Around the Web

This is some of the news/blogposts that have caught my eye over the past day or two:

Reuters had an interesting article the other day about a lawsuit in Beijing involving Malaysia Airlines and a Dalian SOE that resulted in the largest monetary verdict ever in a Beijing court, a US$65 million payout, a Beijing record. I've yet to see much on the Chinese blogosphere about this case which seems a bit surprising.

Imagethief has a hilarious article about how he hates Secret Santas.

And an article that has gotten a lot more exposure in the blogosphere about a Swedish businessman who was ripped off to the tune of almost US$700 for drinks at a Nanjing East Rd coffeeshop in Shanghai. As an avowed hater of whiskey (bad memories of being a 1L and a night of FIFA), I can only imagine the condition of the 2 young girls after downing 12 in 10 minutes. I wonder if the Germans who got ripped off were the same ones that were in the news a few months ago or if that was another Nanjing East Rd ripoff artist.

The New York Times gives its 36 Hours treatment to Beijing. I've honestly never understood the series as I can't see very many people coming to China and only spending 36 hours in Beijing, but perhaps because I'm not a New York jet-setting hipster I just don't get it. Anyways, overall I think the itinerary is pretty good for such a short time. Since it is such a brief time and its only hitting the highlights, I guess one can't argue with D-22 over some of the other live venues, or Centro over other upscale bars (on these issues, I'd really like to see what Beijing Boyce has to say). That said, the NY Times only gives you 3 meals in the Capital City, one of those the obligatory duck dinner. One other choice, Pure Lotus for vegetarian fare, isn't one that I will comment much on since I have little experience and it seems to be right up the expat alley. The other, Kong Yiji, is a bit of a questionable choice if you ask me. Kong Yiji is good, don't get me wrong, but is there anything less Beijing than Kong Yiji? It's sort of insulting that they can't pick something even remotely "Beijing". Especially due to the minimal number of restaurant choices, why not lunch at Lao Beijing ZhaJiangMian after the trip to Tiantan? Or some Dongbei food a bit north of Kong Yiji at Dongzhimen (complete with "traditional kangs"). Or what could be better than that northern winter tradition, hotpot, at any number of places within the 2nd Ring Road. I know its not meant to be the most creative list of things to do in Beijing and that Kong Yiji is an expat favorite, but even trying to cut NYT a lot of slack, if you are looking for a true "Beijing" experience, there are far better choices.

ps: Shanghai received the same treatment last year, if you're curious.