Taking a little over two minutes, Dean Potter crossed a distance of 40 meters on a slackline stretched above Enshi Grand Canyon in Hubei, at a precarious height of 1800 meters above sea level. Potter (who we're pretty sure had Man On Wire on his Netflix cue at some point) crossed the canyon without the aid of a safety harness, and broke down in tears after completing his feat of bravery. more ›

China's rail network has suffered a blow as a section of high-speed track - due to go into full operation in May in central Hubei province - collapsed following heavy rain. It had already undergone test runs. [Australia Network News] more ›

A 38-year-old single woman has created a firestorm of controversy on the internet after setting up a "virginity website" to get young people to abstain from sex before marriage. Saladin Xu of Shanghai Daily writes: more ›

Two teenage girls were left hanging upside down at an amusement park in Xiangyang, Hubei province when the fun ride they were on came to a sudden standstill. One girl almost passed out but the other girl was able to climb down a ladder set up by the rescuers. more ›

56-year-old Zhang Nan of Hubei decided to be a little more daring in the name of vanity and health recently, resulting in a predicament whereby an eel had to be removed from his penis. more ›

In what's become an annual tradition that began six years ago, the Yu Ming gymnasium at Wuhan's Central China Normal University (华中师范大学) serves as the venue of a mass sleepover for the the parents and family of incoming freshmen. This year, nearly 600 mats were provided for anxious family members who spent the night, not to mention other amenities made available, including sheets, towels, shower facilities and hot tea. more ›

The body of an anti-corruption official in Hubei was found with 11 stab wounds at 6:40pm on August 27th, and was promptly declared to be a case of suicide by local authorities. Xie Yexin (谢业新), an official with the Commission for Disciplinary Inspection in Jingzhou City's Gong'an County (荆州市公安县), was found dead in his office chair on Saturday, having suffered a total of 11 knife wounds to the neck, chest, abdomen and wrists. more ›

Oh the sheer audacity. more ›

Though the rain in Shanghai this week has certainly been an inconvenience, the human impact has been negligible compared to the ordeal other areas in China have been suffering. Downpours in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Anhui provinces began Monday evening, and hit Zhejiang province Tuesday morning. more ›

The past week has seen an unnerving amount of violence and unrest in China. Here's a roundup of what's happening: more ›

While Guizhou province is still reeling from devastating floods, a new round of torrential rain has battered Hubei province in central China, triggering floods and landslides that killed 50 and left another 40 missing. Tongcheng County, seen here in this video, was left submerged in water after experiencing 300 mm of rainfall within four hours, a record volume in 200 years. Elsewhere in China, the tropical storm Sarika slammed into Guangdong province, killing 23 people and leaving another 10 missing. more ›

On May 26 a local official from Lichuan, Hubei named Ran Jianxin （冉建新） was taken into custody under suspicion of accepting bribes. A 49-year-old man in healthy condition, less than ten days after his arrest he was dead. From ESWN: more ›

It pains us to say that the scourge of drought that began earlier this year has yet to abate. more ›

Breaking news out of Hubei... more ›

Video taken from a public bus in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province:
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The two girls, aged 16 and 19, were found last Friday in a secret lair built by their captor under his home in Wuhan. According to the police, they would probably have starved to death if a nearby business owner had not found a piece of paper with their call for help, a map and the phone number of one of the girl's father scrawled on it. The note was hidden in the rubbish of the instant noodles that the girls were fed by their 39 year old abductor. Not quite as shocking as the massive Shanxi slavery scandal in 2007 perhaps, but still an eerie reminder. more ›

Because World Aids Day happens only once every 365 days, our fifth and final post on the subject today is a roundup of news reports from other media outlets:
• Xinhua has an intriguing report on the 72 year old Dr Gui Xien, who was one of the first medical practitioners to blow the whistle on Hubei province's AIDS village, Shangcai, in 1999. Early on in the epidemic, Dr Gui was driven out from village to village by local Hubei authorities. Today, he is a VIP.
• Meanwhile, another even more famous whistle-blower, the indefatigable award-winning 82 year old activist Dr Gao Yaojie (高耀潔), has finally fled to the safety of the United States, after many years of harrassment and imprisonment. She will be meeting with top US officials today in Washington to address the AIDS situation in China. Gao has just published a new book which makes public the 10,000 letters she received from HIV/AIDS patients over the years.
• China Daily reports on the plight of a 27 year old HIV-positive counsellor with an AIDS programme who has decided to call it a day with his work there because the ¥1,500 stipend he gets per month does not help him survive in Beijing.

As we told you two times already, today is World Aids Day, and Yunnan officials have blown our minds with their uncanny ability to think outside the box in a move that promises to redefine "socialism with Chinese characteristics" — they've spent ¥120,000 in public funds to open up a "gay bar" in picturesque and touristy Dali, one of China's top ten cities most afflicted by Aids. more ›

Remember when text messaging wasn't that big of a deal? Way back before touch screens and T9, when your elders had barely gotten used to having a cellular phone on them? Well, the halcyon days of instant communication technology are long gone - if you're one of the "after 90" generation, you've grown up in constant contact with friends, family and the rest of the world. more ›

Porn shoot? Nope. Actually, this was a photography competition hosted by a real estate company in Hubei. The photographer's mission, if they chose to accept it, was to take a great picture of a (very naked) human figure on pieces of property the company had up for sale. And accept it they did... in droves. Over 100 pervy photogs showed up to snap pics... we're betting not all of them made it to public collections. more ›

The thousands of children kidnapped every year and the ensuing media attention has led to China finally starting up a nationwide crackdown on human trafficking, which began on April 9. more ›

Four Chinese from Hubei have just opened a restaurant in the world's most dangerous city — Baghdad — reports the London Times. Edited highlights: more ›

Troubling news has emerged over the last day regarding the tragic killing of a man in Tianmen, Hubei province. more ›