Frank Langfitt

China Builds Museums ... But Will The Visitors Come?

Frank Langfitt — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Shanghai did something last fall that few other cities on the planet could have even considered. It opened two massive art museums right across the river from one another on the same day.

The grand openings put an exclamation point on China's staggering museum building boom.

Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa

Frank Langfitt — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:05:00 +0000

Africa is facing a growing epidemic: the slaughter of rhinos.

So far this year, South Africa has lost more than 290 rhinos — an average of at least two a day. That puts the country on track to set yet another record after poachers killed 668 rhinos in 2012.

Behind the rise in killings are international criminal syndicates and global economic change.

Rat 'Mutton' And Bird Flu: Strange Days For Meat Eaters In Shanghai

Frank Langfitt — Wed, 08 May 2013 06:50:00 +0000

The past couple of months have been unsettling ones for meat eaters in Shanghai.

In March, more than 16,000 dead pigs showed up in a stretch of the Huangpu River — a main source of the city's drinking water.

Local officials insisted both the water and the city's pork supply were safe, but they never explained exactly how the pigs died or how they ended up in the river.

These Days, More And More Chinese Have Driven A Ford Lately

Frank Langfitt — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:25:00 +0000

General Motors has been the American car company in China. Even when GM was in bankruptcy, the Chinese continued to view Buick as a high-status, luxury brand.

But now Ford, an also-ran in the market for years, is making a push to change all that.

Will Lightning Strike Twice For K-Pop's PSY?

Frank Langfitt — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:13:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASO_zypdnsQ

A Symbol Of Korean Cooperation Becomes A Political Casualty

Frank Langfitt — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:51:00 +0000

This week, North Korea closed off the last avenue of economic cooperation with its rival, South Korea. Pyongyang says the closing of Kaesong — a joint North-South industrial complex — is temporary.

But the move is a big symbolic blow on the Korean peninsula and a potential disaster for some of the South Korean businesses that have invested there.

Take Tiger Park, for instance.

A View From South Korea: The North Is 'A Playground Bully'

Frank Langfitt — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:53:00 +0000

Nearly two decades ago, a North Korean official threatened to turn Seoul into a "Sea of Fire." South Koreans responded by cleaning out the shelves of supermarkets and preparing for an attack that never came.

On Tuesday, North Korea urged tourists and foreign companies to leave South Korea for their own safety, saying the two countries are on the eve of a nuclear war.

But this time, as a story on a rural uprising. This does not come naturally. I'm 6-foot-2 with gray hair and blue eyes and don't look remotely like a Chinese farmer.

The village in question is called Shangpu. It's in south China, and farmers there have barricaded their community and are demanding free elections.