This is pretty bizarre even for China, where anything goes if it makes a buck. I reprint the whole as it’s behind a paywall at the South China Morning Post. I’ll also point out that it’s still being investigated and it looks as though the original source was some scurrilous HK newspaper so several pinches of salt should be taken while …

This is from Lin Yang:

Although Yang Xiaodong’s story has yet to make it to the silver screen, it reads like the plot of a Hollywood thriller. Hailed as the “Chinese Rambo” by netizens, Yang’s diary as a police sergeant on the run has dominated major Chinese internet chat rooms in recent days and captured the attention of millions. The

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Most of the history that happened in Beijing over the past few weeks took place in gyms, in the pool and on the track. But there was also history in the air, specifically the best summer air quality this city has seen in 10 years. So as the Olympic experience fades into memory, the question remains whether the Chinese capital can keep …

This report, from Kashgar, comes from Radio Free Asia.

Chinese Police Killed, Wounded in New Xinjiang Clash

HONG KONG, Aug. 28, 2008—Two ethnic Uyghur police officers have been killed and at least two critically injured after new violence erupted near the Silk Road city of Kashgar, authoritative sources and witnesses have told

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Our take on this nebulous subject here.

Here’s a comment from John Smith, a regular. Sorry dude, but lighten up a bit! This is supposed to be funny. To be honest, we get a lot of odd comments but a little tiny touch of SOH (look it up) is vitally important:

London will be excellent just by being itself. And having enough food at the venues, let all kinds of people protesting

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So, we asked ourselves, what could London possibly do to match the massive spectacle that Beijing put on for the Opening and Closing ceremonies? It couldn’t possibly do anything to compare to the sheer scale of the Chinese efforts so (leaving aside the dire business with the double decker bus which I will pass over without further …

ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

So it’s all over. Hard to believe.

Anyway, there’s a nice analytical piece on the meaning of the Games themselves here on Time.com and a piece on the zinger of a basketball final (when the crowd ended up cheering for underdogs Spain, who at several points threatened to pull off a huge, huge upset …

Here is our latest report about the so-called “protest parks” issue and the two grandmothers being sentenced to re-education through labor for their attempts to register to protest. This is so coldly callous –and such bad publicity– that I assume it must have been ordered at a fairly low level, though I am not quite sure at what level …

Here is a link to yesterday’s official Olympic press conference, attended by a rep from the International Olympic Committee and Wang Wei, executive vice president and secretary general of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, otherwise known as BOCOG. The whole thing, including a volunteer wrestling the microphone away …

At the basketball quarter finals last night. Watched the show put on by team USA’s NBA stars with enjoyment. There’s a good deal of showboating of course, especially once they’d opened up a lead of 25 plus points in the second half, but there’s any evident passion for the game and a joy in their talents that infectious. In the press …

Here are some thoughts from colleague Lin Yang:

Liu Xiang, China’s sole track gold medalist and national icon who had to pull out of the 110 meters hurdles because of injury, seems to have enjoyed a charmed life and unfailing love from his followers. For millions of Chinese, Liu is the symbol of vitality, individuality, hope, and most

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