What's New in China: July 5

What's New is a recurring column that looks at the new films, music, books and DVD releases in and/or about Chinese mainland

Film: Cold War 2

After sweeping the 2012 Hong Kong Film Awards and ruling the box office, this star-studded sequel to the crime thriller will open across 27 countries. Chow-Yun Fat joins fellow Hong Kong Film Award winners Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai for the first time in this sequel that centers around the rotten inner-workings of Hong Kong’s political ecosystem. Opens nationwide on July 8.

Music: Wootacc & Marukao - 朝酒丸舞

Born and raised in the North Korean bordering town of Jilin where he thrived in its surprisingly vibrant beatboxing community, the Beijing based rhymer Wootacc follows his excellent 2014 disc Maiden Voyage with this EP teaming him with rising Beijing producer Marukao. To celebrate the release, the duo will perform on July 8 in Beijing at fruityspace. It's the first release of the year for Groove Bunny - which has been described as "China's Stones Throw." However, label boss Endy is promising there's more to come with Wootacc teaming with Guangzhou rhymer Chill-ho on a joint album with producer Pete Chen who is moving away from his soulful Golden Age hip hop beats. Available at Groove Bunny's Bandcamp. For more, check out our feature on Wootacc.

Music: Little Monster/Negro Leo - Split 7"

The gloriously noisy Shanghai duo of Pairs' F and Dirty Fingers' Ale Amazon celebrate their upcoming Latin America tour with this Genjing Records release with Brazil underground icon Negro Leo. Despite being continents apart, the 7" split release is united by its love of distortion, snotty lyrics and overall embrace of the anything goes philosophy of 80s indie icons like the Minutemen. Available at Genjing Records' Bandcamp. For more, check out our interview with Ale Amazon.

TV: WWE Raw

The WWE is making its first trip to China in four years bringing a live show to Mercedes-Benz Arena on September 10. The show is just a part of their China invasion, which includes their first signing of a Mainland professional wrestler and an exclusive deal with PPTV to bring their flagship programs Raw and Smackdown to the streaming service live and with Mandarin translation. Streams live with old episodes accessible on PPTV.

TV: Turn - Washington's Spies

The Fourth of July may have passed but you can relive America’s action movie-esque pursuit of independence in this AMC created period drama based on an American spy ring looking to turn the tide against the British in 1776. Turn: Washington’s Spies focuses on a group of farmers turned spies. While the characters are real, the show takes considerable liberties with the history for maximum entertainment. First episode streamable at Le Eco with new episodes uploaded weekly.

For past What's New columns, click here.

Have a tip about a new release? Get in touch at arts@urbanatomy.com with the subject 'What's New.'