Every so often reports surface of computer gamers who sit glued to their screens for so long it ends in their real-life death, but today’s Global Times reports a fatal gaming marathon impressive even by the standards of chronic gaming addiction. According to the article, “A 33-year-old man died Monday after playing online games at an Internet café for 27 days in a row, during which time he barely ate or slept.”

It’s been a foggy (and unusually damp) week in Beijing, which has had the unfortunate effect of locking in all that lovely air pollution, pushing the US Embassy’s air particle index up past the 400 (dangerous) mark for the past three days. State news agency Xinhua, however, says relief is on the way.

The smoke has finally cleared from the city (yeah ok, the smoke never really clears over Beijing, but at least the smoke directly attributable to fireworks has gone) and the firework frenzy has ended for another year. Over at World of Chinese magazine, they have amusingly charted “How Foreigners Experience Spring Festival in China” on a graph.

Following rumors posted online earlier today about a death in Raffles City, Dongzhimen, theBeijinger.com contacted Raffles management, who have confirmed the story.

Reports on various bulletin boards claim a man fell to his death inside the Raffles shopping center at Dongzhimen earlier today.

Well folks, it’s officially the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations (look out for those fireworks tonight), so to mark the occasion Beijing’s boys (and gals) in blue have made a little dance video for us. Thanks to Shanghaiist for the tip.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, also known as “Lantern Festival,” which officially marks the end of the new year celebrations. That means one final orgy of pyrotechnic action across the city before fireworks are banned in urban areas for another year. In response to a steep increase in firework-related fires this year, local authorities have tightened restrictions on places where fireworks can be let off in anticipation of tomorrow’s activities.

Communal meals are a key part of Chinese food culture, but it seems food isn’t the only thing that gets shared over dinner. Dr Richard’s most recent post “Don’t Share Chopsticks! (If You Can Avoid It)” looks at the germs and infections spread through the much loved group dining habit.

The well-known opera La Traviata is coming to the National Center for the Performing Arts next week, and we have a double pass to give away to Tuesday's performance (February 15). As the NCPA advertising exclaims, La Traviata is “a heart-wrenching love story that makes you crying for centuries!”

Who can resist an emotional punch like that?

Hou Hsiao-Hsien is regarded as one of Taiwan’s – sorry China’s – greatest filmmakers, and a major influence on mainland directors. French director Olivier Assayas (of Irma Vep fame) was one of the first to champion Hou’s films, and this Sunday 798’s UCCA is screening a ground breaking feature-length documentary made by Assayas back in 1997 about Hou’s life and work.