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 ›

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 ›

Hundreds of parents set to the streets on April 15th in a peaceful march, begging for help in finding their missing children. Originally reported by the New Express (translated by Danwei), the parents claim that about 1,000 children have gone missing from the Dongguan area since 2007. At their wits end, they've set out to draw more attention to the apparent, widespread abduction problem. more ›

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 ›