#Beijing Day Tour

[freetours1]

Why you should choose Beijing Day Tour

From the Great Wall of China to the Forbidden City, there are endless high priority spots in Beijing. You can likewise visit the wonderful Summer Palace or partake in the quietness of the Temple of Heaven. Every area recounts a remarkable story of history and culture.

Peaceful Experience

Having somebody plan everything for you is a major help. You get to zero in on having a good time while specialists handle the subtleties. With nearby aides, you'll learn fun realities in your Beijing Day Tour, yet invaluable treasures that most guests could miss.

Incredible Value for What You Spend

Exploring with a trusted agency guarantees you capitalize on your excursion without spending excessively in your Beijing Hutong Tour. With across-the-board tour packages, transportation, tickets, and feasts are dealt with, leaving you free to simply appreciate.

[seodigitalteam]

Prepare for an unforgettable journey with Free Tours China! As leading Shanghai City Tour operators, we provide authentic experiences that reveal the true essence and vibrant culture of China. For more information, you can visit our website https://freetourschina.com/ or call us at +86-136-2164-0860

[chinesehanfu]

[Ming Dynasty]Chinese Armor：Life of female general 秦良玉/Qin Liangyu

The only female general recognized by the Chinese Orthodox Histories,The Twenty-Four Histories (Chinese: 二十四史)

【Historical Artifact Reference】:

China Ming Dynasty Royal Painting:《出警图/Departure Herald》

In this handscroll is a great imperial procession making its way to pay respects at the imperial tombs. Departing from the Te-sheng (Victory) Gate of the Peking city wall, the artists here depicted shops along the way and the appearance of ceremonial guards to the final destination of the imperial tombs, the final resting place for Ming dynasty emperors 45 kilometers from the capital at Mt. T'ien-shou. Departure Herald is actually accompanied by another long handscroll painting entitled Return Clearing. That work depicts the process of the tomb sweeping and inspection tour. Usually considered as a pair, they are collectively known as Departure Herald and Return Clearing.

↑Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty of China, Zhu Yijun, wearing armor

The emperor's guards and ceremonial guards, a good depiction of Ming dynasty armor

【秦良玉/Qin Liangyu：The only female general recognized by the Chinese emperor and official history】

Qin Liangyu (1574–1648), courtesy name Zhensu, was a female general best known for defending the Ming dynasty from attacks by the Manchu-led Later Jin dynasty in the 17th century.

Early life and education

Qin Liangyu was born in Zhongzhou (忠州), which is in present-day Zhong County, Chongqing.Her father, Qin Kui (秦葵), obtained the position of a gongsheng (貢生) in the civil service examination. He believed that girls should receive the same education as boys, so he made Qin Liangyu study history and the Confucian classics with her brothers. He also taught them martial arts. Qin Liangyu learnt martial arts more deeply than her brothers and became proficient in archery and horse-riding. She was also known for her skill in poetry.

Marriage to Ma Qiancheng

In 1595, Qin Liangyu married Ma Qiancheng (馬千乘), the tusi and xuanfushi (宣撫使; "Announcing and Pacifying Commissioner") of Shizhu County, and accompanied him in minor battles against local warlords in the southwestern border of the Ming Empire. They had a good marriage and he often sought her advice.In 1599, when Yang Yinglong (楊應龍) started a rebellion in Bozhou (播州; present-day Zunyi, Guizhou), Ma Qiancheng brought 3,000 riders with him to suppress the revolt while Qin Liangyu brought an additional 500 to support her husband. They successfully quelled the rebellion and destroyed the rebels' camps.

In 1613, Ma Qiancheng offended Qiu Chengyun (邱乘雲), an influential court eunuch, and ended up being arrested and imprisoned. He died in prison later. Qin Liangyu succeeded her husband as the xuanfushi of Shizu County. Those under her command were known as the White Cavalry (白杆兵).

Resisting rebel forces in Sichuan

In 1620, Qin Liangyu's elder brother, Qin Bangping (秦邦屏), led 3,000 White Cavalry to Liaodong to resist invaders from the Manchu-led Later Jin dynasty. He was killed in action at the Battle of Hun River (渾河之戰).

In 1623, Qin Liangyu assisted Ming forces in suppressing the She-An Rebellion in Sichuan and Guizhou led by She Chongming (奢崇明) and An Bangyan (安邦彥). In the following year, her elder brother, Qin Minping (秦民屏), was killed in battle by An Bangyan's forces.

In 1630, when Later Jin forces besieged the Ming capital, Beijing, Qin Liangyu led forces from Sichuan to reinforce the capital. The Chongzhen Emperor showered her with praises in poetry and presented her with four poems as she passed through Beijing. In 1634, when Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army invaded Sichuan, Qin Liangyu and her son, Ma Xianglin (馬祥麟), led their troops to attack the rebels, defeated them at Kuizhou (夔州; present-day Fengjie County, Chongqing) and drove them away. In 1640, Qin Liangyu defeated another rebel force led by Luo Rucai (羅汝才) in Kuizhou and Wushan. In recognition of her contributions to the Ming Empire, the Chongzhen Emperor appointed her as the Crown Prince's Guardian (太子太保) and awarded her the title "Marquis Zhongzhen" (忠貞侯; lit. "Loyal and Chaste Marquis").

Later life and death

The Ming Empire was overthrown in 1644 by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, and its former territories were conquered by the Later Jin dynasty (later renamed to Qing dynasty). Some Ming loyalists formed a remnant state, the Southern Ming dynasty, in southern China to resist the Qing dynasty. Its nominal ruler, the Longwu Emperor, also granted Qin Liangyu a marquis title. Meanwhile, Zhang Xianzhong invaded Sichuan again, and Qin Liangyu attempted to resist him, but was defeated and forced to retreat, allowing Zhang to conquer most of Sichuan. She did however prevent her soldiers from surrendering to Zhang.

Qin Liangyu controlled part of Shizhu County and her policy of agricultural self-sufficiency made her region attractive for refugees. She helped about 100,000 refugees to settle down in Shizhu.

Qin Liangyu died in 1648 and was buried in present-day Yachun Village, Dahe District, Shizhu County, Chongqing. She was given the posthumous name "Zhongzhen" (忠貞; lit. "Loyal and Chaste") and was survived by her son, Ma Xianglin (馬祥麟).

Legacy

Qin Liangyu's life, along with her weapons and armour, is showcased in a museum in Shizhu County, Chongqing. A statue of her is in the Ganyu Hall of the Shibaozhai in Zhong County (that was preserved during the Three Gorges Project).Together with Hua Mulan, Liang Hongyu and He Yufeng, Qin Liangyu is one of the most well-known female warriors and heroines in China.

