the Beijinger

We’re not long into the Year of the Dragon and the big chains are already putting the drag into it. Starbucks, Pizza Hut and McDonald's have riled netizens for raising prices on many of their products China-wide. The increases may seem small (the odd kuai here or there) but is it a sign that more retailers will be raising prices in the year ahead? An article on ABC News, reporting on Starbucks' similar pricing increases in the States, certainly seems to think so; they've listed another 11 things that American consumers can expect to pay more for in 2012.

We're delighted to launch our first-ever writing contest. You're all invited to enter. In fact, to make sure that the competition is open to everyone, we've given it a bit of a twist. All we want from all of you budding wordsmiths is just six words.

Smith brought the world the Six-Word Memoir. Before that, as legend would have it, Hemingway wrote his best work in just six words: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

You too can wow the world in six little words. Your story could win you worldwide fame, VIP status and a new life. Well, maybe not all of that ... but you will get your words in print as well as prizes from us and our friends at The Bookworm International Literary Festival (BLF). Read on to learn more.

Do you remember what you were doing at around 10am in the morning on Sunday, October 23 last year? Little did we all know that it could have been our last moments on Earth.

At some time between 9.45 and 10.15am Beijing time on October 23, 2011, a German satellite entered the earth’s atmosphere and took around 15 minutes to hit the Earth. What we didn’t know until just recently is that Beijing came very close to being the site of the collision. According to London’s Daily Telegraph, the head of the European Space Agency’s debris team, Heiner Klinkrad, has now divulged, "Our calculations showed that, if Rosat had crashed to the ground just seven to 10 minutes later, it would have hit Beijing."

What does that mean?

Last week we launched our first-ever writing contest, asking you to describe your Beijing in six words. The entries so far have been of a refreshingly high standard. However, we know that you've all got a little more left in the literary tank. You've got until 9am on Thursday, February 16 to tell us your tiny stories.

You can enter as many times as you like. The only rules are that each of your entries must be six words long – and that all of the words must be in English. Send them to sixwords@thebeijinger.com.

Spring has sprung and with it the hibernation of Beijing’s sports scene begins to end. We’ll tell you all about what you have to look forward to over the coming months. But first, the sports news of the week.

We're delighted to belatedly tell you what your great efforts at The Beijinger 2011 Charity Super Quiz raised. The grand total was a whopping RMB 28,042. Well done to everyone involved. We'd like to thank everyone who came out and attended the event. We'd like to thank the quizmasters (and Tuba John) for helping and Chocolate for hosting. Most of all, though, we'd like to thank the Holt Ping An Medical Foster Home for the good work they are doing with the money that you all raised.

The International Schools Choral Music Society (ISCMS) music festival is coming to Beijing and we've got two pairs of VIP tickets to give away to the Gala Concert on February 18. This year's star guest is Welsh music luminary Karl Jenkins, the most widely performed living composer in the world. If you want to see him and the cream of the world's young musical talent perform at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, just read on and answer one simple question. You should know that this performance will include the world premiere of Qing Zhu ("Celebration"), composed especially for ISCMS and conducted by Jenkins himself.

The ski season is starting to wind down. It's time to strap your skis on and hit the slopes before all that lovely powder turns to shui. Here’s a list of ski resorts, plus some organized trips if you don’t want to arrange it all yourself.

Yes, snowboarders are welcome too.

While everyone's still on holiday we thought we'd let you have some fun and give you the chance to win some prizes. All you have to do to win something drawn at random from our prize cupboard is create a caption for the above photo. Leave it as a comment below. The best - as in the one that we like the most - will be determined the winner. The competition is open until we're all back at work on Sunday. Good luck.