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Fleet Street had embraced the killings with the unbridled enthusiasm of the British press, pouring rivers of ink into outraged editorials denouncing the demise of traditional values and calling for the heads of practically the entire city council. The authorities responded with the imposition of a strict curfew, yet seemed powerless to arrest London's downward spiral. Practically every dawn brought new rumors of death and dismemberment, and breathless reporting on the discovery of yet another dessicated victim. In the midst of this surreal spectacle, Michael found his life acquiring a strangely dreamlike irreality, so much so that even the forced cheer of his two flatmates could hardly shake his suspicions that something was terribly amiss. And if his days were as a dream, his nights were worse, as he lay in a sleep haunted by visages of horrible and unspeakable violence.

For the last few days, international attention has focused on the small fishing town of Wukan in southern China where villagers are in open revolt. Simmering tensions caused by corruption and illegal land sales have escalated into an armed uprising by locals against security forces and local government, both of which have been driven into at least temporary exile. Starting with the question of what exactly is happening down south, our conversation on Sinica this week eventually turns to a more general discussion of how China's liberal intelligentsia seems to be grappling with the idea of reform: whether it is possible and what it might look like if it ever arrives? Joining Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn for this discussion are Charlie Custer of the excellent translation blog China Geeks as well as Ed Wong of the New York Times. We're also delighted to have the stalwart Gady Epstein back with us, now in his new role as China correspondent for The Economist. Please note: we ran into unexpectedly severe technical problems recording this show. Heavy editing has cleaned up the worst of the mess, but there are still noticeable problems. Our apologies in advance for the reduced audio quality, and we hope you still find the show reasonably coherent and listenable.

The Shaanxi orphanage was not where Xi Jinping had hoped to spend his weekend, but a western pilgrimage was an easy way to shore up support among the Party's left-leaning student faction and consolidate his lead as front-runner for replacing Hu Jintao as Party Chairman in 2012. Nonetheless, as the children bustled into the room screaming and yelling, one of the most powerful men on the Politburo couldn't help but think back to his last vacation in Tahiti, with its endless beaches, seaside tranquility and... well... lack of children. Learning Chinese? If you're new to Popup Chinese be sure to signup for a free account to get immediate access to our massive archive of Chinese audio lessons just like this one. In this lesson we focus on the emotional differences between two popular ways of asking questions. Most textbooks don't cover this sort of emotional subtext, but knowing it is fundamental to really being able to communicate natively in mandarin. So enjoy the podcast, and let us know anytime if you have any comments or suggestions.

In real life, we suspect this Hollywood conversation would have a lot less breathless talk about "revolutionary breakthroughs" and a lot more apologetic mumbling about how "it seemed like a good idea at the time" and "is there any way we can avoid getting the Feds involved?" Not that we'd necessarily do anything differently to be perfectly frank, because what use are close friends and family if they're not going to be supportive about personal development goals and/or hostile to science? Learning Chinese? Film Friday is our regular film guessing game at Popup Chinese. Join us each episode as we play a clip from a famous Hollywood movie that's been dubbed into mandarin, and then cover some of the more tricky things in the clip. And if you can guess our mystery film from nothing more than its Chinese soundtrack? Write echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a free month of premium access to everything at Popup Chinese. Good luck!

There's a story circulating on Weibo that may or may not be apocryphal, but is whipping up resentment and envy among proles like us nationwide. You may have heard it: it's about a secretary in a Chinese investment company who broke down in tears after receiving a six-figure year-end bonus. When news of this hit our office, work stopped for at least a minute, although less out of shock at the excesses of finance and more from our collective inability to rapidly handle currency conversion when dealing with multiples of Chinese 万.... Learning Chinese? In this podcast, Echo takes to the studio with two guests whose voices will be familiar by now if you've listened to a lot of our more intermediate podcasts. And the subject of our discussion is the year-end bonus culture in China. If you're curious about how the numbers add up on the Chinese side, want to know if you're the only one who has been gifted cured pork ("as good as cash"), or just want some insider Popup gossip, take a listen to our advanced Chinese podcast for today.

