A top Shanghai school has been given the green light to initiate the city's first two all-boys classes as the new school year begins this September. The pilot programme was designed ostensibly to tackle a 'masculinity crisis' in mainland education and will involve survival training as well as playing with and repairing digital gadgets. Other lesson suggestions (which may or may not have come from ourselves) include shed ownership and penis helicoptering. more ›

A pair of 25-year-old twins from Yunnan have successfully received the first round of their female-to-male gender reassignment surgery at Shanghai's No. 411 Hospital of People's Liberation Army. They are now seeking to be the first twins in the country to officially change their gender. more ›

Seen on the streets of Wuhan: A girl puts three guys on a leash and takes them out for a walk on a busy street. Performance artist Kang Yi, the man behind the act, said he hoped to provoke a discussion about gender equality. He's also hoping to bring his little act to a city near you. Next stops for the performance: Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. more ›

Sad news from Beijing. A 26-year-old man sliced off his genitals with a fruit knife at Tsinghua University Monday morning, and then deciding he didn't want to wait for the ambulance the campus clinic had called for, ran to a nearby hotel and jumped to his death: more ›

Jin Xing: From Army Colonel to Ballerina from Shannon Van Sant on Vimeo. more ›

A few links to start off your day: more ›

China is the world leader in excess female deaths, defined as the number of female deaths relative to male deaths compared with rates in rich countries. As the following chart from The Economist shows, China accounts for more excess female deaths than India, as well as all of sub-Saharan Africa put together. More than a quarter of all excess female deaths occur in China at birth because of the practice of sex-selective abortion.
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The Global Times highlights an interesting case that caught our attention yesterday. more ›

Jin Xing herself greeted the audience from upstage in the wide theatre. The auditorium was barely half filled, but that didn't bother the choreographer, "I'm interested in quality not quantity. Ten years ago when my company performed in this exact theatre, the room was filled. Back then I gave away tickets to everyone, so it was easy to fill it up. Now, I don´t give away one single ticket, no one from the government gets anything, cause I love quality of the audience!" more ›

Deep down, somewhere in the heart of the orchid-like construct we all know as the Oriental Art Center, a creative meeting between masters recently took place. Scotland's leading choreographer and dance icon, Alan Greig, led a workshop with Jin Xing Dance Theatre, one of the most prominent dance companies in our city. Both performed at the recent Shanghai Dance Festival - the fourth one ever held. more ›