Chinese-language edition of a campaign by Action for Aids, Singapore for World Aids Day 2011. more ›

Have you been meaning to give your free time in meaningful ways to the city that you've chosen as your adopted home? more ›

Shenzhen: the bright star of market liberalization and home to Foxconn controversies and Obama's half-brother is now being touted as the next... political reform breeding ground? On the heels of Premier Wen Jiabao’s political reform comments made during an August trip to the city, it is at the heart of an experiment that gives more responsibility and greater freedoms to independent social and civic organizations... aka NGO’s. more ›

Think "sex trade" and chances are male and transvestite sex workers rarely come to mind, though they're just as physically and legally at risk as their female counterparts. To rectify this, CNNGo brings attention to Shanghai Leyi, an organization dedicated to creating a better environment for male and transvestite sex workers. They provide everything from legal training and medical services, to advice on STDs and HIV prevention and free condoms. Founded in 2004, it's a young organization that has thankfully thrived, collaborating with UNAIDS to establish the China Sex Worker Organization Network Forum, and expanding its services to solo female sex workers working the streets, another vulnerable group paid little attention to by aid organizations. 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 ›

"The objective of this project is to assist students in migrant schools in Shanghai to gain interest and confidence in their English language abilities and to help them pass their middle school entrance examinations. English teaching volunteers are introduced into schools for migrant children in Shanghai. To date, we are running projects in 18 schools across Minhang, Huangpu, Baoshan, Pudong, Yangpu and Putuo districts. The English teaching standards in these schools are low and the Principals welcome volunteers to teach English to the students and/or the teachers either during the school day or at the weekend. This programme offers a rewarding way to get to know another side of China’s society and to contribute in a meaningful way to the education of under-privileged children."

It's crazy right? Not to say that Shanghai isn't in a charitable mood most of the time, but this is the first instance we've seen of an entire three day stretch dedicated to not one... not two... but four FIVE different charitable events. It's as if the charity heavens opened up and decided this weekend was the day to rain torrents of giving. more ›

Is water the new oil? Current TV takes us around China for a look at the reservoirs that have dried up, the arable land that's turned into large swathes of desert, rivers in urban spaces that have become dumps for human and chemical waste and the people's lives that have been affected. It also highlights the army of environmental NGO's that have sprung up only recently and their battle against time. more ›

Shanghaiist recently caught up with Philippe Tzou, the Shanghai Couch Surfing volunteer. Couch Surfing is a great non-profit organization that helps people travel around the world staying in the homes of like minded people and sharing their knowledge and experiences. Shanghai has developed a unique CS community. As Shanghai-resident Philippe Tzou’s current guest Sascha Wenzlick put it: In Germany loads of people have CS accounts so you don’t get requests to surf so often. But in Shanghai you get weekly requests and CSers even confer to share the guests around. more ›