In the Twenty-Four Histories, Qin Liangyu was also the only woman whose biography was listed among the biographies of court officials and generals.

________________

📸Photo & Model :@金角大魔王i & @爱穿汉服的曠先生

🔗Weibo:https://weibo.com/1763668330/O3aKR4CSv

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[zvaigzdelasas]

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi welcomed counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority, and Indonesia, as well as the head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for a two-day visit to the Chinese capital, the start of the delegation’s expected tour of several world capitals. “The international community must act urgently, taking effective measures to prevent this tragedy from spreading. China firmly stands with justice and fairness in this conflict,” Wang told the visiting leaders in opening remarks ahead of talks, where he reiterated China’s call for an immediate ceasefire.[...]

“Israel should stop its collective punishment on the people of Gaza, and open up a humanitarian corridor as soon as possible to prevent a humanitarian crisis of a larger scale from taking place,” Wang was cited as telling the delegation during the talks, according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.[...]

Beijing dispatched a peace envoy for a multi-country tour of the region last month and has acted as a strong voice pushing for an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations, including the Security Council, where China now holds the rotating presidency.

20 Nov 23

[alienpossession]

Annual Leave

I spent 16 days touring across East Asia and Southeast Asia. I made a lot of friends throughout the solo trip and that's all thanks to Pelle. You see, I did say to people that I have a solo trip and just luckily made tons of friends, but it's always been a game of two from the get go.

I was so stressed out in my first day when I landed in Japan. They don't like or feel too comfortable to converse in English and boy it was a great sight yet so draining due to all the confusion. So I resorted to my back-up plan that I stored in my suitcase once I checked in to my hotel to relieve me from the stress of this whole solo trip. Pelle is a friend of mine that came from millions of light years away. He's been very important for me as he helped me to solve my bullies problem ever since my senior year of high school until now in my 3rd year with my roommate and those frat boys. Pelle slid off the jar quickly as soon after I opened the lid and just like that, he was gone for the moment as he already knew what it meant for him when he's released.

Around an hour later, someone knocked my hotel room and when I opened the door, this Japanese guy starts speaking in an accented English telling me to skip shower and let him guide me around the bustling megacity. A quick glance to his eyes confirmed my suspicion, Pelle override whoever this guy is already and used his body as as vessel

Aki shown me around his hometown, Tokyo, and then packed his bag to the countryside for 3 days where his built and of-course-fluent Japanese helped us to survive and have fun without getting lost.

I think the time where he practically slut me out to the whole onsen where my head was pistoned in several succesive cocks truly left a memorable impact in me. Pelle's decision to take over Aki's body back in Tokyo despite me insisting on making this trip an actual solo trip was eye-opening (and hole-opening of course). Not only did that solve a lot of potential problem, having a local guide that you can have fun together with and not going to be fussy about your itinerary is a total blessing because it's still feels like the one that drive the trip is you and you only have someone to fully help you around.

But Japan was just the first out of many country I planned to visit. Pelle slid out of Aki in one of the toilet in Narita, and minutes later he messaged me that he already joined the flight directed to my next destination, Beijing. During the flight, I got informed by the flight attendant that my seat was upgraded to Business Class. I was quite suspicious to the studly flight attendant but as soon as I got escorted to the Business Class section, the flight attendant quickly shoved me to the carpeted floor much to my surprise. He then said

"Sniff and bark like the dog you are!"

I glared at him wildly, but then I realized that he's merely puppeteered by Pelle. So, Pelle is not inside the flight attendant any longer and he's instead hidden in one of this private cabin. After forced to be on all fours sniffing my way to find in which section the mysterious guy hid himself, I finally caught whiff of this leathery perfume and oaky stench. That's when I opened the private cabin to eventually stumbled with the sole passenger in the Business Class section.

"You found me,"

"Not like you can hide such strong smell,"

I once again got shoved by the flight attendant that just came outta nowhere, and then I literally fell on top of this buff young guy with his chiseled face and equally appetizing body. I can smell him even clearer now, he even smelled expensive yet super sexy too and he just giggled at me for being so awestruck with him

"Never been so up close and personal witb a hunk like me, huh?"

Which is clearly wrong because all those frat boys already left me cop a feel anyway, but I did have to admit that this guy is great on his own way.

He's a Beijing native and he own a pad overlooking the city where I stayed for 3 days having the best time getting pampered by him.

He also introduced me to his 2 best friends who willingly tag-teamed to destroy my hole from both ends while he's busy working in the next room.

Pelle's control on the young, cocky businessman is a true masterwork on its own, but the way Pelle managed to also affect the businessman's two best friends without even needed to slid into them clearly shown how amazing his computational capability to manage 3 different human being doing activities of their own.

Then, after some digging, Pelle realized that the young businessman also have private jet he rarely used because he knew it was totally monitored by his parents. After influencing the pilot (that's also in his parents paycheck) to ensure that no tracking devices left behind the private jet, he let me use his private jet for the remainder of my trip. I asked the pilot to drop me in Hanoi.

I went to Hanoi a lot during my childhood since my dad is a Vietnamese immigrant but I've never been in Hanoi ever since I graduated elementary school. My companion in Hanoi was Van, a gym cutie I stumbled in this rooftop bar I went to during my 2nd night in the city.

Pelle slid into Van when he eventually left his table that he shared with his 5 other friends for some quick fix in the restroom. Pelle did give Van a quick fix as the loud-mouthed asshole that slapped on girl's butt that went pass his table all night long turned into a horny gay motherfucker as he rode me to town in the cramped bathroom stall. We consummated our relationship all over town as he literally fucked me in his parked G-Wagon before heading for some 2 AM pho fix. Van lived in a high-rise apartment paid by this lady that frequent his gym and paid him as her boytoy. Pelle observed that Van's misogyny and rudeness came from the fact that he's self-aware that he's practically just a slut and that hurted his ego and I just nodded in silence when he explained all that. I don't know, I wanted to pity him but at the same time, isn't it his life choices? Who am I to judge anyway, he's just a guide too for me to shown me around so I decided to not be too sentimental about some life story of random meat puppet my alien friends worn

Van continued on to become my Vietnamese trip companion as I went to Sa Pa, Da Nang and closed the Vietnamese leg in Ho Chi Min.

