Not this weekend, but much of the time, Chengdu can be a frustrating city for photographers - bleached, overcast skies and no shadows can make it hard to give a scene texture or the right light. On the other hand, sometimes it can make for some seriously artistic shots; many of the shots in this set of high-contrast, black-and-white images of China show you how to use the mist to your advantage (hat tip to HaoHao Report).

Light entertainment: This sweet video of the dancing policeman has become popular online, with people already calling him the police's MJ.

The guys from Portrait of a LBX (laobaixing) continue their epic bike ride across China, mixing with the locals while blogging their trip; they've recently arrived in Yunnan and spent a while in the land of the Hani people around Yuanyang, who impressed them with their load-carrying and traditional clothes. Also of interest recently is this post about their experiences in Yunnan's Muslim capital Shadian, soon to be the site of the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

Elsewhere in Yunnan, Kunming authorities have caused a storm with new headache-inducing regulations about residence permits and living and working in the city—applicable only to Chinese citizens. You can see a full translation of the regulation and comments on Veggie Discourse (that is, if you can get around the GFW [insert evil laughter]).

Finally, ChinaSMACK this week features an amusing "hall of shame" of upcoming Super Boy contestants; it seems not a few wannabe stars have taken note of Chengdu transvestite Liu Zhu's success and decided to dress up as women. And those are the least, erm, noteworthy. Check it out for a giggle.

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