the Beijinger

This is the trailer for Keanu Reeves' directorial debut Man of Tai Chi, which will get an early release in China on July 5. Scenes from the kung fu film, which isn't expected to reach other countries until the fall, were screened at Cannes earlier this week. According to the The Guardian:

"Clips from the film shown in Cannes suggest spectacular fight sequences and a sleekly modern production design of blankly mysterious, grey-painted rooms, instructions barked to the hero by unseen figures behind two-way mirrors and cars driven at speed by tough-faced enigmatic women along China's freeways."

Japandroids track "The House That Heaven Built" from their critically-acclaimed album Celebration Rock

Well, almost breaking news, anyway ... We've been getting a lot of cool music through our little old town recently, and thanks to Split Works that trend is set to continue:

"We have two more concert announcements from Split Works: Shabazz Palaces and Japandroids.

"Shabazz Palaces [...] is the first hip-hop group to sign to legendary indie label Sub Pop and thus far, the only musical winners of The Stranger's Genius Awards. Catch them in Shanghai on June 28 and Beijing on June 29.

"Japandroids are a 'maximal' two-piece rawk band consisting of Brian King and David Prowse [...] They play Beijing on August 23 and Shanghai on the 24th."

For a year now, Harry's modest little mojito stand off Sanlitun Houjie has been serving Beijing's young almost-professional crowd dangerously cheap cocktails while they contemplate what the hell it is they're supposed to be doing with their lives now that their university years are behind them.

We’re excited to see Niko De la Faye, cross-country tricycle rider, make the final stretch to Hong Kong on his M2B ride this week. After a successful ride from Beijing to Shanghai last spring the Beijing-based artist decided to do another stretch to Hong Kong this year. And if you didn’t know, his ride is a kinetic model of the cosmos.

Only three days left until INTRO, China's largest outdoor electronic music festival. To give you a taste of what you'll be hearing on the main stage at the Capital Steel Factory this Saturday, we did some digging around on Soundcloud.

The Germans are invading London this weekend. Settle down, it's to be a short-lived and very localized coup d'état for the final of the UEFA Champions League on Saturday (May 25) when Bundesliga champions and four-time Champions League winners Bayern Munich take on Bundesliga runners-up and 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium.

Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing, the Beijing-based actresses, are making significant inroads this month to expand their Hollywood careers and international presence. Quite the change from their filmographies to date, which have been mostly shot in our fair city (in fact, Fan is best known for Lost In Beijing).

Eating for a good cause — two great things that go great together. For fans of both, mark your calendars: Chi Fan for Charity (CFFC) has announced its dates for 2013.

The Beijing event will take place on November 2, followed by Shanghai on November 9. This year also sees a third city — Hong Kong — being added on November 16, CFFC announced Tuesday.

the Beijinger's 10th Annual Reader Bar & Club Awards attracted more than 500 readers and nightlife personalities, but they weren't the only ones flocking to Galaxy Soho Saturday to see what all the fuss was about. Our photographer Mitchell Pe Masilun captured portraits of passersby who were hanging out in the area and wanted their 15 seconds of fame in front of the event banner.