The Beijinger Blog - Jonathan White

Talking Balls: Patriots, Stars and Subsitutes

thebeijinger — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0800

Tickets are now on sale for the Sanyuan Foods China Open 2010. That’s snooker for the uninitiated. Tickets are priced at RMB 20-2,010 and available by clicking here. To have a look at the schedules and find out when you might see Ronnie O’Sullivan click here.

There’s been more fall-out from the Winter Olympics. Gold medal winner Zhou Yang has come under fire for thanking her parents when everyone knows that you should thank your country above all. To remind her of this was State Sports General Administration deputy director Yu Zaiqing who said “Thanking your parents is not a problem, but should thank the country first. Must put the country first, don’t just thank your parents and that’s it.”

Fashion 5-0: One For the Books

thebeijinger — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0800

With the Bookworm's Literary Festival in full swing, we give the the lowdown on geek chic.

Slammin'! Poets Zephaniah and Connell Talk Shop

thebeijinger — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0800

Poetry seems daunting to many of us. Years of staring at print in classrooms made us feel that way. The answer to our struggles to love verse might be the genre of spoken word. We spoke to two of its most acclaimed exponents – British legend Benjamin Zephaniah and slam-winning Steven Connell – on the eve of their performance at 2 Kolegas this Saturday (March 13) as part of the Bookworm International Literary Festival.

Souk Lounge Opens... Again

thebeijinger — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:00 +0800

For those who frequented Souk in its heyday, Souk Lounge will come as somewhat of a shock. Sure, the pool table, booths, falafels (RMB 25) and shishas remain, but there are differences. If you can imagine a Moroccan youth club that decided to install a bar to attract more women, you’d be on the right track.

Talking Balls: Dopers, Dopes and the Dopey Looking

thebeijinger — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:30:00 +0800

Remember Mohamed Kallon? The former Inter Milan star was banned for eight months in 2003 for testing positive for Nandrolone and then ended up setting up his own club back in his native Sierra Leone. Well Mr. Kallon no longer plays for the egotistically named Kallon FC, no, he’s back in the big time … at Shaanxi Neo-China Chanba. Joking aside, Kallon was one of the brightest talents in the world game and at 30 years-old his signing has placed Shaanxi as favourites for the CSL title. Bad luck for Beijing’s hopes of retaining the trophy.

Vancouver 2010 Round-up: Bottles, Bronzes and Bawdiness

thebeijinger — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:20:00 +0800

The Olympics in Winter? How do they do the diving events? Absolute madness if you ask me. It turns out that the Winter Games concentrate on more traditional winter sports like shooting things while out skiing and going headfirst down hills. For those who this is all news to here is what happened in Vancouver.

Talking Balls: Winners, Losers and New Starts

wange1002 — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:49:08 +0800

The Winter Olympics is well underway. China’s been racking up the medals – providing that racking up suggests no more than five. Zhou Yang and Wang Meng blitzed the ladies short track speed skating in the 1500 and 500 meter categories respectively. Wang was disqualified in the Semi-final of the 500m. China’s other gold (or is that two) came from figure skating pair Zhao Hongbo and Shen Xue. The married skaters subsequently retired after reaching their career goal. This will give hope to the pair they beat into silver, Tong Jian and Pang Qing. Finally, third place on the podium was 500m speed skater Wang Beixing.

Fashion 5-0: Bring Out the Animal in You

thebeijinger — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:30:00 +0800

Thanks to the fashion bible that is the Calgary Sun, we found out that animal prints are “in” this season. Not just in the greater Alberta area, or even Canada at large (although both are fashion hothouses, that’s for sure). Beijing, too, is in on the craze with prints that are wilder than a box set of Animals Say The Funniest Things (which is also popular in Canada).

Dip into Bonbon Bins

thebeijinger — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0800

Sweets, candy, lollies. Call them what you will but you’ll struggle to find all you want in Beijing, where pricey imports or shoddy local produce are the only choices. No longer. Bonbon Bins have sweets that are stupid fresh.

Talking Balls: Top Ten Tennis (& At Least One Uncomfortable Kiss)

thebeijinger — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:00:00 +0800

It all proved to be a step too far for Li Na and Zheng Jie at the Australian Open. Both fell at the Semi-final hurdle. Li Na went down fighting to eventual winner Serena Williams. Zheng Jie was overwhelmed by the resurgent Justine Henin in just 51 minutes – the fastest match of the tournament.