Tattooed goldfish is the new goldfish. If you think only humans can have tattoos, you’re wrong. Someone has come up with the idea of inscribing tattoos onto goldfish and voila, a major commercial success! Tattooed goldfish has becoming a major demand in Chengdu, Sichuan province in China that prices has shot up to 100 yuan from the initial 20 yuan.

(Via China Daily)

Cosplay carnival at ChinaJoy

More photos at PChome.net

The drinking pattern began in 2004 when the teenager’s mother owned a grocery stall, while she noticed that lighters were going missing from the stand.

“He began to drink gasoline five years ago, when we found (out) he liked smelling lighter fuel,” his dad said. “Afterwards, we found our motorcycle’s gasoline was always disappearing, and one day when we found the boy had drunk a half bottle of gasoline stolen from the motorcycle, we were too shocked to say anything.”

“Since my son started to drink gas, his IQ has dropped sharply and now he can’t figure out simple addition and subtraction. Before that, he was a very smart boy, and he could even repair the television. But now he does not know the answer of 7 plus 17.”

“The gasoline contains a lot of lead, which can do harm to people’s brains. To make things even worse, the boy is in the physical development stage, and the lead has caused serious damage to his body,” Dr Peng Houquan added.

China’s 10 Yuan used to have Mao Zedong’s face on it, not anymore. With the Olympic Games’s hype (and for decades after that), China have replaced Mao’s face with with its infamous Bird’s Nest Stadium on its 10 Yuan note.

"Sucker" — Yes, we use a "Sucker" to suck our drinks.

"In Order To Keep Fit No Spitting" — We should not spit if we want to keep fit.

"No Louding"

"If you are stolen, call the police at once" — How am I supposed to do that if I am stolen?

"Please Don’t Throw Rubbish Away" — Let’s keep them.

"Slip carefully" — Thanks for the warning, I’ll do it carefully if I ever slip.

Lin Miaoke, the lip syncher and Yang Peiyi (inset), the original singer

Meanwhile, the girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school has become the talk of town after she performed the anthem, a patriotic song called “Hymn to the Motherland”. But, the truth is she just lipped sync. The actual singer was Yang Peiyi, a 7-year-old girl who has buck teeth and is deemed unsuitable to go on air.

Faking it in the opening ceremony will surely bring us to other questions? What about their athletes?

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Jet Li as the Emperor Han in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor "

Emperor Han (Jet Li) is a tyrannical emperor who wants to dominate the entire world and has managed to conquer everything except his age. As he is slowly aging, his mission is to find immortality. Han commands his general, Ming Guo (Russell Wong) to bring a sorceress called Zi Juan (Michelle Yeoh) who happens to know the way to immortality to him. When Zi Juan says she doesn’t have but only know where to find it, Han warns Ming Guo to escort her but not to touch her as she belongs to the emperor.

During the search for immortality, Ming Guo betrays the emperor’s trust by having an affair with Zi Juan. When Ming Guo and Zi Juan return to the emperor, the emperor punishes Ming Guo by having his arms and feet tied to the horses. Han suggests to Zi Juan to give herself to him if she wants to live, but she promptly refuses. As a result, Han commands his armies to tear Ming Guo apart while he stabs a dagger onto Zi Juan. Before long, Han and his armies turn into statues as a result of the curse cast by Zi Juan earlier.

The movie fast forward to 1940, which Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife, Evelyn O’Connell (played by Maria Bello as Rachel Weisz has dropped out) are retired from their exploring jobs. Their lives now are boring and simply monotonous. When the opportunity to go to Shanghai to return an ancient artifact to the government of China, the O’Connell takes the chance without a second thought Evelyn’s brother, Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah) runs a nightclub in Shanghai.

The O’Connell are tricked into General Yang’s (Anthony Wong) plot of resurrecting Emperor Han and his terracotta warriors and are forced to prevent Yang’s absurd ambition. Coincidentally, it was their son, Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford) who has earlier discovered the terracotta warriors. Lin (Isabella Leong) shows up and tells Alex that she’s the guardian of the tomb, but when a fight ensues between General Yang’s men and the O’Connell, the resurrection potion falls and it has awakened Emperor Han.

Anthony Wong and a Yeti in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor "

Then, come the part where the O’Connell family chases Emperor Han and General Yang in order to stop them from reaching to a place called Shangri-La, where Han will be able to resurrect his armies. The cat and mouse chasing is quite fun but the plots are predictable.

Lin even summons the Yetis to fight along side the O’Connell as they are outnumbered by General Yang’s armies.

