• We've seen a lot of hotties selling cars - but never have they been male, until now. In Guangzhou. [WSJ]
• Charles Darwin is popular in China! Though he never set foot in the country, his theory has deeply influenced China's social and natural sciences, political thoughts and life philosophy. [Beijing Review]
• Everyone wants the Chinese to buy more, but despite fistfuls of initiatives to boost consumer spending... nothing. Why? [New Yorker]

It looks like those female army officers goosestepping in hot pink miniskirts at the 60th Anniversary bash were a sign of things to come. As always seems to be the case with gender equality in China, the PLA's recent step forward (the country's first female fighter pilots) was just preparation to take two steps back. Witness: women trying to enter the army now must prove that they have "talents." more ›

If you've ever wondered why Zhejiang has a penchant for drawing successful businessmen from its ranks, then you probably won't be surprised to know of the "22 Rules for Zhejiang Businessmen." Of course, it's a little seedier than what you'd find in business ethics books, but it seems to be pretty spot on from what we know of Zhejiang businessmen and their practices: Jiaren.com lovingly calls them the "Jews of the Orient," which we guess is a compliment? more ›

We find a lot of interesting things in our daily romps around the internet. Some of them are more exiting than others, but the ones that really get us pumped are interesting Chinese language blogs. We usually just browse through sites like nciku or ChinaSmack's glossary for kicks, and we've certainly enjoyed the literal translations of Chinese phrases from Those Crazy Chinese, but we hadn't realized that Shanghai Daily has it's own word blog until recently. Check out some of their pretty great content: more ›

• What is it with Slate columnists and inane articles about this country? First Daniel Gross of Slate can't find a chocolate bar in China, and now somebody's tricked him into writing an entire article based on Tiananmen slogans that were never there.
• East South West North picks the top ten Hollywood movies that suck up to China. Of course, 2012 makes top pick with its theme of the People's Liberation Army saving the world, but how did you feel about Dragonball Evolution's surprising Chinese twists?
• Alibaba, China's internet service for busineses to find and sell to each other has 45 million registered users and a market cap of over $17 billion. Forbes talks to the man behind the magic, David Wei.

Yesterday morning at 8:12am, a Zimbabwe-registered cargo plane crashed on takeoff at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, killing three of its crew and injuring four. The plane, which was bound for Kyrgyzstan, caught fire shortly after lifting off the runway. more ›

• Just in time for Christmas: Australians have been warned against buying cheap, discounted Chinese-made toys, as authorities have already seized 5000 units with excessive levels of lead. [Herald Sun]
• Xi Jinping, president of the Central Party School, encourages a revamped look at Marxism. This is not isolated nostalgia, explains Francesco Sisci, especially in the wake of apparent Capitalism fail (i.e. the recession). [Asia Times]
• Five church leaders, accused of "illegal land occupation" and "assembling a crowd to disrupt public order," have been sentenced to prison for up to seven years. [Associated Press]

When the Expo people first revealed Haibao, we were less than pleased. Then the Australian mascot came along and we thought to ourselves, well at least we're not that obvious. Then the Taiwanese mascot made its appearance and we were thankful that at least Shanghai wasn't being represented by something that looked like crap. Literally. But this new Singaporean mascot? It actually makes us happy that Haibao's ours. more ›

• Speak2Me, an online English language learning community, has made an agreement to create a language training program for the 80,000 plus Expo volunteers and guides that will be working this May. It would be scary interesting to have loads of volunteers running around speaking like the Speak2Me virtual teacher. [CNNMoney]
• All Roads Lead to China has some ideas about making the People's Square Station less of a hell for commuters. For instance: more maps. [All Roads Lead to China]
• Shanghai's Disneyland has been downsized from 400 hectares to 116 hectares, the smallest Disney park in the world. We've all been a bit schizophrenic reporting Shanghai's Disneyland: plans seem to change faster than you can say mǐ lǎo shǔ (yup, that's Mickey Mouse in Chinese). [ChinaDaily]
• Need something to read? Next time before you plough down to Garden Books check out Urbanatomy's web exclusives featuring authors. The feature is a great insight into the minds of contemporary writers writing about Chinese culture. Their latest is features Nicole Mones, author of The Last Chinese Chef. [Urbanatomy]

