Chinese Archimage Phenomena

Someone found out a residential building in Chonging like a face, and very popular Chinese character 囧 (jiǒng). from wikipedia : "Jiong (Chinese: 囧; variant: 冏; Hanyu Pinyin : jiong3; British Cantonese : Gwing) is a Chinese character meaning a "patterned window" or "as bright as the light peering from outside the window". The character is now rarely used in this sense. Internet emoticon usage The character for "Jiong" is nowadays more widely used on the Internet as an ideographic emoticon representing a range of moods, as it resembles a person's face. It is commonly used to express ideas or feelings such as annoyance, shock, embarrassment, awkwardness, scorn or the internet meme "DO NOT WANT". The use of Jiong as an emoticon can be traced to 2005 or earlier; it was referenced on 20 January 2005 in a Chinese-language article on orz . [1] The character is sometimes used in conjunction with orz, OTZ or its other variants to form ...

This is a new Water Cube at Han Yu Rd 汉渝路 in Chongqing. It looks like a bar. Apparently it got inspiration from Water Cube in Beijing. Here is video. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDk3NTMxNTY=.html (just in case it doesn't show up here.) [via shanghaiist and picasa ]

Chinatown gate at Foreigner Street (London Style) I was quite speechless seeing this Foreigner Street . Strictly speaking, it is a theme park, just a pedestrian street by the river, but fairy-tale like. It has everything, and everything is with each other: St Antonio River with 32 world-famous bridges, Liberty Statue on Titanic, even a Chinatown gate (London style), Golden Reception Hall, Dutch style, Chinese style, Sphinx, and the world-biggest public bathroom with 1000 capacity , etc. This is the extreme of simulacra in China, quite not well educated intuitively application. The collage/montage is very colorful and vivid for local people and some tourism. Some slogans are quite remarkable. “God bless Foreigner Street.” “Similar Harmonious Society 仿和谐社会.” “Respect other people’s property.” “If you are Titanic, the iceberg will sink.” “Lenin says, no rest, no work.” Etc. everything could happen here. I cannot wait to visit there as well. More images are here and here and here and h...

"The World’s Largest Restroom is in Chong Qing, China and oddly enough, is made from all recycled waste and materials. Some urinals are uniquely shaped, including ones inside open crocodile mouths and several that are topped by the bust of a woman resembling the Virgin Mary. As seen below the design of the restroom is quite unique with an Egyptian theme and elaborate decoration. It can support as many as 1,000 people using the restroom at the same time. Additionally it offers radio and TV to entertain users of this mammoth restroom. Soon the bathroom will apply for a Guinness World Record. Video and AP story can be found here and more pictures here ." (重庆日报) [ source ]