Most of you have probably heard the news: Social network giant Facebook has gone and purchased everyone’s favorite shoot-from-the-hip photo app, Instagram. (For a whopping 1 billion US dollars, no less.) But the big question on people’s minds here in Beijing: Will Instagram be blocked? Say it ain’t so!

Beijing bar scene stalwart Karl Long is set to join Great Leap Brewing as its new bar and floor manager on June 1, Great Leap's Carl Setzer and Long confirmed to the Beijinger on Thursday.

Long, who has 11 years' experience in China including four at Paddy O'Shea's, will team up with Great Leap, which won seven awards at the Beijinger 10th Annual Reader Bar & Club Awards (RBCA), "to do all that stuff I don't know how to do," said Setzer, the surprise winner of the Bar Awards "Personality of the Year," implying Long will handle front-of-the-house.

"Now hopefully Great Leap will be known for having 'the nice Karl,' which will balance my lovely personality out to neutral. Honored to have him on board," Setzer said.

“The emperor … looked over the fires burning the city. He returned to the Palace of Surpassing Brightness and wrote a ‘Scarlet Edict.’ … Having done this, he called for wine, and when he had drunk several cups, sighed heavily.”

...and thus ended the Ming Dynasty, as described in the imperial archives.

These fires of 1644 were set by Li Zicheng’s rebel army, not errant cigarette butts thrown around by Palace employees. Nonetheless, The Forbidden City is now taking action in order to prevent another ruinous fire.

Many Beijingers have found a temporary solution to the problem of finding taxis via the Didi Dache or Yaoyao Zhaoche apps available for various smartphones. While Beijing's municipal government continues to discuss taxi reforms, such as a higher flag fall, another major Chinese city has already taken action to ensure that those apps won't be part of the solution there.

Perhaps the name "Silk Market" is a misnomer.

In a study conducted by the Beijing Consumers Association, a test of 40 products purporting to be silk and purchased at local and online retailers showed that 47.5 percent did not meet the requisite quality or safety standards, Beijing News reported on Monday. At least 19 of the 40 failed to meet standards that included carcinogens and flammability.