the Beijinger

Shan Wei of Rock For China dropped a major bomb today: there will be no Beijing Pop Festival this year, due to uncertainties in the current climate for music events.

"Things are too risky this year," he said. "It’s the earthquake, the Olympics, Bjork – everything this year has affected our decision.” He also stressed that it was an internal decision made by Rock For China, without any signal from the government.

Reached by phone in Hong Kong, where he’s making his own rounds through a few other music conferences, Rock For China president Jason Magnus confirmed the festival’s cancellation for this year, saying that the decision was made for purely “prudent” reasons, due to the financial risks with possibly being faced with a canceled festival after paying for permits and artist fees – a situation, for example, that Midi found themselves in (fortunately, they’re historically thrifty with their artist fees).

Immersion Guides, makers of Beijing neighborhood maps since 2003, have pulled out a bigger canvas to produce their first chart of the entire city, the 2008 Beijing Map.

Inserted in the June issue of that’s Beijing, this free map is the perfect companion for residents and visitors seeking to make the most of summer in the city.

Bilingual, user friendly and up-to-date, the 2008 Beijing Map accurately plots over 200 of the capital’s best restaurants, bars, historic sites, shops, theaters and parks, as well as major hospitals, hotels, and the Olympic venues.

On the back of the map are descriptions of the depicted venues along with their addresses, opening hours and telephone numbers to help you plan where to eat, drink, shop, party and play.

There are lots of basketball fans in China – it's been estimated that there are as many NBA fans here as there are in the US and that viewing figures for each NBA game are somewhere around the 100 million mark. So it hasn't gone unnoticed that live broadcasts of the Playoffs – the climax of the NBA season – have stopped being aired on free-to-air television stations in China. To add insult to injury, fans haven't been given a valid reason as to why the games are no longer being broadcast. Instead they have to make do with questionable excuses. "These games are not in accordance with the atmosphere of the nation after the devastation of the earthquake. They are too entertaining," Jiang Heping, director of CCTV sports, told Reuters.

So what can sports fans watch during these sad times? Well, for one, a repeat of the NBA game they would have otherwise watched live the previous day – repeats of the games it seems are far more acceptable. Meanwhile, the French Tennis Open, the Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA) league games and the 2008 International Table Tennis Professional Tournament are all considered so un-entertaining that they can still be broadcast live. Not to mention that Chinese viewers have simply replaced their TV screens for computer monitors and continue to watch live feeds of the games via major web portals such as Sina and Sohu.

101 Things You Should Do Before Leaving Beijing

In the process of throwing together a list of 101 things that readers should do before they leave the capital, that's Beijing editors discovered they had more ideas than they could fit into the confines of their June cover feature. Here we offer up a few of the suggestions that didn't quite make the grade. For the full list, get your hands on a copy of the June issue available around town from today.

Beijing has received a lot of guests this past week. The new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrvied in the capital last week in what was his first trip to China and also his first visit to a non-CIS state since being elected earlier in the month. While in Beijing, Medvedev met with China's top leaders, layed a wreath at Tiananmen in memory of the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, joined China in opposing America's plans for a global missile defence shield and gave a lecture at Peking University. President Hu Jintao also accepted an invitation from the Russian President to visit Russia next year.

Sit back and find out what's going on in Beijing this weekend as host Willy Sier hits up that's Beijing editors for their suggestions. Fashion editor Halla Mohieddeen makes use of her first appearance on the podcast to recommend that listeners attend the Ian Sherman benefit at D-22 on Friday night and also the SambAsia show at Mao Livehouse on Thursday evening.

Jessica Wang offers advice on where to find free champagne , Matt P. Jager tells listeners about the Loco Dice show at Tango on Saturday night while Paul Pennay recommends checking out IFC's production of Oliver!

This week's installment of Vox Box finds Willy Sier wandering through the cafes and boutiques of Nanluogu Xiang talking to people about inter-cultural relationships.

