Monday, April 25, 2005

News

The Feng Shui Kingdom: When building the new entrance to Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney executives decided to shift the angle of the front gate by 12 degrees. They did so after consulting a feng shui specialist, who said the change would ensure prosperity for the park. Disney also put a bend in the walkway from the train station to the gate, to make sure the flow of positive energy, or chi, did not slip past the entrance and out to the China Sea. [NYT, free reg. req.]

China and Japan Leaders Pledge to Improve Relations: The leaders of Japan and China pledged to improve ties Saturday after weeks of escalating disputes, easing tension but not resolving some critical problems besieging relations between East Asia's big powers. [NYT, free reg. req.]

A Hundred Cellphones Bloom, and Chinese Take to the Streets: For several weeks as the protests grew larger and more unruly, China banned almost all coverage in the state media. It hardly mattered. An underground conversation was raging via e-mail, text message and instant online messaging that inflamed public opinion and served as an organizing tool for protesters. [NYT, free reg. req.]


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