despair.
The past year has been especially difficult for high-end restaurants in Beijing. Many top Chinese restaurants either closed down or have tried to reinvent themselves for a downscale market. At the same time, some middle and low-end eateries have sustained good business. The closing of Maison Boulud at Qianmen 23 on Dec 8 came as a shock to many gourmets in Beijing. Just three months ago in September, New York-based founder Daniel Boulud himself was in town to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The restaurant had a good reputation and won plenty of media awards for both food and service.
Restaurant menus have become much more interesting reading in the last few years. Many of them include the origins of a dish, how it is prepared, what the main ingredients are, and more often now, the farms from which the ingredients come from.
Nanjing's Jin'ao Tower, East China's latest landmark and architectural wonder towers more than 200 meters high and resembles an immense Chinese lantern. Right on top, the Fairmont is opening its fourth property on the Chinese mainland.
The Westin Pazhou has the advantage of being right by the largest exhibition venue in Asia - the Canton Fair Complex in Pazhou, Guangzhou.
Singapore's leading art fair Art Stage Singapore returns in January with a special focus on Asia. The new fair format incorporates eight country and regional platforms, including China.
It takes an outsider to inject something fresh into a tale as old and venerated as that of the Monkey King. If I were told that an African-American would play the lead role, I'd probably laugh it off as a gimmick. Most Chinese may not even be able to accept it as a gimmick.
It took four years and five months for Dadawa to put together her latest album Moonrise, which debuted in Guangzhou on Dec 7. The Chinese musician, whose real name is Zhu Zheqin, spent four months traveling through remote regions and collecting more than 1,000 samples from indigenous music masters from 15 ethnic groups. In the contracting recording industry, the artist took a big risk and worked like an "insane idiot" on the most important album for her in a decade. She worked with young musicians and breathed new life into the diverse samples by combining them with contemporary compositions.
To Chinese musician Dadawa (Zhu Zheqin), Moonrise is perhaps as important an album as Graceland was to Paul Simon, in the way that it opens new doors for her.
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Raymond Zhou
Op Rana
Berlin Fang
Zhu Yuan
Huang Xiangyang
Chen Weihua
