Christmas behind bars in Shanghai

A group of 98 prisoners from the United States, Singapore, India, Nigeria and elsewhere celebrated Christmas by performing Chinese folk songs, yoga and magic tricks at a party organised by the Qingpu Prison Wednesday night. A special Christmas Eve dinner was also prepared for inmates comprising of roast mutton, chicken, potatoes and pizza. According to Shanghai Daily, all foreigners in prisons "are treated almost the same as their Chinese counterparts". In the same breath though, it adds that foreign prisoners enjoy "international living standards" in line with prisoner rights regulations prescribed by the UN, including daily showers, sports facilities and medical services. In case you're wondering about living conditions in there, each ward comes equipped with a showera and houses about ten inmates. Email access is provided so prisoners can keep in touch with their family. They also get to watch English TV news and read approved publications, and if they have enough money, they can even purchase portable radio sets and international calling cards for their own use. And just to make sure inmates don't get too bored in there, they are taught to make handicrafts and given Chinese lessons.