A hilarious video of popular Chengdu "cop-reality" TV program Tan's Traffic Talk Show with English subtitles by the To Rise From Ashes blog. In it, teasing traffic policeman Tan lectures a 'feizhuliu' hairdresser on hair styles and road safety. The blog also explains key cultural terms. Viewing the blog requires a proxy, but you can see it on Tudou here.

Residents in Kunming protest the death of a tricycle driver at the hands of chengguan, the "city management" law enforcers. Translation and the usual comments railing against chengguan at ChinaSMACK.

After the black-Asian Oriental Angel Lou Jing controversy, China Sports Today clears up misinformation about African-Chinese volleyball player Ding Hui and underscores sport's potential as an avenue to greater tolerance toward mixed-heritage Chinese.

Peking University student Tom shares his and his classmates' thoughts on China's growing role as a "responsible stakeholder" in international affairs over at Six blog.

China Beat looks at how the writings of Lu Xun, hugely influential author, essayist, poet, editor and critic and textbook staple in Chinese schools, have been appropriated and over-simplified by the Communist Party.

Mao statues tend to feature the great helmsman hailing a taxi in a long overcoat, as at Tianfu Square, but it doesn't have to be so. Danwei reports on a new, youthful, long-locked Mao statue in Changsha, capital of his native Hunan province.

And have you ever wondered what a sex festival is like in China? Adam Minter from Shanghai Scrap stumbles upon one in Guangzhou and calls it a "seriously cold shower."

Fran likes surfing the China blogosphere, and every Sunday she shares her picks of the week with GoKunming readers.

Forbes China's newest rankings of the top 100 mainland Chinese cities for doing business suggest that as a business destination, Kunming and western China lag behind much of the rest of China but are starting to catch up.

This year Kunming was rated China's 60th-best city for doing business by Forbes. The ranking may not be impressive in itself, but Kunming was one of the fastest-rising cities in the list, jumping 37 places from its previous ranking of 97.

Not surprisingly, Forbes ranked Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen the top three mainland cities for doing business. Provinces with the most cities on Forbes' list include Jiangsu, which has 16 cities on the list, and Zhejiang and Shandong, which have 14 cities each.

What may be surprising to some, this year's rankings – the sixth time the magazine has published the list – suggest an increasing level of competition between Chinese cities. They also reflect the rising economic clout of China's central and western regions vis-à-vis the country's coast, where external demand and investment, which have contracted during the global recession, play a bigger role in local economies.

All major economic hubs in central China moved up in the Forbes rankings this year, including number 14 Wuhan (up 19 places), number 25 Zhengzhou (up 37), number 28 Changsha (up eight), number 61 Nanchang (up two) and number 62 Taiyuan, which made its first appearance on the list.

The once laggard region of western China has also been rising in economic importance. Remaining at number 12, Chengdu leads the way for western Chinese cities including number 24 Chongqing, number 31 Xi'an and Kunming. Three western cities made their debut on the list, with Nanning – Kunming's major rival for Southeast Asian markets – entering at the 54 spot, Guiyang at number 92 and Lanzhou at 93.

Since playing their first gig two years ago in Lijiang at the Snow Mountain Music Festival, Kunming-based band The Tribal Moons has become one of the pillars of the city's live music community. Sometimes playing as long as three hours, the band is known as much for its stamina as it is for raucous performances in which its members frequently switch instruments and roles.

The current incarnation of the Tribal Moons consists of John Nevada (US – guitar, trumpet, vocals), Da Ma Ke (Ireland – bass, guitar, vocals), JP Tremblay (Quebec, Canada – guitar, harmonica, bass, vocals) and Ma Tu (Kunming – drums, guitar, vocals). The fifth Moon, Jacques LeBlanc, is currently somewhere in North America but will return later this year.

GoKunming sat down with the Tribal Moons after practice in a smoky corner of a Wenlin Jie bar earlier this week to find out more about what makes the band tick, plus what to expect at this weekend's Dali Rock Festival, where they will be the headline act.

GoKunming: For people who haven't heard your music, how would you describe it?

Da Ma Ke: Rock.

GK: What makes the Tribal Moons different from other bands?

JP: We're all different ages and from different places, so we have something for everyone – local kids love Ma Tu and the grannies love John.
John: This is a jingjiu band, not a baijiu band.

GK: You've toured extensively in Yunnan and southern China over the last two years, what have been some of your favorite places to play?

