Xinhuanet: Heaviest Rainstorm of the Year Hits Beijing, No Accidents
“The heaviest rainstorm of the year hit Beijing from Thursday night through early Friday early, with downtown areas having the most rainfall, said the municipalweather service Friday. Zhang Mingying, chief engineer with Beijing Municipal Weather Service, said it rained hard at 11 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday, with areas around Chang'an Avenue, a west-east landmark thoroughfare in the national capital, having a rainfall between 80 mm to 100 mm. In the suburbs of Yanqing, Mentougou and Changping, however, it rained slightly.”

Chinanews.com: China Unicom denies rumors that they have gained the right to sell iphone independently
A China Unicom has denied reports from earlier this week that they have signed an agreement with Apple for an exclusive 3-year contract to sell 3G iPhones in China. The report said that the China telecommunications giant “was expected to be selling a bundled 3G version of the iPhone by late September, and that China Unicom would purchase Apple’s iPhone parts and ensure the sales of 100 to 200 million units for a total amount of no less than five billion yuan.” China Unicom officials claim that though the two sides are still in talks, an agreement has not been signed, although they say the possibility of reaching an agreement is “very high” and they will make an official announcement when the time comes.

Great Wuyin.cn: Rumors of RMB 300,000 demolition fee in Nan Luo Gu Xiang is denied
Some controversy was stirred online earlier this week from a report claiming that “the highest compensation fee for the demolition of structures near the south entrance of Nanluoguxiang to make way for lines 6 and 8 of the subway was to be set at RMB 300,000 per square meter.” However a Dongcheng District official has denied the report and claim that “the compensation levels for tenants of those structures will be set according to precedents in the market and based on evaluations of the structures set for demolition.” The official went on to add that the demolition of structures near the south entrance was progressing smoothly and the compensation fee for residents is estimated to be around RMB 50,000 a square meter. The cost of the fee will be split by the Dongcheng District government and the subway construction unit.

AP: Beijing Closing Coal Plants in Environmental Move
“China has taken advantage of a drop in electricity demand due to the global financial crisis to speed up a campaign to close small coal-fired power plants and improve its battered environment, an official said Thursday. Authorities have closed power plants with a total of 7,467 generating units, meeting a previously announced goal 18 months ahead of schedule, said Sun Qin, deputy administrator of the Cabinet's National Energy Administration. "This couldn't be done when power demand was very intense," Sun said at a news conference. "Due to this financial crisis, the power generation has slowed down, so we took this opportunity to accelerate the shutdown."”

LA Times: Beijing has thing for Puccini opera set in China
“…For the 60th anniversary of China's communist revolution in October, a new production of "Turandot" has been commissioned for the 100,000-seat Bird's Nest stadium built for last summer's Olympic Games. Last year, another production of the work had the distinction of being the first opera performed at Beijing's new National Center for the Performing Arts. In recent years, there have been at least six Chinese productions of "Turandot." Filmmaker Zhang Yimou, who is staging the anniversary version at the Bird's Nest, also directed a $15-million spectacle in 1998 inside Beijing's Forbidden City. A 2007 version of the opera was set in modern-day Shanghai with the successful suitor, Calaf, solving the riddles by -- how else are riddles solved in the 21st century? -- surfing the Internet.”