News You Might Have Missed: Studs on the Subway, Apple Updates and More Malls

Recent reports on Beijing seem to raise more questions than they answer: Is there really a shortage of good-looking men? What date is the iPad 2 arriving? Do we really need another massive mall? And have we finally gotten closure on a 2011 Forbidden City robbery?

It seems there are no handsome men on Beijing’s subway. Taking a cue from Tubecrush.net, Douban.com tried to get people to submit photos of cute guys on the subway. When those pics didn’t start pouring in, they switched the request from "hot" to "horrid." They response was amazing: tons of photos of spitting, nose-picking and other uncouth behaviors. Were netizens just not interested in spotting the hotties or are there really no attractive men taking public transportation in Beijing? If they had caught the Beijinger’s own Peking Man (and subway advice-giver) on the rails, perhaps the story would have turned out a bit differently.

Now that all the egg has been cleaned off the Apple store (remember the recent iPhone launch?), thoughts have shifted to wondering when the newly released iPad will be coming. If authorities are correct, it may be within a month. The tablet has received the necessary permission to be sold and with the iPad trademark case still in court there’s nothing stopping the arrival.

In other Apple news, Tim Cook is making quite a splash as the first Apple CEO to visit China. He was spotted at the Xidan Apple store and has since moved south to factories that assemble the iProducts. Is this personal attention a sign that Apple products will be launched in China sooner? We're tired of waiting months to get the goods while our friends back home enjoy the most updated models.

While Sanlitun Soho stands nearly empty and Parkview Green's opening is more than a year behind schedule, Beijing has plans for even more malls. The Great Mall of China is currently under construction out near the airport. (Not to be confused with Jinyuan Yansha or The Great Mall on Chaoyang Lu, both occasionally referred to by the same moniker). When the PEK-adjacent behemoth opens next year, expect to find more than just shopping. The center will also include a theme park, water park and the world’s tallest indoor roller coaster. This all sounds terribly familiar to a Dongguan shopping center which pulled out all the bells and whistles only to remain uninhabited and without any shoppers.

A Forbidden City theft that caught our eye last May has reached its conclusion. The guilty party has been convicted to 13 years in prison and fined RMB 13,000. Seeing that all previous Forbidden City robbers were either given life imprisonment or the death penalty, it seems that the 28-year old farmer got off easy.

Photos: tubecrush.net, Jesse Gelle, berjaya.com, dailymail.co.uk