Approximately 115 acres of watermelons have exploded in parts of China--and no that's not some outrageous Willy Wonka joke, it's what happened to 20 farmers in Jiangsu after they injected a little too much of a growth hormone into their crop this season. more ›

We all know that, thanks to worries about superbugs, taking antibiotics isn't the best course of action when all you've got is a bit of a cold... but it seems like we may be throwing them in our bodies anyhow just through the food we eat. According to China Daily, almost half of the antibiotics - 97,000 out of the 210,000 produced in China - are being used on livestock. more ›

Could China be in the midst of an organic revolution? Chen Shuaijun sure thinks so. After packing his bags, quitting his job and moving from Shanghai city to Chongming Island, the 30-year-old banker has returned to his family's roots in farming. Using his business background as an advantage in this budding industry, both he and his wife seek for a life with safely sourced food. more ›

From Greenpeace China: "Pesticides aren't your problem? Well unless you buy organic food the chances are you are eating a cocktail of toxic chemicals when you tuck into fruit and vegetables. Greenpeace China tested fruits and vegetables from supermarkets and wet markets in Beijing Shanghai and Guangzhou over the past few months and found traces of 50 different kinds of pesticide residues including two banned chemicals. Pesticides are linked to cancer, neurologicial and fertility problems."
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If you've ever seen someone playing kaixin's Happy Farm (快乐农场), you've probably wondered to yourself how it got so preposterously named. From the intense clicking, sweating and furrowed brows of habitual "farmers," it would seem that playing happy farm is about as happy as a heroin addict searching for a fix. Besides the usual bouts of anxiety and paranoia over e-crops being stolen or malnourished, it seems that happy farm can also lead to losing your job, breaking up with your significant other, or even aborting your baby. Head over to chinaSMACK for a great translation of many, many more problems wrought from e-farming. Maybe people should get out more, but we'd recommend starting slow: perhaps Happy Farm in Reality? more ›

It seems to be a recurrent theme in Chinese history that farming and happiness are linked. The ancient Poet Tao Qian wrote of the idyllic beauty of picking chrysanthemums and gazing towards the southern hills; everyone from politicians to students were "sent down" to the countryside to promote re-education in the ways of the land; and these days, you can even farm on Kaixin to ease the pain of your technology-ridden soul. more ›

Although it sounds like a particularly weird chapter of "Journey To The West", we are assured that this Pig with the face of a Monkey is a real animal. Born to freaked out farmers in the small town of Fengzhang, the freaky swine has shot to the top of the tourist attractions in Shanxi Province. more ›