Fantastically bad public art used to be de rigueur here in Beijing - longer term residents may recall the infamous Sanlitun Beer Mug statue (which doubled as a xiaomaibu) and the kitschy "Keebler Elves tree" that used to grace the stretch of sidewalk in front of the old Pacific Century Plaza from a few years back:

Did you know that foreign VPNs are illegal in China? It doesn't really matter, seeing as they're all blocked. Whether or not that's because the firewall has been updated is hard to say. Adding to the frustration of not being able to “conduct business operations” (i.e. access Facebook and YouTube), the Global Times has thrown some salt in the wound. Check out this screenshot of their announcement of the news below.

Since we last had a look at what was happening around town, Beijing hasn’t done much other than warm up, but web activity, or lack of it, has been making up for that.  Netizens have reacted to an overseas shooting, an internet blackout and some mischievous monks. Want more? How about an English-language headline from Western media that will leave you scratching your head.

The National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have finally wrapped up. In their wake they've left behind many fashion reports and policy rumors, not to mention the political fallout. For those who like their news Beijing-specific, we've got pollution plans, subway updates and a new ranking where Beijing beats Shanghai.

If your apartment is feeling a little colder than normal, you’re not imagining things. Today, the city turns off the heating (exact time unknown), after having given us an extra three days to get over the cold snap that was predicted. Now we can only wait and hope that temperatures don’t drop again, but we should probably keep our winter blankets nearby just in case.