Reading Round-Up, 8/2/2010

Authors

Date of this Version

8-2-2010

Document Type

Article

Citation

August 2, 2010 in The China Beat http://www.thechinabeat.org/

Comments

Copyright August 2, 2010. Used by permission.

Abstract

Before we fully embrace the arrival of August, a bit of housekeeping from July . . . some stories that we noticed during the past month and wanted to share with our readers:

• Xujun Eberlein has been busy lately, and two of her recent pieces of writing have overlaps with topics we’ve discussed here at China Beat in the past few weeks. On the matter of Wang Hui and plagiarism, see her post at Inside-Out China; for her review of the “social science fiction” novel Shengshi: Zhongguo 2013, head over to Foreign Policy.

• If you’re in Beijing and looking for something to do with the kids, we don’trecommend the place that’s been dubbed “the world’s worst theme park,” otherwise known as Green Dream Park. Gady Epstein discusses it at the ForbesChina Tracker blog; for a more extensive (and damning) review, with pictures, check out this post by Marc Beck at The Beijinger.

• While we know we’ve talked a lot about Peter Hessler’s Country Driving, we recommend reading this review of the book — offering a Chinese perspective on Hessler’s work — posted at Jottings from the Granite Studio by Zhang Yajun.

Also at Granite Studio, Jeremiah Jenne takes a look at coverage of Aftershock, the new blockbuster movie about the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake.

• David Moser of CET Academic Programs alerted us to a series of interviews he did for the Chinalogue talk show about music in China. The segments include Moser speaking with Abigail Washburn about being an American music in China (Part 1,Part 2), with guzheng player Wu Fei about traditional Chinese music (Part 1, Part 2), and with Andrew Field about underground music in China (Part 1, Part 2).

• In the mood for more Expo? Check out pictures at Michele Travierso’s image gallery, read an extensive Expo report with photos by Jeanne Lawrence at New York Social Diary, and, for a darker look at some of the effects the Expo has had on Shanghai, see Sue Ann Tay’s photo essay on “Another Side of Shanghai” atForeign Policy (h/t Paul French at China Rhyming).