They're making movie out of Iron Man. He's a popular Marvel comics superhero, and special effects now are such that he'll look great. Robert Downey, Jr., is playing the title character, so he'll probably sound great, too.

And Shaun Toub will be playing The Mandarin.

Yes. Farhad from Crash will be playing ... more

Asia's richest woman has died, according to her secretary, Ringo Wong.

Wang's habit of wearing tight pigtails earned her the nickname "Little Sweetie," or "Siu Tim Tim" in Cantonese.

Friends say the Shanghai-born magnate knew she only had months to live, having been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December.

She'd been a subject of some controversy because of legal battles with husband Teddy Wang's estate and a passel of ... more

There's been some sort of lingering spring sinus infection hanging over our house, which, as one might imagine, has not contributed to domestic tranquility between the often warring factions of Daughter and Son (son!). The other day, the forces of fatigue and congestion led to a kind of crying match between the toddler, who was armed with a pretty annoying toy whistle, and the little girl, who had been taking a pre-dinner nap on the sofa.

I, being a young man about town, missed the screaming part, and only got home in... more

Lots of visitors talk about how crowded China is, and how that's because 1 billion people live there and it's only (only?) about the size of the U.S.

That's not really true. China can *seem* crowded because nearly all the people live in only a few places, and those are the few places where most visitors wind up. Most of China *isn't* crowded.

I've, uh, been looking at maps. For fun.

Here's a map... more

Son (son!) remains intact despite the latest pro-circumcision talk from the WHO. Yes, the doctors say getting the snip actually can save lives....

In a report issued on 28 March, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS issued a series of recommendations to increase rates of circumcision in countries where the HIV problem is most serious.

"We reviewed all the evidence,... more

…or at least questions that might be asked by those traveling to China.

Um, this week, at least.

Question 1: Why are they burning Viagra? Or, well, pictures of Viagra? Those guys in the cemetery… the ones with the funny-looking money? And why do they seem so *serious* about it?

Well, so Great-grandpa... more

Are you afraid of Chinese grannies?

Respect their power.

So, as you may or may not know, I work in a rather odd newsroom while I'm not doing this thing on here.

While writing that previous entry on the hexagram heng and how it represents an unusual sort of marriage, I get assigned to write two stories based on news clips from China -- one on this married couple and one on this married couple.

Must mean *something*, mustn't it?

So, we're at the halfway point. Cool. Smooth sailing from here on out, as long as we persevere, right?

This is the inverse of the previous hexagram, xian, which was about newlyweds. This one is about long familiarity and lasting-ness.

What's the character mean? The character for heng shows a heart next to a boat traveling between two shores. Oddly, I was just looking at the clickable Dao de jing on... more

Kentucky and China get all officially buddy-buddy. If you happen to live in KY, this relationship could be a chance to absorb some Chinese culture, start some kind of China-related something or maybe even swing some kind of official travel thing. Who knows?

They just had a conference, but it's part of a deeper relationship, or at least it wants... more