Oh we know how much China loves their minorities! And every year those minorities get to flaunt their individualism in the 9th National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities (第九届全国少数民族运动会), which began this year on September 10 in Guiyang, the capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province. more ›

Ah, the old accoutrements of modern civilization bait n' switch! How shrewd. Reuters is reporting that the Chinese government is going to make it rain something fierce on the Tibet Autonomous Region, to the tune of 300 billion RMB ($47 billion USD) over the next four years. The figure more than doubles the 138 billion RMB spent on Tibet from 2006 to 2010. more ›

According to reports from Xinhua, a group of "terrorists" attacked a police station in the city of Hotan in Xinjiang province on Monday and killed four people, including a paramilitary officer, a security guard, along with a woman and a teenage girl. Police soon retaliated and a gunfight erupted, killing between 14 to 20 people (China Daily puts the total shot at 14, Sina says 14 dead, while the Global Times says the casualty total was "unidentified"). more ›

Take a look at an ancient fire festival held by the Yi ethnic minority down in Yunnan Province. Handed down over a thousand years, every year on the third day of the second lunar month, these people make fire sacrifices to their ancestors for health and luck (and probably a few photo ops for tourists.) more ›

• China to expand 9-year compulsory education in ethnic minority regions [Xinhua] "By 2010, more than 95 percent of the population of China's ethnic autonomous areas should have access to the nine-year compulsory education, said the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) released Monday by the Information Office of the State Council."
• Thai Protests Prevent Asian Summit [Washington Post] "Anti-government demonstrators forced the cancellation of a summit of Asian leaders Saturday when they invaded the meeting site in this Thai resort town. The summit was supposed to bring together the leaders of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea."
• In China, Effective Treatment Options for HIV, But Stigma Still Lingers [RH Reality Check] "Last year, South African Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron described HIV-related stigma in China as a "tragedy" for preventing people living with HIV from accessing what is otherwise a "very good treatment program." According to his data, whilst between 35,000 and 40,000 HIV-positive people in China are effectively receiving treatment, more than twice that number are unwilling to be tested or receive test results because of fear of stigma and remain untreated."