We left his body in the hotel room in the old quarters of Ho Chi Minh as I travel to Bangkok, still with the trusted private jet Pelle made the businessman let me use. In retrospect, I think Pelle enjoyed our Thailand leg the most. The country was in the middle of a heat wave when we came so everyone was wearing the thinnest shirt possible and the club is filled with people ditching their shirts and just danced the night away. That's when I also stumbled with Pat, who didn't even need to be taken over by Pelle to be nice to me.

I just instantly have a good vibe from seeing him and talk to him briefly, but alas, I'm not here for niceties and it was actually thrilling to see how Pelle made that beautiful face of his smirked when he managed to take over Pat's body and directed me to meet him in the club's bathroom.

Pat, obviously, is a model and social media personality. An engagement for a brand in Pattaya the following day caused us to tag along for that event where Pat influenced one of his local friends to show me around while he's shooting all day. That's when I realized that Pat might be too busy of an individual to show me around so I contacted Pelle to just left his body. You know what he did instead? He wrapped up the shoot in lightning speed as he influenced the producer to not ask him for another take and then solely guided me around the places while occasionally grumbling on how I would be punished later for making him do all this work and almost jeopardizing his career.

We spent 4 days in total in Thailand and Pelle, as Pat, showered me with attention, affection and his seemingly unrelenting amount of cum. He was the light of the party so it was easy for him to lure in some friends that quickly turned into a temporary additional muscle puppet as he put his own friends under his control. We literally spent our final night in Bangkok fucking like there's no tomorrow, the crowd of Pat and his friends all trying to get a piece of action with me and with each other as if they weren't bunch of straight guys or married man themselves before Pelle's takeover of Pat and the subsequent mind control he unleashed to these oblivious men. As we finished with him and his friends, we just silently left him in the aftermath of the orgy in his apartment to close off my Thailand's leg and headed to the real closing leg of my holiday trip

The final part of the trip put me in Bali where the jet eventually returned back to China too after we landed in the airport. Pelle of course remained by my side as we went into this well-known beach side gym with outdoor setting where one of my bully, Kyle, already waited for me and Pelle. He's been taken over by Pelle before so there will be no issue for Pelle to slid back into Kyle and after that, we departed back to the States

*** 18 hrs later, Hamad International Airport, United Arab Emirates ***

"What do you think of Europe?" asked Pelle through Kyle as he already in control of the jock's brain ever since our meet-up in the beach yesterday

"Huh? What are you talking about? My leave----"

He shushed me and then he winked at me as he motioned me to look into the opposing chair where a stud comfortably manspread in the chair with his headphone on while his left hand rested on that visibly hard groin. I licked my lips, thinking about Pelle making that dude's mine for the time being until we get called to board. But then, Kyle whispered to my ear

"What if I told you that you could be him?"

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

Endgame

I stopped blogging this drama some time ago because nothing new seemed to be happening. Oh, there was tons of telenovela drama, but none of it was "moving the needle" to quote Meghan. Even the Lady C and Tom Bower books were not very interesting, at least to me. I think they were significant in that they shone a spotlight on the various lies and misinterpretations, which I think helped flip the narrative on these two idiots, but if you've been following the shenanigans closely, as I have, they had few surprises.

I do have posts on the Netflix documentary because those had real revelations. However, I think this The Hill article is the real game changer. The Eye of Sauron has turned itself upon them, so to speak.

Those are pretty strong words, and so are these:

"U.S. national security." Wowza.

What's interesting is that a few days ago, this was The Hill's viewpoint:

Way back in December 19th this was a "you" problem in the eyes of the Washington establishment (which is what The Hill represents), now suddenly it's an "us" problem. What changed?

Well, this IPSO poll came out in the UK, showing that the documentary did not affect royal popularity at all. The Brits are calling it inaccurate and the personal popularity numbers were not affected at all.

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/britons-more-likely-judge-harry-and-meghan-documentary-inaccurate-depiction-events-crown

YouGov also got positive results for the monarchy.

I haven't seen similar polls regarding the Commonwealth though, but I bet they were done and I bet the results weren't good. The documentary got strong international ratings and the Harkles are going to find out that success is a double-edged sword.

It's going to be interesting to see where this goes. So far, the results are encouraging. Hello, Colonel Kate!

Trooping isn't until June but that got announced in December, which is fascinating.

And Charles' coronation was budget friendly back in October, but it will now be "glorious" pomp and pageantry showcasing UK plc and, no doubt, the Commonwealth.

Harry effed around and now he is going to find out that attacking the family is fun gossip that important people don't care about but attacking an institution that is part of the US national security establishment is a different matter altogether. A lot of people are now going to reassess their tacit support of the Harkles.

It will take a while because no one will admit Harry's Invictus role was axed because of a Netflix drama or internet trolling during the Wales' Caribbean tour, but that will be the eventual result. It will take years and it will be camouflaged as a "reorganization" or "rethinking" of the organization (everything military is now in flux as the establishment analyzes the implications of the Ukraine war) but he's going to be out. Notice that Sunshine Sachs leapt out of the sinking ship way back in September. That was likely the canary in the coal mine.

https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20220924150955/meghan-markle-parts-ways-sunshine-sachs-pr-firm/

I doubt anyone reads this blog anymore since so many fantastic people are covering this drama now, but I'm compulsive about completing tasks so I'll be covering the endgame (as Scobie would put it, although the monarchy will not be the one losing this game).

[yuzurujenn]

[2024.07.19-2024.07.21] Yuzuru Hanyu: Interview two years after turning professional (Hochi)

Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (29), who marked two years since announcing his decision to turn pro on the 19th, agreed to an interview. He spoke at length about his two years as a professional, his present and the future, his fateful encounter with a program, and the "ideal" he is pursuing. We will be publishing Hanyu's words, who continues to evolve as an athlete and artist, for three consecutive days. The second and final instalment are a stand-alone interview. (Interviewer: Takagi Megumi)

Part 1:

Hanyu-san appeared dashingly at the studio in Sendai. As soon as he arrived, he started the interview by saying "Thank you." His quick thinking and agility were as good as ever. His black jersey looked good on him as always.

"Honestly, my first year as a professional was a bit of a trial-and-error state; I was constantly thinking about whether I should do this, whether I should do that, what I should do. But this (second year) has been a year in which I have clearly understood what I want to express, and what I want to do as a professional."

Though he was thoughtful at times and carefully choosing his words, he was smiling throughout the interview. Looking back on the past two years, his expression showed how contented he has become as a professional.

