An incident like this occurring again is going to ensure that even when distances are laughably short, parents and grandparents will continue to walk their kids to school. At approximately 9am this morning, a 30-year-old farmer allegedly attacked parents and kindergarteners on their way to school in the Henan city of Gongyi (巩义市), killing three adults and one child. Another adult and child were also injured in the incident (though some sources claim the death toll has reached six), with reports stating that Wang used an axe to cut his victims in the head. Locals report that the man, Wang Hongbin (王宏斌), has a history of mental illness. And unlike other incidents that took place last year, this latest attack on schoolchildren happened outside of school grounds. Wang is currently in police custody. more ›

We were just beginning to hope this terrible trend had come to an end. Today around noon a staffer at a temporary daycare facility on Minhang Rd in Shanghai went on a rampage with a box cutter, injuring 8 children. The victims were all 3 and 4-year-olds, and they suffered injuries to mostly their necks and heads. They were rushed to the Fudan University Hopsital for treatment, and several underwent surgery immediately. Only one boy is believed to have received a life-threatening injury. more ›

Remember the frightening stories earlier this year of men taking butcher knives to children? Turns out that, though it wasn't really mentioned in Chinese press (or the relevant authorities), at least half of the murderers were suffering from schizophrenia and other mental problems. Not excessive anger over housing situations, or frustration at not being heard... but actual hallucinations. The New York Times examines the dearth of mental care in China, in terms of how mentally ill people are treated and the willingness of the government to admit it's a huge problem. It's a situation where everyone is a victim - the mentally ill, and in some cases, the people they end up hurting. more ›

Be wary of your words during the next Chinese New Year family gathering, or you could find yourself with more than just a few red packets. A report put forward by the Psychosis and Social Observation and the Hengping Institute was released on Sunday, highlighting the abusive use of our healthcare system. more ›

It took over a dozen suicide attempts for them to realize conditions at Foxconn were maybe somewhat inhuman, but it looks like the company's at least willing to change its ways now. On the table for Foxconn workers: a wage increase that doubles their salaries and a new rule instating that they take at least one day off a week. more ›

While U.S. and European schools have been haunted by repeated school shootings in the past decade, it seems like a rash of violent attacks is continuing to plague schools around China in recent months. The latest in a series of attacks on Chinese schoolchildren occurred on Tuesday morning in Shaanxi Province’s rural Nanzheng County. Seven children and a teacher were hacked to death and at least 20 children were wounded in an attack on a kindergarten, reports Xinhua. The attacker later killed himself, police officials reported. No further details of the incident have been given so far. more ›

This week has been a particularly morbid one for China news-watchers, thanks to a string of grisly murders in the headlines. Heck, we're still trying to wrap our heads around the bizarre nature of some of these massacres. Even if you're desensitized enough to think that murders are nothing new, the circumstances of these particular killings are so tragically gruesome that they should shock you into some sort of emotion: more ›

In a move to prevent suicide among the city's children more than 3.000 sixth grade pupils in 21 of Shanghai's middle schools will be asked to fill out questionnaires mapping their mental health, with the aim of finding out who might be considered potentially unstable. Those who are found to be at risk will receive psychological assistance from the East China Normal University's counseling center. more ›

• That great rite of passage which is obtaning one's driver's licence just got a bit harder here in Shanghai -- applicants are now tested on obscure pieces of information called "traffic rules", and giving cigarettes to the test administrators isn't going to help you, because they now use robots, or rather, electronic devices equipped with sensors that can tell when you've made a mistake, such as forgetting to signal for a turn, or messing up the driving in the curved line or figure-eight parts of the rest. When you a fail, a voice will immediately notify you that "you have failed this item". At least you can curse these voices with impunity.
• October 10 was World Mental Health Day, and the Oriental Morning Post ran an article about Shanghai mental health professionals making a call for greater recognition and treatment for mental health problems. According to one professor of mental health, there are about 160,000 people officially classified as having some kind of mental health problem, but according to more general surveys and definitions of mental health, up to 7.1 percent of the adult population -- in Shanghai, meaning nearly a million people -- have what might be broadly termed a mental health problem. And yet there are only 1,300 doctors in the city to deal with this issue, so the ratio is 770 patients for every doctor.
• Speaking of mental health, a 21 year old girl recently attempted to drown herself in the Huangpu River. She was rescued and later claimed that she was suffering from some form of depression. (We'd be depressed, too, if we failed at killing ourselves.) The doctors' call (see above) is timely indeed.