• A car in Shuijing was pasted with the slogan "The head of the Public Security Bureau is my father, I can commit murder and arson without fear!" in an attempt to attract attention to a murder case in the driver's hometown. [ChinaSmack]
• One columnist discusses the differences between Russia and China in terms of business and corporate governance... and China comes out on top. That makes us feel bad for Russia. [The Moscow Times]
• Speaking of regulatory policy, here's a couple of signs of things to come... kind of, since it's really hard to figure out what's to come even when you're listening to everything the government's saying. [WSJ]

What's the best investment you could possibly have made with your money this year? We'll give you some hints: you probably like your broccoli sauteed in it, vampires can't stand it, and you should avoid eating it before a first date. Of course, we're talking about...garlic! Yep, the plant of the year in China has seen its value increase exponentially: one kilo of garlic is now worth over 6 yuan wholesale, up 286 percent since March. more ›

It's a very significant day in science for China: the first genetic map of the Han Chinese has been published by the American Journal of Human Genetics. The study was conducted at the Genome Institue of Singapore, and draws from 8,200 DNA samples from ethnically Han Chinese all over China and in Singapore. more ›

Here's some good news for people like Princess Phoenix and all the others in China who've ever felt like they were born the wrong gender, the Ministry of Health has released new guidelines for sex change operations. more ›

Last night's Shanghaiist Scrabble was full of warmhearted, frenetic spelling: players scrambled to push their way to the board to capture coveted double letter and triple word scores as others sat with old friends and new Scrabblemates, drinking and trying to think of words that could possibly combine two F's and a Q. In the end, Liz managed to blow away the competition with "PSEUDONYM," catching the elusive and coveted Quadruple Word Score, a Shanghaiist Scrabble exclusive, for a whopping 76 points. Congrats to Liz on winning a 250 RMB gift certificate to Cotton's, which, of course, you can use at the next Shanghaiist Scrabble night! more ›

The World Health Organization and the Joint United Nations HIV/AIDS campaign, or UNAIDS for short (good acronym, right?), was formally released yesterday for the first time in China. Though the report only shows cases reported by medical facilities and could thus be far higher, the dissemination is a major step in understanding and fighting AIDS in the country. more ›

Asia Uncut is coming to Shanghai to film its second season. The English-language talk show has featured A-list talent from Asia and abroad. To promote its new season the show is offering free drinks, tickets, and transportation. Free stuff and a chance to see celebrities? Sounds good to us! [Urbanatomy] more ›

• Renowned Chinese translator Yang Xianyi has died at the age of 94. Yang, with his wife Gladys Taylor, translated such classics as the 18th century "A Dream of Red Mansions." [Associated Press]
• According to a poll on the Economist, 88% of people believe that China is showing more leadership than America in fighting climate change. [Economist]
• While David Brooks may have been impressed by China's strides into modernity, several New York Times readers were much less pleased. [New York Times]

Driving home late at night can be a scary experience: as drunk driving is on the rise, we find ourselves wondering: are those erratic cars weaving through traffic all drunk, or just reckless drivers? But fear not: Shanghai Daily informs us of a new invention in the works at Shanghai's Jiao Tong University that will help Shanghai's crackdown on drunk driving. more ›

Okay, let's get a few things straight. We love happy hours: you love happy hours. We love Cotton's: you love Cotton's. We love Scrabble: you love Scrabble, but probably not as much as we do. If we're off on any of that, you can take it up with us tonight as we spend the evening combining all three at our very own Shanghaiist Scrabble @ Cotton's! more ›

