Beijing News Bits: The Nike "S.B.", Panjiayuan Flea Market, Crowded Subways and No More Wedding Pics

Jerry Chan | Aug 6, 2009 9:00 am | Add a comment | 2298 reads



laonei.com: Who You Callin' SB?

"Perhaps the most horribly-named shoe in history, the Nike SB Dunk Mid “Beijing” has recently been unveiled. Unfortunately, the designers at Triumvir and Nike SB apparently didn’t realize that in Chinese, and especially among Beijingers, SB is very common slang for “stupid c*nt” because it’s the first letters of these words in Chinese (sha bi) ..."



Beijing Evening News: Panjiayuan flea to Hold Flea Market on Thursdays

"Beginning today, the Panjiayuan Antique Market will host a weekly flea market every Thursday where businesses and individuals can bring their own items to barter or sell. All the stall spaces will be provided free of charge and the market has set aside 300 new stall spaces for the sellers."

Beijing Youth Daily: Over Four million Passengers Took the Subway Each Day in July

The number of subway passengers continues to increase - over four million commuters took the subway each day in the month of July, a new record, and over 95 million passengers took the subway the entire month. There have already been 51 days this year that the number of subway passengers have exceeded 4 million.




Beijing Youth Daily: Wedding Photo Shoots to Be Banned from Select Beijing Parks

Blushing brides beware: Eleven city parks, including the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and Beihai Park, have newly instituted bans on wedding photo shoots.

Global Times (Xinhuanet): Land disputes delay high-speed railway construction

"Construction on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway has been dogged by issues over land claims and planned demolition of homes, according to the China Railway Engineering Corporation ... The high-speed railway is planned to open for service before 2012 and tracks along the whole line will be ready before May 1, 2011, according to the Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway Corporation ... The government has invested 2 billion yuan ($293 million) for compulsory land purchases and homes that stand in the way of the planned line route. Most of the land and demolition has been completed but conflicts between residents and the government has slowed down progress ... With a speed up to 380 km per hour, the rail service will shorten the travel time between Beijing and Shanghai from the current 10 hours to four hours."