Beijing

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It Hasn't Been This Cold in Beijing in 72 Years

At least: Month is the coldest since records began in 1951

(Newser) - Beijing recorded the most hours of sub-freezing temperatures in December in more than seven decades as a cold wave has enveloped northern and central swathes of China, bringing snowstorms and record-breaking temperatures. A weather observatory in the Chinese capital as of Sunday had recorded more than 300 hours of sub-freezing...

Beijing Subway Crash Injures More Than 500

102 people were hospitalized with broken bones, authorities say

(Newser) - Two subway trains collided in heavy snow in Beijing, sending 515 people to the hospital, including 102 with broken bones, authorities said Friday. The accident occurred Thursday evening in Beijing's mountainous west on an above-ground portion of the sprawling subway system's Changping line, the AP reports. Slippery tracks...

They're Not Using Umbrellas in Beijing Because of Rain

They're shielding themselves from extreme heat, with temps in north China reaching triple digits

(Newser) - Beijing and parts of northern China are experiencing record temperatures, with authorities urging people to limit their time outdoors. The Nanjiao observatory in southern Beijing on Saturday for the first time recorded temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit for a third consecutive day, according to the China Meteorological Administration. In nearby...

Beijing Just Had Its Hottest-Ever June Day

Northern China swelters under heat wave

(Newser) - China's capital raised its hot weather warning to red, the highest on the scale, Thursday as temperatures set a new record for June. Temperatures recorded at Beijing's main weather station hit 41.1 degrees Celsius—106 degrees Fahrenheit—on Thursday, the highest since detailed records began in 1961,...

Someone Spent $25.3M for This 'Highly Important' Bowl

Chinese antique sold in Sotheby's auction

(Newser) - The bowl is pretty and small, and also represents the "peak of painting on porcelain." The Chinese antique also just went for $25.3 million at an auction over the weekend, with an unknown entity scooping up the "highly important" artifact crafted sometime in the mid-18th century,...

China Scrubs Internet of Hashtag 'I Saw It' After Protest

Protester called for overthrow of regime, end to 'zero COVID' policies

(Newser) - Beijing residents saw an incredibly rare sight on a bridge over a busy intersection Thursday—an anti-Xi Jinping protest, with banners calling for the overthrow of the Chinese leader and an end to the country's harsh "zero COVID" policies. A lone protester, who was quickly surrounded by police...

Beijing Begins Mass Testing Amid Fears of Lockdown

One area of capital is restricted as cases rise

(Newser) - China's capital, Beijing, began mass testing of more than 3 million people on Monday and restricted residents in one part of the city to their compounds, sparking worries of a wider Shanghai-style lockdown . While only 70 cases have been found so far in the city of more than 21...

Ukrainian Athletes Make It to Paralympics: 'It's a Miracle'

As war rages on back home, Paralympians converge on Beijing, with Russian athletes banned

(Newser) - The Winter Paralympics open Friday in Beijing, with the Russian athletes sent home and the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get to China. "It's a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics," Ukrainian delegation head Valerii Sushkevych said, per the AP . Russia's...

Beijing Blames Omicron Case on Mail From Canada

Claim is 'bewildering,' Canadian scientists say

(Newser) - Beijing reported its first case of the omicron variant over the weekend and snap lockdowns soon followed. An office building was locked down with employees still inside after the 26-year-old woman tested positive, CNN reports. The residential complex where the woman lives has also been sealed off and a list...

After Getting Visa Applications, China Questions US Boycott

Biden administration says it's sending help for athletes and coaches, but not diplomats

(Newser) - Given that the Biden administration earlier this month announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, China is asking why it's receiving visa applications for US government employees. That can be explained, the US answered: Those applications are for consular and security officers—not diplomats or high-ranking officials, the...

We're Just 100 Days Away From Another Olympics

'Muted' celebrations mark 100 days to Winter Olympics in Beijing amid travel restrictions

(Newser) - In 100 days, Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics, which CNN reports is "a major point of pride for China." But the marathon relay and musical performances that marked the 100-day countdown to Beijing's 2008 Summer Olympics were missing...

Mongolia, China Endure Devastating Sandstorms

Expansion of Gobi desert means storms could increase

(Newser) - Eight major sandstorms in the past three months have hit Mongolia and China, darkening skies and causing breathing difficulty while killing people and livestock. The storms are centered in the border area at the Gobi desert, but the sand has reached Beijing . In northern China, air pollution levels reached 20...

Open Letter Asks Governments to Boycott 2022 Olympics

180 groups call for boycott over human rights abuses

(Newser) - A coalition of 180 rights group on Wednesday called for a boycott of next year's Beijing Winter Olympics tied to reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in China, reports the AP . The games are to open in one year, on Feb. 4, 2022, and are set to go...

Hong Kong Media Tycoon Busted Under New China Law

Pro-democracy figure Jimmy Lai arrested

(Newser) - Hong Kong police arrested media tycoon Jimmy Lai and raided the publisher's headquarters Monday in the highest-profile use yet of the new national security law Beijing imposed on the city in June, the AP reports. “Jimmy Lai is being arrested for collusion with foreign powers at this time,...

Books Are Vanishing in Hong Kong Libraries

Authorities are 'one step away from ... actual book banning,' says activist Joshua Wong

(Newser) - Now unavailable in Hong Kong libraries: books by leading democracy activists. At least nine titles by authors like Joshua Wong and Tanya Chan are disappearing from city libraries only days after China passed a severe national security law , the South China Morning Post reports. The agency in charge of Hong...

2 Cases of Plague Cause Concern in China
2 People in China
Contract the Plague

2 People in China Contract the Plague

Couple diagnosed with pneumonic plague, the most serious form

(Newser) - The New York Times is reporting on "fears of an outbreak" of plague—and, no, you haven't traveled back in time. On Tuesday, officials in China announced that two people had been diagnosed with pneumonic plague, which the CDC calls the most serious of three forms of the...

Beijing Opens Its 2nd International Airport

Daxing is meant to handle 72M passengers a year

(Newser) - President Xi Jinping on Wednesday inaugurated a second international airport for the Chinese capital with the world's biggest terminal ahead of celebrations of the Communist Party's 70th anniversary in power. Beijing Daxing International Airport is designed to handle 72 million passengers a year. Located on the capital's...

China Blasts Pompeo for 'Grossly' Intervening

He issued a statement in advance of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre

(Newser) - China stepped up security around Tiananmen Square in central Beijing on Tuesday, as its embassy in Washington criticized the top US diplomat for his statement on its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests at the square 30 years ago. Extra checkpoints and street closures greeted tourists who showed up before 5am...

In China, Burning Bibles Is All the Rage
China Waging War
on Christianity 

China Waging War on Christianity

Activists say Beijing is burning Bibles, shutting churches, forcing the faithful to renounce

(Newser) - China's government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches, and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith, according to pastors and a group that monitors religion in China. The campaign corresponds with a drive to "Sinicize" religion by demanding loyalty...

Kim Jong Un's Secret Trip Is Confirmed

He made visit to Beijing this week

(Newser) - Kim Jong Un has made his first known trip abroad since becoming North Korea's leader in 2011—and it wasn't to Mar-a-Lago. After days of rumors sparked by the arrival of a mysterious North Korean train in Beijing, Chinese and North Korean officials have confirmed that Kim met...

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