Giant rubber duck deflates in Hong Kong

The famous giant rubber duck, a creation by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, has mysteriously deflated during its current trip in Hong Kong. The ducky was supposed to stay until June; the organiser of the exhibition is working to bring it back up.

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David Beckham & Chinese football

English football star David Beckham, who joined French club Paris Saint-Germain in late January, was in Beijing as a special ambassador for Chinese football.

David Beckham in China

China has been eagered to become a football powerhouse in the past decade. Unfortunately their men’s national team has been underwhelming despite hundred millions of dollars being spent to develop the sport; and their ambition further dampened by the corruption in the professional league in the past few years.

Beckham’s visit has created plenty of buzz, but many doubt that it serves any real purpose beside PR stunt. Despite having legion of fans, football is never a popular sport to play in China (and many parts of Asia), it’s an odd situation where people would watch hours of European games weekly but not interested to kick the ball.

In the past two decades Japan and Korea (and Australia if it counts) are the only Asian countries that made consistent progress. It helps to have proper planning and execution from grassroots to professional levels, but the cultural shift (to make people, youngsters especially, to play the sport) is the real challenge.

I imagine it’s much easier for Chinese youth to have a ping-pong or badminton match which require little space and as few as two players to start a game. And there’s also the fact that they have better chance to thrive in these sports on global stage. It’s going to take a lot more than a certain David Beckham to make the change.

Snow-covered Great Wall in Tianjin

The Great Wall after a snowfall in Tianjin, northern China, on March 19-20.

Great Wall of China snow

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Liu Yifei Cosmopolitan China

Chinese actress Liu Yifei was the cover girl for October 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, looking absolutely gorgeous. Image via LYF’s Tieba [Cn]…

Liu Yifei Cosmopolitan Magazine China

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Jackie Chan Bazaar Men’s Style

Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan in New Year issue of Harper’s Bazaar [Cn] China. The 58-year-old has released his latest (and 101th) film CZ12 earlier these month; the two ladies in this photoshoot are his co-stars Zhang Lanxin and Yao Xingtong.

Jackie Chan Harpers Bazaar Chinese Magazine

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Miss China crowned Miss World 2012

Miss China Yu Wenxia was crowned the 2012 Miss World in Ordos, China, on August 18. The 23-year-old music student became the second Miss World winner from her country after Zhang Zilin in 2007. The first runner-up is Sophie Elizabeth Moulds of Wales and the second runner-up is Australia’s Jessica Michelle Kahawaty…

Miss World 2012 winners

As usual there’s plenty post-event debates online after a major beauty contest, but this one drawn more flak in particular, probably due to the fact that the event – the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant – has became a bit too “Chinese” in the past decade with six of the past 10 finals being held in Chinese cities.

The 2013 final will move to Indonesia for a change – could be a challenging one.