Someone once said 'an unjust law is no law at all,' but perhaps a more accurate rephrasing would read 'an unenforced law is no law at all.' This has largely been our experience, at least, when it comes to navigating our way through the complicated legal terrain of the PRC. No approved foreign media outlets, but a hundred (illegal) satellite dishes on every apartment complex (and hotel for that matter). Only a handful of state-sanctioned......

So we know that scientists get paid peanuts in China, but there's hope yet: China Daily ran article about an amended national law which allows scientists to report failures.:The law, for the first time, allows scientists to report failures during the process of innovation without harming their records in future funding applications. "The country encourages scientists and technicians to freely explore innovation and bravely shoulder risks," reads the bill. Scientists and technicians, who can provide......

For those of you wondering what Shanghaiist's founding editor Dan Washburn has been up to for the past half year or so (other than not posting very much on Shanghaiist) there was some evidence last week that he is alive and well and doing more than sitting on his couch counting his Shanghaiist money (really, that would only take around five minutes). Go to ESPN.com (here, here and here) for stories related to his book......

Last weekend, we told you that Yahoo! is now apologizing for not telling the full truth to Congress at the February 2006 hearing where Yahoo! was taken to task for its role in the conviction of Chinese journalist Shi Tao. Now both Republicans and Democrats have launched scathing attacks on Yahoo. San Mateo Democrat Tom Lantos has called Yahoo "moral pygmies", and New Jersey Republican Chris Smith compared Yahoo’s cooperation with the Chinese government to......

China's growing web addiction [CBNnews.com] The Internet has revolutionized the way that millions in China communicate with the outside world. But for some Chinese teenagers the thrill of using the Internet came with a high price: addiction. China bloggers stew about Olympic pigs [Wall Street Journal] In recent weeks, news that hogs are being specially raised to feed the athletes at the next year's Beijing Olympics has spurred an outcry on the Internet. The pigs......

The word is out. Shanghai's first nature reserve in Nanhui District's Dongtan area has officially been established. The 40.3 km long beach area will be a haven for birds such as white cranes and little stints. Many migratory birds also nest there each year. People's Daily assures us that "anyone hunting in the area will be faced with punishment, according to established regulations for wildlife sanctuaries". But it doesn't elucidate what punishment await for those......

With the dust now settled on last week's APEC summit in Australia, we came on a juicy tidbit of news that either didn't get much mileage in the Chinese press or escaped the news that we read. Shanghaiist reader Fergus Ryan filled us in: Last weekend's APEC summit in Sydney had one success that the host, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, may not have foreseen. Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd (Labor Party), effectively gate-crashed the event......

Okay okay, we've all had a bit of a Macau overdose lately, but we just couldn't resist sharing with you this tid-bit of information that we found on the blog of Telegraph journalist Richard Spencer. He shares a rumour that "the Louis Vuitton store in Macau is, per square foot, the company's most profitable anywhere in the world. And that the big seller is man-bags. The men buy them to put their cash in before......

Experts in Mongolian studies who have spent the last year compiling Genghis Khan's code of laws, which is believed to be the world's first constitution say the legendary Mongolian conqueror banned homosexual acts. Under article 48 of the code, the experts say, men who "committed sodomy shall be put to death". Other acts punishable by death under Khan included "damaging grassland with unauthorized excavations or starting fires". Diving deeper into the interpretation of the law,......

An increasing chorus of bloggers (including ourselves) have written extensively about the recent anti-competitive price-fixing moves by Chinese fast food chains, instant noodle manufacturers, milk producers and state-owned airlines. Now, even China Daily columnist Raymond Zhou has contributed his own tune to the cacaphony of voices in an article Thou shalt not collude on pricing. From the article: Thou shalt not collude on pricing, the regulatory god said unto the Moses of industries in most......

This is a tale that could be told a thousand times, according to Shanghai Daily. Fourteen years ago, Shanghai resident Shi Jianlin opened her front door to find it bedecked by an abandoned baby girl. The story should have ended happily: the girl, later named Zhao, was received warmly by Shi. But Shi's own status complicated issues: as an impoverished mother of one (Shi already had a boy), Zhao could not be adopted under Shanghai......

Shanghai Daily tells us that city officials have shut down Dofor.cn (now taken offline) - a portal here that's been posting videos of the Japanese manga and anime series Death Note which has been banned nationwide in China for supposedly promoting death fantasies: The novel tells the story of a teenage boy who receives a special notebook. Whenever he writes the name of an enemy in the book, along with a description of how and......

If we’re a day late picking up the buzz on Xu Haojia—the 16-year-old girl auctioning her breasts for charity—it's because the story was so baffling, it took us 24 hours to sort it out. At first Xu seemed like just another Chinese chick playing the tittie-lation card for 15 minutes of fame. At best, a two-bit Rosie Reid knock-off (you know, the British chick who tried to sell her virginity on eBay?). But it turns......

Sichuan food addicts beware! China’s food safety inspectors have found some startling news (well, actually it’s not that startling at all, as you can see here, here, and here), 13% of recently tested chili products have been found to be unsafe. The reason for the health concern is too much preservatives and improper labeling. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (say that 10 times fast) tested 48 different chili products from 12......

Is it us or have there been a lot of political news stories and incidents in recent weeks? A few weeks ago, the restive group of villagers in Guangxi rioted over fines relating to the one-child policy, a glimpse of which you can see in the video on the left. Then maybe on Thursday or Friday night of last week, hundreds of Zhengzhou students rioted in the streets, after a student vendor was beaten by......

