Yunnan has been hit by drought for three consecutive years. 6.31 million people are facing water shortages, with over 2 million facing difficulties in obtaining water and more than 5.5 million hectares of fields affected. Local governments are desperate to cope with the disaster, but there is still no sign of relief. more ›

The Hukou Waterfall, China's second largest waterfall, located on the border of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, are an absolutely spectacular sight in winter to behold. more ›

In December the world watched (and giggled) as panda researchers donned panda suits for the good of the species, in an effort to reduce human contact and prepare them for the wild. This time they dressed up for the transfer of Cao Cao and her cub Cao Gen to the outer ring of the Wuloong Panda Reserve in Sichuan. more ›

Tourists pose for pictures at the Huangguoshu Waterfall, or the Yellow Fruit Tree Waterfall (黄果树瀑布), located on the Baihe River (白水河) in Anshun, Guizhou Province. At 77.8m high and 101m wide, it is one of the largest waterfalls in China. more ›

Usually when we hear something about China saving the environment, it has to do with the heaps of government investment in solar and wind power - the whole "green tech" sputnik moment, to borrow a now annoying and hackneyed phrase. Unseen until now is a surprising alleged new force in the environmental movement: China's billionaires, who may now be privatizing the business of nature reserves. more ›

We've covered Chongming Island several times, mostly surrounding its new tunnel, and odd property development, but here's breaking news: you should go. Given the right day (when you have time), and the right weather (NOT raining), Chongming is pretty much a win situation. It's a relatively short ride over, has trees as far as the eye can see, and is a chance to reverse some of the lung damage that you may have accrued since arriving. You might even forgive its current lack of hairy crabs (only in the Fall, folks). more ›

This last weekend, new Shanghaiist intern Kirsti Jönson trekked with a group of friends to the idyllic forests of Moganshan, a mountain located in Zhejiang Province, about 200km from Shanghai. She came back with a load of pretty pictures and a run down of how she spent her time. more ›

Jonah Lehrer's piece in the Boston Globe got us thinking (or, at least, trying to think — our brain has been subject to Shanghai for six years now): more ›

By Benjamin Cohen more ›

We think we'd be all right if we never, ever watched the CCTV Spring Festival gala again, but we almost regret it this time because we missed out on some real doozies, like Zhang Ziyi's terrible lip-synching episode and as well as the slight faux pas, made by one of the hosts, that China's south was in the midst of an "abundant spring" even though many of the southern provinces are facing the worst winter weather they've seen in decades. more ›

Image credit: Nature abhors a vacuum more ›

The Lanzhou Morning Post (兰州晨报) reports that a growing desert is closing in on Dunhuang, Gansu Province's oasis town [translation by CDT]:

Xihu National Nature Preserve (西湖国家级自然保护区) sits in between Dunhuang (敦煌), Gansu's oasis town, and China's sixth largest desert, the Kum-tagh (库姆塔格). The 660,000-hectare region is the only green belt that shields lands to the east from marching sands coming out of the west. Wetlands in the preserve are shrinking, the result of dropping water tables and decreasing water supply from glaciers on Qilian and Altun (阿尔金) mountains. The region's Shule (疏勒河) and Dang (党河) Rivers have gone nearly dry in laces, reducing above-ground water supplies to both Dunhuang and Xihu. The expansion of agriculture around Dunhuang and a boom in logging of Euphrates poplar forests (胡杨林) for construction have made the water shortage worse.

A South China tiger has been born in a South African wildlife reserve in South Africa, the first to be born outside China, raising hopes that the species can be saved from extinction. Only about 90 South China tigers are left in the world today. More from Sydney Morning Herald. more ›

• Nature News cites an EU report that finds that the real value of a Chinese scientist's wages is the lowest among the 38 countries surveyed. Yes, Chinese scientists make even less than Indian scientists. (h/t to Global Voices )
• CNNIC announces that China now has 72.82 million blogs and 47 million bloggers. That's one quarter of all Chinese netizens.
• The Little Red Blog bets against Baidu and roots for Google in the year 2008.