Yesterday's protest against a plan to build a garbage burning plant in the city of Panyu has sparked a lot of interest all over the internet. A fair amount of people showed up, and it seems like Sina has given a pretty optimistic writeup of the town hall event that sparked the protest. Mostly, though, this whole affair has piqued our interest in how the internet has integrated itself into the protests. more ›

• In one of the most hilarious pieces of news to hit the weekend, customs officials in Los Angeles stopped a shipment from China that was listed as Christmas ornaments but turned out to be... $2.6 million worth of bongs and pipes. Somebody hit that, man. [LA Times]
• Daniel Gross waxes on about how companies in China have decided to solve their lack of export demand problem by *gasp* selling to the Chinese. [Slate]
• Ooooh, the U.S. and China are getting cozier and guess what? India's getting J.E.A.L.O.U.S. [Financial Times]

Google and Yahoo have long been lambasted for the censorship policies they employ in China to appease the CCP, particularly when Yahoo handed over email information to party officials in order to convict a Chinese journalist. Now critics have shifted their attention to Microsoft's Bing search engine. more ›

In week one A.O., we've watched the press capitulate and rage some more for and against the quickly formed recaps and opinion pieces of last week. It's been a lot more rehashing of the same opinions, just with more breadth and depth. Of course, we like SNL news best, but here's some of the other articles on Obama in China making their way around the internet: more ›

In the latest and potentially greatest attempt by the government to spruce up our lovely Shanghai before the expo, the government has started a "most beautiful balcony competition." And the best part? The winner gets 3,000 yuan! more ›

As a testament to the increasingly daring nature of Chinese citizens, people have come out in mass to voice their vehement dislike of a recent government policy. Considering China's harsh treatment of large scale public protests and the potential ramifications participating could have on individuals, we figure only the most egregious of political moves could bring together so many people in harmonious dissent. So what happened? more ›

• We went to the Jimmy Choo launch at H&M's flagship Huaihai Lu store.
• We read up on a physics professor in Kunming who's gung-ho about UFOs.
• We oohed and ahhed at the antics of a really great jump rope team in Shanghai.

• Wow, that's a huge amount: 1.5 million people per day are getting innoculated with the swine flu vaccine. [AP]
• This year's Chinese Blogger Conference was held in an ancient cave in Lianzhou, Guangdon. Why? You'll have to watch this video to find out. [WSJ]
• A government report has said that China's Three Gorges Dam has doubled in cost and has been plagued with multiple problems. Here's a summary of them. [Al Jazeera (on Youtube)]

Anyone who’s been trawling through the China-related web this week will surely have stumbled across the ‘Nine Nations of China’ map that surfaced on Atlantic Monthly. Patrick Chovanec, from Tsinghua University, posted his map amidst the inescapable excitement of Obama’s visit to China, reminding the US President that China is "a mosaic of several distinct regions, each with its own resources, dynamics, and historical character." more ›

• Get lost Yao Ming. Alright, stick around. But make room for the Harlem Globetrotters, playing at Yuanshen Sports Center on December 12! If you're not b-ball buff some quick stats: the Globetrotters were formed in 1926, have lost only two games between 1968 to 2000, and have a current winning percentage of 98.4%. Details on how to get tickets coming soon! [Urbanatomy]
• Many were left a bit disappointed by Obama's Town Hall in Shanghai: we wanted chairs flying and Chinese students drunken on Baijiu yelling obscenities at the President... or maybe just something a little less programmed. But there are some positive things to take away from the visit, and what it means for China-US relations. [Huffington Post]
• An interior-design company has been fined 40,000 yuan for employing a majority of foreigners without a work permits. Each of the 40 employees was fined 500 yuan. Ouch. Get your work permits before you start working in Shanghai. [Shanghai Daily]

