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Planet China

The strangest stories from the Middle Kingdom...

Older »

1 2 3 4 5... 43

Juvenile Misdemeanour
Apr 5, 2019 (WiC 447)

‘Round up the usual suspects’ is a line made famous by the French police chief in the Hollywood classic Casablanca. Over in Zhenxiong county in Yunnan province a less effective method was similarly employed last month to track down local ...

Robo rollcall
Mar 29, 2019 (WiC 446)

For many students, sleeping in late and skipping lectures is a common occurrence at university. But in China it is becoming a thing of the past thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) technology. According to ThePaper.cn, Hangzhou Dianzi ...

Spiritual standard
Mar 22, 2019 (WiC 445)

Since it was introduced in 1987 over one million organisations have been certified as ISO 9001 compliant – indicating they have acceptable quality management systems in place. The latest entity to achieve the certification is a bit more ...

The not-so-magnificent seven
Mar 15, 2019 (WiC 444)

Atletico Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone was fined for improper conduct in last month’s Champions League match against Italy’s Juventus. After winning the first leg 2-0, the Argentine celebrated by turning towards the Italian fans and grabbing ...

Road test
Mar 8, 2019 (WiC 443)

QR codes are more widely used in China than anywhere else on the planet. In fact, the city of Nanchang has even started using them to deter jaywalking. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the city’s public security bureau has come up with a ...

Hi-tech hogs
Mar 1, 2019 (WiC 442)

Facial recognition is being adopted across many areas of life in China: from paying for fast food and boarding high-speed trains through to catching criminals at pop concerts and making sure that students are paying attention in class. The New ...

Fed up
Feb 22, 2019 (WiC 441)

In Hong Kong there is a noodle shop near WiC’s office. It is on a quiet street and to the untrained eye does not look particularly special. But come midday and regardless of the weather a queue of 50 or more mainland Chinese will be waiting to ...

Paternity test
Feb 8, 2019 (WiC 440)

Plenty of adults awake in a cold sweat after nightmares of being back at school, flunking their exams. So spare a thought for the fathers of a primary school class in Fujian province, who took an exam alongside their children last ...

King of the Casanovas
Feb 1, 2019 (WiC 439)

One of the roles that transformed Richard Gere into an international star was his performance in the 1980 movie American Gigolo, in which he played a male escort. In a first for Hollywood, the film featured a young man selling his body ...

Degrees of weirdness
Jan 25, 2019 (WiC 438)

Students in Guangxi who sat a compulsory exam paper on ‘Mao Zedong Thought’ recently could be forgiven for feeling confused about its contents. Presumably prepped for questions like ‘The dictatorship of the proletariat is a good idea. ...

Older »

1 2 3 4 5... 43

Planet China

The strangest stories from the Middle Kingdom...

Juvenile Misdemeanour Apr 5, 2019 (WiC 447) ‘Round up the usual suspects’ is a line made famous by the French police chief in the Hollywood classic Casablanca. Over in Zhenxiong county in Yunnan province a less effective method was similarly employed last month to track down local ...

Robo rollcall Mar 29, 2019 (WiC 446) For many students, sleeping in late and skipping lectures is a common occurrence at university. But in China it is becoming a thing of the past thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) technology. According to ThePaper.cn, Hangzhou Dianzi ...

Spiritual standard Mar 22, 2019 (WiC 445) Since it was introduced in 1987 over one million organisations have been certified as ISO 9001 compliant – indicating they have acceptable quality management systems in place. The latest entity to achieve the certification is a bit more ...

Road test Mar 8, 2019 (WiC 443) QR codes are more widely used in China than anywhere else on the planet. In fact, the city of Nanchang has even started using them to deter jaywalking. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the city’s public security bureau has come up with a ...

Hi-tech hogs Mar 1, 2019 (WiC 442) Facial recognition is being adopted across many areas of life in China: from paying for fast food and boarding high-speed trains through to catching criminals at pop concerts and making sure that students are paying attention in class. The New ...

Fed up Feb 22, 2019 (WiC 441) In Hong Kong there is a noodle shop near WiC’s office. It is on a quiet street and to the untrained eye does not look particularly special. But come midday and regardless of the weather a queue of 50 or more mainland Chinese will be waiting to ...

Paternity test Feb 8, 2019 (WiC 440) Plenty of adults awake in a cold sweat after nightmares of being back at school, flunking their exams. So spare a thought for the fathers of a primary school class in Fujian province, who took an exam alongside their children last ...

King of the Casanovas Feb 1, 2019 (WiC 439) One of the roles that transformed Richard Gere into an international star was his performance in the 1980 movie American Gigolo, in which he played a male escort. In a first for Hollywood, the film featured a young man selling his body ...

Degrees of weirdness Jan 25, 2019 (WiC 438) Students in Guangxi who sat a compulsory exam paper on ‘Mao Zedong Thought’ recently could be forgiven for feeling confused about its contents. Presumably prepped for questions like ‘The dictatorship of the proletariat is a good idea. ...