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. more ›

Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) has released its fifth annual Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) which saw American universities take eight of the top ten spots. Harvard University emerged right on top, followed by Stanford University and University of California-Berkeley. Britain's Oxford and Cambridge -- the only two non-American universities to make it to the top ten -- secured the fourth and tenth positions respectively. The top university in Asia was the University of Tokyo, edging in at the twentieth spot. more ›

It's not been a good month for climbers in Sichuan Province. Ok, that's an understatement. It's been a damn awful month. At the beginning of July, the body of accomplished twice-climber-of-Everest Christine Feld-Boskoff was discovered on the remote mountain peak of Genyan Massif, half a year after the body of her partner in mountain-climbing was found (we told you how the two prominent mountain-climbers went missing here and here). Boskoff was believed to have died in an avalanche. Then, only days ago, government officials announced the discovery of Lonely Planet writer Andrew Clem Lindenmayer, found dead at Riwuqie Peak, 4,600 metres above sea level. And these are not Sichuan's only fatal findings – some simply only managed to make news footnotes, such as the uncovering of the body of a Japanese climber, who went missing 26 years ago. more ›

Watch the landscape change 1987 to 2007. More here, here, here and here. more ›

If you’re like us and already feel slightly guilty at how much you will be drinking at this Friday’s Shanghaiist Happy Hour, maybe it’s time to start thinking about how to have an active summer? Whether you’re a cycling veteran or you’re just looking for something to do to these coming months, there are a number of bike trips available to see more of the beautiful countryside (or Suzhou Creek). more ›

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tomorrow night, Brearley Architects and Urbanists will be hosting a special event with Roots & Shoots, the youth arm of the Jane Goodall Institute. more ›

New Scientist recently reported on a record-breaking feat of a particular bird-of-prey population near Beijing. This news isn't something to celebrate, rather something quite worrisome. Researchers discovered that kestrels had record-breaking amounts of a PDBE chemical known as Deca in their tissues. more ›

In another case of contamination of regional water supply, officials in Shanxi province of northern China have cut off the water to 28,000 households after a truck overturned due to 'brake failure' on the highway, spilling 33 tonnes of toxic chemicals into a river that supplies water to Xiyang county. more ›

There's a serious drought affecting Chongqing and neighboring Sichuan, which recent reports have stated is the worst such drought to hit the region in 50 years. Water levels on the Yangtze are at lows unseen for 100 years, water is being rationed in Chongqing, and millions of people are already without safe drinking water. Losses are already in the billions of yuan, and it looks like the autumn harvests are going to be shite, thus leading to huge agricultural losses. more ›

Back in September we told you about the new eco-city of Dongtan out on Chongming Island. It seems that it's made the news again though it seems that this new Reuters report doesn't tell much of anything new. A couple of trivial new facts: all the cars will be electric, and the precarious wetlands, which are what the environmentalists are mostly concerned with, will be protected and separated from the eco-city by a 5 km buffer zone. The reporter (we saw no byline) then does what every reporter does when they want to seem like they've canvassed local opinion -- talk to a cabbie. See for yourself: more ›

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. more ›

Shanghaiist knows a thing or two about Australia. So we obviously know a bit about sharks (or “Noahs”, as they’re called Down Under). We therefore read with great interest that the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium has opened a special exhibition called “I Love Sharks -- Our Ocean, Our Home.” more ›

What is the deal with local magazines making drastic changes and leaving their readers in the dark? First it was 8 Days and its unannounced switch to SH Weekly. And now That's Shanghai -- in an unrelated move, we assume -- has given itself a facelift. The September issue has a new look and the cover is emblazoned with gold lettering proclaiming itself a "Collector's Edition." But inside the magazine Shanghaiist finds nary a word explaining to readers the thinking behind the redesign, no explanation about what makes this edition so collectible. And don't bother looking for insight on the magazine's website -- on Sept. 4, they still had an image of August's issue under the words "This Month's Magazine." It's a shame, really, because the new look is a big step in the right direction. While the content is mostly still the same, the magazine looks cleaner and classier now, and they've livened things up a bit with some well-placed color. more ›

Shanghaiist has received several emails about pandas recently, mostly from slightly-older-than-middle-aged women. It seems a baby giant panda was born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, in July -- and since pandas are Chinese and Shangahiist lives in China, we are supposed to care. And, although it has nothing to do with Shanghai, the birth is kind of a big deal. Giant pandas are critically endangered, with only 1,600 currently living in the wild. more ›