China is the world leader in excess female deaths, defined as the number of female deaths relative to male deaths compared with rates in rich countries. As the following chart from The Economist shows, China accounts for more excess female deaths than India, as well as all of sub-Saharan Africa put together. More than a quarter of all excess female deaths occur in China at birth because of the practice of sex-selective abortion.
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It's a story that causes a reaction of "THIS STILL HAPPENS?!": A woman, eight-months pregant is dragged out of her house and forced to abort the foetus for violating China's one-child policy. more ›

While some news outlets tend to get downright hysterical about China's gender imbalance problem, discrepancies in census figures here suggest a much more optimistic view - looks like families shouldered with female children, instead of aborting them, choose just not to declare them instead. more ›

Reports released this week by No. 411 Hospital of People's Liberation Army's hotline suggest that over 35 surgical abortions have been performed in Shanghai since February this year. The cause is said to be linked to poor levels of sex education amongst minors in the city. more ›

If you've ever seen someone playing kaixin's Happy Farm (快乐农场), you've probably wondered to yourself how it got so preposterously named. From the intense clicking, sweating and furrowed brows of habitual "farmers," it would seem that playing happy farm is about as happy as a heroin addict searching for a fix. Besides the usual bouts of anxiety and paranoia over e-crops being stolen or malnourished, it seems that happy farm can also lead to losing your job, breaking up with your significant other, or even aborting your baby. Head over to chinaSMACK for a great translation of many, many more problems wrought from e-farming. Maybe people should get out more, but we'd recommend starting slow: perhaps Happy Farm in Reality? more ›

13 million abortions are performed in China each year, according to China Daily, which basically means that every 365 days, China aborts the equivalent of the entire state of Pennsylvania's population. more ›

• Girl dumps boy, boy posts naked pictures [Shanghai Daily] "About 30 pictures of a naked woman together with her personal information including her name, age and family address had been posted on a popular online forum by a person claiming to be her ex-boyfriend. The person, identified as "Garros," said that he had been recently dumped by the woman surnamed Yin after his business failed."
• Dongguan lifts ban on nightclub pole dancing [szdaily] "DONGGUAN lifted a ban on pole dancing performances at city nightclubs in a revised rule formulated to regulate local recreational businesses last week. The ban, which has been a controversial issue since it was listed in a draft rule, was groundless because of lack of legal support, the city’s cultural bureau told the Guangzhou Daily."
• Ted Turner: China a Good Example of Population Control, Despite Forced Abortions [Lifenews] "Billionaire broadcast magnate Ted Turner is causing guffaws from observers with his latest comment on family planning in China. He lauded the Asian nation for its population control program and said it was a good example even though it is rife with forced abortions and sterilizations. During an interview with the Diane Rehm Show gave China as a model for how to handle growing populations. “We do have the example of China, and they've done it without, uh, draconian, as far as I can see, draconian steps," he said. Observers of the quote are surprised that Rehm let it go unchallenged and without any mention of the human rights abuses that accompany the Chinese family planning program."

We see evidence of China's growing gender gap all around us - every time a new ladies' night crops up at a bar, for instance. But now in China, according to a new study, there are officially 32 million more boys than girls under the age of 20. more ›

From John Biesnecker of Mukokuseki:

On pretty much every flat surface in Shanghai (and, likely, the rest of China) you can find ads for various (often illegal) services. Some are little stickers, and others are spraypainted. They have a short description of what they offer (fake IDs, prostitutes, movers, etc.) and a cell phone number (easily obtained and disposed of, despite China Mobile’s efforts to the contrary). more ›