Danwei
Danwei is a website about media, advertising, and urban life in China. With frequent reference to and translations from Mainland Chinese media, we publish fresh information about China that you won't find anywhere else.
11 Siberian tigers die at Shenyang's Bingchuan Wildlife Park
(Mar 12)
 Huashang Morning Post, March 12, 2009
Shenyang's Huashang Morning Post reports the death of 11 Siberian tigers: "The cause for death are mostly heart failure, kidney failure, haemorrhagic enteritis, experts say that main cause of death was malnutrition."
The wildlife park has since stopped operating, the newspaper reports.
The front page lists the deaths and cause of deaths:
11 Siberian tigers
Date of death and cause
November 11, 2009, 1 dead, lung abscess
November 26, 2009, 1 dead, heart failure
December 24, 2009, 1 dead, kidney failure
December 28, 2009, 1 dead, kidney failure
January 5, 2010, 1 dead, haemorrhagic enteritis
January 23, 2010, 1 dead, haemorrhagic enteritis
January 30, 2010, 1 dead, heart failure
January 31, 2010, 1 dead, nephritis and kidney failure
February 8, 2010, 1 dead, myocarditis
February 14, 2010, 1 dead, extreme malnutrition
February 27, 2010, 1 dead, septicaemia
(Note: On November 13, 2009, the two tigers who were killed duri...
Landslide in Shaanxi
(Mar 11)
 Beijing Morning Post, March 11, 2010
Today's Beijing Morning Post presents two images that many of the country's newspapers featured on the front page.
A landslide in Shaanxi Province crushed twenty-five homes and buried 44 villagers. Seventeen deaths have been reported, and eleven people are still missing. (See this gallery from Xinhua.)
The bottom of the page shows one artist's rendering of a feathered dinosaur. Scientists announced earlier this year that they had discovered the feathers' actual colors (see the China Daily); this rendering comes from the Beijing Museum of Natural History.
Tags: Beijing Morning Post, dinosaurs, landslides
This article is from Danwei.org 
Amazing homeless man in Jilin enjoys reading books!
(Mar 10)
Update (2010.03.12): The New Culture View followed up on the story with two additional feature articles that culminated in the man's reunion with his family.
 New Culture View, March 10, 2010
As I was buying books at the Tongren Bookstore on Xikang Road, I saw a homeless man reading. I saw him in the mathematics section, where he was concentrating on a book and writing things down on a piece of paper. Curious, I went over to have a look. It turned out that he was reading Mathematics for Economics and was working out problems. His handwriting was neat and orderly, and some of the problems even I was unable to solve....what a surprise!
The Chinese media continues its infatuation with homeless chic through the profile of a man who spends his nights in a hallway and his days in a bookstore — gasp! — reading books!
Late last month, the rugged features and fashion sense of "Brother Sharp" (犀利哥) captivated the Chinese Internet before catching the attention of the mainstream media ...
Lesson learned, Zhou Yang thanks the country first
(Mar 9)
 Information Times, March 9, 2010
After speed skater Zhou Yang won the 1,500 meters short-track at Vancouver, she mentioned her parents but neglected to thank her country for supporting her in her quest for an Olympic gold medal.
Her ingratitude was criticized by Yu Zaiqing, an International Olympic Committee vice-chairman and a deputy director at the National Sports Bureau. Yu said that she ought to thank the country first.
Today's Information Times reports that Zhou has taken the criticism to heart.
The paper's front-page story emphasizes the involuntary nature of her do-over: "Zhou Yang offers a second thanks meeting to the leader's standard" and "Zhou Yang follows orders and does it again" are headlines. Zhou's second statement now thanks the country first and foremost, and puts her parents last, after her supporters, her coach, and other sports staff.
Zhou's initial remarks after winning the gold:
This is my dream. I think that this gold medal will bring lots of changes...
Lei Feng, serving the people in the 21st Century
(Mar 8)
 Lei Feng taking down dodgy adverts
Lei Feng's got a microblog!
Lei Feng Diary contains the musings of the Rustless Screw forty-eight years after his death in an unfortunate telephone pole accident.
The tone is earnest, and while much of the very dry humor derives from the incongruity of a national icon commenting on contemporary pop culture and the latest social scandals, the microblog also explores what the real Lei Feng might make of a world that perceives him as both an outdated icon and a brand ripe for exploitation.
