Sometimes in this weblog I like to highlight great writing by China webloggers.  On the train ride back from Shiyan last night I tried my hand at translating the introductory chapter of Mian Mian's <span class="book title">Panda Sex</span> and was reminded how, no matter how great the writing one is translating, if one's own writing is poor then a translation will turn out poorly too.  So this morning I was particularly impressed by Wanbro's <a href="http://www.wanbro.com/blog/index.php?p=359" title="Wanbro: Back in da hood">latest entry</a> on Hong Kong:

<quote>What’s that you say? Cultural wasteland? But can you not see the glittering lights of the Karaoke Palaces? Do you not notice the glass-walled elevators in the huge shopping malls? See how we are whores to both Japanese and European fashion! Behold the stuffed pandas we sell to show our allegiance to Beijing! We can even fix it for you to have a Kodak photoshoot with a wax rendering of Our Lord Jacky Chan!</quote>

And his reference to <q>those twin sticks of sin</q> just about killed me.