• You could just call it good business, or you could call it a complete disregard for humanity - China's $7 billion resource deal with the African nation of Guinea (currently under a regime without legitimacy) has basically screwed Guineans out of their lifeline out of poverty. [The Independent]
• Want an explanation of what the Obama-Hu collaboration for clean energy and climate change really means? So do we. So here's one. [Green Leap Forward]
• Want to see a Chinese interview of President Obama? Here's the one Southern Weekly did. [Southern Weekly]

Last month, while we were still looking forward to the October 31st opening of the bridge and tunnel linking Pudong and Chongming, we professed excitement at the prospect of easier access to the island's famous rice wine and hairy crabs, but we also worried about the environmental effects of this increased tourism, and whether Chongming has the capacity to handle an influx of visitors. more ›

Oh god: we're not really sure how this is newsworthy, but apparently Nanfang Daily decided that a bunch of pictures of drunken foreign girls awkwardly passed out was good enough to at least make into a photo gallery. The pictures were taken from popular BBS site Huanqiu: we couldn't find the original post, though we did find pictures of another netizen getting a duck drunk, which are funny, and somehow more disturbing. more ›

Since up until now, we've only seen the third case of serious swine flu emerged in Shanghai, you may well be wondering, “how bad could all this hullabaloo get anyway?" more ›

Well, President Obama's first trip to China is now officially over. A lot of things happened, a lot of people talked about it, but nothing too groundbreaking occurred. Obama seemed to have a good trip: he visited famous Chinese landmarks, met with his brother, even talked a bit of politics along the way. But a lot of us were ultimately left with a feeling something like disappointment: for various reasons, the mythic qualities of the American president were overwhelmed by the totalizing nature of China and Chinese politics. more ›

• Haha, look - it's an Obama egg, made by egg artist Kang Yongguo in Liaoning Province. [Obamafoodorama]
• Tao Weishuo (陶韡烁) defends a statement he made: "I strongly disagree with what Obama said about the Internet firewall... I think all Chinese people have Internet freedom - we can speak out freely on the Internet about current social affairs", which generated a wave of criticism from netizens. [China Digital Times]
• Gosh there's a lot of green news coming out of China. Here's a summary of some of the biggest things to hit the wire and what they might mean. [NY Times]

Take a look at these suckers: these are going to be the newest subway trains to grace Shanghai's rails. Set to show up on the 7 line (whenever that opens), it's elegant curves, orange highlights and sexy golden dragon decor will be shuffling people to and fro from the Expo grounds. more ›

As foreigners in Shanghai, we understand the difficulties with assimilation: if you're not from Shanghai you are different, no matter where you're from. In all honesty, though, it may be easier to be a foreigner in Shanghai than it is to be an waidiren, an outsider from another part of China. more ›

A few weeks ago the metro stop at People's Square was turned from a bastion of commercialism into a moving display of environmental art. Check out the large installation, which featured work designed for the China Environmental Protection Foundation, and wish it was there instead of Haibao looming at you. [China Environmental Blog] more ›

Alright, we don't really have anything to say about this, we just love the picture. How can you not? It's one of the most beautiful places in China, and certainly one of the most haunting in the world (though, like Obama's trip, it's been hollowed out and stripped of any sort of deep significance, turning it into a mere symbol). Plus, the press has been following Obama around like lost fauns, waiting for him to make the right face or hand motion that will perfectly capture the essence of the president, in relation to his surroundings in China. It seems that the best thing that can come out of this trip for Obama is a bunch of good photo ops. more ›

• Who knew that one simple gesture, like holding your own umbrella, could mean so much? Obama made an awesome first impression by shielding himself from rain on Sunday evening, thanks partially to the habit of Chinese officials usually having a flukey to hold their umbrellas, P. Diddy style. [Wall Street Journal]
• The LA Times has a great look at the story behild Jiyuan, a place known for manufacturing lead batteries where lead poisoning has gotten so bad that entire villages are being evacuated. [LA Times]
• So should we be calling President Obama 奥巴马 (àobāmǎ) or 欧巴马 (ōubāmǎ)? Both have been used in press releases, though the U.S. Embassy said it was now standardizing the Chinese translation of Barack's last name and should now be using the latter exclusively. [Danwei]

