新年快乐! It's the Year of the Dragon. Check out some photos from Uptown's Chinese New Year parade. more ›

On the heels of last night's official state visit at the White House, Chinese President Hu Jintao continues his four-day tour of the states with today's stop in the Windy City. The visit marks Hu's first to Chicago and only one outside of Beltway where he spent yesterday meeting (and eating) with President Obama and other leaders while discussing trade deals, human rights and the economic ties that bind the US to China. more ›

Even though he's out the door next spring, Mayor Daley is back from a visit to China loaded with nifty ideas and he's really, really pushing his high-speed train to O'Hare idea. According to Daley, our friends in China and Korea want to help us make this magical unicorn train to the airport a reality: “They’re all interested. … Everybody’s interested. ... They want to design it. They want to build it, operate and maintain it … with people working here." Daley insisted his leaving office wouldn't deter these investors from wanting to get involved and then played the "everyone else has one" card: more ›

Mayor Daley, channeling his inner-Maoist, complained publicly over the weekend that the American system of government wasn't as awesome as China's. Speaking at the opening of the Brown, Red and Purple line L station at Fullerton, he told the press that the U.S. should follow China's lead on building infrastructure. “If you travel to China, they do these things continually, on a daily basis,” Daley said. “They get the full cooperation at the federal, state, and local levels and their infrastructure projects are amazing. It doesn’t take them 10 or 20 or 30 years. It takes about four or five years.” When the Sun-Times pointed out that China's government is a centrally planned authoritarian regime, he noted that “the form of government has nothing to do with it. . . . How did they figure that 25-year infrastructure plan is important for them and we only do one year? It isn’t government — it’s the people thinking 25 years ahead.” more ›

The U.S. International Trade Commission approved tariffs on imports of steel pipes from China yesterday, in a move that signals an emphasis on American manufacturing by the Obama administration. A group of American steelmakers, including United States Steel (which has four plants in northern Indiana, one in downstate Illinois, and a warehousing facility on the South side of Chicago), and the United Steelworkers union sought trade duties earlier this year, claiming that the government-subsidized Chinese steel industry was flooding the American market with product that was being sold at artificially low prices. “The determination by the commission against illegal stainless steel pipe imports from China was desperately needed to preserve American family supportive jobs,”said USW President Leo Gerard. He pledged that “the USW and the companies who employ our members will continue to vigorously battle these Chinese unfair trade practices.” more ›

After a trip to China to meet with senior Chinese government officials, Illinois 10th District Congressman Mark Kirk took time to discuss his meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, DC think-tank. "We heard across the board - in private - substantial, continuing and rising concern," Kirk said. "It's clear that China would like to diversify from its dollar investments." His trip included discussions with Chinese Central Bank cheif central bank chief Dr Zhou Xiaochuan. That statement differed from what Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said after meeting with Chinese officials on a separate visit. Geithner indicated that Chinese leaders expressed "justifiable confidence" in the U.S. economy. with some 700 billion dollars invested in Treasury bonds, China is the largest holder of U.S. debt. Earlier this year Dr Zhou proposed eliminating the U.S. dollar as the global financial benchmark. more ›

Movies! Aside from preparing for and then recovering from your T-Day food coma, what else ya gonna do? more ›

The Trib's Kevin Pang and LA Times's Bill Plaschke decide the best way to bridge cultural divides between America and China is to eat some penis. more ›

R Kelly's defense called private investigator Jack Palladino today, who said one of the prosecution's star witnesses once attempted to extort Kelly. [Trib] more ›

By now, you've heard about the problems and protests the Olympic Torch has been having, including right here in Chicago. Yesterday, 100 protesters marched down Michigan Ave on the Near North Side to protest the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the upcoming Beijing-hosted Olympics and to coincide with the torch's super secret route through the streets of San Francisco. It's the fifth Tibet-related protest in the last month in Chicago. more ›

"'China is totally not the right country, not the right place, because Olympics is not just about a game, it's about free spirit.'" [ABC 7] more ›

Chicagland native Evan Lysacek grew up idolizing Chris Chelios. Now he's the U.S. figure skating champion, and boy is runner-up Jonny Weir not happy about it. [NYT] more ›

Sumei Hu, the woman who disappeared from O'Hare on Feb 26, still hasn't been seen or heard from, but her husband Steven Frash went on Greta Van Susteren's show last night to explain--or, not really explain--what happened. more ›

A Wisconsin woman disappeared at O'Hare last week somewhere between customs and the waiting area. Sumei Hu, 38, had been visiting her family in China since September and was returning to the US via Tokyo on February 26. She definitely got off her flight at O'Hare and went through customs, according to surveillance footage. But her husband was waiting for her in the stand-around zone, and she never came out. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/02/air_bound.php"> remove one man from Gatwick.

