During a spot check by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), six different types of bottled water were discovered to contain elevated amounts of the chemical compound bromate, a byproduct of the water sterilization process which, in excess, could lead to cancer. Among the water producers that are feeding you cancer water are Harbin Pharmaceutical Group and Jingyou Honghu Mineral Products Co Ltd. According to stuff we've read, excessive consumption of bromate may result in symptoms such as "nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain" as well as other scary stuff. 18 other brands of bottled/barelled water failed to meet general quality standards, as AQSIQ found high levels of not only bacteria (something we've worried about before) but free chlorine and strontium as well. A total of 220 different bottled/barreled water from 211 companies in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province were tested during the spot check. more ›

You might want to put down that bottle of water you're drinking, or at least check the caps, if recent larvae-related allegations are to be believed! A father and son claim that they opened sealed bottles of Nongfu spring water in Tongzhuo, Bejing on Thursday and found worm eggs inside the caps. The boy, who apparently screamed after taking a gulp of water then seeing the eggs, experienced diarrhea and vomiting and was later diagnosed with acute enteritis. Nongfu has responded by releasing the following statement: ""It never happened. The worm eggs were actually on the outside of the bottles, not the inside." The shopkeeper maintains that they opened more bottles and found more eggs, and she refused to return the suspect bottles (which were bottled in Jilin province in June) when Nongfu delivery men came back to pick them up. First it was bacteria in Beijing bottles earlier this month, and now this! Maybe we should just drink imports. Or then again maybe not... more ›

Sales have been halted on 31 brands of bottled water in Beijing after failed safety tests revealed bacterial levels of up to 9,000 times above safety standards! WHAT? Is nothing sacred?! Fortunately it didn't include small individual bottles, but rather "large barrels." We're hoping that means some kind of industrial-sized tank, and not water cooler jugs. Apparently the cause of the contamination was poor sanitation standards at factories, where filters and pipes were inadequately cleaned. more ›

The last time we were in Hangzhou, a friendly maitre-d named Luke posed a very thought-provoking question to us: where on earth is the Nongfu Spring, and how big could it possibly be to fill so many darn bottles of water? Of course, we know that the fabled spring of Nongfu is just a metaphorical figment of our collective, commercialized imaginations, but it still made us want to check out their corporate headquarters to see what was really up. more ›

This morning, I heard the news that half of Beijing’s bottled water is counterfeit. I was horrified. It seems that illegal factories fill the used plastic bottles from the tap or with perfunctorily filtered water. The bottle tops and tape that they use to seal the bottle look identical to the genuine ones. The bottles aren’t sterilized and the number of mold fungi and e. coli bacteria that have been found in such water can easily make drinkers sick. An industry report quoted by Beijing Times calculates that more than 100 million bottles of such water were sold last year. The profit derived from these illegal sales exceeded 1 billion RMB, or about $12 million. As a Chinese, I am used to reading about dangerous fakes. But this case really enraged me. This is water that many of us drink every day, after all. And the whole reason people pay extra for bottled water is for the quality—and safety. The Beijing Times did a story a couple of days ago that revealed the illegal business has been going on for five years. One unlicensed water bottler told the newspaper: “I filter the tap water before filling the bottle because I am a moral person and I don’t want to get people sick.”

We don't want to say we're starved for good live rock music in Shanghai ... but we are starved for good live rock music in Shanghai. Live here long enough and you gradually forget exactly how good it feels to stand up near the stage and get lost in a rock band that knows exactly what they are doing, a band you would pay to see even if you weren't living in China, a band that has actually released original and relevant material this millennium. Well, last night at Shanghai Concert Hall, for two feedback infused hours, Sonic Youth reminded us how sublime an experience that can be. And now we want more. We need more. more ›