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No, this week's Sinica isn't an attack on Element Fresh. Rather, it's a discussion hosted by Kaiser Kuo about the new book Unsavory Elements, an anthology of stories and essays about the experiences of expats in China. And joining us for this discussion is none other than Tom Carter, editor of the book, along with Shanghai-based publisher Graham Earnshaw of Earnshaw Press. You can either listen to the show using our online player, or download it as a standalone mp3 file. As a quick note before the show, if you'd like to subscribe to Sinica via iTunes and have your computer automatically download new episodes as they become available, just open iTunes, click on the "File" menu and select "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted for the address of our RSS feed, provide the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. And if you have any problems, write us anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

Factional alliances had been coalescing for months, for as the availability of work narrowed, it was obvious to all that sacrifices would simply have to be made. And so it was that Popup Towers became a place of whispers and sideways glances among the voice acting team, as a hundred secret alliances blossomed and then withered overnight. And then there was the baking.... Learning Chinese? At the Intermediate level we try to present genuine Chinese dialogues prepared and presented without concerns over reducing the difficulty or sculpting the language spoken to make it easier for beginners. This means you get fully natural Chinese passages in speed, tempo as well as emotion. And once you can follow along at this level, you should be ready to step up to both native media as well as our more advanced shows.

On March 8th, Kaiser Kuo hosted a conversation at Capital M in Beijing with Geremie R. Barmé, the well-known Sinologist and now director of the Australian Centre for China in the World, as part of the Capital Literary Festival. This week on Sinica, we are pleased to present a live recording of this show for anyone who may have missed it. As a live show, the quality is not quite the same as in a closed studio, but this is an intellectually rewarding discussion and we hope you enjoy it. As always, a quick reminder before the show. If you would like to subscribe to Sinica through iTunes and download new shows automatically as they become available, you can subscribe by using our RSS feed at http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica. Just click on "File" and then select "Subscribe to Podcast" and provide that address when prompted. You are also welcome to download this show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file.

It's been an adjustment having a new roommate here at Popup Towers. We chat a bit at breakfast and dinner, but he mostly keeps to himself, working and studying in his room rather than the common areas. But it isn't like he's a social recluse or anything. Far from it. He has plans to go far, as we know all too well.

When Chinese author Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for literature last year, many critics were fast to pounce on his selection, accusing the committee of making a political choice that glossed over what many consider to be pervasive self-censorship in the writer's prose. But how much of this is true? In today's episode of Sinica, we take a closer look at Mo Yan and his work, including an exclusive audio excerpt from his most recent work in English translation. Joining Kaiser today for this discussion are three names you might recognize from the Beijing literary community: Brendan O'Kane, who many of you already know through Popup Chinese but who is also well-known as a translator, Alice Liu who is the lead editor of Pathlight Magazine, and David Moser, an academic and periodic guest on Sinica who heads the CET Beijing immersion program. All three have different but equally informed impressions of Mo Yan and his work, so why not join us and make up your own mind. As always, before we go let us remind you that - in addition to listening through our site and RSS feed - you are warmly invited to download this show as a standalone mp3 file. And if you have questions or suggestions about the show or want to contact us by email, please feel free to write us at sinica@popupchinese.com and we'll do our best to get back to you in a timely fashion.

Our advanced podcast for today is a show Echo and Sylvia recorded about the air pollution in Beijing. What's it like living in a city where you can't breathe? How do Chinese people cope and what are people doing to solve the problem or deal with it? If you're an advanced Chinese student looking for some upper-level language practice, join us for today's show and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

It had been a winter of great discord, with even Russia's wealthiest cities stalked by a sweeping tide of violent bolshevism. And yet how far the Tsar's summer home seemed from all this blood, as the rich strolled on the warm grass oblivious to the death fast approaching. And even now was their blindness anything but the arrogance of the Imperial throne, and characteristic of this age of contradictions? Learning Chinese? Our lesson for today is inspired by several of the Russian television series we've seen imported into China over the years, and dedicated to anyone who has ever watched a full episode of these imported soap operas, or even just stumbled across the name of the Russian Foreign Minister when working through the news. Because you're not alone to find eight-character foreign names excruciatingly difficult to pronounce.

Sometimes life in China doesn't make much sense. Which is why we'd like to introduce your head to this concrete wall now while everyone is still being sociable. We think you should get to know each other, and learn a bit about your hobbies and special interests, because you'll be running into each other fairly often now that you're in town. And can you use chopsticks? Yeah? Just checking.

This week on Sinica we talk shop about Caterpillar's discovery of massive accounting fraud and subsequent $580 million write-down from a Chinese company the American equipment manufacturer acquired. We also look at the mysterious death of an American engineer in Singapore, ruled a suicide but believed by the late engineer's parents to be a cover-up involving, perhaps, controversial Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei. Joining host Kaiser Kuo to look behind the news at these stories are special guests Simon Montlake, the Beijing Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine, and Bill Bishop, "the China Hand's China Hand" and the force behind the must-read China news aggregator Sinocism. Enjoy Sinica? In addition to signing up for Bill's newsletter, other things you can do to keep in touch with us include following us on Twitter and checking out our Sinica Facebook page. And if you want more Sinica than a single webpage can offer, feel free to subscribe to our Sinica RSS feed, or download this show as a standalone mp3 file to share with others.

