While we frequently write on the alternative music coming out of China, including punk and “chinagrass,” there is no denying the the power and overwhelming popularity of Mandopop. Take a look at China’s current top 5 music videos and see if you can hear any similarities…
Jerry Yan – Say I Love You at KTV

Evonne Hsu – Sleepless

Richie Ren – Good Medicine Tastes Bitter

Penny Tai – Dilemma

Jackie Chan & Zhou Hui – Film of Myself

[via ChinaMusicRadar]

The Guardian’s Dan Chung shot and edited “One Night in Beijing” in a total of twelve hours starting directly after purchasing a Canon EOS5DmkII DSLR camera from a Beijing camera store and charging the battery. The result is a stunningly beautiful video of the people and street scenes of Beijing.

[via todayandtomorrow]

Li Ning, the leading Chinese sportswear and shoe company, produced a series of TV commercials that feature traditional Chinese shadow puppets playing basketball. The commercials are set to traditional Chinese shadow play music and each player is endowed with super-human basketball abilities.

[via LRB]

An interesting look into the creative spaces of fantasy and science fiction authors, including multiple Hugo and Nebula award winner Joe Haldeman, novelist Margaret Weis, and two-time Nebula recipient Samuel Delany.  See more here.
[via Super Colossal]

Clive Thompson at Wired reports on how the competitive nature of games can be injected into everyday mundane tasks making them more fun and more interesting. You are probably already familiar with the way Nike Plus injects game-like qualities into your everyday cardiovascular workout, but Thompson highlights some other examples including; digital gas mileage readouts in hybrid cars being used for hypermiling games, Dennis Crowley’s pub-crawling based Foursquare, and, get this – a “game” built into corporate email aiming to reward a reduction in email volume.
Every employee is given virtual tokens — say, 100 a week, — that they can [...]

A new report breaks down Chinese luxury consumers into four types – Noveau Rich, Understaters, Connoisseurs and Spirituals – based on social background, luxury experience and income level.

Katya Ford takes fashion photographs and replaces the garment or human element with images of the ‘cosmos’.  The Moscow-based photographer / illustrator is currently studying fashion design. You can see some of Ford’s amazing images via her Flickr stream and Live Journal page.
katya ford – the galaxy within

Tony Moxham and Mauricio Paniagua are the creative heads behind DFCasa, a Mexican-based design studio reworking the traditional styles and techniques of Mexican crafts into contemporary home furnishings.  Moxham, an Australian art director / journalist, and Guatemalan painter Paniagua first met whilst living in New York.  Working with local Mexican artisans, DFCasa creates products from a range of materials including aluminium, hand-blown glass, traditionally-cast ceramics, silver and fur.
The sculptures pictured above were inspired by the traditional hand-applied beading of the Huichol, an indigenous ethnic group of western central Mexico.
[via Lost at E Minor]

CScout Japan points us to some innovative juice box designs that mimic the skin of the fruit inside, giving the consumer an instant visual cue as to the flavor of the juice. Designed by Naoto Fukasawa, the Takara Banana is the only one to go into production.

Wooster Collective points us to a great animation made by James Jarvis for Nike. Wooster’s title says it all: “Sometimes Brands and Artists Get It Right… This Is One Of Those Times.”  Jarvis’ take on the collaboration:
I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also [...]

For the ultimate in China-made luxury cars, GEELY has introducted the GEELY GE, which has a striking resemblance to the Rolls Royce Phantom. One of the most distinctive features of the 17.5 foot long GE is a 2+1 seating arrangement with a single seat throne for the rear passenger.  The GE is being unveiled at this week’s Auto Shanghai Exhibition.
[via Jalopnik]

Arch Daily points us to images of Japanese architect Shuhei Endo’s newest project, the Guangzhou Culture Center.

Next month, construction on the first large scale, solar-thermal power plant in Asia will begin near the Great Wall in China.  The Chinese-designed, 1.5MW ‘Dahan’ plant is projected to power 30,000 households by 2010 and “will serve as a platform for experiments on different solar-power technologies.”
[via Treehugger]

While only 5% of Chinese own cars, a growing middle class is fueling car sales that increased by 28% in 2008.  Documenting this and other rapid changes, Treehugger has put up a slideshow showing China’s modes of transportation from the lowly bike repairmen to policemen on Segways.
Treehugger: From Recycling Tricycles to Super Trains, How China Moves: A Slideshow

Wooster Collective points out a powerful example of street art that has caused quite a commotion in New England. Artist Maki105 put up a wheat-paste poster titled  “Peek-A-Boo Jesus” on the side of a video store in New Bedford Massachusetts, and it’s getting a lot of serious attention by religious pilgrims.
The Boston Herald reports:
Tears welled up in Angela Sampaio’s eyes as she beheld the Lund’s Corner Jesus through her car windshield Wednesday, reports today’s Standard-Times.
“I am really, really, really moved by this,” she said. And she wanted reassurance that the photographs of this Jesus are on the Internet. “This will [...]