We told you on Sunday how a Russian woman was sentenced to death in Zhuhai for heroin smuggling. A 35-year-old Filipino man is set to join her in the gallows for the same crime -- he was found carrying 1.495 kg of heroin in September 2008 at the Guilin International Airport, and his execution is set for December 8. more ›

According to the Russian Embassy in Beijing, a Russian woman has been sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling, with her execution delayed for a period of two years. more ›

It seems China's drug problems are increasing. Lately, there have been quite a few incidents involving drugs. Only this month we reported about Shanghai's synthetic drug users getting younger, a meth scandal involving North Korea and Yanji, and Shanghais drug cases generally being on the rise. more ›

In the biggest drug bust in China's history, police arrested 20 suspects and seized 1,033 kg (2,277 pounds) of heroin. That's enough to reenact the adrenaline needle scene from Pulp Fiction about a million times, give or take. more ›

A New Zealand-born contestant of the first series of Big Brother Australia, Gordon Sloan, has died in Beijing on a suspected heroin overdose. more ›

• Rumor: Chinese Xbox 360 in "next few months" - Joystiq
  Microsoft is in talks with Chinese internet providers and government ministries for a possible Chinese New Year launch.
  (tags: Microsoft Xbox360 games gaming internet computers China)
• Foreigners working in Shanghai might get new government health care service
  The city government is considering offering health insurance to foreigners working in Shanghai, alleviating problems for those whose work does not offer health insurance or who are temporarily unemployed.
  (tags: healthinsurance China Shanghai health hospital medical foreigners)
• Stores to close during Metro work -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China News
  Stores in the Xujiahui stop maybe closed for as long as a year.
  (tags: Xujiahui Shanghai metro subway stops fashion stores construction)
• Police net heroin and suspects after stakeout -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China News
  One kilogram of high-grade heroin seized in Minhang. There are going to be some pissed off junkies out there tonight.
  (tags: heroin minhang drugs shanghai police)
• Fears over culture survey -- Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 -- English Window to China News
  Chinese people are turning their back on Chinese! English more popular than Chinese among students! The soul of China is the David fighting against the merciless Goliath of Western cultural imperalism!
  (tags: Shanghai China english culture west language learning)
• Winter is the season when the "tree barbers" get to work
  You've probably noticed people cutting off branches of the trees along the side of the road.
  (tags: trees Shanghai winter)
• Explosion at hotel, several injured, journalists and bystanders attacked.
  Gas leak causes explosion in Shanghai. Journalists attempting to report are harrassed, attacked. One bystander, an old man, also gets slapped up by hotel staff.
  (tags: hotel shanghai explosion media journalists)
• Shanghai residents earned most in 2006
  "Shanghai residents' salaries rose by 7.7 percent on average in 2006, ranking at the top of all Chinese cities in terms of salary growth."
  (tags: shanghai china salaries income)
• All Roads Lead To China » Are Chinese Exporter’s Really Suffering?
  "What the author failed to consider is the fact that a hat manufacturer has little in terms of barriers to entry, lots of competitors, and with 4 million units sold, I would have a hard time believing they are able to convince anyone to pay more than a co
  (tags: china export exporters yuan RMB)
• Pacific Epoch - Popular Blogging Actress To Launch E-magazine
  "Chinese actress, director and blogger Xu Jinglei will release a biweekly electronic magazine called Kai La, reports Shanghai Youth Daily quoting Xu's agent Liu Xuan."
  (tags: china internet blog blogging xujinglei)
• Quake prompts tsunami fears -- Shanghai Daily
  "A TINY tsunami lapped Shanghai's coastal areas on Saturday night after a massive earthquake off Japan trigged fears of tidal waves across the Pacific." Tiny tsunami?
  (tags: china shanghai weather tsunami earthquake)
• Provincial bigwig gets death, two-year reprieve -- Shanghai Daily
  "A FORMER high-ranking provincial official in east China's Anhui Province has been sentenced to death for corruption, according to media reports."
  (tags: china anhui corruption)

Shanghaiist mentioned China's first blogger versus blogger lawsuit several weeks ago, and since then, the case has been pending and we haven't heard much about it until just now. To refresh your memory, Shen Yang accused blogger Qin Chen (real name Zhang Ming) of libelous, defamatory remarks about him on his blog. Zhang Ming is a recent university graduate and said that Shen Yang started it, and that people who've been trolling the blogosphere enough know that Shen Yang is an arrogant asshole who deserved whatever criticism he received. When the case first started Shen Yang wanted 100,000 RMB and 30 days of public apologies, but according to this report (in Chinese), Shen Yang did win the case, but all he got was 1,010 yuan for public notarizing fees and an apology that Zhang Ming must put on his blog. more ›

Couldn't they have licked the panties, like they no doubt would have in the movies?

Houstonist reports on cross-dressing thieves and undressing educators this week. A Peeping Tom defends himself with a papaya and an outraged onlooker asks Ken Lay, "TATER TOTS OR FRIES?" Also, FEMA wants it's money back. more ›

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: more ›

If you are sitting around trying to figure out what to do in Shanghai until Mike Tyson arrives, we highly suggest you head on over to Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art to check out the Basquiat Retrospective, which runs until April 10. It's a fantastic way to get lost for an hour or two, to recharge your creative juices, or simply enjoy being surrounded by someone else's. more ›

Image from Stefan Landsberger. more ›

... and hauls you away and locks you up for a couple of years on trumped up charges relating to national security leaking national secrets -- and then you realize she's a hard ass. Inspired by the hideous and tacky mascots of the Beijing Olympics, the Shenzhen police devised a way of making their new internet police force (which started work on January 1 of this year) seem more cute and acceptable to the masses -- using cartoon mascots of their own. One is named Jing Jing (the male), and the other Cha Cha (the female). 'Jing' and 'cha' are the characters that comprise the word for 'police' in Chinese. Shanghaiist is sure that some of you readers are no doubt Westerners that just don't get China and Chinese values, which is why the po-lice have to spell it out for you: more ›

The death mentioned above is not an isolated incident. The government has introduced "measures" to stop minors playing violent games. There is no news whether it is also discouraging minors to play a recently released anti-Japanese game. Gotta get 'em young, eh? more ›

The Shanghai Daily recently ran a story about a privately-owned drug rehab center in the city: more ›

Today is International Anti-Drugs Day, and China started the festivities two days early. China celebrated like only China can on Friday -- by executing lots and lots of criminals. (China executed some 5,000 people last year -- more than 91 percent of the world total -- and those are are just the executions we know about.) more ›