We've always found China's obsession with UFOs highly amusing, so this interview on GoKuming particularly struck our fancy. The site spoke to Zhang Yifang 张一方), founder and former director of the Kunming UFO Research Association, who recently organized the 2009 International Astronomy Year and Extraterrestrial Life Forum at Kunming's Dongfeng Plaza. more ›

Sad: a Bryde's (pronounced Brooda) whale was found beached this week on Hengsha island. Rescue workers tried for a good two days to rescue the poor thing and return it to the sea, but bad weather conditions made saving the whale impossible. All things considered, the whale was in pretty good health, leading experts to think that it got sick and lost its sense of direction, wandering into the Yangtze delta. Which makes sense: what would a whale want to do in shanghai, anyway? Visit the aquarium? That was an overwhalemingly bad joke. more ›

Now that we've had a good night's rest, we can sit back and reflect on the general meaning and importance, both literal and symbolic, of President Obama's town hall in Shanghai yesterday. We've come to a sort of peace with the entire affair: yes, it was scripted, but could you expect more from such an unprecedented meeting between citizens and the populist president of a staunchly democratic country in a Communist state? No, Obama didn't seem to have a substantive, overarching message for a meeting that his administration fought tooth and nail to arrange: but in his first appearance in China, having yet to even meet with President Hu Jintao, were we really expecting something earth shattering? more ›

Making a pit stop during the Obama Administration’s Blonde Ambition tour of Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a visit to the 2010 Expo site earlier today. Secretary Clinton addressed a squadron of journalists in front of the site for the future United States pavilion, among other things asking for increased contributions from American businesses, as the U.S. had raised two-thirds of the expo participation cost as of September. more ›

Since our live blogging of Obama's town hall meeting with Chinese students earlier today, a few interesting things have come to light. more ›

Xinjiang has been through a lot of political and social trauma in the last couple of months, what with the riots in July, syringe attacks in September, the executions that followed, continuous H1N1 scares, and an internet blackout throughout the province. more ›

There has been a flurry of news in preparation for and response to Obama's first trip to the Mainland. Because we're following it across the web so you don't have to, here's a round up of the most salient and interesting links, videos and general reactions to the US President in China. more ›

That's right: the man everyone's been waiting for with baited breath has finally landed in Shanghai. After starting his first Asia tour with a somewhat difficult and controversial trip to Japan, Obama will settle into what should be a more pleasant, warm reception here in the Middle Kingdom. more ›

• There aren't many of them still alive, but China still has women who went through and are willing to talk about “lotus feet,” that hundreds-year-old tradition of warping women's feet that was thankfully abolished after the revolution. [Wall Street Journal]
• Paul French talks to author Martin Jacques, who recently published the book When China Rules the World, about Chinese investment and business in Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the future of Sino-US relations. [China Rhyming]
• China will finally begin separating suspects arrested for minor offenses from violent criminals as it announces possible reforms to its detention system. The fact that they didn't before gives us the most unimaginable chills. [Time]

Though Shanghai's latitude makes it pretty hard for us to see snowfall, northern China has been blanketed by it for days. As it's pretty rare for the area around Beijing to get snow this early in the cold season, the torrents have brought about some complications and tragedies, but also joy. more ›

We've been all over Obama coverage in the buildup to his visit in...four excruciatingly long days, and we've seen a lot of interesting Obama fandom from the mainland. But when it comes down to it, words are just words, and when Reuters has a greatest hits video of our favorite eccentric tributes to the American President, we'll gladly defer. After all, there's nothing like watching a flaming Obama, or seeing a little Chinese boy strike the Obama pose. Priceless. more ›