From the Scotsman: SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese quality watchdogs have seized 46 toy guns from a Wal-Mart store in Shanghai because they looked "too realistic", state media reported on Thursday. Five types of toy guns, including pistols and a machinegun, seized from the U.S. retailing giant's outlet in Pudong district, violated colour standards, the Shanghai Daily said, citing the local bureau of quality and technical supervision. According to a Chinese report on the same matter,......

Summer is here and everything is heating up. Leading up to this weekend, this is what Shanghaiist thinks is going to be hot today and tomorrow. Today, Wednesday May 30th Texans In Exile Monthly meeting at Bubbas Texan or a friend of Texas? You can meet up with fellow lovers of the Lone Star State during their monthly T.I.E. meeting at Bubbas tonight from 7pm. Call Ken to let him know you're coming. 7pm......

If you are familiar with drinking heavily or going to Chinese banquets (basically the same thing), you've probably been forced to chug try some Maotai. Deemed "China's national liquor" by Reuters, Maotai or máotáijiǔ (茅台酒) is one of the most famous brands of Chinese rice wine (or báijiǔ). Although dignitaries like Margaret Thatcher and Richard Nixon have put this put-hair-on-your-chest drink to their conservative lips, the popular liquor is now threatened. You see, Maotai is......

Thanks to a tip from vadaga, Shanghaiist learned that now you only have one option to login to your existing MySpace 麦斯贝 account page in mainland China - use of an anonymising proxy. At the time of writing, any attempts Shanghaiist has made to access its existing myspace account using myspace.com are met with time-out errors and the classic connection error response caused by the Great Firewall of China. Users can still view their myspace......

Chinese monthy trade surplus nearly doubles "...the February surge was caused by exporters shipping goods early to beat an expected change in taxes, leaving less to ship in March." US engineer found guilty of 'spying' for China "Mak was convicted on two counts of attempting to send sensitive material to China, acting as a foreign agent without notifying the US government and making false statements to federal agents." 133 punished for roles in mining......

Chinese athletes are run into the ground "But four years after she retired at 26 with nothing but an elementary school education and a body crippled by sports injuries, the former marathon champion says she has been duped." What if Beijing's rivers ran clear? "Beijing's waterways suffer from severe pollution. But even if they did not, the residents of the capital might present an even greater threat, writes Dongting Lu." Cities in Danger of......

China is biggest espionage threat to Canada "Almost half of counter-espionage efforts in Canada target Chinese spies, the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service told a senate committee on Monday." Songs, kisses and sweat on Labor Day of migrant workers "In the prosperous metropolis of Shanghai, migrant workers even joined in performances, singing and dancing and taking part in games to show their talents." Hershey lures Asians with green tea Kisses "The century-old......

Pornography charges against a 36 year old woman arrested three years ago after taking off her clothes and chatting with other Internet users via webcam have been dropped in Beijing's Shijinshan district after prosecutors found that nude chat rooms were not defined in China's pornography laws. This case is understood to be the first of its kind in Beijing. The news comes amidst the announcement of a new six-month campaign to crack down on online......

Gay in the city and want to meet new people without A. Consuming unseemly amounts of alcohol, B. Making a Gaydar or Fridae account, C. Begging friends for introductions, D. Gyrating on the dance floor? Well, Shanghai's No. 1 Fag Hag is here to make your day. Welcome to the city’s newest, and first all-inclusive, alternative group: Shanghai LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender). (Full disclosure: The author of this post is a co-founder of......

Marriage offices are going to be busy today.Last year there were 912 cases of bribery involving 171,950,000 RMB in Shanghai.A local exhibition of Shanghai Spring Festival rituals and customs is on at the San Shan center.More boob-fondling and kissing at Madame Tussauds.China Law Blog tells us about a Wall Street Journal article about how foreigners and Chinese get along (or sometimes don't) at the office.China Law Blog has a take on the debate between the......

A 23 year-old Henan woman named Qiu Zi (秋子) may become the center of China's first appearance-related work discrimination case after accusing a company of firing her because her head is too big. Qiu Zi was given a job at a company called 上海昂立投资咨询有限公司 which seems to be the official name of Only International Education, a private training institute where they teach English, translation, Japanese, offer a mini-MBA course, etc. In 2004 they were voted......

Quit Smoking with Lasers "This window was on a nondescript building near my new office. The characters mean 'laser' and 'quit smoking,' begging the question: how exactly do you use lasers to quit smoking?" Metro work to throttle more roads "Among the affected areas, sections of Xizang Road S., Minli Road W. and Dalin Road in Luwan District were shut down yesterday because of Metro Line 8 construction, according to the city's Engineering Administrative......

It seems that Beijing isn't the only city trying to become more "civilized" in a jiffy. Shanghai lawmakers have been working on regulations governing public behavior, most notably, the use of foul language, in Shanghai. The report, in Chinese gives us a brief glimpse of a bunch of new regulations called, in Chinese, 《上海市民公共行为条例》, or something like "Shanghai citizens' public behavior regulations." The million dollar question is whether or not this thing has any teeth,......

Virtual China calls MyTshirt.cn "China's Threadless," and yes the design-your-own-T-shirt concept in nothing new (in fact, on its main page MyTshirt.cn links to all the other similar sites it was "inspired" by). But MyTshirt.cn is the only one of those sites in Chinese and, we assume, it is by far the cheapest. You could have a basic T-shirt arrive at your doorstep for as little as 41 kuai. You can browse existing designs here. Some......

We are writing this while choking on second-hand smoke at a Huaihai Lu cafe/eatery. Our choice, we know, but we had a meeting here and then decided to have lunch — and now we are having our neighbor's Marlboro Lights for dessert. Anyway, a nice little midday reminder of why we prefer to work at home. But is relief on the way? According to the latest Access Asia Weekly Update, maybe so. (Keep in mind......