Beijing Rides High Underground

Users must be photographed for national database of Web surfers

(NEWSER) - China has resumed a strict crackdown on Internet users less than two months after the Olympic Games, ending the more relaxed regulations that accompanied the international spotlight, reports the Times of London. All visitors to Internet cafes in Beijing will be required to have their photograph taken, reports the Times of London. All photos and identity cards will be scanned into a database maintained by China's Cultural Law Enforcement Task Force. More»

Olympics strengthen ruling party after decade of planning

(NEWSER) - For nearly a decade, the Chinese Communist Party has made the Olympics the nation's first political priority, writes Jim Yardley in the New York Times. Hopes that the international spotlight would lead to democratization and human-rights reforms in China didn't materialize, as the triumph of the Games instead underscored the strength of the party. "They have earned a tremendous amount of face because of the Olympics," said one Beijing media exec. "They are going to ride on that for a while." More»

(AP) - Samuel Wanjiru pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the storied running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon. The 21-year-old negotiated the 26.2-mile course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds. This was just the third marathon for Wanjiru, who twice broke the world half-marathon record last year. More»

Taboos fall as China's new generation gets into body art

(NEWSER) - Beijing tattoo artists have had a steady stream of customers seeking permanent Olympic souvenirs in recent weeks, the New York Times reports. Tattoo parlors were rare in China a decade ago, but hundreds have sprouted as taboos have begun to fall. American influence is strong, but artists are seeking to create their own Chinese tattoo culture. More»

Citizen journalist is forced to leave Beijing, but he plans to return

(NEWSER) - Twitter gets a bad rap for its often less-than-substantive musings, but every now and then the service proves its "true potential" as an Internet tool, writes Mathew Ingram in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Case in point: When a Chinese citizen journalist recently traveled to Beijing, the authorities hustled him out of the city on false pretenses. Fellow Twitterers picked up his story and translated his posts. More»