The Week June 4, 2010

Hot News

What's the biggest news in China this week? Sticky rice. Zhang Bingjian, a chemistry professor at Zhejiang University in eastern China, says it was sticky rice that helped build the Great Wall of China. Sticky rice was mixed with ordinary mortar to build the Great Wall some 600 years ago. And the professor told the journal of the American Chemical Society that it was the amylopectin in the sticky rice that made the wall so strong. So what else can you do with sticky rice? The Week investigates …

Hot Fashion

It's summer in China, and that means it's time for hot fashion – for dogs. China Daily this week reports that people in Beijing are paying more than $100 to dye their dogs at doggie boutiques. At TomDog hairdressing center, dogs have their ears dyed or their paws dyed in bright colors. One owner got pulled over by police because his dog was dyed to look like a panda – a protected animal in China. In Hong Kong, dog wigs are popular. In other cities, anything goes.

Hot Technology

Did you think mobile phones were just for calling or texting someone? Throughout Asia, they're making music. In fact, now there's a contest of sorts on the Internet about who is the hottest mobile phone musician: Android Girl or iPhone Girl.

Here's iPhone Girl showing how she can make music with “Irreplaceable,” a Beyonce song.

And here’s Android Girl playing and singing to “Take a Bow” by Rihanna. What's your vote?

Hot Entertainment

For hot entertainment this summer, there's a 4-year-old Chinese boy who likes to impersonate Michael Jackson. So far he's appeared on US television and even performed at the 2010 World Expo under way in Shanghai. Young Wang Yiming also is known as Xiao Bao, which means “little treasure.” Now he even has his own Web page for fans.

But this 4-year-old dancer isn't the youngest, when it comes to hot entertainment. With the appearance of the hit movie IronMan2 in theaters in China and throughout the rest of the world, mom and dad dressed up this infant to be … Iron Baby!

That's Show Biz. And it's also a birthday week for a newspaper we all love to read.

Happy 29th Birthday, China Daily!

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About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.