It all started with a one-man show “Prologue”. “GIFT,” the first solo Tokyo Dome performance by a skater in history, lasted two and a half hours in which he skated alone. In "RE_PRAY", the second instalment of the ice story following "GIFT", he took on his first national tour.

"In the second year, with 'RE_PRAY', the ice story was completely formed. I think the big thing about the second year was that I was able to properly establish what pieces existed in the story and what kind of story I wanted to tell."

He wrote the story himself, served as executive producer, and performed "Ice Story" by himself. With "RE_PRAY," he created a new form of entertainment that combines gaming and skating.

"It's the same when I choreograph various programs, but I think that the essence of what I want to express is always the idea of 'living' and the constant presence of something like a 'prayer' towards 'living'."

He has changed the concept of a professional skater. He can perform quadruple jumps and perform programs in a variety of genres. His evolution as an athlete and an artist continues in his third season.

"I have finally established the foundation for what I want to do, so as an extension of that, I am wondering how I can improve my skills in terms of expression. In order to convey myself, I believe that I cannot improve my level unless I have a strong technical foundation, as I have always said since my competitive days. I feel that my third year will be a time when I will be working on improving both my technique and my physical strength."

He will be turning 30 in December. He says that his present life is different from the future he envisioned as a teenager. He was supposed to have turned professional after the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and retire from skating in his 20s.

"The way my stamina and technique have developed is completely different from what I had imagined, but it gives me a real sense of how much more I can achieve, and a sense of great potential for the future. I now feel that humans can achieve much more than I had thought."

He won consecutive Olympic gold medals in Pyeongchang and after his third Olympic Games in Beijing, he turned professional. He had an incredibly intense 20s. What will his 30s be like? "Nothing in particular has changed," he continued, tilting his head.

"While still cherishing who I am, I think that showing my skills and facing skating are a big part of what makes me happy. I want to always have within myself a reason for my existence, a meaning to the past 30 years for everyone. It's not just because my fans watch me, or because skating is all I have, but I want to create more clearly within myself the core of my life in my 30s."

Skating with soul. "Pursuing the ideal," he wrote on his coloured paper. The story of professional skater Yuzuru Hanyu has just begun.

-What have the past two years been like since you turned professional?

"As an athlete, I have really thought about many things in a stoic way up until now. Of course, this is true in terms of technique, but I think I have always been thinking about victory in particular. To be honest, in my first year as a professional, I was feeling my way around; I spent the whole year constantly thinking about whether I should do this, whether I should do that, what I should do. I think this (second year) has been the year in which I have clearly understood what I want to express, and what I want to do as a professional."

-What have you come to understand clearly?

"In the first year, I had 'Prologue,' and I was feeling my way around whether I could skate solo. I was also working on 'GIFT' at the same time. At the time, I wanted to write my own story, and I wanted the audience to experience how the programs they had seen up until then would change as they watched them. This was something I had vaguely thought about since my competitive days. I was able to make this a reality in my first year. In my second year, I had 'RE_PRAY,' and I felt like I had completely formed the ice story. It wasn't just about trying to figure out how to skate by myself or changing perspectives by putting what I wanted to express into a story. I think the big thing about my second year was that I was able to properly establish that this story has these pieces, and that this is the story I would like to convey."

-What kind of year will your third year be?

"I have finally established a foundation for what I want to do, so as an extension of that, I am wondering how I can improve my skills in terms of expression. As for conveying myself, I have always said since my competitive days that I can't improve my level without having strong technique as a foundation. I feel that my third year will be a time when I will be working on improving both my technique and my physical strength."

-Memories from the past two years?

"There are a lot, of course. I can't really say just one, but I've had so many different, precious experiences. Most recently, the completion of "RE_PRAY". I had that feeling that it was received well. I'm currently in the middle of the production process (laughs). It's my motivation to keep working hard, it's my driving force."

-Are you currently working on any new projects?

"I've been creating new programs and other things. I've started digging deeper into what I want to express. Because I've been working alone for so long, the emotions that come out of me tend to be biased. My ideas haven't fundamentally changed that much, so my repertoire hasn't expanded that much. But I do feel that my experiences with 'RE_PRAY' and other such things are the driving force behind the birth of new emotions and new expressions."

-Will Ice Story continue to create themes by asking itself these questions? 　

"Whether it was when I was creating 'RE_PRAY,' or when I was choreographing programs like 'Goliath,' 'Aqua,' and others, I think that at the core of what I want to express is the idea of 'living,' and the constant presence of something like a 'prayer' towards 'living.' So, what I want to convey on top of that and what I want to dig deeper into may affect the way I present myself depending on the program at hand."

-You'll be turning 30 in December. How does it compare to how you imagined your 30 would be?

"When I was 18 or 16, to be honest, I imagined I probably wouldn't be skating anymore by 30 (laughs). I would turn professional at 24 immediately after the Pyeongchang Olympics, and I thought I'd be active for about five years and then be done with skating. But the way I've developed my stamina and technique is completely different from what I imagined, and I feel a real sense of realization that I can still do so much, and a great sense of possibility for the future. Right now, I feel that humans can still do much more than I thought."

-What kind of person do you want to be in your 30s?

"Nothing has changed in particular. However, the more I polish my way of expression and the more time I spend constantly practicing and facing myself, the stronger my sense of self is becoming, and I feel like my foundation is becoming more and more established. In this way, I will continue to cherish myself in my 30s. But I think that showing my skills and facing skating is a big part of what makes me happy. I want to always have a reason for my existence, a reason for living for the past 30 years. Not just because my fans watch me, or because skating is all I have, but I want to create a clearer core for myself in my 30s."

Part 2:

It has been two years since figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (29) announced his professional debut on the 19th. In the second part, he spoke to Sports Hochi in an exclusive interview about his "fateful encounter" with a certain program. (Interviewer: Megumi Takagi)

-Does time pass differently now compared to when you were an athlete?

"When I was a competing athlete, I could just keep thinking about things like building my physique or practicing skating. But when I'm creating something or choreographing a program or doing things like that, I don't have time to just practice. So, I thought, 'I won’t be able to practice during this period, so I'll just try to maintain it’, or ‘I'll try to keep it to a certain level, and since I'm currently in the production period, it can't be helped if I cut down on sleep.' I want to provide something good, and when I think about all sorts of things, I can't sleep. To begin with, I'm the kind of person who tends to live an unhealthy lifestyle (laughs). I know I should sleep more for my skating, or eat more of this or that, but it just keeps falling apart."

-How much sleep do you get?

