The Week July 23, 2010

Flush this!

Here's a news flush! And you thought the toilet was only for, well, you know. However, the big hit this summer is a toilet-themed restaurant. The chain called Modern Toilet features Western-style toilet seats to sit on, and serves up food in miniature replicas of Chinese-style squatty potties. The first opened in Taiwan, but now there are branches on the mainland and in Hong Kong. I wonder how you call a waiter to come to your table. Do you just flush?

Rage cage

Sometimes, life just makes you want to break things. That's the idea behind a "rage cage" attraction at a shopping mall in Shenyang. Only women are allowed. They are handed baseball bats to smash old furniture, TV sets and other appliances. According to the mall manager, it's not men they're mad at the most. It's frustration over trying to find a job that ranks at the top of what makes them want to break things.

Antique drinks

The world of champagne fans is excited this week about the discovery of a bottle of what's being called the oldest drinkable champagne. The unbroken bottle of the bubbly stuff was found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. It's believed to be more than 200 years old. But wait a minute; I've seen my colleagues drinking coffee and tea older than that. Come along with me, and I'll show you.

Kung fu food

This is the month for kung fu show-offs in China. The Internet is buzzing this week about the haircuts given by a kung fu barber in Hunan Province. When he cuts hair, he also stands on his head.Then there are the kung fu soccer monks, whose kung fu kicks really move the ball. They're student monks in Dengfeng, a city in central China's Henan Province. China even has a kung fu panda. China has kung fu chefs, too. How do they do it? The Week investigates …

Let's Go Expo!

Have you been to the 2010 World Expo under way in Shanghai? There's so much to do, and so much to see. So let's go Expo! One of the fun ways to get around the Expo is on a free ferry that carries you across the river from one set of pavilions to another. It's a cool, breezy summer attraction at the Expo.

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About the broadcaster:

Renee Haines is an editor and broadcaster at China Daily. Renee has more than 15 years of experience as a newspaper editor, radio station anchor and news director, news-wire service reporter and bureau chief, magazine writer, book editor and website consultant. She came to China from the United States.