Yu Miao smiles as he stands among the 10,000 books crowded on rows of bamboo shelves in his newly reopened bookstore. It’s in Washington’s vibrant Dupont Circle neighborhood, far from its last location in Shanghai, where the Chinese government forced him out of business six years ago. “There is no pressure from the authorities here,” said Yu, the owner of JF Books, Washington’s only Chinese bookseller. “I want to live without fear.” Independent bookstores have become a new battleground in China, swept up in the ruling Communist Party’s crackdown on dissent and free expression. The Associated Press found that at least a dozen bookstores in the world’s second-largest economy have been shuttered or targeted for closure in the last few months alone, squeezing the already tight space for press freedom. One bookstore owner was arrested over four months ago. The crackdown has had a chilling effect on China’s publishing industry. Bookstores are common in China, but many are state-owned. Independent bookstores are governed by an intricate set of rules with strict controls now being more aggressively policed, according to bookstore owners. Printing shops and street vendors are also facing more rigorous government inspections by the National Office Against Pornography and Illegal Publication. The office did not respond to interview requests from The Associated Press. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement to AP, said it was not aware of a crackdown on bookstores. Yu isn't alone in taking his business out of the country. Chinese bookstores have popped up in Japan, France, Netherlands and elsewhere in the U.S. in recent years, as a result of both stricter controls in China and growing Chinese communities abroad. It’s not just the books' contents that are making Chinese authorities wary. In many communities, bookstores are cultural centers where critical thinking is encouraged, and conversations can veer into politics and other topics not welcomed by the authorities. The bookstore owner who was arrested was Yuan Di, also called Yanyou, the founder of Jiazazhi, an artistic bookstore in Shanghai and Ningbo on China’s eastern coast. He was taken away by police in June, according to Zhou Youlieguo, who closed his own bookstore in Shanghai in September. Yuan's arrest was also confirmed by two other people who declined to be named for fear of retribution. The charge against Yuan is unclear. An official in Ningbo's Bureau of Culture, Radio Television and Tourism, which oversees bookstores, declined comment, noting the case is under investigation. The Ningbo police didn’t respond to an interview request. Michael Berry, director of UCLA's Center for Chinese Studies, said a sluggish Chinese economy may be driving the government to exert greater control. “The government might be feeling that this is a time to be more cautious and control this kind of discourse in terms of what people are consuming and reading to try to put a damper on any potential unrest and kind of nip it in the bud,” Berry said. These bookstore owners face dual pressures, Berry added. One is the political clampdown; the other is the global movement, especially among young people, toward digital media and away from print publications. Wang Yingxing sold secondhand books in Ningbo for almost two decades before being ordered to close in August. Local officials informed Wang he lacked a publication business license even though he wasn’t eligible to obtain one as a second-hand seller. Faded outlines marked the spot where a sign for Fatty Wang’s Bookstore once hung. Spray-painted black letters on the bookstore’s window read: “Temporarily closed”. “We’re promoting culture, I’m not doing anything wrong, right? I’m just selling some books and promoting culture,” Wang said, tying a bundle of books together with brown wrapper and white nylon string. “Then why won’t you leave me alone?” Wang added. Half a dozen other people heaved boxes of books into the back of a van. The books, Wang said, were being sold to cafe and bar owners who wanted to burnish little libraries for their patrons. Some would be sent to a warehouse in Anhui. The rest, he said, were to be sent to a recycling station to be pulped and destroyed. Bookstores are not the only target. Central authorities have also cracked down on other places such as printing shops, internet bars, gaming rooms and street vendors. Strict inspections have taken place all over the country, according to Chinese authorities. Authorities in Shanghai inspected printing places and bookstores, looking for “printing, copying or selling illegal publications,” according to a government document. This shows the authorities are not just barring the sale of some publications, but tracing them back to the printing process. They found some printing stores did not “register the copy content as required” and demanded they fix the problem quickly. In Shaoyang, a city in China’s south, authorities said they will be “cracking down on harmful publications in accordance with the law.” The Communist Party has various powers to control which books are available. Any