Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Protest in Guangzhou: Why would you burn garbage?
Interview: Coco Zhao, from jazz to M. Butterfly
Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Week Around the Ists
Shanghaiist's left shoulder is a little sore right now. Why? We got injected with a flu vaccine today. For free. And we didn't have to wait in line. (And no, we didn't get the shot from this guy.) We'd tell you where we went to get this shot, but we figure you don't feel like driving to Pennsylvania.
Have no fear, Shanghai may be home to many a flu shot soon. The AP is reporting that Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group has contacted Roche about manufacturing Tamiflu -- thought to be the "best defense against a possible flu pandemic." This news gave those worried that global supplies would fall short a dose of hope. (Although everything Shanghaiist has read suggests the global supply will most definitely fall short.)
The AP story also tells us that the rush to make more Tamiflu has upped the price of Chinese star anise (八角 bājiǎo or "eight-horn") -- a spiky spice that most living in China have almost choked on at one time or another -- by 14 percent to 4 yuan per kilogram. It's a key ingredient in Tamiflu ... and should not be confused with Japanese star anise -- that stuff will kill you.
Also on Shanghaiist:
Sole Search: Bird flu cleaning Shanghai’s shoes
OK, now we’re worried about the bird flu
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When is this all set to end? Every single year will we start worrying about Bird 'Flu?
Do these things just fade out? I'm not too paranoid but I wonder what will the future be like if we are all pissing in our pants at this possible 'flu, and other merely possible ones.
hey, did you guys notice that blogspot is accessable in china now?
As far as I know, Blogspot was unblocked in all of China, then quickly re-blocked in Shanghai a few hours later. Reports from Beijing say that it (and the Google cache, and Wikipedia) are still accesible in the capital.
Fear of bird flu will come and go, but fear itself is here to stay. It's a mass hysteria phenomenon : if one fear goes away (remember Y2K?) another one will takes its place.
I thought Tamiflu is made as pills just like I have in my drawer.