Art
Conservators Work to Open the Forbidden City’s Secret Garden to the Public
When China's last emperor departed Beijing's Forbidden City in 1924, the imperial palace was shuttered, and along with it, an 18th-century garden.
China
In Brief
Chinese Government Has Had It with “Oversized, Weird” Architecture
Architects in China apparently need to tone down the quirkiness of their designs and quit erecting buildings that pass as giant pants, penises, and ancient coins.
News
Dhaka Art Summit Censors Pro-Tibet Artwork at Chinese Ambassador's Request
Nangdrol, an 18-year-old Tibetan living in Sichuan Province, China, penned a farewell letter on February 19, 2012.
Art
A Chinese Performance Artist Who Balances Politics and Poetics
CHENGDU, China — In a series of eight-hour-long actions titled Puzzling Tracks, Zhou Bin placed an ant on a piece of rice paper.
In Brief
Do Not Pass “Bo”: Archaeologists Unearth 2,300-Year-Old Board Game in China
It includes a 14-face die carved from an animal tooth, 21 rectangular game pieces featuring painted numbers, and a broken tile that once made up part of the game board.
Art
Ai Weiwei Splits a 400-Year-Old Temple Between Two Beijing Galleries
BEIJING — Between two Beijing galleries, Ai Weiwei has divided a 400-year-old temple’s 1,500 worn, wooden pieces.
News
Big Brother Is Bugging Ai Weiwei
“There’s always a surprise,” Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei wrote on Instagram yesterday, captioning a photograph of a surveillance device he found hidden in his studio after returning to Beijing from his first trip overseas in four years.
Art
Found Photographs Show How Couples Light It Up During Chinese Weddings
There are nearly as many smokers in China as there are Americans in the United States. That staggering statistic might help explain the central role cigarettes play in traditional Chinese weddings.
News
Anish Kapoor Threatens to Sue Over Chinese “Cloud Gate” Copy
Yesterday we noticed that a copy of Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" in Chicago is in the works in Karamay, China, promoted as a giant, stainless steel drop of oil.
In Brief
A Poor Man’s Kapoor: China Unveils Knockoff of Chicago’s Bean
An immense sculpture in China is nearing completion, and it bears a striking resemblance to Chicago's most famous work of public art.
Books
Too Fragile to Open, World’s Oldest Multicolor Printed Book Is Digitized
The 17th-century Manual of Calligraphy and Painting (Shi zhu zhai shu hua pu) is so fragile that until digitization no one was allowed to open it.
Books
Surreal Photographs of Chinese Amusement Parks in Hibernation
Italian photographer Stefano Cerio has captured ski resorts at night, empty cruise ships, drained water parks, and, most recently, the uncanny bleakness of China's off-season amusement parks and other constructed entertainment.