Keep listening to the end for the chance to a special prize in our trivia challenge. Send an e-mail to podcast@thebeijinger.com with the answer.

Finally, a reminder that the that's Beijing Reader Bar and Club Awards, are now under way - click on the links on this page to vote.

So, once again, if you're not sure what to do next weekend, plug in your headphones, sit back, and enjoy the entertaining ephemera that is … the Beijinger Podcast!

For those who'd like to download the podcast and listen to it later, click (right-click to save in MP3 format) on the icon to the left or click
here.

May 23
Nederlands Dans Theatre II
RMB 80-580.
7.30pm. PLA Song and Dance Theater (6613 1718)

Not to be confused with Nederlands Dans Theater I or the now defunct NDT III, NDT II consists of 16 dancers aged between 17 and 23 and is one of Europe's most innovative and exciting modern dance troupes. Their combination of athleticism, superb technical skill and, most importantly, youthful enthusiasm was what won over the largely Chinese audience that caught their show at the PLA Theater last Friday night.

Beijing was the first stop in the troupe's first tour of China, and they performed three works during the two-hour performance. Sleepless (you can take a look at the video here), choreographed by Jirí Kylián, dramatically combined lighting, music and movement to create an unpredictable and hypnotic scene inhabited by a beautiful dancing shadow.

May 24
DJ Nu-Mark
RMB 100.
10pm. Song Music Bar (6587 1311)

After some rescheduling and a bit of reshuffling, DJ Nu-Mark finally made his Beijing debut at Song last Saturday, May 24. The vibe for the night was a bit strange for a DJ/producer who's spent the past 14 years as the backbone of the Los Angeles Jurassic 5 – as Nu-Mark's blend of funk and soul with old-school and underground hip hop played an awkward backdrop to gay Europeans and quasi-lesbian Chinese women making out on a constricted dance floor. But then again, Song is just the type of venue, with its staggered-wood interior, imposing centerpiece pillar and secluded cubby holes leading to stretch-leather couches seemingly intended for lovemaking.

The show was decent enough – a solid set spun by a solid DJ. The drum kits and toys Nu-Mark has been known to incorporate were present, as is no surprise, but nothing new or spectacular was done with them. All in all, the show definitely didn't exceed expectations and certainly didn't surpass the originality brought by Cut Chemist (the other half of the Jurassic 5 DJ/producer-duo when the group was together), who also played in Beijing earlier this month.

In recent weeks, Beijing has witnessed an outpouring of donations, an official mourning period and thousands-strong rallies in solidarity with the victims of the recent Sichuan earthquake. Chinese artists have now also found a way to contribute to the relief effort, with many of China's most influential contemporary painters donating works to the We Are Together! Chinese Contemporary Art Charity Auction organized by Beijing Poly Auctions. Sichuan natives Zhang Xiaogang (whose daughter was in Sichuan when the earthquake hit), Zhou Chunya and He Douling, along with other highly-respected Chinese artists such as Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, Wang Guangyi and Zeng Fanzhi, have all donated some of their works to the auction. The charity event has received contributions from both hotshot contemporary artists and also lesser-known painters and the works range from mythical Chinese landscapes to pop art portraits. You can take a look at the full list of artists who have donated their works here. All the money raised at the auction will go to the Red Cross Society of China who, in turn, will use the funds to care for the survivors of the earthquake and to contribute to post-earthquake reconstruction.

Chinese Films at Cannes

Despite reports that Jia Zhangke's 24 City (Ershisi Chengji) was "one of the top three favourites for Cannes' coveted Palme d'Or for best film", the director returns to China empty handed with French film The Class (Entre Les Murs) beat out the Chinese film for top honors. For a full list of winners, click here. A extended edition of the trailer of John Woo's upcoming epic Red Cliff (Chibi) also screened at at this year's Cannes Film Festival and you can take a look at a bootleg copy of the trailer here. Zhang Ziyi was also in Cannes for the festival, aside from helping raise money for the earthquake relief effort, she also found herself having to raise awareness of the tragedy with the glitteratti attending the festival.

