Chinese high rollers have transformed Macau and Singapore into two of the world's top gambling destinations. Now, Australia wants a slice of that market too. Peter Gotting of Australia Network News reports. more ›

Macau serves as Asia's top gambling haven but for all its allure, it's lacking in broader tourist appeal. According to MGM CEO Grant Bowie, Macau needs another ten years to achieve Las Vegas-style status with exhibitions, convention halls, and wholesome entertainment. As it stands, 95% of profits are created by gambling--compare that with its progenitor which generates more than 50% of its sales from non-casino related transactions. more ›

• The internet has collected Mao Zedong's 12 Time Magazine covers. Check them out here. [Chinasmack]
• If you must gamble, it's probably better to do it in Macao rather than a shady casino across the border in Laos. Apparently those will torture you until you pay off your debts. [China Hush]
• While China's economic strategy over the past two decades has been incredibly successful for China, the possibility of it working for anyone else is... nil. [New York Times]

Counterfeit money in Asia is not just a fantasy fictionalized by that Jackie Chan atrocity film Rush Hour 2. It is a real situation. Very real.. and usually very problematic. One reason why you won't find denominations over 100RMB here: the government hasn't found a way to make sure it'll infiltrate the population without getting counterfeited up the wazoo. more ›

• Primary school students expelled for gambling ring in Guangdong [Zhongnanhai] "There were many cars waiting outside the Huadong (Dongguan, Guangdong Province) Senior High School gate over the last two days. Parents were waiting to take their kids back home, permanently. Over a hundred students in grades one and two have been involved in basketball gambling. All of them have been expelled from school."
• Saint Laurent Chinese Qing Bronzes Fetch $40 Million [Bloomberg] "Both made 15.7 million euros with fees, or 14 million euros at hammer price. The sculptures had been expected to fetch about 8 million euros each, said Christie’s. They were bought by Thomas Seydoux, Christie’s international co-head of Impressionist and modern art, taking instructions over the telephone."
• China keeps wary eye on displaced migrant workers [International Herald Tribune] "Although the government has not released updated information about rural unrest, officials have been strategizing about how best to keep large protests and riots from spreading, should the dispossessed grow unruly. This week, more than 3,000 public security directors from across the country are gathering in the capital to learn how to neutralize rallies and strikes before they blossom into so-called 'mass incidents.' At a meeting of the Chinese cabinet last month, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told government leaders they should prepare for rough times ahead. 'The country's employment situation is extremely grim,' he said."

... you might be the winner of a 5.66 million yuan (US$830,000) lottery prize! The Shanghai Welfare Lottery Center is on the lookout for the winner of the prize which was announced on December 18 and the final deadline for the prized to be claimed is 4pm this Friday. If the prize remains unclaimed past that, this will be the first time a lottery prize above RMB5 million has not been claimed and the money will be put back into the prize pool. The winning ticket, according to Shanghai Daily, was bought in Minhang District. more ›

• A man and a woman have been killed by a carbon monoxide leak in a downtown Shanghai apartment yesterday morning while two of theirr roommates remain in a coma.
• Taiwan is coordinating with mainland authorities on the possibility of increasing the number of charter flights to and from Shanghai for the convenience of Taiwanese residents looking to go home during the Lunar New Year season.
• North Carolina has opened its seventh foreign trade office in Shanghai. This is the state's second China trade office after Hong Kong.

A few years ago, locally-based writer and publisher Graham Earnshaw began releasing a series of out-of-print books about China pre-1949 and, more specifically, the interactions between foreigners and locals during that period (a copy of Carl Crow's Foreign Devil's in the Flowery Kingdom which made to Shanghaiist was particularly excellent). These books were extensions of an earlier web-based project, the Tales of Old China website, which has a remarkably extensive library and picture database cataloging the rich and fascinating colonial history of China. more ›

From taiande of Current TV:

What happens when Texas Holdem Poker, the "gambler's game," is introduced to the world's most populous and heavy wagering nation? We explore this question beginning in Shanghai, the epicenter of mainland China's fast growing poker scene.