Wokai (我开), a non-profit microfinance organization in China, is winding down their operations according to their website. The innovative grassroots company helped numerous rural Chinese workers receive loans and will be sorely missed. more ›

Do working stiffs in China log in the longest working hours in the world? Nope! The country that logs in the highest average number of daily working hours is Mexico, according to a survey conducted by the Huffington Post in 2011. We combined those figures with a recent survey conducted by China Daily on the working hours of major Chinese cities, which found that Guangzhou topped the list. Shanghai comes in as the 5th hardest-working in the world with a total of 8.89 hours a day, while India and Korea tie at 17/18th place with 8.1 hours each. Unsurprisingly, France ranks the lowest with 7.5 hours. more ›

China state-owned media is once again reporting a crackdown on foreigners who live, work and travel the country without the proper credentials. more ›

The International Crisis Group weighs in on China's navy, Defense Tech breaks down China's carrier-based fleet, The Economist debates China-U.S. military relations, China withdraws from the Huangyan Islands and The Chicago Tribune reports on the China-exported missile launcher spotted in Pyongyang. more ›

"Countless events have proven the fact that real innovation in China does not exist in culture, but in food and medicine. If only just 1% of this creativity was applied in the film industry, Chinese films would no doubt be the world's best." more ›

On April 17th, former Chinese President and death-defying octogenarian Jiang Zemin was seen scuffling into a Beijing office. On his heels for this rare face-to-face meeting was, strangely enough, slicked-back CEO cutout and Starbucks head-honcho Howard Schultz. more ›

An Australian company called Galaxy Resources is mining lithium at home, shipping the rare metal to China, and making lithium batteries at its own factory in Jiangsu province to power the sea of electric bikes that you see on the road daily. But it only has a short window of opportunity as sodium type batteries could replace lithium types when the resource becomes too scarce and battery technology improves. more ›

The so-called National Organisation for Marriage (NOM), an anti-gay activist group based in the United States, has declared war on Starbucks for supporting a gay marriage bill in its home state of Washington. When support for its "Dump Starbucks" campaign proved to be all too disappointing, the group decided to expand the boycott to countries that it thought would support its anti-gay message -- namely Muslim countries such as Indonesia, Turkey and those in the Middle East, and China. more ›

Le Sheng, the latest venture by Shanghai's darling of fine-dining, David Laris, promises a marriage of traditional Shanghai food with more modern elements. Eager to see how the Greek-Aussie chef, who's tackled a plethora of concepts from Mediterranean to Continental to "Barbie," would fare when faced with the native cuisine, we motored down to the French Concession. more ›

Yuexin Restaurant opened its doors in January, unveiling two adjacent venues: a traditional Chinese eatery and a Japanese spot. In need of a cleansing raw fish fix after weeks of fatty pork belly, Munchies' grease-laden burgers, and post-binge pillages of the McDonald's dollar menu, we chose to go Japanese. more ›

Just after midnight, bullet shots went through a BMW's window in a carjack attempt, eventually slaying two Chinese graduate students, Ying Wu and Ming Qu, near the University of Southern California (USC) campus. more ›

It looks like 酒肉和尚 (monks who consume wine and meat) do exist after all. Two men impersonating as "monks" caused widespread outrage amongst Buddhist and non-Buddhists alike when they were seeing horsing around with women and drinking alcohol. more ›

After double-checking the sign on the abalone tank to ensure that our critters were of the Qing Dao variety (and not the bulkier Australian species which run you 58RMB a piece), we chose to have six of them stir-fried in black bean sauce, one of the three options listed on the sign. more ›

Why get a car wash when you can do this instead? Photos via Imgur. more ›

China's People's Daily news portal has launched a $83.6 million (527 million yuan) initial public offering in Shanghai, and will announce their final pricing on April 20th. The Chinese government controlled company have the intention of upgrading their technology, delivering news on mobile platforms and strengthening its editorial team. more ›

A seemingly boring and greenish pale looking Imperial Chinese bowl smashed pre-sale estimates by about three folds, fetching nearly $27 million at the Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong. Evidently, one cannot judge a book… or a bowl by its cover, lest it contains such a significant history and price tag inside it. more ›

