Usually when we hear something about China saving the environment, it has to do with the heaps of government investment in solar and wind power - the whole "green tech" sputnik moment, to borrow a now annoying and hackneyed phrase. Unseen until now is a surprising alleged new force in the environmental movement: China's billionaires, who may now be privatizing the business of nature reserves. more ›

Every last Saturday in March, Earth Hour happens. The event asks everyone in the world to turn off everything they possibly can for just one hour. And the last Saturday of March (March 27th) is in exactly two weeks! How are you going to celebrate/commemorate? more ›

The Shanghai 2010 Expo is looking for volunteers of all shapes, sizes, and nationalities, and if you're a soon-to-be college graduate, you're probably still looking for a job. more ›

Say what you will about celebs talking politics, but perhaps, this is Jackie Chan at his best - wearing his Greennovate Green T-shirt and looking sweet as a little kitten. And come on, who didn't enjoy the bathtub scene in Shanghai Noon with Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan drinking baiju and wearing nothing but bubbles? That almost makes it okay that he thinks Chinese people need to be controlled... right? more ›

Minhang commuters and residents have been enjoying free bike rides for the last two weeks. No its not a rash of bike stealers - in fact, it's actually a new government sponsored program partially intended to curb theft. more ›

• Child sex scandal involves teachers, officials [Shanghai Daily] "Eight people, including six government officials and teachers, will go on trial for their involvement in a child prostitution scandal affecting a dozen primary and middle school students in southwest China. The Guizhou police launched an investigation after receiving a complaint on August 15 last year from a mother who said her 13-year-old daughter, Li Yu, had been raped after being duped by a classmate, Wang Qing, in Xishui County. The investigation then uncovered a conspiracy which saw girl students being forced into prostitution."
• Mainland tourist apologizes for graffiti in Taiwan under public pressure [Xinhua] "A Chinese mainland tourist who has been lambasted on the Internet for carving his name on a rock face in a Taiwan scenic area apologized to the public on Thursday for his misbehavior. Zhao Genda, a 63-year-old pensioner from Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, gained instant notoriety after Taiwan TV reported that he carved his name and that of his hometown on the rock face at Taipei Yeliu Geopark on Friday."
• Can China be green by 2020? [BBC] "China's unprecedented economic growth over the past 30 years has come at a huge cost to the environment. The damage has not only been to the air the Chinese breath or the water in their rivers, but also to its reputation across the world. But there are signs that China may now be serious about tackling pollution to prove to the world that it can develop while causing less damage to the environment."

The Boston Globe has compiled a bunch of much prettier pictures of Earth Hour around the world, including a picture of the banks of the Huangpu River as seen from the Bund. The fun thing about this gallery is that when you click on the pictures, they fades into what the area looked like during the Earth Hour. We realized we have to apologize to the Aurora building - it did in fact turn its lights out. Perhaps the picture by the Earth Hour building was just taken a tad too early. Sorry, Aurora building! more ›