"It depends on the day. If I feel like I can't take it anymore, sometimes I'll sleep for eight or nine hours straight, and sometimes I fall asleep without realising it. On the other hand, there are also days when I'm awake all day. It's normal to stay up all night even though there's no need to. But it's at times like those that stories are born. It's hard to put into words. It's not that different from writing lyrics or composing music. I guess that's just how it is. I've accepted it and thought that this is just my style." 　

-During the rehearsals for "Notte Stellata" in March, you said you were "nervous about the new program."

"Of course, I felt nervous about performing it in front of everyone for the first time, wondering if I’ll make a mistake or if everything will be okay, but if anything, I thought it's great, and the people around also thought it's great. But when that circle expands from me to people who are close to me, and then to my fans and to the general public, honestly I'm really scared about what people will think. People have completely different values, and there's no doubt that the impression people get when they hear a program or a song is different for each person. So I do feel a bit scared that it may go in the wrong direction."

-How have you felt about that over the past two years?

"I've created a lot of programs, including 'RE_PRAY', and it makes me happy to see that people have different preferences for the programs they like. Some people say they like my self-choreographed programs, and others say they prefer programs that are properly choreographed by a choreographer. Some people say they prefer programs that are more like traditional figure skating, and conversely, some people prefer programs that are more over-the-top, like 'MEGALOVANIA', so it really varies. That's also one of my strengths. I'm really happy that everyone has different interpretations of the programs and likes them."

-What programs would you like to try in the future?

"I actually want to make a 15-minute program, but I'm worried it might be difficult."

-Is that a physical thing?

"Of course, it's physically demanding. For example, even if I don't jump that much, I don't want it to become boring. I want to create something with so-called contemporary movements, but I don't think I can keep up."

-There’s a concept.

"I have a vague idea, but I'm not sure if I can go that far yet. I don’t know. I haven't found a song that I want to skate to yet. I just don’t think I’ve found a song that I want to skate to for 15 or 20 minutes."

-"Danny Boy" (※1) has a more empathetic and gentler feel than ever before. Is this due to the fact that your range of expression has expanded over the past two years, or is it a change from within?

"I do feel like I've become able to express emotions that were already there in new ways. That's true when I skate to 'Notte' (Notte stellata) or 'Spring' (Come, Spring). I've been able to express things like compassion or prayer through the melody, the way I use my hands, the way I use my upper body, and so on. Up until now, I've been doing classical, pop, and instrumental pieces, and 'Come, Spring' was originally a pop song. This time, I used a jazz melody, which was something I hadn't done before, and I think the biggest difference is that I feel like I've finally become able to do it. Of course, I think part of it is that I'm getting older and becoming more mature, but I feel like I’m catching up a bit in the way I use my body to express that, and in my thought processes."

-"Danny Boy" was recommended to you by Hoshino Gen.

"That's right. I met Gen-san (※2) on the show and he said, ‘This is a good song’. At that moment, I had a feeling that this was it. I decided almost immediately that I was going to skate to this song."

-Did it come easily?

"It's hard to find songs that inspire me and songs that, when I first listen to them, I can imagine myself standing there and skating to them. I've been searching really hard for songs, but it's not easy to find one. But that song just came to me. I had a feeling that this was it. The melody was not something I could choreograph by myself, and I felt that this song needed to be skated over and over again to mature, so I immediately thought of David (Wilson, ※3) and asked him for help. It was a quick development with the song, and I felt like it was a fateful encounter."

[※1] Performed by Keith Jarrett. Debuted at "Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata 2024" in March this year. [※2] He appeared as a guest on Hoshino Gen's show "Ogen-san's Sabusuku-do" (NHK, broadcast last August). He played the role of "Ogen-san's younger brother" and talked about music. [※3] Canadian choreographer. Choreographed "Romeo and Juliet" for the free skating at Sochi Olympics, "Notte Stellata," and "Spring, Come", among others.

Part 3:

The final episode of an exclusive interview with figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (29), who announced his professional debut two years ago on the 19th. He talked about "full effort," "mind, technique, and body," and his "ideal" as an athlete. (Interviewer: Megumi Takagi)

-During a press conference for "RE_PRAY," you said, "I can still improve the composition."

"Originally, in practice, I was practicing 'Messenger of Ruin' with the final axel as a 3A3T (a triple 1/2-triple toe loop combination jump). Sometimes I would also practice the first toe loop in the second half as a 4T3T (a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination jump). I probably wouldn't be able to do it in a real performance, but I was practicing it as a way to build up my stamina and improve my skills. I had some time to spare, so I thought I'd like to do it if possible. I tried it on the final day of the Miyagi performance, and there were some flaws. I guess I was hoping that if I practiced more, I'd be able to do it."

-Will there be a composition as difficult as that (※1) this season as well?

"I would like to do it. However, I think the composition will be completely different depending on what I want to express. Is the challenge a quadruple jump, or something more physically difficult? Also, I think the way it is presented will be completely different depending on whether I am challenging myself expressively. If possible, I would like to improve the composition. However, when it comes to a tour, I wonder if I am really 100% confident that I can deliver something good to everyone. I think it is necessary to always consider the balance and make sure I am not overestimating myself."

-It was the same in the ice shows and exhibitions when you were competing, and of course it's still the same now. Why are you able to give it your all every time?

"On the contrary, I feel more uncomfortable if I don’t give it my all. Performing in front of people is in itself something that may or may not please them, but in that moment, it may also be a catalyst for a change in someone’s life, even if just a little. If it were my own performance, I don't think I could show a half-hearted performance."

-Is that always the case?

"Always. I think I've been like that since I was little. I think my physical ability is pretty high, but if I didn't give it my all, I wouldn't reach that level. Therefore, I had to remove that limiter and try to catch up with my sister (Hanyu started skating because of his sister, who is four years older than him) or try to reach her level, since I couldn’t get that far unless I gave it my all. For example, when I was a novice and I couldn't jump the triple or double axel properly. Other kids could jump them, but I was flexible, didn't have much muscle strength, and wasn't blessed with a body that was so good in terms of explosive power, but when I thought about wanting to be better than everyone else, or wanting to catch up with everyone else, that's why I kept giving it my all. I removed my limiter more than other people. Because I didn't want to lose. I wanted to be praised (laughs). So, removing the limiter is normal for me probably from a young age. I have an older sister, so there’s always someone at home to aspire to. So, I guess I had to remove the limiter in everything. And now I have a sense of responsibility. Because I am Yuzuru Hanyu, the question of how far I can go in my pursuit is gradually coming into play and giving it meaning. If I were to talk about my childhood, I think that's probably what it was like."

