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"Women selling local delicacies March 8, 2013 By Miguel Elosua | edit This photo was taken in Jinli ancient street in Chengdu (Sichuan), in 2010. The street was renovated in 2004 and has become since one of the city's most popular spots for both tourists and locals. Located next to the Wuhou Memorial Temple, the pedestrian street abounds with stores selling folk handicrafts, teahouses (even one Starbucks), and stalls with an astonishing variety of local snacks. In this one, cold cakes (混糖凉糕) and bamboo rolls of beef (竹叶牛肉) were made on the spot for 7 and 10 yuan the piece, respectively. This pattern of urban development has been replicated in almost every provincial capital in the last decade with much success. Pedestrians stroll against a backdrop of picturesque façades, getting a taste of the old rural life left behind."

"Beijing: the world's largest marketplace for art? March 11, 2013 By Sebastien Goulard | edit Vases on sale in a department store in Shanghai Vases on sale in a department store in Shanghai China has become the largest art market in the world. This could have important consequences for Chinese cities. The new urban upper class has rediscovered its heritage and has been exploring new artistic trends. Thanks to China's new passion for art, fresh talents have emerged and have been widely recognized. Chinese art lovers are flocking to the main international art market centres, where auction houses cater to the new clientele, offering Chinese language services. Since 2010, China has progressively come to dominate the art market. In 2011, China represented 41.4% of global fine art auction sales revenue, while the USA and the UK lagged far behind, with 23.6% and 19.4%, respectively1. Does this mean that Chinese cities have caught up with - and surpassed - New York and London as the leading auction marketplaces? If we take a closer look at China's art market, we notice, first of all, that this market is concentrated within a few cities. Beijing and Hong Kong represent the lion's share of the market, although Shanghai and some other provincial capitals, such as Hangzhou, are making progress. Nevertheless, Hong Kong is still the main artistic hub. In China, Hong Kong has played a similar role to Monaco vis-à-vis the French market. Because foreign auction houses were not allowed to operate in France until 2000, during the 60's American Sotheby's set up in Monaco, where French customers could easily buy pieces of fine art. Sotheby's and Christie's, the two main rivals, began looking to Asia in the 70's and 80's, opening offices in Hong Kong in 1973 and 1986 respectively. There, these companies could operate in a very business-friendly environment thanks to a reliable legal framework, the absence of taxes and the role of Hong Kong as Asia's main hub. When China s

" Photo by Tong Lam By Tong Lam - April 10, 2013 In spite of being called the "world's manufacturer," China has been moving toward a consumption-led economy in the past two decades. In the aftermath of the Tiananmen uprising in 1989, the government has worked hard to create a consumer society as a way to divert the attention of the expanding middle class from its rising political demands. The emphasis on consumption, particularly household consumption, has taken on new significance in recent years as the government uses domestic demand to counteract the ongoing global financial crisis. Yet the story of consumption in China also involves foreign tourists, transnational corporations, and consumers elsewhere. In effect, China is now a circuit of global consumption. And the various types of consumer products and information that saturate everyday life, as seen in this online photo essay, are some of the evidence. -Tong Lam Tong Lam is a historian of modern China and a visual artist. He teaches at the University of Toronto and is the author of A Passion for Facts: Social Surveys and the Construction of the Chinese Nation-State, 1900-1949 (California, 2011). Belabored Podcast, Episode 1: "We will shut down your city" · April 12, 2013 · [EVENT] Time for the Neo-Dissidents? · April 8, 2013 · Belabored Podcast to Launch Next Friday Featuring Karen Lewis · April 5, 2013 · Receive news, notes, and invitations. Spring 2013 Article Picture Subscribe Now! "

"From 1908 to 1932, Sidney Gamble (1890-1968) visited China four times, traveling throughout the country to collect data for social-economic surveys and to photograph urban and rural life, public events, architecture, religious statuary, and the countryside. A sociologist, renowned China scholar, and avid amateur photographer, Gamble used some of the pictures to illustrate his monographs. The Sidney D. Gamble Photographs digital collection marks the first comprehensive public presentation of this large body of work that includes photographs of Korea, Japan, Hawaii, San Francisco, and Russia. The site currently features photographs dated between 1917 and 1932; the 1908 photographs will be digitized and uploaded as part of future additions to the site."

"Chinese new year celebrations around the world - in pictures Across Asia and in many other parts of the world, dragon and lion dances, fireworks and laughing Buddhas usher in the year of the snake"