• "VVIP" President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be camping out at the Portman Ritz-Carlton during their visit to Shanghai, effectively shutting down the hotel from Nov. 14-16. No doubt, security will be extremely tight during the Obamas' visit, so don't try nothin' fancy. [Urbanatomy]
• With all the excitement surrounding Shanghai local government approval of Disney's bid to build a new theme park in the city, there are still those who suffer the consequences: retired farmer Jin Xinmei and her husband will lose their land to the magic kingdom. This Bloomberg piece outlines China's past land acquisitions for projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and Olympics construction. [Bloomberg]
• Ye Quiantong, dubbed "China's number one voice actress" by admiring netizens, was arrested for creating pornographic audio on the website DongTing China, since shut down. As China continues to attempt asexuality, we wonder what's next... censoring erotic smells? [ChinaHush]

Is there anywhere in the world's most populous nation where there is absolutely no one? As it turns out, yes, there is! In the southwestern part of the Inner Mongolia region lies the spanking new and ultra-modern Ordos City (鄂尔多斯), which government officials have raised from the desert in just five years with tonnes of public money. The only problem is, nobody's moved in from the old Ordos City, located just 30 kilometres away. more ›

• Adam Minter discovers “belt tongues” that help disable your car's seatbelt alarm without you needing to put on your seatbelt. Jeez, it's like people want to die in a traffic accident here or something. [Shanghai Scrap]
• The heaviest snowfall in at least 54 years just hit Beijing, causing tens of thousands of people to be stranded on highways linking the city with Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. Tragically, the snow also caused a primary school cafeteria's roof to collapse in Hebei, killing three children and injuring 28 others. [Bloomberg]
• An international human rights group is urging China to abolish its secretive “black jails,” a cottage industry created to keep petitioners from ever reaching their final destinations. They tend to become the most crowded at politically sensitive times... like, most likely, the upcoming President Obama visit. [Reuters]

Ah, Singles Day, how ambivalent we are to you. It's nice to have an Anti-Valentine's Day, but it doesn't feel any more joyous to actively celebrate solidarity in solitude. And while we never did get that singing Celine Dion card, or anything at all, we did find a pretty interesting list from Chinese netizens: China's 11 most eligible bachelors! more ›

There's a general energy in the air over Obama's upcoming visit. Judging by the many, many taxi and motorcycle drivers who have conversations with us to the effect of "美国好," Obama has become a cultural icon for the Chinese. While the American president represents a polar change in policy and practice for Americans, the Chinese seem to view him as an intelligent and fair man who will directly or indirectly help China in its ascendant world superpower-dom. more ›

• A netizen compares teaching methods in the U.S. and China through the story of Cinderella. While the U.S. version is a little off (can you ever imagine an elementary school teacher telling girls that they're evil if they're ugly?), it's still an apt analysis. [ChinaSmack]
• Another U.S. and China comparison, this one more morbid. While in the U.S., people are fighting to keep abortion a choice, here in China, people are fighting to keep not aborting a choice. [Washington Post]
• A man in Shenyang is now renting himself out as a punching bag for stressed women. Being in Shanghai, we can just use our boyfriends. [Ananova]

Singletons rejoice! Crack out the champagne and chocolate because today is the anti-Valentines day - it's singles day in China. As you know, one is the loneliest number and today is 11/11: four singles smack together, representing all the single folk out there. We think this day calls for a celebration, so we're going to treat ourselves to dinner! more ›

Another case of technology for perhaps technology's sake? Expo officials announced that all food entering the 2010 Expo grounds will monitored with Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags to ensure the quality and safety of the food. [Shanghai Daily] more ›

The number of China's Internet users have reached 360 million, says ChinaTechNews - a pretty darn sizable market that has attracted considerable attention (and you know, a thousand internet-addiction camp proprietors). more ›