[※1] In "RE_PRAY"'s "Messenger of Ruin," he completed a highly difficult routine just like in a competition, including a single quadruple Salchow and toe loop, five consecutive quadruple toe loops, and two triple axels.

-How do you increase your concentration before a performance?

"In my case, theoretically, I think that if I can get excited or create a situation that I find enjoyable, I will naturally be able to concentrate. So, although I don't sing it out loud, I think that getting into music is what turns on my concentration switch. It's like my blood gets pumping, or like the switch in my brain changes. I guess it's the song, the music."

-You are still a complete athlete. Athletes often use the phrase "Shin-Gi-Tai” *," but where does ‘mind, technique, and body’ fit into your perspective, Hanyu-san?

"In the end, I think there's no point if you can't find a balance. If you excel in one area… For example, if your heart becomes very strong at one point, but your technique is not strong enough to match the size of your heart, then the heart itself will probably be destroyed and you will be swallowed up. So you definitely need the technique to express your heart. Even if you spread that heart and technique widely, if you don't have the physical strength, if your body itself isn't functioning well, then you will be swallowed up by your technique and your heart. In the end, I think if you really want to level up, you have to make everything bigger."

*心技体 (Shin-gi-tai) – Shin = mind/heart, Gi= skills/technique, Tai = physique/body

-What is an athlete?

"Now, I have the opportunity to work in various professional fields and have more opportunities to come into contact with people whom I really respect, I think that the people I consider to be the very best are all athletes. For example, there is the NHK programme ‘The Professionals’, and people like that are really athletes. Personally, I think the way they use their time, or the way they use their heart and soul, to achieve a certain goal or ideal is what makes them athletes. I don't know whether to call that an athlete or a professional, but that's how I've always been since my competitive days. I think that's what I would like to call myself, an athlete."

-You've often used the word "ideal" since the latter half of your competitive days. It sounds like a declaration of determination not to compromise on that.

"The reason I started talking about my 'ideal' towards the end of my competitive days was because, well… To be honest, I wanted to perform a certain way, but after all, it didn’t always lead to positive evaluation. That's when I decided to shift towards pursuing my ideal."

-Perhaps around Autumn Classic?

"The most significant was Autumn, I guess…Autumn 2019…? At that time, I had no choice but to reconsider and realise that the most important thing was to do what I wanted to do and perform the kind of performance I was aiming for, rather than worrying about scores. I felt that this was equal to making the fans happy. From then on, I am still on that same path. After I become a professional skater, I have to pursue it even more. Because I am skating for the fans. The ideal is getting higher and higher, and I am chasing that ideal."

Post-interview notes:

Last year, one year after turning professional, Hanyu-san sent a message to his fans to Sports Hochi. "I will continue to strive for my ideal and continue to constantly renew that ideal," he wrote. I think that this past year has been exactly like that.

The path he should take must have become clearer now. His expression was bright and full of contentment. We asked him to write down his aspiration for his third year on a coloured paper. He wrote, "Pursuing the 'ideal’”. "I'm skating for my fans, so the ‘ideal’ will get higher and higher," he said. Beautiful skating that blends in with the music. A range of expression that can only be achieved with advanced technique. I hope that Hanyu-san will continue to cherish the "ideal" skating that he has carefully cultivated. (Takagi Megumi)

Source: 1. https://hochi.news/articles/20240718-OHT1T51180.html?page=1 2. https://hochi.news/articles/20240718-OHT1T51181.html?page=1 3. https://hochi.news/articles/20240719-OHT1T51148.html?page=1 4. https://hochi.news/articles/20240719-OHT1T51151.html?page=1 5. https://hochi.news/articles/20240720-OHT1T51200.html?page=1 6. https://hochi.news/articles/20240720-OHT1T51199.html?page=1

[romanceyourdemons]

i was browsing my grocery store’s selection of heavily discounted avocados when a 70-something white woman started talking to me about a tour of russia and china she went on when “they had a thing called glastnost a couple years ago,” and how hopeful it made her to see “evidences of capitalism” (buskers and street vendors in the touristy areas of st. petersburg and beijing). she mentioned how smart it was for china to “lease” hong kong to european countries for 150 years, and then when she said that the only way to get from city to city in china is by plane i said that china actually has a very good intercity train system these days and she said “no, you’re thinking of japan. china’s too big.” but fear not my gentle readers, for i did end up getting my avocado. half an hour later

[usafphantom2]

This F-16A took part in the Air Force Thunderbirds Far East tour marking their debut in Beijing, China on this day in 1987-- the first American military demonstration performance in a Communist country. #history

@AFmuseum via X

[futazolam]

Hi everyone, here’s my recording of the whole tour dust china tour beijing show (5.8.24).

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Those links are from bilibili idk if you can watch from the website. I recorded the show too big (more than 30g) so I need a few days to compress it then upload it unto the YouTube. Or if anyone can manage to repost it to YouTube it will be the best!

[mhgrf]

Our country's regional visa-free policy for foreigners mainly includes:

Hong Kong and Macao foreign tour groups to enter Guangdong 144-hour visa-free policy. Citizens of countries with diplomatic ties with China holding ordinary passports may visit the nine cities in the Greater Bay area and the Shantou Bay Area without the need for a visa after entering the region through a group of Hong Kong and macao-registered travel agents, activities will be held in the cities of Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Shantou, group in and out, stay less than 144 hours.

Visa-free entry policy for tour groups from ASEAN countries to Guilin, Guangxi. Group tours (2 or more) from ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia) , with an ordinary passport, you can enter or leave the country visa-free through the Guilin Airport and travel agencies in Guilin, stay no longer than 144 hours.

Visa-free entry policy for foreign tour groups by cruise. Foreign tour groups (2 or more persons) on cruises and received by travel agencies in China, visa-free group visits are available from 13 cruise ports in Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Lianyungang, Wenzhou and Zhoushan, Xiamen, Qingdao, Beihai, Haikou and Sanya, the tour group shall travel with the same cruise to the next port until the departure of this cruise, activities for Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other 11 coastal provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government) and Beijing, stay no longer than 15 days.

4th, 59 countries personnel entry Hainan 30 days visa-free policy. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Monaco, Belarus and 59 other countries hold ordinary passports, for short-term reasons such as tourism, business, visit, family visit, medical treatment, convention and exhibition, sports competition, etc. (except for work and study reasons) , visa-free entry to Hainan may be granted, the scope of activities shall be within the administrative area of Hainan province, and the entry and exit ports shall be all open ports of Hainan province, and the stay time shall not exceed 30 days.

