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  • 22
    Jan
    2013
    6:59am, EST

    Eyelid-weightlifting raises eyebrows in China

    China Daily via Reuters

    Wang Xianxiang carries two buckets of water with his eyelids during a provincial festival for migrant workers in Shaodong County, Hunan province, Saturday.

    By Ed Flanagan, Producer, NBC News

    BEIJING – Wang Xianxiang’s talent is an eyeful.

    The 42-year-old fireworks maker from the central Chinese province of Hunan was photographed last weekend performing his signature trick: Suspending two water buckets with a combined weight of 9 pounds on plastic hangers hooked to his eyelids for a minute.

    China Daily via Reuters

    Wang says he is hoping to increase the amount of weight he can carry with his eyelids.

    Wang entertained local migrant workers at a provincial festival near his hometown of Liuyang Saturday.

    “When I first started it was extremely painful,” Wang told NBC News about his unique talent, “but after a lot of practice it’s just uncomfortable today.”

    Among other talents he’s developed for the show? Having two men wrap a metal wire tightly around his neck while he talks to the audience, which he says has been in the thousands.

    Wang, who is married with two children, said he has been doing his eyelid trick for five to six years and started doing it purely out of boredom. 

    But as he increased the weight on his eyelids, he started to train – practicing for 30 minutes each morning and two hours at night. 

    Wang’s family initially frowned upon his hobby, but slowly came around as his stature grew within the community.

    When asked what his aspirations for the future were, Wang kept it simple. “I can currently hold 4.5 pounds on each eyelid, I’d like to push that to 11 pounds per eyelid.”

    He was optimistic that he could accomplish that eye-popping feat by the end of the year.

    NBC News’ Le Li contributed to this report.

    32 comments

    3 billion people and this is the best they can come up with.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: china, weightlifting, asia-pacific, featured, eyelids, ed-flanagan, wang-xianxiang
  • 17
    Apr
    2012
    5:28pm, EDT

    Despite launch failure, North Korea celebrates military-style

    By Ed Flanagan, NBC News

    Ed Flanagan/NBC News

    At a massive military march in Pyongyang, North Korea on April 15, it was noted a number of times that the female soldiers actually seemed to march straighter and cleaner than the male columns. Their shrill shout to attention always caused you to focus on them, regardless of what you were doing at the time.

    BEIJING – After more than a week in Pyongyang to cover what ended up being North Korea’s failed missile launch, the NBC News team that was covering the story – Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, producer Ed Flanagan and cameraman David Lom – have left the reclusive country.

    But they still had some photos to share from the various patriotic events they were taken to by their North Korean minders as part of the foreign press corps.


     

    Ed Flanagan/ NBC News

    The rows and rows of soldiers in the bleachers at a mass meeting of soldiers from North Korea's armed services in Pyongyang on April 14 was a spectacle that showed off North Korea's military might and unity behind its new leader, Kim Jong-un.

    From the unveiling of massive 50-foot-tall statues of former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Il-Jong to a large military parade, to regular North Koreans snapping family photos, see some of the team’s photos of North Korean pageantry below.

     

    Ed Flanagan/NBC News

    We saw this little girl being fussed over by her father before a family photo next to a monument on Reunification Street in Pyongyang, North Korea on April 16. The girl later erupted into laughter when cameraman David Lom stuck the videocamera in her face.

     

    David Lom/NBC News

    'Festooned with medals' was how NBC's Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel described the military officers at the massive military rally in Pyongyang o April 14.

    Click here to see another view of the military parade in Pyongyang on April 15 - what it looked like from outer space. It was so big that columns of soldiers could be seen from a satellite photo.

     

    Ed Flanagan/ NBC News

    At 50 feet tall and made of bronze, the two statues of North Korea's former leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-il were colossal. Bathed in the dusk light when they were unveiled in Pyongyang, North Korea on April 13, 2012, they were quite simply a sight to see.

    Ed Flanagan/ NBC News

    When the last military vehicle finished rolling by during the massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 15, adoring civilians pushed through to the edge of the square, cheering for new leader Kim Jong-Un and waving flower wreathes.

    Ed Flanagan/ NBC News

    To our surprise and pleasure, when we arrived at the banks of the Taedong River in Pyongyang for the start of the fireworks display planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of President Kim Il-Sung on April 15 we found thousands of civilians waiting for the event to start. It was a rare chance for NBC's David Lom to get shots of North Koreans from outside a bus window.

    See more striking pictures from North Korea in PhotoBlog.


    And a slideshow: North Korea continues celebrations after failed missile  

    8 comments

    It is very disheartening to see the world we live in today in so much turmoil and war. Did you know that Isaiah 2:4 says “And he will certainly render judgment among the nations and set matters straight respecting many peoples. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their  …

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    Explore related topics: military, north-korea, featured, pyongyang, parades, ed-flanagan

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