The Asian Games in Guangzhou kick off tomorrow and everyone's eyes are on China's perennial favorite hurdler Liu Xiang's 110m hurdle, where he's expected to sweep the gold. After his second-place (but really tied for first) performance at the Golden Grand Prix, and his recent win at the National Games victory seems likely tomorrow night. more ›

President Obama's itinerary has just been released, with a little under a week before his first visit to the mainland. And the best part? He's going to start his tour in Shanghai! more ›

Today's post by Andrew Sullivan on his blog over at the Atlantic discusses the specter of racism within China, and the implications it could have on both the social and economic future of the country. As the ratio of retirees to workers is set to double within the next fifteen years, questions surrounding the economic sustenance will begin to necessitate an influx of emigrants to keep the economy growing. more ›

After more than 70 years a large rare fungus collection has been returned to China from Cornell University. Curator Shu Chun Teng smuggled the collection out of the country at the start of World War II just as the Japanese were invading to keep it safe. He later suffered during the Cultural Revolution for "selling China's history." [New York Times] more ›

Ah, the innocence and beauty of young love: our cold, rational hearts are always warmed a bit when we see couples walking around in the throes of their first fling. Relationships are a curious time for new lovers: trying to feel each other out, learning to love and be loved, and of course, actually learning how to make love. more ›

If you've somehow avoided the news all weekend, the United States just passed a bill on healthcare reform, which is the first step in a long line towards actual change. Less well known (probably because of the lack of flashy partisan politics) is China's attempt to reform it's own healthcare system, which is a daunting task in its own way. more ›

If you rolled out of bed this today clawing at your throat like a French legionnaire in the Sahara, you might not be crazy: it might be the air. This jaw-dropping photo from NASA (taken November 6) charts the progress of a temperature inversion (i.e. smog bank) that has been trapped on China's coast for the past week. more ›

• A recent prostitution bust in Henan has gotten netizens into a fury... against the police, who were videotaped interrogating a naked woman in an incredibly rough fashion. [CNNGo]
• We can't get enough of stories about the Chongqing corruption trials, so we're glad we get to hear two of our favorite China journalists, Paul French and Malcolm Moore, discuss "China's Chicago." [Ethical Corp]
• So how are Chinese propaganda departments dealing with new media rules that don't allow them to really "stop" people from being interviewed? By wining and dining reporters and other "soft" forms of intimidation. [Telegraph]

China’s Ministry of Health recently denied the existence of so-called ‘internet addiction’ as a problem for Chinese youth. You heard correctly- the ‘land of a thousand internet-addiction camps’ is apparently conflicted over whether to electrocute the problem out of its children or to simply ignore it entirely. more ›

• In an effort to plug the gaping money hole the Bird’s Nest stadium has turned into after the Olympics, CITIC Investment Holdings has given up its management rights to the Chinese government. We wonder what’ll happen if even the government thinks it’s 200,000RMB a day upkeep is too expensive to handle. [AFP]
• An author details the slight craziness that comes with renovating an apartment in China (Dalian for him). After the carpentry and wiring were done and the workers paid, the extortion letters came. And after those threats were paid off too, what did they happen to find but another letter - this one a thank you note. [New York Times]
• In case you want a long, but incredibly thorough, write up of what’s been happening in the massive Chongqing Corruption trials, here’s one from China Brief about how the whole matter exposes “grave woes in China’s legal apparatus.” [China Brief]

U.S. President Barack Obama’s China-residing half-brother, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, has now launched his first novel, “Nairobi to Shenzhen.” in Guangdong province. The book is “semi-autobiographial” and about his life rather than that of his slightly more famous kin. more ›

Police have succeeded in breaking records for confiscating more counterfeit money than ever before. Since the crackdown was announced in January, over 280 people have been arrested, 190 cases involving counterfeit money have been cracked, and over 1 billion yuan has been confiscated. more ›

