Books
Shopping for the Afterlife in China
Chanel shoes, McDonald's french fries, iPhones, cognac, lacy lingerie, and machine guns are just a few of the consumer goods you can purchase for the dead in China.
China
Art
Charting Chinese History with 17th-Century Jesuit World Maps
Mounted on remnants of the old Ming Dynasty city wall, which once surrounded Beijing, are Western clocks and astronomical instruments for observing celestial bodies.
Books
Photos Capture the Rise of a Carefully Crafted Chinese Celebrity
The name of Chinese actress and pop singer Fan Bingbing has been cropping up more and more frequently in the headlines of Western news publications.
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.
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.