The boy in the iron chain

Found on bbs.163.com, a concerned Netizen posts the story of a boy who has been chained to his window, naked, every day for the last three years, while his father goes to work. Commenters express alarm and sympathy, but one has to wonder how the kid hasn’t slid out of that chain yet:

[Heart-breaking] the five-year-old boy living locked in an iron chain

A five-year-old boy named Qiangqiang is being locked with an iron chain by his father in a rented house in Liulitun Village, on Yellow River Street in the city of Zhengzhou. Qiangqiang is infected with a disease with strange symptoms. He is always putting his head against the wall. The family has become impoverished, due to the high cost of the medical treatment. Qiangqiang’s mother has left the unbearable situation. And the thirty-five-year-old father has no choice but to lock his son up with an iron chain beside the window, which has been going on for three years.

I think he should be receiving good medical treatment instead of being locked up.

Fortunately, this boy doesn’t look thin and weak.

What if he wants to have a meal? He cannot eat in this way. And why is he naked?

At bbs.163.com // On September 21, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Translations // On Sep 23, 2008 // Under Ethics , Parenting

Thank you very much, Sanlu!

Almost as soon as the Sanlu milk crisis became known in China, bloggers were circulating jaded bits of humor, getting in jabs at the companies and Party officials involved.

Here’s one that was passed around on QQ chat, and also at Sina.com:

三鹿事件后，河北省研究决定采用以下方法解决:
由沙隆达等大型农药生产厂家趁机一元收购三鹿集团，改名为三鹿农药厂，三鹿奶粉直接换包装改为三鹿 杀虫剂，此杀虫剂杀虫原理为使虫子得肾结石而死，无农药残留，可用于生产无公害蔬菜。

After the Sanlu scandal, Hebei Province decided to take the following steps to solve the problem:
Ask big pesticide companies like Shalongda (沙隆达) to buy Sanlu Group for 1 yuan; change its name to Sanlu Pesticide Factory; change Sanlu milk powder’s packaging immediately to Sanlu Pesticide; this pesticide uses the principle of killing pests by kidney stones: no pesticide residues, and it can be used to produce pollution-free vegetables.

At Sina.com.cn // On September 16, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 22, 2008 // Under Ethics , Humor

Tracking down fake plates

A series of pictures on Moobol.com show police tracking down fake license plates in Wanzhou district, Chongqing municipality. It’s not clear from the post what their “method” is, other than judging on sight. Perhaps the police sprayed something reactive on the plate, to reveal a different kind of paint around the number 4, proving it a fake. Or maybe it already looked that way, and the fake was just that bad.

At Moobol.com // On September 20, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 21, 2008 // Under Police , Dissimulating

What are they doing?

In contentious times, even a casual photo can arouse debate. But here, when a reader posted a photo of police playing cards, most commenters didn’t mind at all, as they voted for the post with “thumbs up!” ratings.

At Moobol.com // On September 19, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 21, 2008 // Under Police , Ethics

Shaolin monks: hardmen or softies?

An article by The Times of London about Shaolin Monks (and their exclusion from the Olympics) prompted some interesting comments among Chinese readers when it was translated and posted at the bbs.ifeng forum. The Chinese version is titled, “The foreigners are confused: Why aren’t the Shaolin monks participating in the Beijing martial arts tournament?” Here is an excerpt of the original article, followed by Chinese readers’ comments…

At bbs.ifeng.com // On August 20, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 21, 2008 // Under Martial arts , Olympics (2008)

Cui Jian’s Revolution with Beer

The German Die Zeit published this glimpse of an anti-Olympics concert by veteran rocker Cui Jian, held in a Beijing bar outside the Olympic zone. As the greatest symbol of the “nothing” generation, Cui Jian still bottles a rebellious spirit for his fans, even if it sells next to cans and drafts these days.

By Christof Siemes // At Die Zeit // On August 28, 2008

Filed In Chinese Articles Featured Translations // On Sep 7, 2008 // Under Music , Dissent

Were the Olympics worth it?

Posted on the Chinese MSN site, an article (that appears to have originated at ifeng.com) discusses whether the Beijing Olympics were worth their unprecedented budget, with opinions from economists and average readers, pro and con. But the article never says what the graph makes clear: over half of those surveyed said the Games just weren’t worth it.

At MSN.com.cn // On August 26, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 3, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008)

Lust, Caution, and the Body Double

Zou Kaiyun, a drag queen now infamous for a few Internet hoaxes in China, made his/her biggest splash with the “Body Double Affair” — a rumor that Zou actually stood in as a naked double for actress Tang Wei in Ang Lee’s film “Lust, Caution.” After another recent prank in July (see “The Sounds of Ridicule”), bloggers linked to an interview Zou sat for in 2007, translated here, in which she discusses her first big hoax.

At Pclady.com.cn // On October 27, 2007

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 1, 2008 // Under Pop Culture , Women

The Dream Tour

Found on Caijing.com.cn, a young local attends the Games’ opening ceremony on a whim and writes whatever comes to mind — mostly thoughts about the foreigners he sees. For all of his rambling, he’s a quick wit, and even a bit of a cad.

At Caijing.com.cn // On August 11, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured Translations // On Sep 1, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , Foreigners

If Phelps were a Chinese athlete…

Found on dzh.mop.com, the question “What if Michael Phelps were Chinese?” turns into a shaggy dog story, with an ending that Chinese readers see coming a mile away.

At Dzh.mop.com // On August 19, 2008

Filed In Chinese Forums Featured // On Aug 24, 2008 // Under Olympics (2008) , Foreigners