| Video Pick of the Month |
 The Boot Ablaze: The First Moments of the FireOn the night of February 9, on China’s traditional Lantern Festival, an as-yet unoccupied hotel adjacent to the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters in Beijing -- "The Boot," which stands north of the more famous Rem Koolhas-designed tower called "The Pants" by Beijingers -- caught fire, causing one death and six injuries. According to the Xinhua News Agency, Beijing's fire control authorities confirmed that the blaze was caused by fireworks set by CCTV itself. Youku users uploaded lots of videos captured on the spot from different angles immediately after the blaze began. The individual who uploaded this now-famous clip claimed it proved that fireworks set the building ablaze. Watch carefully and you can see the fire begin. |
| Youkulest |
 Nostalgia for the Post-80s CrowdAh, memories. This very recent post highlights some of the music and television that makes Chinese 20-somethings wander back in time to their younger days. Heh. It might be too early to be thinking back, but judging by the outpouring of nostalgic sentiment in the comments, this stuff does strike a chord. The video begins with the "Lil' Loudspeaker" (小喇叭) broadcast from their collective preschool memory, and includes snippets from songstress Yang Yuying, the (later outed) singer Mao Ning, the Hong Kong rock band Beyond, Taiwan proto-boy band Xiao Hu Dui, Taiwan singer-songwriter Chou Hua-tsien (Zhou Huajian), Richie Ren, and of course Andy Lau and the other "Four Heavenly Kings" of HK Cantopop (Jackie Cheung, Aaron Kwok, and Leon Lai). The TV shows include Bao Qingtian (the famous Song Dynasty wiseman and jurist), Feng Shen Bang (a mythology-based serial), and The New Legend of Bai Niangzi. |
 Real Life Need for SpeedIn the spring of 2006, rumors popped up all over the Web of some desperate speeders on the 2nd Ring Road here in Beijing. As the Guangzhou Daily reported, the fastest record holder called “Sir 13 of the Second Ring” (二环十三郎) circled the 32.7 km long ring road in just 13 minutes, topping out at 150 km/h -- almost twice the 80 km/h speed limit. Urban street racing, insanely dangerous as it is, continues in China’s cities. Recently, a video of a Porsche 911 Turbo chasing a Mercedes-Benz SLR on Shanghai’s highways announced that a new Chinese urban racing record had been set. According to the Shanghai Morning Post, a taxi driver estimated that the Porsche finished a 10 km stretch of the Yan’an elevated highway in Shanghai in 3.5 minutes, with an average speed of 170 km/h. |
| The Month's Most Viewed |
 “Post-90″ Couple Wins Kissing ContestA shopping mall in Nanning, Guangxi hosted a kissing contest on Valentine’s Day. Check out this video for some of the weirdest and most disquieting tonsil-hockey skills of all time. In the end, the Post-90 couple guy who lip-locked with his girl and swung her around like The Incredible Hulk bested the other couple who were rolling on the ground kissing (ROFK?) and won the grand prize — a night in a luxury hotel, a prize people watching and thinking, "get a room already" surely found appropriate. One wonders, though, whether after that much foreplay the guy couldn't have lasted nearly as long as he did in the extended make-out session. |
 I Love You So Much I’ll Freeze My Nipples OffThis is the latest installment in our continuing series about sadly misguided young men making asses of themselves for the women they love. This Casanova, from Tailai County in China’s northeasternmost province Heilongjiang, strips to the waist in -30 degree weather to profess his love. If the woman didn’t promptly take out a restraining order, the world makes no sense to me whatsoever. |
| Hot Topics |
 Smoking Babes in SichuanOkay, that title got your attention. If you aren’t deeply disturbed by the video, there’s something wrong with you. As if it weren’t enough that this two-year-old kid from Sichuan is frighteningly adept with a lighter! Equally shocking is the fact that his father seems inordinately proud, and that everyone watching is encouraging the kid. And I suppose that raising kids in Beijing, what with the air quality and all, is as bad from a health perspective as letting them smoke cigarettes. This video was also posted to YouTube, but as the rules there prohibit any videos of underage smoking, they took it down promptly and warned the poster. |
 Michael Phelps Apologizes to Chinese Youth for Doing BongsThank God he decided to head this one off. Beijing’s young and impressionable athletes, who like everyone else on earth have by now seen photos of eight-time gold medalist Michael Phelps sucking down a bong hit, were surely rushing out to score hash or buds from one of the friendly West African guys in Sanlitun, convinced that cannabis is the key to unlocking prowess in the pool. With his lung capacity, so amply demonstrated at the Water Cube this past August, the dude could probably bogart an entire eighth in one bong load, so I say let’s cut him a little slack. Does anyone else thing he looks just a wee bit stoned in this video? |
| Viral Ad of the Month |
 Drama in a Car DealershipAfter a big spat in an auto showroom, and after his sassy girlfriend nearly runs over a couple of innocent bystanders, the poor guy just gives in: “Okay, I’m buying it! I’m buying it!”, he cries. “Stop the car!.” And he ponies up for the red Buick she wants, right then and there. Days later after we spotted this video on Youku, it turned out that video was a viral video for Buick produced by some Youku users in Shanghai. |
| To unsubscribe, email here with "unsubscribe" in the subject heading |
 |
