The recent discovery of the Xiaotingia, a chicken sized dinosaur discovered originally in Liaoning province, has dealt a blow to the archaeopteryx, who, until now, was considered to be the oldest bird. The findings of Chinese paleontologist Dr. Xu Xing, who discovered the Xiaotingia, claims that the archaeopteryx is in fact a dinosaur, not a bird. more ›

• Terrorists, dollars and (polar) bears, oh my: why the United States should focus more on China's strong stance against the first rather than its less-than-perfect record on the last two. Reads a bit like something by Ann Coulter, but still worth reading nonetheless. [China Law Blog]
• The newest discovery RE: China's paleolithic dino-sty: more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints, ranging in span from 10 to 80 centimeters, blanket the ground near Zhucheng "dinosaur city" Shandong. [Yahoo! News]
• China's Next Top...Antique Collector? Now that Mao's dead, those who went against his orders to destroy all things old are cashing in on their defiance, reality TV style. Instead of getting "voted off the island," however, your item must pass an "authenticity test," lest you smash it, Cultural Revolution-style, on live television. [New York Times]

China has made yet another astounding discovery that is transforming everything we thought we knew about dinosaurs - a 160 million-year-old creature that supports the claim that modern day birds are in fact dinosaur descendants. more ›

• Hungry pandas a casualty of China’s quakes [Canada.com] "When the devastating earthquake struck Sichuan province last May, the natural disaster that befell the region’s best-known residents, the giant Pandas, paled next to the overwhelming scope of the human tragedy. Only one panda was confirmed dead and one lost, but great swathes of mountains crumbled, taking with them the bamboo forests that pandas feed on, leaving the fuzzy animals without their primary source of nourishment. Now, local Sichuan farmers are reporting pandas on their doorstep, begging for food."
• Green-Tech Space Race [The New Yorker] "After so many years of hearing about China’s horrendous environmental conditions and prodigious coal reserves, it might be startling to realize that China is far outpacing the U.S. on green-energy investment. But the details have now been laid out in unambiguous detail by Ben Furnas at the Center for American Progress."
• Name Not on Our List? Change It, China Says [NY Times] "For Ma Cheng and millions of others, Chinese parents’ desire to give their children a spark of individuality is colliding head-on with the Chinese bureaucracy’s desire for order. Seeking to modernize its vast database on China’s 1.3 billion citizens, the government’s Public Security Bureau has been replacing the handwritten identity card that every Chinese must carry with a computer-readable one, complete with color photos and embedded microchips. The new cards are harder to forge and can be scanned at places like airports where security is a priority."