The dream had been rich in suffering and in omens of his imminent return: creatures of unspeakable form pooling in the blood-soaked depths, waves of terrible power foaming beneath a darkening midday sun. And through it all the chanting, chanting, chanting of his true name. Over and over the chorus called for his return, for the restoration of his empire and the slaughter of all mankind. And it would soon come to pass, once his sojourn in this quiet British village was complete.

Shortly after his arrival in China, the late, great, 19th century Sinologist Robert Hart would write his frustrations in his private diary, confiding that the convoluted phonemes of the Chinese language struck him like nothing so much as "the sounds one would make talking to a horse," and bemoaning his placement in Shanghai, a damnable city far from the Imperial capital where he considered it impossible to pick up mandarin "through one's skin." Fast forward more than a century and while none of us are running the Chinese government yet, the joys and frustrations of learning the Chinese language are as high and low as they have ever been. Fortunately, we have a new avenue for kvetching in podcast form, which is what Sinica stalwarts Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser have joined Kaiser to do this week. Also in the studio representing the next generation of Chinese speakers are newcomers Jessica Montesano and Charlie Melvoin, who join us to share their own experiences learning Chinese and talk about what exactly is happening in the States with bilingual education programs. Like Sinica? If you'd care to have Kaiser and crew show up automatically in your iPod whenever a new episode is published, subscribe to the Sinica show by creating an account on Popup Chinese and visiting the site. Alternately, subscribe manually by selecting the option "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced menu in iTunes and providing the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Those looking to download this show as a standalone mp3 file are also warmly invited to do so. Thanks for listening, and enjoy!

We should have a special show called "Total Request Live" which will be much like MTV's video request show except with less sex and more conversational mandarin. In any event, that's what we're getting today as we're pleased to publish a Chinese lesson on a topic that's been requested by you guys: the basics of asking for directions in Chinese. The mandarin to do this is actually fairly simple, but our dialogue moves quickly so we're publishing this at the elementary rather than absolute beginner level. Note: think we're missing something you've got a burning desire to know? If there's a topic you'd like to see us cover, please let us know either by leaving a suggestion in our comment section below, or reaching out to us by email at service@popupchinese.com. We promise to treat you with more civility than the befuddled tourist in today's podcast.

Two days west from Guilin and the riders were all but lost. Despite the effectiveness of China's Imperial road network, which strung together the major cities of the empire and helped ensure the political fealty of the far-flung provinces, nationwide travel was still dangerous. And the maps from the Imperial College in Beijing were nearly worthless too, showing only the general lay of the land and occasional geographic landmark. To find a small town in this maze-like mountainous region the two riders would have to ask for directions town by town.... Learning Chinese? Let us just admit it: the title for today's lesson is a bit tongue in cheek. Because it isn't about asking for directions in anything but the loosest possible sense, and instead focuses on how to communicate an attitude of condescension in mandarin. So listen up and in a short ten minutes we'll arm you with knowledge of how to quietly infuriate speaking partners. And if you have thoughts or feedback, send us an email at service@popupchinese.com anytime.

Our podcast this week is all about books and money in modern China. If you like us are tired of Lu Xun and Lao She, listen to Sinica this week as we look into the state of contemporary Chinese literature, asking what writers are hot, what writers are not, and even the more humdrum question of how much authors make these days. Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn today are three of the most knowledgeable people from Beijing publishing circles. We're delighted to be joined by Jo Lusby, general manager of Penguin books in North Asia, Eric Abrahamsen of the translation consulting company Paper Republic, as well as Alice Liu, managing editor of the newly-launched translation journal Pathlight, which features translations of works from upcoming Chinese novelists including a piece from a name longtime Popup Chinese listeners will recognize. Like Sinica? If you'd like to subscribe to the show automatically and have your mp3 player download new episodes as soon as they're released, just create an account on Popup Chinese and add the Sinica show to your list of podcasts. Alternately, subscribe manually by selecting "Subscribe to Podcast" from the "Advanced" file menu in iTunes and providing this URL whem prompted: http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. Listeners can also download this episode as a standalone mp3 file as always.

