• Apparently, China's in the midst of a "golf boom," despite the percentage of our population who plays the game being negligible - and the fact that course construction has been officially banned since 2004, according to a story written by Shanghaiist founding editor Dan Washburn. Surprisingly, more than 400 new courses have popped up since then. Not so surprisingly, the government doesn't think twice about bulldozing multimillion dollar investments that are illegally built. [Slate]
• The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority has owned up to its bad RE: forced internment of Chinese immigrants by erecting a memorial to honor them. The chairman of the organization said he was "sorry the early immigrants [...] were denied their civil rights and denied a decent burial" but that he's "glad we're finally honoring them by righting the wrong." Well, half of the wrong, anyway. [The Los Angeles Times]
• In a surprising twist, it seems that China may end up the champion in one leg of its green energy marathon against the US: developing a "smart" power grid. China's advantages include a less-developed existing grid which is easier to modify without service interruptions and a strategery - less cute polar bears, more energy security - more aimed at winning the race than public support.[Solve Climate]

The fact that Heather Mills will be ice skating with a glued-in prosthesis is, as it turns out, only the second-biggest item of PETA-related news today. It has been revealed that everyone's favorite "animal rights organization" will be setting up shop here in Shanghai. In fact, says our sources, a photo shoot boycotting China's secondary fur trade has already occurred. more ›

Speaking of indulgence, it seems like we're just following a national trend. Nationwide, there are now around 70 to 90 million Chinese people who are technically obese. By 2015, there may be as many as 200 million obese over here. Yep, thanks to sheer scale, we'll outnumber the current fatty nation No. 1, the United States. The problem: wealth. The solution: sadly, according to Urbanatomy, it seems that the recommended way to get thin again is liposuction. Oi. more ›