After picking a vendor at 871 Tongchuan Road, we peeked inside the sea worm tank to observe a jumble of the fleshy pink critters heaving and squirming against one another. And let’s just say they looked so penis-like that it appeared as if a bunch of uncircumcised members had decided to detach themselves and live out their days as marine invertebrates. We poked one tentatively with a finger, prompting it to recoil slightly and then resume swaying nonchalantly underwater. It was dinnertime. more ›

Despite threatening earlier to cancel the enterprise, China Three Gorges Corp will now follow through with the $1.6 billion West Seti River hydropower project in an effort to "recharge" Nepal's lacking electricity reserves and promote the nation's development. more ›

The already testy South China Sea waters just got a little choppier. The US has proposed expanding its military presence in Southeast Asia with the pretty apparent (though undisclosed) goal of contesting China's clampdown in the region. The protocol calls for strengthening US alliances with Southeast Asian nations, and increasing its military operations in the area without establishing permanent bases in the region so as to avoid another Okinawa debacle. more ›

If you thought regular gutter oil was abhorrent, how about this latest case where authorities nabbed over 100 members of a ring in Zhejiang responsible for producing a new type of swill oil made from animal hides, bones, and innards. Not to mention that the oil was reportedly being distributed in several parts of China, including Anhui, Jiangsu, Chongqing and Shanghai! more ›

China's rampant smoking problem is not only bad for the health of its people, but might also prove detrimental to the health of the entire economy. Non-communicable diseases like cancer are taking their toll on China's workforce as they account for 80% of nation's deaths (almost 20% more than the global average), and consume 70% of all health spending. The tobacco industry alone has been implicated in the deaths of 1 million people (though the actual figure is probably substantially higher). more ›

Simon Murray, British businessman, adventurer and author, is better known as the “Tai Pan” (world's most venomous terrestrial snake) of Hong Kong in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Watch him tell Russia Today's Sophie Shevardnadze why he thinks China will not "lead the world forever and ever" or be "the centre of the world's economic future." more ›

China has done it again, pushing architectural boundaries higher and higher. The Aizhai Bridge (矮寨大桥) is a suspension bridge on the G65 Baotou-Maoming Expressway near Jishou, Hunan. It is the world's highest and longest tunnel-to-tunnel bridge with a main span of 1,146 metres and a deck height of 350 metres. more ›

Would you like your eggs scrambled, sunny-side up, or how about boiled in the piss of a virgin boy? In an age-old practice that seems to bridge the gap between Jackass stunts and serious tradition, every spring Dongyang's citizens chow down on eggs marinated and cooked in schoolboy urine harvested from primary school toilets. Reuters highlights the preparation procedure: more ›

"After the Chongqing saga, I have been pondering whether there are actually real leftists in the academic sense in China. The ideas presented by those apparent leftists are -- from the academic point of view -- anti-constitution and anti-modernization. The so-called "rightists" in 1957 weren't rightists but pro-constitution advocates. Anti-rightism is in fact anti-constitutionalism. The debate between the left and the right is often quite simply a debate between tradition and modernism, or between dictatorship and constitutionalism." more ›

A budding company is now offering to mourn your dead ancestors this Tomb Sweeping Day if you either can't attend or just need some extra tears on site to show you know how to appear like you really care. more ›

In an alarming breach of medical ethics, medical staff have been notifying funeral companies of their dying patients in exchange for cash. more ›

After bringing you 'Shit laowais say in Shanghai' last month, we have another Shanghai-based Youtube clip for your enjoyment. The 'Donnie does China' series started in January with a Boston townie 'teaching' English in a kindergarten, and the latest webisode sees him test out sex toys and being interviewed whilst leaning on a giant stone penis at the 2012 Shanghai 'Sexpo'. more ›

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently visited Beijing's flagship store and met with officials to reportedly discuss expansion in China, Apple's second largest consumer base and the globe's biggest mobile market. more ›

A government building in Huai'an, Jiangxi Province has been spotted with a torn national flag resembling the Vietnamese flag in front of its building. more ›