This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn take a closer look at the beautiful city of Chongqing with a forthright discussion that delves into the myriad attractions of this beautiful and occasionally mysterious Chinese city, famous recently not only for its spicy cuisine and panda reserves, but now also as a leading destination for vacation-style medical treatment among the mainland elite.

Beyond this standard tourist fare, we're also pleased this week to host Jeremiah Jenne of Granite Studio renown, who shares his thoughts on the openly racist Super Bowl advert which has been stirring controversy in the United States and a sort of mystified astonishment from most foreigners in China. We're also privileged to hear from Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt of the International Crisis Group, who joins us with an audio postcard to share her expertise on what China's recent veto in the Syria question means in terms of its relations with other members of the Security Council.

Enjoy Sinica? While you can always download this show as a standalone mp3 file, don't forget you can subscribe via iTunes as well. Just select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the advanced file menu and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. iTunes should take care of everything else.
 said on
February 10, 2012
Recommended this week: new China blog Seeing Red in China, along with the 2006 documentary film Manufactured Landscapes, which starts with a stunning shot of a manufacturing facility near Dongguan.
 said on
February 10, 2012
This interesting take on the whole thing has popped up on Twitter for me: http://insideoutchina.blogspot.com/2012/02/wang-lijun-bo-xilai-and-us-consulate.html

 said on
February 13, 2012
I also recommended tealeafnation.com
 said on
February 16, 2012
I second orbital's recommendation. Great post by Xujun Eberlein at insideoutchina.blogspot.com on the Wang Lijun situation.
 said on
February 18, 2012
I hope that in a forthcoming podcast you will discuss Eric Li's recent NY Times editorial, "Why China's Political Model Is Superior." My impression is that it expresses a view that is fairly common in China, and not just among government apologists. What do you think?
 said on
February 18, 2012
@brvannorden,

I searched the article in question and thoroughly agreed with every word. I certainly hope it is tackled at some point by Kaiser and crew.

I've also got a terrific suggestion for a title for the podcast which hosts the discussion.

Shaolin Monastic Practices
Mark Lesson Studied