Visa-free 144-hour entry policy for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong and Macao. Citizens of countries with diplomatic relations with China who hold ordinary passports and visit Hong Kong and Macao may visit Hainan visa-free if they are in a group of two or more members of a travel agency legally registered in Hong Kong and Macao, activities for the administrative area of Hainan province, the entry and exit ports for all open ports in Hainan province, the use of group entry and exit mode, stay less than 144 hours.

[fragileizywriting]

alright, here's one. kitty's been complaining all week about how she really wants ramen, blah blah blah, she can't wait until he's back from tour so they can go together— not together as in a couple, that would be ridiculous; she means together as in best friends, duh, oh my god, just hurry up and get here, already. god. but luka's in beijing, in hongkong, shanghai... literally on the other side of the world, doing part of his grand tour... every time they facetime, which is every day, one of them is yawning. it's 4am (ha) and she's making bread while he's getting ready to sleep. she's doing her skin care routine (water) (mycellar water) (that one sponge that he gave her when he found out she'd been using hand soap to wash her face) (moisturizer (unsure of what it really does)) (gua sha roller) and he's barely out of bed and still has that syrupy morning voice that makes her totally crooked but refuses to admit it.

marinette is in the middle of working when a delivery guy comes by to the cashier and asks for a marinette. marinette is at the counter and accepts the bag; when she looks inside and sees it's the exact ramen bowl she's been wanting to eat for weeks now, she bursts into tears because luka bought it for her.

they're not dating. but they kinda are, anyway.

[musette22]

while we're on the topic of Beijing press tour, here are some things Sebastian did that make me feral 'til this day...China has many problems but CACW tour (and the Martian press tour) isn't one of them!!

Aahhh thank you for these!! 😍 God, he's always stunning but he was really something else during the Civil War press tour (or the Honeymoon, as I like to call it 💘)

[zvaigzdelasas]

A cool Atlantic breeze blew across the dusty port in Praia, Cape Verde’s capital, as Mr. Blinken noted that the facility there had been expanded and modernized with nearly $55 million in U.S. aid[...] That project was completed more than a decade ago, but more U.S. development funds were on the way, he said.[...]

After Cape Verde, Mr. Blinken will travel to Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola. U.S. officials said he would address a range of issues on his stops, including conflict prevention and political stability after military coups in several countries in recent years.[...]

Mr. Blinken is making his fourth visit to sub-Saharan Africa as secretary of state. A parade of other top administration officials have also visited the continent over the past year, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and the first lady, Jill Biden. But President Biden has yet to follow through on a pledge he made in 2022 to visit the continent, raising doubts about the depth of his commitment — even though Mr. Biden said at a U.S.-Africa leaders summit in Washington in December 2022 that America was “all in” on Africa’s future.[...]

Frustrated by several downbeat questions about security threats and Chinese influence, [Molly Phee, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs,] added, “You guys are bumming me out because you’re not talking about any of the really fun and positive, forward-looking things we’ll be doing.”[...]

One reason [for US interest in Angola] is that the United States is investing $250 million in a rail corridor that would allow the transport of minerals from landlocked areas of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lobito, Angola’s Atlantic port, from which they can be shipped to Europe and the United States. During Mr. Lourenço’s visit, Mr. Biden called the project “the biggest U.S. rail investment in Africa ever.” The corridor helps the United States keep pace with China, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in Angola.

China’s reach extends as far as Cape Verde, where Mr. Blinken’s motorcade drove to a government palace past signage in Chinese reflecting that the compound had been constructed by Beijing.

Oge Onubogu, the director of the Africa program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said that on recent trips to the continent she found confusion about the U.S. agenda there. Africans, she said, clearly understood Russia’s “at times sneaky” security interests, which often take the form of mercenary military partnerships with governments. And China’s economic development projects, she said, created “visible infrastructure that people can actually see and feel.” “But they’re not very clear on what the U.S. is doing,” she said. Biden officials have sought to promote African democracy and condemned military coups in places like Niger and Gabon, she said, while working with authoritarian rulers in other places. “The U.S. talks about democracy strengthening,” Ms. Onubogu added. “But at the same time, we maintain relationships with individuals Africans see as not being democratic leaders. So I think we have a struggle with messaging.” Despite public alarms raised by security analysts, Biden officials bristle at persistent questions about how the United States is countering China’s enormous investments in a continent that increasingly supplies it with oil, minerals and other natural resources. Mr. Blinken will be arriving in Ivory Coast days after a visit by China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi. “It’s you guys [sic], frankly, who frame this as a U.S.-China soccer match,” Ms. Phee told reporters last week. She added: “If China didn’t exist, we would be fully engaged in Africa [sic]. Africa is important for its own sake, and it’s important for American interests.”

22 Jan 24

[mariacallous]

On an island in the Singapore Strait, a thicket of apartment blocks peers mournfully over the sea. A corps of green-shirted gardeners dutifully tends the lawns and herbaceous borders along the roadside. A few cars slip along smooth roads to a commercial center with gleaming marble floors. Amidst the hundreds of closed shopfronts three restaurants are open—a fried chicken chain, a small café, and a gleaming and empty hot pot restaurant. Five duty-free shops are doing better business; some young men are stocking up on beer and Copper Dog whiskey at 11 a.m.

Welcome to Forest City: planned residents, 700,000; current residents, roughly 9,000. Launched in 2014 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the mega-project is headed by once-real estate giant Country Garden, a behemoth that now sits on the edge of bankruptcy.

At first glance, the project seems yet another tale of a ghost-city built on the back of a Chinese real estate bubble—and then doomed by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown. Yet Forest City’s story is also a deeply Malaysian tale, involving property-speculating sultans, nationalist politicians, and the country’s complex relationship with Beijing and its own ethnically Chinese minority.

Building a new city to lodge hundreds of thousands of residents on four new artificial islands in the Singapore Strait was always an ambitious venture. But the main market was not locals, but rather speculative buyers from the People’s Republic of China. When sales opened in December 2015, buyers flooded in, many of them buying “pre-sales” of uncompleted apartments. “You’d have buses coming over from Singapore every day filled with people who just landed,” said Tan Wee Tiam, head of research at KGV International Property Consultants. “There were over 1,000 agents in the sales hall, and it still wasn’t enough. … You felt like you were in China.”

Buyers were often looking for not a permanent residence but an investment that could also be a potential holiday home, or accommodation for children who were headed to study in Singapore. Some were reportedly even offered the opportunity to buy a flat in China and get one free in Forest City, said Christine Li, head of research in the Asia-Pacific for Knight Frank.

