Just weeks after China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television halted production of time traveling TV shows (穿越剧, chuānyuè jù), comes the announcement that crime dramas, spy thrillers and romances are fading to black too. Well, at least for the next three months, according to AFP.

Why?

The faithful in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are celebrating the birthday of the Buddha today. This year's celebration marks the Buddha's 2,633rd birthday. In Hong Kong, Buddha's birthday is a public holiday and statues of the Buddha are often bathed in honor of his birthday.

Revelers in China and Taiwan also mark the day by bathing statues of the baby Buddha. Buddha's birthday is also celebrated in other parts of the world though the celebration date varies by country.

Comment in the Chinese Culture Forum. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter and Friend me on Facebook.

One Taiwanese newlywed couple has Plurk to thank for their special wedding day. Not only did the Taiwanese microblogging website serve as matchmaker for the Plurk couple, who met online in 2008, but it also was responsible for most of the guests at the couple's wedding reception in Taipei, according to the Taipei Times.

Plurkers 'Lavender Sea' and 'Gil' were married in Okinawa, Japan on March 11, the same day a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. The couple, who are known by their Internet names, hosted a wedding banquet last weekend in Taipei. The couple didn't know many of the real names of their wedding guests nor had they ever met some of the guests in person.

As Taiwan readies for its 2012 presidential election, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officially announced Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) as its candidate for the 2012 presidential election. Tsai will challenge incumbent president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).

Tsai won a narrow victory over former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) in the DPP's revised presidential primary system, which uses nation-wide opinion surveys instead of elections to determine the nominee. The 2012 election will be the first time the legislative and presidential elections are held simultaneously.