As if unsafe food, natural disasters and the possibility of needing to clean up crude oil in nothing but your skivvies wasn't bad enough, men in China may be facing a more dire threat to their health - the one child policy and its resulting lack of women. more ›

Trying to figure out how China will deal with its millions of single men and how it will finally convince its rural populations that girls aren't that bad a choice will always be very interesting to us. But a recent resurgence in the gender gap discussion has got us scratching our heads. Why exactly is the figure of 24 million single men only a bad thing? more ›

Finally some good news on the gender imbalance front, if only in Shanghai. It seems that the city's population officials are increasingly optimistic about the boy-girl ratio now that it's implemented specific policies for migrant workers, the most likely group to contribute to the dearth of female infants. These policies include enhanced education, subsidies and more training opportunities for girls, as well as a ban on fetus sex checkups and abortions after 7 months (yes, China allows third-trimester abortions normally) unless there's a medical reason. Now officials say, more migrants are giving up the traditional "boys are best" mentality. more ›

Taobao - the place where you can buy everything... even, it seems, babies. An anonymous seller put an infant up for sale on the online auction site yesterday for the low price of 1RMB. Of no surprise to anyone who's read of unwanted babies in China - this one was a girl. more ›

The dearth of girl babies may have changed attitudes about the preference for boys, according to the Telegraph. Well... at least in Shanghai, where it seems like 15% of 3,500 parents questioned by government researchers actually copped to hoping for the fairer sex (as opposed to 12% for the opposing gender). Of course, once you go back out into the countryside, or any city that isn't Shanghai, you're still stuck with the same dilemma. What's worse, the reasons for having girl babies seem pretty economical and not very progressive. One mother says she'd prefer boys, but insinuates that having a girl means she won't have to find her child a good school, a good job, or a house and car. Another lady put it this way: "Girls can marry rich husbands." Jeepers. Looks like we still have a ways to go. more ›

• Kashgar's Old Town Bulldozed; Is Uyghur Culture in Danger? [FarWestChina - gfw] "Within the narrow alleyways of this Old Town lie thousands of years of Kashgar’s history. Aged wooden doors and cobblestone paths have witnessed the passage of innumerable donkey carts, small Uyghur children and, in recent times, many foreign tourists. On the outside, these mud-brick walls seem at peace with their place in history but just beyond the padlocked door a crippling truth emerges. Squinting through the cracks in the doorway it is possible to see that these walls no longer house Uyghur inhabitants. Instead, they hide the heartbreaking destruction of Kashgar’s Old City. Over two-thirds of the city has already been leveled. History has been replaced by rubble; donkey carts by bulldozers."
• Chinese Singing Show To Go On, With a New Name and Conditions [WSJ] "While hugely popular, the shows also triggered hot debates. Some celebrated them for representing the victory of grassroots culture over official or elite culture, while others believed the show just encouraged young people to seek out overnight fame. Along with popularity came increased government scrutiny. The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft) released a series of specific measures to regulate entertainment programs (particularly talent shows) in 2007 and a planned 2008 season of Super Girls was cancelled. A spokesman for Hunan Satellite Television told the media late last month that a revival of the televised singing competition had been approved by the Sarft, though not without several conditions attached."
• Singapore promotes Mandarin [Danwei] "According to a survey conducted on incoming primary students by the Singapore Department of Education, the number of Chinese-language households in Singapore has been declining since the 1990s. Today, only 40% of households use Chinese as a primary language, while English-language households have climbed from 26% in 1990 to 60% today. To reverse this trend, the Singapore Promote Mandarin Council launched The Chinese Challenge on March 30, fun quizzes that let Singapore citizens and permanent residents personally experience the breadth and depth of Chinese culture, deepen their understanding of Mandarin, and improve their grasp on the language."

We see evidence of China's growing gender gap all around us - every time a new ladies' night crops up at a bar, for instance. But now in China, according to a new study, there are officially 32 million more boys than girls under the age of 20. more ›