Earthquake Films

As rescue workers continue to treat the wounded and engineers attempt to prevent dams from bursting, some of China's most well-known film personalities have indicated their intentions to film earthquake-related movies in the near future. Both Jackie Chan and Feng Xiaogang have been reported as saying that they'd like to make films related to the tragedy. Jackie Chan envisages his project as a way to make money to help the victims of the earthquake, while a spokesperson for Feng Xiaogang reveals that the director has been planning to do a disaster film for a long time now. Both directors, however, have been beaten to the punch by director Yin Li (尹力), who along with 40 others started filming in the quake hit areas on May 14. They're working on a film called Wenchuan.

May 27
James Fallows at the Bookworm
Free.
7.30pm. The Bookworm (6586 9507)

Although best known as a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, journalist James Fallows has also served as a speech writer for Jimmy Carter and as editor of the US News and World Report. Among a host of other accolades, he's also won the American Book Award for nonfiction. We got in touch with the prolific author earlier today and began by asking him what he plans to talk about tonight.

The Beijinger: What will you be talking about tonight at the Bookworm?

James Fallows: What I've been up two these last two years in China for the Atlantic, and what I have underway in magazine - and book - terms over the next year-plus. Also, what has been surprising to me about the U.S. reaction to coverage from China, mine and other people's. And, possible bonus round, US politics.

One of the last, and probably most important, of the Good Luck Beijing events, the 2008 China Athletics Open, wrapped up at the Bird's Nest last night. The Sichuan team's emotional win in the final of the men's 4 X 100m relay was one of the highlights of the evening's competition. Throughout the weekend, members of the Sichuan team had been given the loudest cheers during the introduction of athletes prior to the commencement of an event, but last night's win, which saw the team come from behind to defeat both Japan and China's national teams, was especially memorable. Another highlight of the final evening was the exciting final of the men's high jump. Malaysian competitor Lee Hup Wei (pictured left), with a bit of encouragement from the crowd and a weird taiqi-like warm-up ritual, managed to take gold in the event with a personal best jump of 2.27m.

Other highlights of the four-day event, the second test event to take place at the National Stadium after last month's walking and marathon, included the crowd going crazy every time superstar Liu Xiang made an appearance. After false starting, the golden boy went on to win the final of the 110m hurdles on Saturday night in a time of 13.18s (you can take a look at the video of the race here). It was obvious that many spectators had come especially to see the hurdler compete, as on the three nights that he took part in the Open, there was an obvious thinning out of audience numbers after Liu Xiang's event was over.

Update: (May 27, 9.30am) Soho China have just announced that they've acquired a new large-scale commercial development project in Beijing for RMB 5.5 billion. Formerly known as the Kaiheng Center (Kaiheng Dasha), the property is on the southwest corner of the Chaoyangmen intersection (south of the boat-like CNOOC building and across from the Ministry Foreign Affairs building), and surprise surprise, will be renamed Chaoyangmen SOHO.

As the walls surrounding the Village at Sanlitun project come down to reveal an ultra modern, but as yet unopened, complex, urbane editor Alex Pasternack gives us his impression of the official launch of Soho China's new Sanlitun project.

At the tail end of Beijing's Olympic transformation, amidst government building restrictions and market jitters, it is getting a bit harder to spot those amazing, surreal moments of destruction in the city proper, when the old goes quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) in the face of the new.

But a vivid moment was offered up earlier this month courtesy of Soho China, which launched its new Sanlitun project with a big, brash grand opening. Hundreds of people pressed into their showroom to get a glimpse of classy, high-end apartments, gulp wine, and watch a pop cover band play beneath a screen showing a documentary set in Cultural Revolution-era China. The most exciting and surreal moment was when wiry models in suits serenaded the glassy architectural model with a flashlight dance (see video below).