Discovered in a bundle of personal effects years after Popup Chinese morphed into the world's leading educational-military conglomerate, Echo Yao's secret diary paints a different portrait of the organization's early history than that found in the sanitized corporate histories which would follow. And while the authenticity of this material cannot be verified beyond all doubt, these fragmentary recordings offer historians a fascinating window into working class life in China at the start of the 21st century.

Today we're pleased to share a special live edition of Sinica recorded last Saturday at Capital-M in Beijing. Held to a standing-room only crowd, we talked all about our ongoing love-hate relationship with Beijing, and asked what on earth is happening to the city that so many of us have known since the 1980s and even earlier. As housing prices and rents soar, hutongs get ripped down and "crazy bad" air becomes the new normal, will Beijing maintain its heart as a cultural capital, or is the city losing itself and our affections? Filled with stories of pig excrement, SARS babies, and enough Chinese cursing to satiate even the Beijing Profanity Alliance, this show was a pleasure to put on and we were really glad to see everyone who came out. Joining Kaiser Kuo on stage were two Sinica stalwarts: Chinese media export Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser, jazz pianist and head of the CET Beijing program. We were also thrilled to be joined by Zha Jianying, author of China Pop and Tide Players, and a now-expat Beijinger from New York who admits to being torn between her two homes. As always, if you'd like to have editions of Sinica stream to your computer automatically as they're released, be sure to subscribe to us using iTunes, following the instructions included with any other podcast. You can also download this podcast as a standalone mp3 file. And if you have any specific feedback or suggestions for future guests or topics you'd like to hear covered, you can send an email directly to Kaiser anytime at sinica@popupchinese.com.

"Enough with this small-scale stuff," Wang Zecun signed. Although the pickpocket gang had been working the railroad station for years, using their heightened observation and non-vocal communication skills to outwit the authorities, the encroachments of the local police were becoming too obvious to ignore. "If they're going to crack down on us like this, we might as well get out of petty crime completely."

Falling housing prices, soaring inflation and an export market peering over the brink of what seems a cataclysmic abyss. If you've been following the economic news lately, you can be forgiven for being overwhelmed by the chorus of bearish voices crying out that now - at last - the time has come for the Chinese economy to pay penance for its years of impressive economic growth. Is this really the end of good times? This week on Sinica, we're delighted to have Arthur Kroeber from Dragonomics and David Pierson from the Los Angeles Times in the studio with Kaiser Kuo. Our conversation starts with the falling real estate market before examining what is really happening on the ground in Wenzhou and with controversial local financing vehicles. If you've been concerned that Chinese economy is sick, this is the podcast that will put your thumb on the pulse of the nation. So crank up those headphones as we bring you another great episode of Sinica. Enjoy Sinica but want a more convenient way to listen to the show than our flash player on Popup Chinese? Then why not subscribe via iTunes? To have your computer download new episodes as soon as they're released, select "Subscribe to Podcast" from the Advanced file menu, and provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica when prompted. And please consider yourself warmly invited to download the podcast as a standalone file as well.

We'll admit, our Popup Chinese cheerleaders are probably not what you're expecting. First of all because they're all men in an industry dominated by the other gender. But also because their previous cheering experience consists mostly of mild swearing at the Beijing soccer team and the occasional caustic remark directed at Liu Xiang for selling out to Nike and letting down the hopes and dreams of the Chinese people in 2008. Nonetheless, when we asked them to lend a hand and show us how to cheer in Chinese, our squad members were more than enthusiastic, and charged into the studio. And then silence, and a puzzled "so what do you want us to say anyway?" And the result was this podcast for absolute beginners to the Chinese language. So download it and listen as we cover the best and very possibly worst ways to cheer for almost anything in mandarin, Chinese.