Yet this reliance on the Chinese buyers also left the project brutally exposed to changes in Chinese policy. The first blow came in 2017, when the Chinese government suddenly imposed capital controls preventing individuals from moving more than $50,000 out of the country annually. The minimum price of a Forest City apartment sits at around $75,000 and can be as much as $3.5 million. Then came the pandemic years which froze international travel—and stamped hard on Chinese real estate and growth.

Yet, Forest City’s staff seem to be holding out hope. Shane Lim, a hire from Singapore, showed me around and assured me that the place is working to attract buyers from across the world, including the Middle East, Indonesia, and Thailand. Still, he estimated that about 70 percent of his colleagues in the sales team are from China.

Halfway through my tour, a Malaysian man calling himself Ozzy introduced himself and his two wives. Now living in the United States, he’s searching for a place to buy in Malaysia that he can use to visit his daughter in Singapore and rent out when he’s away. Looking around, though, he’s unconvinced.

“Look at how empty this place is,” he said. “I’d only be able to rent it out for one or two months a year. … When I visited in 2018 this place was packed. Now there’s no one here. It’s like it’s haunted.” Lim stared at his shoes until Ozzy moved off. He then firmly assured me that the sales hall is busier on weekends.

A wet Wednesday afternoon might not be a peak sales period, but it is hard to escape the reality that the putative new city is barely lived in. Surveying one of the towers I descend from the 34th floor to the first, looking for signs of occupancy—a pair of shoes at the door, furniture seen through the windows that face the corridor, or even just curtains drawn over said windows. The place is eerily well maintained but empty. Just 25 of the 390 flats show any signs of current occupancy.

I met a single resident, a Malaysian Indian woman who said she lived in Forest City with her husband. Declining to give her name, she informed me a neighboring tower is busier. That would not be hard to believe. Some floors in this tower were completely empty with flats whose doors open to the touch, revealing light-filled marble interiors into which dead leaves have blown. Others had notices of a residents’ meeting dated October 2022 still taped to the door.

According to Li, there are signs that buyers may be slowly coming back. But she also suggested that Country Garden might have aimed too high, used to China’s experience of breakneck speed urbanization, supported by strong government support for infrastructure development. That policy created plenty of “ghost cities” in China itself—but until the recent real estate crisis, also huge profits.

Forest City has also suffered from being a political football since its launch, something Country Garden may well not have anticipated. “I did notice Chinese developers tend not to focus on the political climate,” Li said. “They are not used to the idea of general elections, change of government, and change of policies overnight.”

Despite its vast scale, the first time locals heard about Forest City was in 2014, when fisherman woke up one day to find barges dumping sand off the coast. Newspapers dug into the story, revealing that Country Garden’s main partner was none other than the sultan of Johor state, Ibrahim Ismail.

The tie made sense. Many businesses take on Johor royals as partners, benefiting from the influence they wield in the state. The Malaysian government is also bent on transforming southern Johor into a new economic hub, the Shenzhen to Singapore’s Hong Kong. The city was made a duty-free zone. When further investigations also revealed rushed environmental reviews, it took diplomatic protests from Singapore for the central government to intervene and ensure the proper process was followed.

However, things began to shift when the Malaysian government’s grip on power loosened. Rocked by the world’s largest corruption scandal, the China-linked 1Malaysia Development Berhad, voters turned against it. And at 93 years old, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad exited retirement to lead an opposition filled with former opponents, previously imprisoned under his watch, against a government coalition he once led for 22 years.

Forest City became one of Mahathir’s favorite targets. Inveighing against government corruption and waste, he accused the government of planning to sell out Malaysia to foreigners. Most provocatively, he claimed that the thousands of mainly Chinese buyers of Forest City apartments would be allowed to settle, become Malaysian citizens, and vote in its elections. In a country where ethnically Chinese make up 23 percent of the citizenry—and are often stereotyped as wielding undue political influence due to their wealth—the claim was explosive.

After his shock triumph in the 2018 elections, then-Prime Minister Mahathir followed through on his threats declaring that foreigners would not be allowed to buy property in Forest City. Despite legal challenges, the announcement apparently hit Forest City sales hard.

Five years and a series of dizzyingly complex political maneuvers later, the current Malaysian government is led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. His support is mainly built by ethnic minority-backed parties that triumphed in 2018. To secure his grip on power he needs two things. The first is economic growth. The second is increased support from Malay voters, to which end he has courted the sultans who act as power brokers in their states and take turns acting as Malaysia’s head of state. Perhaps none is more influential than the sultan of Johor, who started his five-year tenure in February this year.

In this context, Anwar seems to have rediscovered the charm of Chinese investment, and Forest City. He has repeatedly praised the Belt and Road Initiative, and in August last year he announced Forest City would be designated a special financial zone with residents offered multiple-entry visas, fast-track entry for those working in Singapore, and a flat income tax rate of 15 percent.

The sultan of Johor has also suggested reviving a proposed high-speed rail link between Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, with an extra stop at Forest City. And who knows what will happen. After, all the $10.5 billion Melaka Gateway project—launched under the Belt and Road Initiative and apparently scrapped in 2020—is also back underway, after finding new support from the state and federal governments. The developer behind the project recently acquired a major new shareholder, the sultan of Johor.

But the heyday of Chinese investment in Malaysia may well not be coming back. Ten years since China launched the Belt and Road Initiative, it has begun to pull back sharply on its overseas investments. China’s own economic slowdown and business wariness about the increasingly capricious regulatory environment is part of the story. But, the large number of projects gone sour also appears to have made Chinese investors more wary.

Meanwhile, Malaysia is struggling not to get left holding the bag. Should Country Garden go bankrupt, it’s uncertain what will happen to Forest City. At that point the Malaysian government could face the unpalatable option of a potential bailout by the Chinese government, leaving a chunk of Malaysian land in Beijing’s hands. Alternatively, it could step in itself—becoming the proud proprietor of what the developers still proclaim to be “A Prime Model for Future Cities.”

[m7z]

2024-02-02 // Beijing, China

I think this was the 5th time I’ve been to the Forbidden Palace. It can be an exhausting place to tour because of how big the place is and how crowded it can get. Since this was the dead of winter it felt colder as the day went on, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting during the winter (or the summer).

I went with my cousin and nephew, and we followed a tour guide who talked about various bits of history along the route. Even as a sucker for imperial history and historical dramas, I learned a bunch of new things!