Extra! Extra! Dis-respecting your elders, Karoshi and Zhongwen

• Respect for elders is a traditional Confucian principle, but according to these photographs, it is apparently dead in Shanghai. Wow. (But are we supposed to give up our seats to elderly beggars?)
• The Japanese call it Karoshi, and it seems that death from over-working is taking China by storm. There is no statement to the age of this victim, who died after working continously for 21 hours.
• Yao Ming has complained about the China Basketball Association's (CBA) decision to cut the domestic league season by a third to allow the national team to prepare for the Asian Games, which open in Doha on December 1. "We will pay for that. It is like killing the hen to get the eggs," the 7ft 5in NBA All-star told the China Daily.
• In Beijing, Google has opened its posh new headquarters. Do you think they keep xiaojies on staff?
• Contrary to the traditional preference for white skin, tanning salons are taking-off in China. Historically, white skin has been regarded as sign of elevated social ranking while dark skin was the hallmark of field laborers. But don't mistake this for peasant-chic: Monthly tanning regimens cost up to 2,000 RMB.
• Xinhua News Agency, the official mouthpiece for China's Communist Party, is getting a boost from the Beijing government in its quest to become an international media power. New rules that Xinhua issued Sunday in the name of China's Cabinet appear designed to shut out foreign news agencies such as The Associated Press and Reuters Group PLC. Shanghaiist would like to know: How do you get a contract like that? Oh, that's right.
• Der Spiegel is running a series of photos showing-off some of the Shanghai scenes that your average expat tends to take for granted.
• Chinese language is gaining ground in American schools, where 30,000 to 50,000 are now studying the language. Although 90 percent of American foreign students still choose Spanish, German or French, demand for Chinese is growing with the College Board debuting AP Mandarin this year. There is also growing demand for Chinese au pairs from American parents who wish to give their children a head-start in the language.
• Chinese actress "Xiao Qiong" blogged in SINA about how a CCTV director named "Lao Chao" asked her to trade sex for playing a role in a CCTV show, and "Lao Chao" refuted vehemently in his SINA blog. And Meng Guangmei says that CCTV doesn't pay well!
• The Taipei Times is running a story about Teach-English-in-China nightmares in which teachers are held captive, extorted, housed in miserable conditions, and otherwise exploited. In one instance, Darren Russell, a 35 year old Californian seems to have been murdered.
• Evidently, boobies were on display at La Fabrique's bikini competition last Saturday. And she got 1,000 kuai for it!
• Textile quota restrictions have gone into effect and resulted in a sharp decline in the growth rate of Chinese goods exported to the US and EU over the same period last year. Simultaneously, trade in the other direction, from the US and EU to China, has grown rapidly.

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