Category — China

Even I might be tempted by this fantastic retail utopia for Barbie dolls opened recently in Shanghai!

New York-based Slade Architecture designed this first ever Barbie Flagship for Mattel. It’s a massive 35,000 square foot store holding the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of Barbie dolls and licensed Barbie products, as well as a range of services and activities for Barbie fans and their families.

Read more on the Arch Daily

Via LostAtEMinor

Technorati Tags: Barbie dolls, China, Mattel, Shanghai, toys

June 4th, 2009, marked the 20th anniversary of the military crackdown on student protesters gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The Big Picture posts a series of photos with some taken in 1989 and the rest from this year.

Remembering Tiananmen, 20 years later, on the Big Picture

Technorati Tags: 20th anniversary, Beijing, China, Tiananmen Square

Bit early for Chinese New Year, but if you prepare well in advance you could order these Puma Chinese New Year First Round sneakers.

From the Puma archive in 1987, the First Round was a high cut version of the basket. The padded collar made this shoe an instant hit with the skateboard community.

The First Round Chinese New Year celebrates the annual event with details including embroidered dragon scales, customised Chinese calendar rubber tongue badge, ‘Chinese New Year‘ holiday script in gold foil and a premium leather collar.

Check them at CoolestShop.com

Via Lost At E Minor

Technorati Tags: Chinese New Year, fashion, PUMA, Puma Chinese New Year First Round, sneakers, sport, trainers

Yichang Zoo in China‘a Hubei province is home to a six legged cow! The six-year-old (!) beast is something of a tourist attraction. Not surprising, since the two spare legs seem to be sticking out of its backside!

Via The London Paper

Technorati Tags: China, Hubei Province, six legged cow, weird, Yichang Zoo

Mr. Mao, a janitor in Shenzhen, China, inserted 7,000 yuan of hard earned cash into an ATM, but the machine spat out his card and displayed an “Out of Order” error! He then checked his account at another ATM right next to it and found that the money had not been deposited into his account…

It’s not nice to laugh at other’s misfortunes (after all, I wouldn’t like this to happen to me!) but at least bank employees checked the machine the next morning and gave him his money back.

So what do you do if this happens to you? Take a leaf from Mao’s book and get your family to bring over a portable bed so you can camp out and stop other people from using the ATM…

Via WeirdAsiaNews

Technorati Tags: China, Shenzhen

Brendan Tang is an Asian Canadian Artist who works in Ceramics. Brendan contacted us with details of his work, which on the surface, is a remix of old world China and new world Japan. The output is some unique and fantastic work that fuses together mecha parts with traditional Chinese vase designs!

The work conceptually touches on issues of cultural appropriation, hybridization and body/technology relationships.

I also loved Brendan’s series, Santa is dead which explores the power of technology as a tool of social conditioning. Brendan skins, dissects and displays children’s “interactive” toys in an empirical fashion, intending to literally reveal the lifeless, corporate underpinnings beneath the seemingly innocent exterior of these plush toys.

Check more work on Brendan Tang’s website

Technorati Tags: arts, Asian Canadian Artist, Brendan Tang, ceramics, China, culture, history, Japan, Santa is dead

China’s Shenzhen Metro station currently has these cool keyboard art keys installed on their platforms that function as seats. The keys they chose to use might have a meaning - but I guess it clearer when you can see where the “enter” arrow is pointing.

Wouldn’t it be cool if these keys also press into the ground when people sit on them?

Via Engadget

Technorati Tags: arts, China, keyboard keys, metro, platforms, Shenzhen Metro station

It appears that there is a new contender for the world’s tallest man (currently the previously posted seven-feet, nine-inches tall Bao Xishun) in China.

Zhao Liang was measured at 2.46m (just under 8ft 1in - 10cm above Bao Xishum) by doctors in Tianjin, where the ex-basketball player was being treated for a foot injury.

Until Zhao is independently measured by judges from the Guinness team however, he’ll have to wait before he is officially the world’s tallest living man.

Via BBC

Technorati Tags: China, Zhao Liang, world record, world’s tallest man