Some excerpts:
A couple days ago the company started to study " The Diary of a Bureau Chief," but there's only one computer, so the comrades haven't been able to. The political instructor was at wits' end, which I saw and took to heart. This evening I worked into the night to write it out by hand so that everyone in the company could have a copy. On the flyleaf of each volume I wrote "Lovers are not the exclusive right of the bourgeoisie. We proletarians also ...
It's not dinner I'm making, it's affection!
(Mar 8)
 Liaoshen Evening News, March 8, 2010
The Anshan (鞍山) edition of the Liaoshen Evening News is celebrating International Women's Day by detailing:
What to cook for a woman on this day (which has the headline "It's not dinner I'm making, it's affection!" 老公做的不是菜, 是爱心, a parody of the World of Warcraft "brother" and "legend" catchphrase).
All women need on this day is to feel important: the article begins by talking about women schoolteachers who can't take the day off, and goes on to describe how some women will spend the day － shopping with their boyfriends etc. It ends with a nod to "girls" 女生, who'd rather not celebrate it because of the word for "women" 妇女, used in Women's Day (三八妇女节). "Old women", 老太太 might also think that they don't fall under the category of "women" (妇女), despite that all women over 18 should be included.
The interestingly-designed front page poses many questions: Do you know that you have a half-day holiday today? What to do if you can't enjoy ho...
Premier Wen's unwitting endorsement of reading glasses
(Mar 8)
Chongqing Economic Times, March 6, 2010
How to maximize the declining value of newspapers as an advertising medium must be a challenge faced by all advertisers, but the editors at the Chongqing Economic Times seemed to have found one answer.
The big image on the front of the March 6 issue shows the charismatic Premier Wen Jiabao wearing his gold rimmed glasses as he delivers a speech before the National People's Congress. The image is captioned with his inspiring words, "Let people live more happily and with more dignity; make society more just and harmonious."
Underneath, a headline reads: "Presbyopia sufferers, we remind you to wear a pair of next generation adjustable multi-focus reading glasses." Very subtle, indeed.
Tags: advertisements, Chongqing Economic Times, newspapers
This article is from Danwei.org 
A dance and a secret women's script
(Mar 6)
A video by Janek Zdzarski for See China: HerStory (Nüshu 女书) is a dance piece inspired by the secret women's writing system, choreographed by Helen Lai, recently performed at at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Tags: dance, Helen Lai, nushu
This article is from Danwei.org 
A bold front-page layout at the People's Daily
(Mar 6)
People's DailyMarch 6, 2010
March 5 marked the opening of the Third Session of the 11th National People's Congress.
Opening Day varies little from year to year. The politburo makes its entrance. Wu Bangguo emcees. Wen Jiabao delivers the annual work report while everyone else follows along in their print copies. Then during the break-out sessions, Hu Jintao presents some important remarks to a provincial delegation (Jiangsu these days). Then on March 6, the People's Daily publishes a newspaper that is practically indistinguishable from years previous.
Well, not this year. Today's People's Daily features a front-page that makes some innovative layout choices.
Vertical composition is passé in 2010, so the paper features a horizontal headline over a row of photos. Hu Jintao's remarks have been shifted to the bottom left, leaving the upper right free for news bites from the NPC and CPPCC. And the lead editorial returns to the front page after a two-year absence.
For the past few y...
Legislative sessions? What legislative sessions?
(Mar 5)
 Chongqing Evening News, March 5, 2010
While most of the nation's newspapers are busy covering the legislative sessions currently underway in the capital, the Chongqing Evening News features a front page with no direct mention of the "two meetings" (两会).
True, the lead headline, in which mayor Huang Qifan describes taking to his cooperation with party secretary Bo Xilai as "a fish to water," is taken from an interview conducted at the sessions, but the rest of the page is a rundown of rougher news items:
Who's got the guts to dump into the Yangtze?: Dump trucks, at a rate of 40 per hour throughout the night, poured gravel into the Yangtze River. "We're constructing a landing," they said. The Waterway Bureau called the project illegal.
"If anyone says the Lei Feng story is made-up, I'll fight him like hell!": Hu Rong'ao, who knew Lei Feng back in the army, talks to the newspaper about his experiences with the model soldier. Lei Feng helped him learn to read and taught him "The Cl...
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