publication without a China Standard Book Number is considered illegal, including self-published books and those imported without special licenses. Books can be banned even after they are published if restrictions are later tightened — often for unclear reasons — or if the writers say something upsetting to the Chinese authorities. Yet despite these restrictions and the crackdown on existing booksellers, more bookstores are opening. Recent figures are unavailable, but a survey by Bookdao, a media company that focuses on the book industry, shows more than twice as many bookstores opened than closed in China in 2020. Liu Suli, who has been running All Sages Books in Beijing for over three decades, says there are many idealists in the industry. “Everyone who reads has a dream of having a bookstore,” Liu says, despite the challenges. In many cases, those dreams are being fulfilled outside China. Yu and other Chinese booksellers around the world stock their shelves with books from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, as well as books published locally. Zhang Jieping, founder of Nowhere, a bookstore in Taiwan and Thailand, said there's a growing demand for books from migrants who left China after the COVID-19 pandemic. “They don’t just want to speak fluent English or Japanese to fit in, they want cultural autonomy,” Zhang said. “They want more community spaces. Not necessarily a bookstore, but in any format — a gallery, or a restaurant.” Li Yijia is a 22-year-old student who arrived in Washington from Beijing in August. One Sunday morning, she wandered through JF Books where she found titles in Chinese and English. She said a Chinese bookstore feels like “another world in a bubble” which helps her critical thinking by allowing her to read books in both languages. “It also relieves homesickness, like a Chinese restaurant,” Li added. The closure of the bookstores leads the owners to different paths. Some ended up in jail, some went looking for jobs to feed their families. Some started a journey to leave censorship behind. Since he closed his Shanghai bookstore, Zhou, 39, has moved to Los Angeles, but hasn't decided what his next step will be. He said his fully licensed independent bookstore, which sold art books and self-published works by artists and translators, was fined thousands of dollars and he was interrogated over a dozen times during the past four years. He's seen colleagues jailed for selling “illegal publications.” All the self-published book artists and editors he worked with asked him to take down their work after warnings by local authorities. Zhou said he could not handle further harassment He said it was as if he were “smuggling drugs instead of selling books.” The existence of his bookstore, Zhou said, was “a rebellion and a resistance,” which is not there anymore. Associated Press writer Dake Kang in Ningbo, China, contributed to this report.Uber Has Ranked 15 Aussie Cities From Best To Worst Riders So Let The Petty Fighting Begin
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Luka's home burglarized amid wave of break-insNoneFORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Josh Hoover threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and JP Richardson had 149 all-purpose yards and a 38-yard touchdown reception to lead TCU over Arizona 49-28 on Saturday. On the first play from scrimmage, Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita was intercepted by Bud Clark. TCU scored five plays later on Trent Battle’s 4-yard run. The Horned Frogs scored touchdowns on five straight drives, going at least 75 yards on nine or more plays on three of the possessions. TCU (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) drove 75 yards in 12 plays in the final 1:55 of the first half to take a 21-13 lead on Savion Williams’ 20-yard run. Hoover completed five passes on the drive, including gains of 24, 19, and 24 yards to set up Williams’ score with 20 seconds left in the half. The Horned Frogs took the second-half kickoff and drove 76 yards in nine plays to build a 28-13 lead on Battle’s 1-yard run. Richardson’s 33-yard punt return to the Arizona 34 set up a third touchdown in three possessions. He caught a short pass over the middle from Hoover and raced untouched 38 yards for the score and a 35-13 lead. Richardson led TCU with six catches for 107 yards. Four TCU running backs scored a touchdown, including Williams, who rushed for 80 yards and two scores. Battle also rushed for 28 yards and two scores. Fifita was 29 of 44 for 284 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Arizona (4-7, 2-6). Tetairoa McMillan made nine catches for 115 yards. Arizona defensive lineman Sterling Lane II picked up a fumble from TCU backup quarterback Ken Seals with just over a minute left in the game and ran it 70 yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring. Clark leads the Horned Frogs with three interceptions, including one in each of the past two games. He is tied for fifth-most in the Big 12. Arizona: The Wildcats, who started the season in the AP Top 25 poll, will not be bowl eligible this season with a game remaining under first-year coach Brent Brennan. A year ago under coach Jedd Fisch, who is now at Washington, Arizona advanced to the Alamo Bowl for the first time since 2017. TCU: The Horned Frogs, who became bowl eligible two weeks ago, won their third consecutive game at Amon Carter Stadium after losing two in a row to UCF and Houston. TCU has won four of its past five, the only blemish a 37-34 last-second loss at Baylor. TCU: At Cincinnati on Saturday. Arizona: Hosts Arizona State on Saturday. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