Eight special "Olympic Pandas", selected by popular vote from a field of 16, (though they now seem to be morphing into the "Earthquake Pandas") arrived in Beijing on Saturday afternoon. The pandas are here for a special 6 month Olympic stint and after arriving on a special "luxury" flight from Chengdu, were set up in their comfortable digs (it's air conditioned and comes with a daily supply of 200kg of bamboo and 40kg of bamboo shoots especially shipped in from Henan).

The dark, brooding skies on this issue's cover might stir memories of the now-distant Beijing winter, but that doesn’t look like the new Tower 3 at Guomao looming in the background … Beijing gives way to London for our cover this issue as we Spotlight the IFC's amateur production of Oliver!, the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' tale. We also speak to Richard Robinson about his ChopSchticks comedy shows, which will bring some English-language laughs to the capital at the end of the month. The Lists feature roundups of Beijing's finest terrace bars, a selection of restaurants that prove you can at least sample a wide variety of Chinese cooking styles without leaving Beijing, and our suggestions on where to get clothes tailored. In Try These, we profile new openings like Beijing's first Uzbek restaurant, Shash, as well as plenty of other fine spots for dining, wining and shopping in the city, and as always, we've got full listings for everything that’s worth knowing about in Beijing over the next 14 days in our day-by-day events, so pick up a copy today.

Nobel Prize winning author Orhan Pamuk arrived in Beijing earlier this week and is set to make an appearance for a book signing at the Beijing Book Building in Xidan on Sunday at 3pm. After his stop in Beijing, where among other things he has been awarded an honorary membership to the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) and today will give a talk at Peking University, the Turkish author will go on to tour the country, including a stop over in Hangzhou where he'll attend a conference alongside Chinese author Yu Hua. Chinese translations of Pamuk's novels My Name is Red and Snow have sold well on the mainland.

Those planning to head up to the Olympic Green this weekend to catch the 2008 China Athletics Open at the Bird's Nest, should keep their eye out for the small Beiding Niang Niang Temple that stands just a few hundred meters south of the Water Cube. The 500-year-old temple is currently fenced in and not really lit up, so it's very easy to walk past without noticing as you marvel instead at the nice lights flickering across the bubbly exterior of the Water Cube. The Temple is located just east of the southwest entrance to the Olympic Green, directly south of the Water Cube, which was moved 100m north of its originally planned position so as not to impact on the integrity of the temple.

The temple was built in the Ming Dynasty and is one of five Niang Niangtemples that surrounded the imperial capital, four located on the outskirts of the city in each of the cardinal directions and a fifth temple just south of the Imperial City itself. Each of these Niang Niang temples were devoted to worship of a Daoist goddess of fertility, who was said to be the daughter of Tai Shan, and catered to ordinary residents of the agricultural land outside the walled city.

Update: Comments on this post have now been closed - we encourage readers who'd like to continue to discuss visa queries to head to either this section of the Beijinger forum or to Nadine's page devoted to visa issues - which can be found here - http://fxzl.blogspot.com

"We have made some arrangements according to usual international practice. That is, in the approval process we are more strict and more serious with the procedure"

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang

Beijing saw a marked drop in the number of overseas tourists in April, which fell by 5.3 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics revealed on Tuesday. Yu Xiuqin, the bureau's spokeswoman attributed the decrease partly to Beijing's tightened business visa approvals on foreign visitors for international exhibitions and conferences, because of safety concerns for the coming Olympic Games.

China Daily: Beijing sees marked drop in overseas tourists in April

An enormous amount of confusion currently exists throughout Beijing's expat community in regard to the Chinese government's apparent, but not officially announced, recent tightening of visa policies. The lack of an adequate response from government departments and spokespeople to the increasing demand for clarification of the gap between the existing regulations and commonly observed practices, has only added to the frustration felt by both business people and those hoping to travel to China during the Olympic period. As applications are being handled on a case-by-case basis, it’s almost impossible to make absolute and irrefutable statements about what’s going on, still, patterns have begun to emerge and below I outline what is known and what can be suspected to be the case in regard to the new visa situation.

What we know for sure: