Wow. If this can happen in Taiwan, what are the chances that it'll happen in China too? more ›

Well that was fast. Just two days after we initially reported on it and only nine days after the measure was first announced in Jiangmen, last Friday authorities decided to relax their position on their controversial dog ban law. Surprisingly, it seems the Jiangmen government heeded residents' suggestions when drafting the changes: "Under the new rules, pet dogs will be banned from public places such as parks, squares and shopping malls. Residents who take dogs to public venues 'would be advised to leave.' And in the case of attacks, dog owners would be responsible for all medical bills, lost wages and other compensation, the report said." Compared to the old plan of killing illegal dogs on the spot, these rules seem almost humane. more ›

Jiangmen dog owners, this means you! You officially have until August 25th to figure out what to do with your dogs, as a 'special campaign' on pooches in Pengjiang (蓬江), Jianghai (江海) and Xinhui (新会) districts of Jiangmen city (江门市, a city of 3.8 million 102km [64 miles] south of Guangzhou) begins the following day, on the 26th of August. Afterwards, any dogs roaming in public without a license from their owner will be confiscated and put down. And if past campaigns in China are anything to go by, methods employed could be far from humane. more ›

Sometimes the line delineating reasonable and unreasonable becomes apparent after it's been crossed. This is one of those times: "Grabbing a street-food breakfast on the way to work could soon become a thing of the past for Shanghai residents, as the unlicensed vendors will be banned starting September 1, when the Shanghai Food Safety Regulation takes effect. All food sellers will be required to have a license, and while current street vendors can apply for licenses, they must operate their businesses only at designated spots and during certain times. Urban management officers will watch for illegal vendors, who will face fines of 500 yuan (US$77.5) if in violation. Companies will be banned from the food industry for five years if they are found violating the clause on expired foods. Authorities will put into citywide use technologies that were used during last year's World Expo, including real-time monitoring systems and the ability to trace food to its origin." [Eastday] more ›

Perhaps there is an official weekly ban-quota we don't know about that needs regular topping up? "Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, has banned electric bikes in main downtown areas as of Monday to reduce related traffic accidents. Electric bikes should be put off roads in districts including Futian, Luohu, Yantian, Nanshan and Bao'an, the city's public security bureau said in a statement Monday. The ban will be effective till December 5 when the city authorities will review it to see if further ban is needed, it said. Electric bike riders will be persuaded off roads this month and face fines of 200 yuan starting next month. Statistics showed electric bikes were blamed for 64 deaths in 268 roads accidents last year. The city has over 500,000 electric bikes and the ban is believed to greatly increase the operational costs of express delivery companies." [Xinhua] more ›

….And the ban hammer has been dropped! China’s Central Military Commission has just announced a list of “70 forbiddens” to “strengthen and improve ideology among armed service men and to further standardize honest behavior within the military” This list isn’t just for military personnel though, party cadres and government officials are also being urged (forced?) to develop a “clean and honest” government using these “70 forbiddens” as guidelines. more ›

We already know that absolutely everything is already banned in China, including: foreign cat videos, networks of people having more fun than you, Western religious music, indoor smoking, console videogames, time travel, siblings, blue tree-worshipping cat people, Miley Cyrus, English usage in the media, pajamas in public, U.S. pork (since lifted), Bjork, and the employment of strippers at funerals. more ›

Vienna Café goes epic tonight, when showing Yimou Zhang´s drama "To Live" (Huozhe) from 1994. The film who is based on the novel of the same name by Yu Hua, earned several awards and nominations in Cannes that year, as well as other international film festivals. The story starts in the forties, moves passed the CCP´s 1949 victory, on to the Cultural Revolution in 1966 and onwards... more ›

You know what's a damper on any big day? A Divorce. And so at least one municipality has decided it's not going to let couples unwed during the 60th anniversary. Seven out of ten Chongqing districts have said that they will not process divorces during the eight-day holiday, even as they're getting extra staff to help with the weddings. Supposedly, they can't cope with the "high demand" for weddings and also issue divorces at the same time. Luckily for them, nobody's tried to process a divorce yet anyhow, though we wonder what kind of urgent circumstances would make couples want to split during a specific week and whether it then might be a good idea for Chongqing to ban knives as well, just in case. more ›

With only a week and a half left before the 60th anniversary of the PRC, it seems the whole country has caught National Day fever. Capturing the excitement, Boston.com has a wonderful collection of photos from various sources depicting many different preparations around China. We particularly like the fashion military parade pictures: those outfits are fabulous! But amidst all the hoopla, it's a difficult time to be in Beijing. more ›

Five Chinese swimmers received two year bans yesterday after testing positive for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol at a national competition last June. According to the AP the athletes' coaches also received one to two year bans. more ›

While rock is currently experiencing a revival all over this country, the spirit of revolution inherent in the first generation of Chinese alternative music is noticeably absent. more ›

Finally some good news that will make anyone in China rest assured that the food on our table is safe. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) continues to be busy at work ensuring food safety for us all. After banning soy sauce and wasabi imported from three Japanese producers found to be tainted with toluene and ethyl acetate last month, AQSIQ has now withheld about 312 tonnes of Irish pork across the country, on global concerns that pork from Ireland contain potentially harmful levels of the cancer-causing agent dioxin. Even as many other countries are starting to ban Irish pork, this latest move by AQSIQ will hurt the Irish pork industry big time as China is a HUGE pork-consuming nation. Between September and now, China imported 2,047 tonnes of pork from Ireland. more ›

EastSouthWestNorth has uncovered Zhao Bandi (赵半狄), the man behind the Kung Fu Panda protest, as an unabashed panda lover and a fashion designer who has a line inspired by the national treasure. Check out the images from Zhao's fashion show below. Apparently he got China's internet celeb numero uno Furong Jiejie (芙蓉姐姐) to model for him and that one picture of her is priceless: more ›