I can’t recommend strongly enough a visit to Le Monde’s China photo blog for some of the most captivating images being taken of the contemporary PRC (click image for link):

The young man above, at right, describes to the photographer how he had been working 12-hour days for 2000 RMB per month, and is glad to be working as an extra in the film studio.  Unfortunately, there is no room/board given to the extras, many of whom end up spending the night dozing in nearby internet cafes or fast-food joints:

Then, on the Korean side of things, the always-worthwhile Madang has some wonderful photos of celebrating New Year in rural Korea:

Finally, via Liberation’s photos of the week and some reporting from Der Spiegel, it becomes apparent that the Danes are shipping nothing less than their national emblem to Shanghai for the duration of the 2010 Expo.  What would Hans Christian Anderson say?