JP: We played a bikini contest at Club Nice in Kundu once, it wasn't the best show, but it was the best aftershow.
Ma Tu: We played a show in Deqin where we had to take a thousand kilograms of equipment up a mountain in a bus… that was fun.
Da Ma Ke: Those amps didn't make it back.
John: The Snow Mountain Festival two years ago – it really had the flavor of a festival… The Little Bar in Chengdu has the best sound… Playing the Jah Bar in Chengdu is serious fucking fun.

GK: What's the strangest thing that's ever happened while touring that we can write about in this interview?

Ma Tu: When we were in Changsha, the taxi drove off with our bass… then some guy just gave us his bass.

GK: You're headlining the Dali Rock Festival this weekend and have played extensively in Dali before – what's the best thing about playing in Dali?

Da Ma Ke: Everyone knows what's good about going to Dali…
Ma Tu: The sun.
John: Every time we go to Dali there's a fucking kickass party.
Da Ma Ke: Lunatics.

GK: What's it like playing gigs around China as a foreigner?

Da Ma Ke: It's good to play, we don't care where.

GK: Ma Tu, what's it like to play with this particular group of laowai?

Ma Tu: They know how to play. Before I used to play with classmates and we didn't know how to play the music we wanted to play.

GK: Your shows are mostly original material – who writes your songs?

John: I write, Da Ma Ke writes, JP writes… so does Jacques LeBlanc.
Ma Tu: I write all the drum beats.

GK: How long is the average Tribal Moons show?
JP: We play anywhere between an hour and three and a half hours.
John: We're a mad band – we play a lot of music.
JP: I like the power sets.
John: The kids like the sprint – I like the marathon!

GK: What should concertgoers expect from your shows this weekend?

John: Friday and Saturday we'll play different sets – Friday will be a rock set, Saturday will be more varied. It'll almost all be original material.

Tribal Moons will play this weekend's Dali Rock Festival beginning at 10:00 on Friday night and 8:00 Saturday night. Da Ma Ke will also be a featured DJ. For information on booking the Tribal Moons, contact manager Brian K at 15925216452.

Kunming Airlines (昆明航空公司) will launch its maiden flight on February 15, flying from Kunming to Changsha and on to Harbin, according to an announcement by majority shareholder Shenzhen Airlines yesterday.

The new airline, which was originally expected to start operations last month, is aiming to increase connections between Yunnan and China's second-tier cities as well as increasing air connectivity between Kunming and Southeast Asia. Tickets for flights on Kunming Airlines (code: KY) are now on sale nationwide.

Shenzhen Airlines owns 80 percent of the new airline, for which it has provided two B737-700 and one B737-800 aircraft plus 30 pilots and 26 flight attendants.

According to Kunming Airlines' development plan, the airline will spend the next three years adding to its fleet of aircraft and building an extensive flight network within Yunnan, as well as adding routes to provincial capitals around the country.

The airline's chief rival within Yunnan is China Eastern Airlines' Yunnan subsidiary which recently split with its Shanghai-based parent company after a tough year in Yunnan last year which saw mid-air protests by pilots followed by harsh punishment from aviation regulator Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

A feasibility study is underway for a new high-speed rail line between Shanghai and Kunming, construction of which is expected to begin in 2009, according to Kunming media reports.

The new rail line, which is scheduled to be completed in 2015 – around the same time that the rail network linking Kunming and Singapore is hoped to be completed – will shorten the travel time between Shanghai and Kunming from 37 hours to less than nine hours.

The Shanghai-Kunming passenger line (沪昆客运专线) will connect Shanghai and Kunming via the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan, passing through the major cities of Hangzhou, Nanchang and Changsha. Its target speed is reportedly 350 km/hr – compare to France's TGV and Japan's Shinkansen aka 'Bullet Train' which currently operate at 320 and 300 km/hr, respectively.

The cross-country line is part of a nationwide rail upgrade that has allocated 500 million yuan (US$73.2 million) in funds for Yunnan province alone.

According to China Rail Ministry plans, Yunnan will not only be on the receiving end of improved rail connectivity with central and eastern China over the next six to seven years, it will also improve its regional and internal rail network. Kunming Rail Ministry officials told local media that the following projects have also been approved:

• Lijiang to Shangri-la (Zhongdian): schedule yet to be made public

• Yunnan to Guilin – construction to start next year and finish in 2015

• A rail line around Dianchi Lake: scheduled for completion in 2010

• Guangtong to Dali: schedule yet to be made public

• Kunming to Yuxi: construction to start next year and finish in 2015