Danwei Picks is a daily digest of the "From the Web" links found on the Danwei homepage. A feed for the links as they are posted throughout the day is available at Feedsky (in China) or Feedburner (outside China).

The trouble with Chinese cinema: Kaiju Shakedown returns from Hong Kong Filmart with some notions about problems in the Chinese film industry, from money to SARFT to distribution:

It's interesting to compare China to Bollywood, since both film industries have a lot of similarities - government regulation of the import market, restricted content, demographically similar audience - but whereas Bollywood has become the only country capable of competing with Hollywood on the world stage, China seems to be binding the feet of its industry in the cradle.

Chinese SF writers remember Arthur C. Clarke: Translations of a few blog and forum posts from Chinese science fiction authors and fans who have written in commemoration of the SF master.

The Olympics were already political: Richard Spencer argues that politicization of the Olympics was an inevitable consequence of China's political structure: the head of BOCOG, for example, is Liu Qi, the municipal party secretary for Beijing, "the capital's number one man, if you like."

Xinhua top story: US deaths in Iraq reach 4,000: Xinhua's top story today:

Four U.S. soldiers died Sunday night in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in the five-year war to 4,000...

...The grim milestone comes less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the U.S-led invasion of Iraq...

...Estimates of the Iraqi death toll since the war began range from about 80,000 to hundreds of thousands.

Ma Ying-jeou wins Taiwan election, smiles at China: From Bloomberg:

Ma Ying-jeou won Taiwan's presidential election, vowing to improve ties with China after eight years of pro-independence rule by Chen Shui-bian.

Ma, of the opposition Kuomintang, beat the Democratic Progressive Party's Frank Hsieh 58 percent to 42 percent, according to the Central Election Commission. About 75 percent of Taiwan's eligible voters cast ballots.

Xinhua on the other protests: 5 years of Iraq war: The top story and photo on Xinhua's English website today is about anti Iraq war protests marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion.

Old Shanghai synagogue opens for Purim: From Shanghaiist:

Every once in a blue moon the local government is kind enough to open the doors of the Ohel Rachel synagogue and let Shanghai's ever-growing (or, more accurately, re-emerging) Jewish community celebrate their holidays in a proper temple. Tomorrow Shanghai residents will once again have the chance to step inside the more elegant of the city's two remaining synagogues and celebrate the Purim holiday.

Wen Jiabao deeply worried about U.S. economy: From The China Daily:

'I am closely watching and feel deeply worried about the global economic situation, especially the US economy,' Wen said. 'What concerns me is the continuous depreciation of the US dollar and when the dollar will hit bottom.'

Happy old Tîbetans: Time to bring out the happy people: this just in from Xinhua:

The oldest person in Tibet celebrated her 117th birthday in Lhåsa on Sunday...

...With economic development and improved medical care in Tibet, the lifespan becomes longer. Linzhou County has four centenarians. The average age in Tibet has risen from 35.5 in 1969 to 67, according to official statistics.

Letter from The Guardian to Chinese Ambassador: Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, has sent a letter to the Chinese Ambassador in London:

I am writing to express my deep concern over the apparent blocking by Chinese authorities of international news websites, including that of the Guardian, www.guardian.co.uk.