The Spice Girls are in town tonight at the United Center for the Chicago stop of their reunion tour. Originally Chicago tour dates were scheduled for both the February 15 and the 16, but management moved Saturday’s show over to Detroit. Tickets are still available for tonight’s show. more ›

href="http://londonist.com/2008/01/6_years_on_amne.php">Amnesty International bringing Guantanamo Bay to the American embassy to raise the profile of the continuing campaign to close the detention center.

Photo Credit: Malingering more ›

But if you're not, maybe these tasty tidbits will help: more ›

This shopping holiday season, we’re committed to buying our kid’s presents from local small businesses. Our new crush is Timeless Toys in Lincoln Square. more ›

Many of the parents we’ve talked to told us that they will go “China-free” this Christmas, refusing to purchase toys constructed in China. This, in large part, is due to the massive number of Chinese-made recalled toys this year (like those beads that turn into GHB when ingested). Toxic toys and poor oversight is a company issue and not necessarily a country-specific one, but patronizing local small businesses, regardless of impetus, should be applauded. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be posting about some of our favorite places to buy kid gifts this season. more ›

Don't settle for another Wednesday of and Girl Scout cookies that have been in the freezer for months (not ... that ... we do that ...). There's a shitton of stuff going on tonight! more ›

Blago and Mrs. Blago raked in $267,490 last year — $19,000 less than the year before. Still, that's about six times the median household income for Illinois. Todd Stroger told the Trib he'd "make the hard decisions," when it comes to his insane budget. Hard decisions like trying to raise the sales tax in Chicago to 11 percent. Speaking of people who want more of your money, ComEd wants to raise prices, too. And... more ›

The U.S. Women's National Team for soccer is in town this weekend for a World Cup tune-up match with New Zealand on Sunday at Soldier Field. The United States comes in to Sunday's match on a 45-game unbeaten streak; this will be their second to last friendly before they travel to China for the 2007 World Cup. Chicagoist sat down with former national team representative and two-time World Cup Champion Brandi Chastain to talk soccer... more ›

Both Kraft and McDonald's have been busy recently with business moves. Tuesday Crain's reported that Kraft placed a $7.2 billion bid for French snack food giant Danone. Danone, makers of Dannon and Stonyfield yogurts, and Evian bottled water, is the world volume leader in bottled water, fresh dairy, and biscuit (cookies) and cereal products. If the deal goes through, it would give Kraft a foot in the door of emerging snack food markets in Russia and China. more ›

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried... more ›

OK, you got us here: Ricci & Company really isn’t a market per se. Unless you’re a squirrel and this small River North spot specializing in hand-roasted nuts has everything you need for your daily intake and then some. But just because Ricci doesn’t stock edibles from all the food groups — who can keep up with that ever-changing list anyways? — that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a mention here. First off, there’s... more ›

The United States Women's National Soccer Team has scheduled a series of international friendlies this year to help them prepare for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup that will be held in China this fall. At noon on August 12, the U.S. Women's team will take on New Zealand at Soldier Field, a game that will also be broadcast live on ESPN2. Soccer fans can start buying tickets as of today. The U.S. squad is... more ›

There are a lot of rules at Viet Hoa Plaza, which really isn’t a plaza but an Oriental market on Argyle. The signs posted throughout the store inform shoppers that since there are no refunds, returns or exchanges — exceptions are made for defective rice cookers, and thermo and hot pots — they should inspect all items before leaving. Just in case you didn’t get that, rule No. 4 states that “All sales final.” Are we clear on that? And don’t even think about writing a check — rule No. 5 — but these days we don’t know anyone who does. more ›

"Palm Terrace" via kookybites. more ›