But, despite all the efforts to stop Han, he finally manages to find Shangri-La and after he jumps into the pool of immortality, he emerges as a three-headed dragon and flies back to his base in order to resurrect his terracotta warriors. In order to fight back, Zi Juan and her daughter sacrifice their immortality to bring back the undead who are buried by Emperor Han during the construction of the Great Wall of China.

Although the fight between the terracotta warriors and the undead are impressive, the movie is brought to an abrupt ending when Han is easily killed by Rick and Alex who fight hand-to-hand combat with Han. Overall, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is quite disappointing especially in terms of plot and fighting scenes where the real actions are missing. Perhaps, like The X-Files, people are already bored with Rick and his adventures of killing mummies. Somehow, in the last scene, Jonathan is seen holding the valuable piece of diamond artifact to Peru — hint us the next Mummy movie will be set in Peru. After all, after having done with Egypt and China, Peru’s ancient Moche pyramid is very likely the next target.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Three Kingdoms occurred during 220 – 280 A.D. when the country is split into three kingdoms namely Wei (also known as Cao Wei), Shu (also known as Shu Han), and Wu (also known as Dong Wu or Eastern Wu) Kingdom. When Shu Han needs a hero, Zhao Zilong (Andy Lau) joins them and he meets a senior soldier named Luo Ping An (Sammo Hung) who gives him a map. Zilong acknowledges Ping An as his “brother” since Ping An has joined the armies for five years. In the initial battle in the battlefield, Zilong does not take any credit by helping Ping An to kill one of the enemies’ leaders. When Luo Ping An and his comrades are out of ideas as Wei armies prepare to invade, a man named Zhuge Liang (Quanxin Pu) join them as a war adviser. Zhuge Liang’s brilliance in the art of war helps Shu Kingdom to win many battles.

When Wei armies are invading, the Shu kingdom plans to close the main gate. Somehow, due to carelessness of Ping An, the royal families including the emperor’s son are left outside the gate which later on become the victims of Wei relentless armies. Somehow, Zilong manages to save the emperor Liu’s son from the armies of Wei. He manages to fend off, escape and even steal Cao Cao’s (Damian Lau) sword despite being trapped by hundred of Wei armies to become the hero of Shu Han.

After many years of battles, Zilong is finally promoted to the rank of General to join the other four as one of the infamous Five Generals. As the other Generals perish in battle, Zilong becomes the only one left standing, winning battle after battle. After more than 35 years in the armies, Zilong and Zhuge Liang have reached old-age. Zilong’s so-called brother, Ping An is always watching him and they fight in the battlefield together.

One fine day, the ceaseless armies of Wei Kingdom has a final plan to invade Shu, it is up to Zilong who takes a last stand against the invading forces from the Kingdom of Wei. Cao Ying (Maggie Q), the granddaughter of Wei warlord Cao Cao leads the battle for Wei Kingdom. Both Zilong and Cao Ying try to outsmart each other but in the end, it is revealed that Zilong’s so-called brother Ping An has betrayed him as Cao Ying promises to recruit Ping An as Wei’s General. All these years, Ping An is envied of Zilong’s success as a top general while he feels he gets nothing by going into the battlefield.

The movie ends as Zilong charges into the battlefield all by himself, as all his armies are already dead before fading into the credits.

Overall, the movie is intriguing and comparable to The Warlords despite the controversy caused by Andy Lau’s costume and the casting of Maggie Q because of her non-Chinese and Eurasian appearance.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

About 20 people who had bought tickets for the weekend show (March 22-23) protested Monday outside the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, which issued the order to cancel the Divine Performing Arts troupe performance.

The ministry revoked the show’s permit because the Chinese Embassy complained that the organizers — U.S.-based New Tang Dynasty Television station — were supporters of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that Beijing bans as a dangerous cult, said a ministry official.

“We have to take care of our relationship with China. It’s very important,” an official, who declined to be named

The Chinese Spectacular show which was originally scheduled to run from April 7 to April 30, 2008 is also canceled. The cancellation for the March 22-23 show cost organizers about $31,800 as at least 2,000 tickets were sold. The organizers is refunding the tickets, but people from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore, who had already booked their flights, had still traveled to Kuala Lumpur.

What’s your say on Malaysia’s bowing down to China?

• Cloverfield sets box office records as MySpace generation like the movie.
• Asian markets slumped with India’s main index tumbled 7.4%, followed by Hong Kong and China.
• Bad news, scientists discover an active volcano in Antarctica. Worse news, underground volcano may be melting Antarctica’s ice!

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the 1860s, during the late Qing Dynasty, as one of the darkest periods of Chinese history, the country is suffering under the rule of the corrupt Manchus who invaded China from the North and established the country’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing. Natural disasters are wreaking havoc in the countryside, and in the midst of this chaos, the Taiping Kingdom, one of the strongest rebel groups ever to rise up in China, is overrunning the country and staging battles with the Qing army threatening the throne.

Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro in The Warlords

In a war between the Qing army led by General Ma Xinyi (Jet Li) and the Taiping Kingdom, General Ma’s army is overpowered by the rebels as Ma’s allies back out in the last minute causing a slaughter of Ma’s army. Every army of Ma’s is dead except General Ma, himself as he has feigned death. Though he is able to escape from the masses of dead bodies, he faints in the middle of nowhere due to hunger. There, Lian (Xu Jinglei) has saved him and brought him to a deserted house. She cooks porridge for him in order to revive him. Ma gobbles the porridge before he breaks out and tells Lian about the slaughter of his army. Lian consoles him and before long, they both ends up in the bed.

Later on, while resting in a village after having his armors and weapons sold in order to buy food, the village is attacked by bandits led by Cao Erhu (Andy Lau) and his trusted Lieutenant Zhang Wenxiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). Zhang quickly tests the ability of Ma after he sees Ma still wears boots that only the ranks of General wears them. Ma easily fends off Zhang’s attack and Zhang straightaway recommends Ma to join the bandits.

When Ma saves Cao in a furious battle, the three swear blood brotherhood. When Lian returns home after running away from Cao, Ma realizes that Lian is Cao’s wife but what already happened has happened.

Besides Lian, Ma’s dream is to get rid of the rebels and the corrupted Qing officials and he manages to convince both Cao and Zhang and their troop of bandits to join Qing army instead of robbing to survive. Easily fooled by the cunningness of Ma, Cao and his men join Ma and many dangerous battles are engaged. Ma’s become more and more ambitious as he wins every battle despite having less men than the enemies. Ma soon became obsessed with power.

The complication between the blood brothers and Lian have worked out in favor of Qing’s ruthless Empress and her highly ranked officials. In the end, the assassination of Ma takes place during the day he is supposed to be sworn as The Governor.

Overall, The Warlords show a more ruthless side of Jet Li as he plays his role well to his USD $13 million paycheck while Andy Lau plays a tragic hero torn between different factions. Takeshi Kaneshiro, meanwhile, plays a second fiddle to both these actors with his innocence overshadows the elements of being a bandit but his years of acting his Hong Kong movies have somewhat improved. The talented Xu Jinglei plays the beautiful Lian well to every bit, as Cao’s wife and even better as Ma’s woman.

Note: In Malaysia’s version, General Ma is known as General Pang, Cao Erhu is known as Zhao Erhu, and Zhang is known as Jiang.

My ratings: 7 out of 10, could be 8 out of 10 if only Lian shows more flesh.

It was Wong Mew Choo’s first Open title in her badminton career. She pocketed USD $17,250 (MYR 58,650) for her historic feat on Sunday.

• Beware of disposable chopsticks! No, they don’t bite, but they are never disinfected and dirty.
• OJ Simpson book will not be stocked by Barnes & Noble. Buyers need to purchase online through Barnes & Noble.com instead.
• Scientists find diamonds almost as old as Earth! 4 billion years old – now, that’s old!

Somewhere in China is the story of the real superdog. Dog mom Hua Hua swam about 2 kilometers to an island daily to feed her newborn babies. Hua Hua, the new mom of four dog cubs, was regarded as a hero mother by many locals in flood-struck Chongqing city, for one brave deed and for her unbeatable love for her children.

Read more about The Real Superdog

Read more on Chinese Food Made From Cardboard

Take action now and help end the tiger trade

Despite international and domestic bans, a thriving black market for tiger skins and bones threatens to wipe out wild tigers. China, with its booming economy, burgeoning human population and ancient traditions of using tiger parts as medicine and clothing, is the world’s leading consumer of tiger products.

The good news is that the Chinese government has taken decisive action to help save the species, outlawing the trade of tiger products and running public awareness campaigns to curb the demand for tiger products.

But there now is a new threat that could put every last wild tiger at risk: the increasing population of captive-bred tigers on so-called “tiger farms”. Investors in these businesses are now pressuring the Chinese government to allow them to sell tiger products.

Reopening even limited legal trade in tiger products from farms would reignite a demand for wild tiger products and spark an open season on tigers in the wild. We need to send a strong, clear and powerful message to the world that this simply cannot happen.

Take action now and add your photo to WWF’s tiger photo mosaic and show your support for tiger conservation.

With your help we can end the tiger trade.

(Via WWF Passport)

• KFC switching to new oil with no trans fat. More reason to eat the finger-licking good food.
• Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe split. Marriage never lasts in Hollywood.
• Meanwhile, in Asia, China changes death penalty law. A more lenient law in a country that execute people for robbery.
• Self-awareness in animals. Soon animals will get vain and wear Prada.