Asian related quick-links : August 25th

This post will include some quick links to Asian related interesting stories that I found on the web recently. It's a trendy thing lately, linking, and it's the least I could do to show my appreciation for the interesting things that I find in the blogs that I read almost everyday :

• Holly, from the Taiwan Chronicles, mentions the Chinese strange phenomenon of having strippers in funerals . Don't get it? neither do I… but the Shanghaiist will clear it up for you.
• Simon World wrote about Travelers' Tales' analysis of the Chinese contribution to Asian economies. Does the Chinese have something special about them that drives the economy to be more successful "because of the entrepreneurial drive of these immigrants"? This kind of discussion kind of reminds me the analysis I keep hearing from Chinese/Taiwanese about the Jewish immigrants' contribution to economy due to their, eh… financial drive and instinct.
• In a more personal perspective Sinosplice discusses his relationship with his wife - maybe his fiancee, or is it his girlfriend, talking about his current confusing status as a western in a Chinese society with "Am I Married? ".
• Tian, from Hanzi Smatter, brings another funny example of the misuse of "danger+opportunity=crisis", which I also witnessed  a few times, with the Daily Show about Condoleezza Rice.
• My friend Ori has made it to China, and has started writing a blog from "Within the Wall" with some observations of his encounters with Chinese-culture like with Chinese name use .
• With the very harsh move of Taiwan from Taiwanese to Mandarin Chinese, forced upon the Taiwanese by the KMT, there's the question of whether the Taiwanese language will survive. Pinyin info writes about the Sino-Platonic Papers by Deborah Beaser, and Taffy explains why he chose to learn Taiwanese regardless.