While his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has been busy meeting up with former US President George Bush, Singapore's ever so feisty and sprightly 86 year old Minister Mentor¹ Lee Kuan Yew has gone halfway around the globe to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington ahead of his debut Asian tour that will include China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Lee's tour also saw him meeting two key Cabinet members of the Obama administration - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. more ›

• We've found a mascot uglier than Haibao: Yabi, who represents the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo. And the two of them standing together kind of looks like a turd floating in water. [CRI English]
• Hellooooo sailor, Fleet Week's here - U.S. Coast Guard cutter "Rush" is now throwing its uniformed men onto our shores. [CNN Go]
• Wanna see robot butlers, robot cooks, robot nurses and robot teachers? Check out the China International Industry Fair, which has come to the Shanghai New International Expo Center and lasts until Saturday. [Shanghai Daily]

After years of back and forth, it looks like Shanghai Disneyland has been given the go-ahead. According to news sources, the Shanghai Municipal Government Informatin offices announced the deal's approval early this morning. While details still have to be worked out between the mouse and the ministries, it seems like a pretty set deal. more ›

• Changsha sculptors are carving a giant 100-foot-tall statue of Mao ZeDong out of granite, but many are complaining it doesn't look like Mao. Netizens say it reminds them of the Sphinx while one British paper has drawn a comparison to Lord Byron. [Telegraph]
• Even more than wanting to see the pictures from Taiwan's largest gay parade ever, you probably want to hear what Chinese netizen reactions were on it. Lucky we have Chinasmack, eh? [Chinasmack]
• Get to know a little more about the "Father of Chinese Aerospace" (aka "Rocket King") Qian xuesen, who helped launch the P.R.C.'s missile program after, ironically, leaving the U.S. over accusations of having Communist ties. He passed away this weekend. [Wall Street Journal]

According to a statement released by Netease earlier today, the General Administration of Press and Publication has suspended government approval for their operating World of Warcraft. As if WoW players didn't have enough problems earlier this year, the GAPP cited “gross violations of regulations” as the reason behind suspending NetEase’s operating rights to the massively popular online game. more ›

With the Expo approaching, Shanghai is quickly become more and more official, with roads being paved, mandatory uniforms for taxi drivers, and even rules guiding citizens' subway etiquette, just to name a few of the changes. To keep the changes rolling, the names of Shanghai's official top eight scenic spots have been announced by the Shanghai Tourism Administration, selected from over 1500 suggestions from city dwellers. more ›

This is probably one of our favorite Chinese traditions so far: apparently lottery winners, in order to conceal their identities from the populous, dress up in costumes when receiving their fake oversized media checks. This has been going on for a while, and netizens have begun to give awards for the best costumes on Chinese forum sites. It's kind of like a taste of Halloween year round! more ›

How do you effectively carry out the "remediation of civilization?" was a serious question at yesterday's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Shanghai. We've got a couple ideas, but what Han Zheng and his consorts were trying to say was actually "how do you curtail the illegal activity of black cabs?", which has become a serious issue in the past few weeks. more ›

• Beijing had its earliest snowfall in a decade and - of course - it was because the Weather Modification Office decided to work its magic again, spraying clouds with 186 doses of silver iodide. It was to ease drought. [BBC]
• While labor reeducation camps may have been de rigueur a couple decades ago, now it's kind of embarrassing to admit you have them around. Unfortunately, China has them around. [France24]
• Oh really? NOW China is planning to repair that TVCC tower that was gutted by fire eight months ago. NOW. Allegedly, the building can "be repaired" and it won't be a "complete rebuilding." [WSJ]

We've caught ourselves thinking about the difficulties of being disabled in China on many occasions: a significant amount of city spaces and public transport are simply handicapped-unfriendly. Besides the occasional beggar, you rarely see disabled people in public, which is probably thanks to the many social factors constraining handicapped people. But at a very basic level, it's more troubling to think of the difficulties a set of stairs are for someone incapable of using them and the effect it would have on both their ability to travel and their quality of life. more ›