We've been trying to keep our feature film project under wraps and don't want to do the whole Kickstarter thing, but if anyone knows the Spielberg brothers tell them to answer our emails, because we only need a bit of cash to start shooting at this point and the story basically sells itself. I mean... if someone else made this movie, we would probably see it a couple of times in the theater at least. Multiply that by the number of people in China and you'll have a sense of what this can mean. The concept? We're working from an original script, but imagine something like Inception except on Mars and with a spy angle as well. And we don't even need to cast: we've already got provisional commitments from Kate Bekinsale, Anne Hathaway and David Tennant. Granted, not everyone has signed on paper yet, but as soon as they see our concept art it'll be impossible to pry the pens from their fingers. And since everyone will be speaking Chinese, Steven will finally have a shot at that Best Foreign Language Oscar.

David Mill's eyes settled on the blood-stained box lying before him. It was the same box that Somerset had carried over moments earlier... or would have carried over were he actually in this scene and not taking the day off from work. Somewhere in his subconscious, David realized that this meant the script made no sense. Without his partner, he must have gone over and picked up the box himself. But why would he carry it all the way back to Joe Doe before opening it, and what kind of sane police officer would just leave a serial killer alone in the desert? If you've been with us since year one, you doubtless know all about our penchant for slasher films by now. And you probably also know that our dialogues sometimes don't make any sense. So we recommend you don't think too carefully about the setup to this one. Just enjoy the show, hopefully learn a bit more about when questions aren't questions, and write us anytime at service@popupchinese.com if you have feedback or suggestions on things you'd like to see us cover.

Curious what happened to Sinica last week? Well... as it turns out our call-in show from two weeks ago wasn't exactly pleased with how quickly we managed to replace it, and took out its anger on the laptop we use to record new shows, smashing the hard drive into such a state of disrepair that it required immediate attention from the geniuses at our local Apple Store, who - we feel compelled to point out - were not in fact genius enough to save the actual data. Nonetheless, in the spirit of never letting a good thing die, this week Sinica hosts Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn went back to our studios to resurrect our second call-in show with none other than special guest Jeremiah Jenne, Director of the IES program in Beijing and force of nature behind the Qing Dynasty history blog Jottings from the Granite Studio. So join us for another episode of Sinica in which we field the thorniest of questions from none other than you! Want more Sinica? If you've been listening to us for a while, you probably have the show sorted out. For the rest of you, don't be afraid to subscribe to our podcast via our Sinica RSS feed. You can also continue to download this and every other Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone MP3 file. Because choice is good.

Iron Chicken knows which way the winds are blowing. It knows how much that shirt sells for at the Chegongzhuang Discount Market, and it isn't afraid of telling you straight out. So don't try to pull one over the Iron Chicken. It will not pity you. It will stick fast to its ideals of fairness, justice and affordable cotton casual-wear. And if you still insist on your ridiculous markup, it will walk away. Because the Iron Chicken does not need you. It does not need anyone. Learning Chinese? While there is less fowl here than our title might suggest, we had fun recording this show and would like to reiterate that the entire dialogue is Echo's idea. So please do not use our general email address for your complaints. Rather, please direct your hate mail straight to the source by writing echo@popupchinese.com. In fact, feel free to write multiple times under different pseudonyms. And don't forget to compliment the rest of our Popup Staff while you're at it.

In a mining town steeped in vice, an ambitious newspaper editor is shot dead on the street, and almost everyone in the community seems to have an interest in his death, even his colleagues and his ice-cold wife. In this passage from the Chinese translation of Dashiell Hammett's seminal Red Harvest, Hammett's hard-boiled detective confronts the grieving father of the murdered man... entirely in mandarin. Trying to get past competence towards real fluency? One of the things we recommend to more advanced students is worrying less about reading Chinese literature and more about just exposing yourself to whatever fiction will keep you turning the page. And if you like detective fiction we think you'll enjoy this selection. We won't spoil the ending, but if you like the story you can pick up the whole book for less than 15 RMB on Amazon China. And if you can't for some reason send us an email and we'll figure out how to buy it for you.

In a mining town steeped in vice, an ambitious newspaper editor is shot dead on the street, and almost everyone in the community seems to have an interest in his death, even his colleagues and his ice-cold wife. In this passage from the Chinese translation of Dashiell Hammett's seminal Red Harvest, Hammett's hard-boiled detective confronts the grieving father of the murdered man... entirely in mandarin. Trying to get past competence towards real fluency? One of the things we recommend to more advanced students is worrying less about reading Chinese literature and more about just exposing yourself to whatever fiction will keep you turning the page. And if you like detective fiction we think you'll enjoy this selection. We won't spoil the ending, but if you like the story you can pick up the whole book for less than 15 RMB on Amazon China. And if you can't for some reason send us an email and we'll figure out how to buy it for you.