the Beijinger

Beijing's diversity and Internet anonymity make for strange bedfellows. Nowhere is this more true than in our website's Classified Ads section. We've seen it all – and then some. And that doesn't even cover the ads we must disapprove because they just aren't fit for a good, clean, wholesome website like ours.

This guy had his bike stolen. His plea so touched our very hearts that we decided to share it with you. We've all lost a bike or two in our day and know the pain far too well. Oh, the anger: 

You've not only taken my property, but force me to squeeze in a bus and smell the subway odor. My dusty shoes weep tears for their aching soles as we dip and roll through the craters in the pavement. Put me on wheels!

This is no laughing matter. If you see this man's bike please give him a call. 

Chinese director Jia Zhangke rose to fame directing sullen, methodically-paced dramas about life in modern China, and his latest effort continues this theme, albeit with a far less subtle edge.

According to Salon.com:

“A Touch of Sin” both is and is not like Jia’s other films, which include “Still Life,” “The World” and “Unknown Pleasures,” along with several documentaries. Locations for these four allegorical tales are similarly downscale, ranging from brothels to bus and train stations to beaten-down peasants’ households to a dormitory for industrial workers. And then there’s all the killing. It would be a mistake to advertise this as an action movie – although some American distributor probably will – because it sets up false expectations. But Jia has evidently decided he’s done with subtlety and wants to move to a starker level of metaphor. Drawing on several different spectacular true-crime stories – a relatively new phenomenon in China – he delivers an art-house film with the body count of a “Die Hard” sequel.

How happy are Chinese families? It’s not as simple a question as it may appear.

Great Leap Brewing and Wudaokou favorite Lush were the big winners at The Beijinger 10th Annual Reader Bar & Club Awards, held at the futuristic Galaxy SOHO complex in Chaoyangmen.

Lush emerged as an early multiple winner in our pre-announced categories, picking up awards in four categories: Best Open Mic, Best Quiz Night, Best for Students, and Best Wudaokou. Josh Lally made it five when he won Best Manager for both Lush and Pyro Pizza, along with two Outstanding prizes, for Lally in Personality of the Year and for Lush as Best Survivor.

This photo of the Zhangye Danxia Landform in Gansu Province looks too good to be true, kind of like the rolling, Photoshop-polished hills that are so often featured on Beijing's billboards that keep people from glimpsing dreary construction sites. Bored Panda tells us its real, along with 21 other fascinating places around the world you didn't know existed. Go here for the full list, and see below for the four other spots in China that you can go check out for yourself next time a holiday comes around.

Lots of changes mean lots of choices for Beijingers this spring and summer. Not satisfied with burgers and seafood, the Let's franchise will expand into noodles with Let's Pasta in July, opening in Sanlitun Village South. The new venue will use a choose-your-own-pasta concept, including not only Italian, but also Hong Kong and Japanese-style recipes.

Author/photographer Tom Carter has gone on record about “getting his start” in China through the Beijinger. He answered a job ad in the back of the February 2004 issue, after the Craigslist ad he originally responded to – and flew out all the way to China for – turned out to be a scam (“some guy in a bathrobe running an ‘English school’ out of his Haidian apartment”). He later worked as a freelance photographer for the Beijinger.

Tom has published two books since then, CHINA: Portrait of a People and the new expat anthology Unsavory Elements, both which prominently feature Beijing in their pages.

Leading up to his May 21st book talk at The Bookworm, we asked Tom to name some of his own personal favorite reading material about Beijing, and he obliged us with the following list, along with some movies thrown in for good measure.

The weekend is here and there's plenty to be getting on with. For starters, there's the latest Tease Boutique party after a short break. It's being called a Secret Night Picnic Party. As usual, details are a little sketchy and you have to email them if you want more details about the soiree. One thing of which you can be assured is that there'll be drinking, dancing and some outlandish party wear. There will also be body and face painting.

Need some last minute ideas on where to wine and dine this weekend? Don't worry, we've got you covered.