title: How to print a unicode string in python in Windows console
body: <p>I'm working on a python application that can print text in multiple languages to the console in multiple platforms.
  The program works well on all UNIX platforms, but in windows there are errors printing unicode strings in command-line.</p>
  
  <p>There's already a relevant thread regarding this:
  ( <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/878972/windows-cmd-encoding-change-causes-python-crash">Windows cmd encoding change causes Python crash</a> )
  but I couldn't find my specific answer there.</p>
  
  <p>For example, for the following Asian text, in Linux, I can run:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; print u"\u5f15\u8d77\u7684\u6216".encode("utf-8")
  引起的或
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But in windows I get:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; print u"\u5f15\u8d77\u7684\u6216".encode("utf-8")
  σ╝ץΦ╡╖τתהµטצ
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I succeeded displaying the correct text with a message box when doing something like that:</p>
  
  <pre><code>&gt;&gt;&gt; file("bla.vbs", "w").write(u'MsgBox "\u5f15\u8d77\u7684\u6216", 4, "MyTitle"'.encode("utf-16"))
  &gt;&gt;&gt; os.system("cscript //U //NoLogo bla.vbs")
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But, I want to be able to do it in windows console, and preferably - without requiring too much configuration outside my python code (because my application will be distributed to many hosts).</p>
  
  <p>Is this possible?</p>
  
  <p><strong>Edit:</strong> If it's not possible - I would be happy to accept some other suggestions of writing a console application in windows that displays unicode, e.g. a python implementation of an alternative windows console</p>