Front Page of the Day

Family murder and arson

jinghuashibao20091214.jpg
The Beijing Times
December 14, 2009

Today's Beijing Times top headline is a weather story: "Beijing to welcome coldest week this winter — coldest temperature to go below -10ºC, Thursday and Friday maximum -2ºC". The rest of the paper is a smorgasbord of contemporary Chinese life.

The second headline is "New discovery of massive one billion tonne iron deposit — Hebei Iron and Steel Group to develop and operate".

Underneath that is a photo of burned out houses — all that's left after an arson and shooting spree by a mentally disturbed migrant worker. From The China Daily:

The death toll in a shooting and arson has risen to 13 in Central China's Hunan province, according to local media.

Policemen captured the 34-year-old suspect Liu Aibing in Anhua County, Yiyang City, Central China's Hunan province. He was found and seized on a hill in Anhua County at 6:50 am on Sunday.

Liu allegedly attacked them with a hunting rifle and set fire to their houses at 4:00 am on Saturday in a village in Gaoming Township, Anhua County of Yiyang City, central China's Hunan province, local media reported.

The suspect returned home two months ago from Hunan's neighboring province of Guangdong, China's "factory of the world", where he worked as a migrant worker. Liu was also said to have a history of psychiatric illness.

Liu's father and other close relatives are among the dead. The dead age between 6 and 86.

Other stories on the front page are:

• 16 year old dies after injection by illegal doctor
• Many high-priced fake items appear at Zhongding Auction Company
• During the filming of CCTV's Jiapian Youyue, a film program, eight people were injured when temporary audience seating collapsed.
• Guo Jingjing is champion, unprecedentedly talks about boyfriend
• Ex-Shanghai Putuo District chief investigated for bribery

Links and Sources
Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
The latest recommended blogs and new media
laomo2010x80.jpg
From 2008
Books on China
The Eurasian Face : Blacksmith Books, a publishing house in Hong Kong, is behind The Eurasian Face, a collection of photographs by Kirsteen Zimmern. Below is an excerpt from the series:
Big in China: An adapted excerpt from Big In China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising A Family, Playing The Blues and Becoming A Star in China, just published this month. Author Alan Paul tells the story of arriving in Beijing as a trailing spouse, starting a blues band, raising kids and trying to make sense of China.
Pallavi Aiyar's Chinese Whiskers: Pallavi Aiyar's first novel, Chinese Whiskers, a modern fable set in contemporary Beijing, will be published in January 2011. Aiyar currently lives in Brussels where she writes about Europe for the Business Standard. Below she gives permissions for an excerpt.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Korean history doesn't fly on Chinese TV screens (2007.09): SARFT puts the kibbosh on Korean historical dramas.
+ Religion and government in an uneasy mix (2008.03): Phoenix Weekly (凤凰周刊) article from October, 2007, on government influence on religious practice in Tibet.
+ David Moser on Mao impersonators (2004.10): I first became aware of this phenomenon in 1992 when I turned on a Beijing TV variety show and was jolted by the sight of "Mao Zedong" and "Zhou Enlai" playing a game of ping pong. They both gave short, rousing speeches, and then were reverently interviewed by the emcee, who thanked them profusely for taking time off from their governmental duties to appear on the show.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30