A group of gay and lesbian activists staged a Valentine's Day kissing protest in Beijing Friday aimed at highlighting Russia's controversial anti-homosexuality laws.
Near Beijing's $600 million Olympic stadium, migrant worker Ye Yiwen, her husband and two children cram into a tiny underground room, sheltering from the Chinese capital's biting winter and soaring property prices.
The diplomatic bickering between Japan and China has descended into name-calling in the British press, with claim and counter-claim by the countries' ambassadors invoking the fictional evil wizard of the Harry Potter series, Lord Voldemort.
Local officials in a Beijing suburb have built themselves a white-walled, gold-domed office complex resembling Moscow's Kremlin, state media reported, prompting anger among Chinese who condemned the lavish buildings.
China's Communist Party leaders this week emerged from a closed-door meeting in Beijing bearing a raft of promises on issues from the controversial one-child policy to the scope of the death penalty.
Taiwan signed a free trade deal with Singapore on Thursday, its first with a Southeast Asian country, as the diplomatically isolated island steps up efforts to join regional economic blocs.
With deals from London to Singapore, China is seeking a greater role for its yuan currency in global markets to challenge the hegemony of the almighty dollar.
It may be unclear what exactly Beijing means by its aspirational "China Dream" slogan, but for banned "Wild Swans" author Jung Chang it's a positive step.