China Overload

What’s that, you ask? We couldn’t tell you. We can’t get enough of the China coverage splattered across magazine covers and op-ed pages. A lot of the stuff is for subscribers only, so we won’t be directing you to recent China pieces in Harper’s and elsewhere. Here are some links to the free pieces, found on the pages of the usual suspects as well as some unusual ones: 1. Here’s an unusual one: Architectural Digest has a series of stories on contemporary decor and architecture in China, including a photo spread of a “villa” outside Chengdu, a slideshow of 19th century “period pictures” (teachers, start right-clicking “save picture as…”), and a feature on the Shanghai St. Regis. 2. The New York Review of Books has several China pieces in its current issue, including the longer version of Orville Schell’s piece on “China: Humiliation & the Olympics” (which, in shorter form, was this week’s cover story for Newsweek) and Jonathan Spence’s review of The Man Who Loved China (on Joseph Needham, by Simon Winchester), as well as a discussion of several recent books on North Korea and Jonathan Mirsky’s piece last week on the Dalai Lama. 3. In addition to an uptick in quirky side pieces on China (like the odd little one–replete with accompanying video, cause how could they pass that up–on the “sport” of pole-dancing in China), The New York Times has also been providing steady Olympics-related (often sports-centered) stories, like this one from Sunday’s Times