There are plenty of programmes that have built up a loyal following providing some great stories and characters, which then seem to just ruin all that has come before. Creating that investment and then shattering it for most of the viewers can undoubtedly be a devastating experience. It's what prompted the question on the r/AskReddit thread : "What’s a show that completely betrayed the audience at the end?" 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Disclaimer: Some spoilers from certain TV shows, including Dexter and House of Cards, can be found below What TV shows 'completely betrayed' their viewers at the end? One of the more obvious examples of recent times which received a fair few mentions in the comments was the final season of Game of Thrones. The adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels was extremely popular building up to its eighth and final season, which created a huge amount of disappointment or many. One person responded to the Reddit post, simply saying: "Kind of expected to say but Game of Thrones." Many agreed, as one posted: "It was one of the most popular shows in TV history and praised for its world building, multiple complex plot lines, stunning visuals and acting standards "But it ended up a laughing stock, feeling like a wet fart after a night of heavy drinking." document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() { iFrameResize({ }, '#exco-iframe-235896'); }, false); Another shared their disappointing experience watching the final season, saying: "My (then) partner and mother decided to join my dad and I in watching it in the final season. "I'll never forget sitting there every Sunday and ending each episode with, "It's usually better than this."" One that a lot of UK viewers might agree on is the final episode of BBC's Sherlock series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. A viewer simply stated: "BBC Sherlock. We don’t talk about Season 4." In response, someone joked: "What are you talking about? It ended with season 2 with that great ending. Right?" An answer that might be more surprising to some that was featured in the responses was The X Files. Despite being a cultural juggernaut of the 1990s, it couldn't maintain its power at the end and its revival in the mid-2010s came across as unnecessary to some viewers. One person wrote: "X Files. Brilliant show that should have wrapped up appropriately so they could go into the hall of fame. "Nope "And it could be fairly easy imo because the story can be literally f****** anything as long as it answers 2-3 questions satisfyingly." Another said: "Agreed. One of my foundational favourite shows. But the last seasons sucked a**." document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() { iFrameResize({ }, '#exco-iframe-238925'); }, false); Similar sentiments were shared by many, as one put: "When I first started watching, I thought it was all building to something absolutely sublime. Around Season 5, I realized that there was no plan for an ending." Dexter is another example of a hugely popular show that lost its way right at the end, which was an opinion shared by quite a few people. One wrote: "Dexter. After years of rooting for a lovable serial killer, he decided to become a lumberjack. No explanation. Just flannel and logs." Another shared: "Man, the whole Deb is in love with Dexter plot line was such a slap in the face." A third said: "I was looking for this. I loved Dexter but the ending was s****, he loved Deb so much and then just dumped her in the bay where he put all his victims." A favourite of the early Netflix era was also featured among the responses in House of Cards. The political thriller, which was an adaptation of the 1989 novel by Michael Dobbs and the 1990 British TV series, saw amoral politician Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) attempt to gain power in the US government. Not long after the fifth series was released Spacey faced several allegations of sexual misconduct which saw him removed from the show, with his character killed off. Recommended reading: The final series saw Frank's wife Claire (played by Robin Wright) take on the lead role, but some said he should have simply been recast to carry on the story. One person wrote: "House of Cards. Just f****** swap Spacey and move on. He's an actor not a character." Not everyone agreed though, as another said: "with who? let's be honest, that would've been way too jarring".Biden opens final White House holiday season with turkey pardons