When I moved from Beijing to Taipei in 2008, one of the first things I noticed were the language differences. While Mandarin Chinese is the official language on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, more than 50 years of separation has resulted in a lot of variation in many everyday Mandarin terms. Here are some examples: pineapple (China: 菠萝, bōluó, Taiwan: 鳳梨, fènglí), bicycle (China: 自行车, zìxíngchē, Taiwan: 腳踏車, jiǎotàchē) and taxi (China: 出租车, chūzūchē, Taiwan: 計程車, jìchéngchē).

I was reminded of these differences when checking out Danwei, a media blog in China. The blog posted a video by Zhao Fei-yun (趙菲芸) "Dodolook," a woman from Guilin who, according to her video, has lived in Taiwan for a year. In the video, she humorously compares dozens of words that have different names in mainland China's Mandarin (普通話, pǔtōnghuà) and Taiwan's Mandarin 國語 (guóyǔ). Chinese language learners will enjoy the video.

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Next month, I'll be headed to the Expo 2010 Shanghai, so I've been scouring the Internet for information about each pavilion to decide which ones to visit. During my search, I came across an interesting post on Adam Minter's blog, Shanghai Scrap, which details how much the US has spent on its pavilion - a whopping $61 million.

I was a bit surprised considering the simple, eco-friendly building shaped like an eagle with open wings is not as impressive as other pavilions like Taiwan's pavilion, which is a big lantern.

While Minter has been unsuccessful at getting the folks behind the US's pavilion to confirm the amount spent, he cites a 2009 cost sheet he obtained from the IRS. The cost sheet has interesting figures: the pavilion structure cost over $13 million while a VIP lounge and other non-show spaces cost $2.3 million. Seems like a lot of money to spend on something that will be torn down once the show is over.

What do you think? Is $61 million too much to spend to represent a country at the Expo 2010 Shanghai?

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Image © Media Asia Films

At a time when most films made in China are losing money, the first IMAX film made in China, 唐山大地震 Aftershock is expected to be a summer blockbuster.

The tearjerker directed by Feng Xiaogang is based on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed 240,000 people in Tangshan in northern China. The story centers on a mother who has to decide which of her two children to save from the rubble. Between the twin boy and girl, she opts for the boy. The mother is unaware her daughter is still alive and hears the decision.

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Some 63 years after the purported UFO sightings in Roswell, New Mexico come reported UFO sightings at Xiaoshan Airport in Hangzhou July 7 and in Chongqing July 8. While Chinese officials remain quiet as to the cause - private or military plane, rocket flares, a reflection or something else - the Internet has been abuzz with speculation.

While the world waits for an answer, Geoffrey Forden, an MIT weapons analyst has weighed in on the debate on his blog, Arms Control Wonk. While some photos appear in his opinion to be altered using Photoshop, he hypothesizes the incident could have been from the launch of a DF-21 ballistic missile.

What do you think? Check out a video here and post your thoughts in the forum.

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