This is just plain hilaaaarious: Cops in NYC have arrested a worker at a funeral supplies shop in Chinatown that sells joss paper and other papier-mâché items that Chinese people the world over like to burn for their deceased family members. more ›

We told you earlier this is the gift that keeps on giving. And sure enough, it is. Now, the ever-excellent Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap has two more points that haven't been mentioned heretofore. One of those points, namely the second, is potentially damning, and should (we think) cause heads to roll: more ›

Well, here's the gift that keeps on giving. On Saturday, the NYT quietly issued the following editor's note, clarifying what it meant in its Shakespeare censorship anecdote -- yeah, the one that sparked off an epidemic of China expats quoting the Bard on phone calls (h/t Adam Minter): more ›

Is this true?

A Beijing entrepreneur, discussing restaurant choices with his fiancée over their cellphones last week, quoted Queen Gertrude’s response to Hamlet: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” The second time he said the word “protest,” her phone cut off. more ›

Randy Cohen, New York Times "The Ethicist" columnist, might be inclined to think so. Granted, Cohen's anti-auto podcast from last week is about Manhattan, but several of his arguments already seem applicable to Shanghai (and, in 2020, when our city's subway system looks like this, there will be few ethical excuses for owning personal cars in most of Shanghai). Cohen lays out five reasons why cars and Manhattanites shouldn't mix. Here's No. 1: "Cars kill. If you introduced a transportation system by announcing, 'It'll only kill 40,000 people a year,' it's hard to believe it would gain widespread popularity." (The number of "traffic deaths" in China was down to 73,484 in 2008, but up 100 percent over the last 20 years.) Listen to all New York Times podcasts here or subscribe via iTunes. They're all free. more ›

• Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap says China's block of the New York Times does not matter as much as it once did.
• Chris Gill of Shanghai Eye says he has it from a reliable source that the HSK, the Chinese proficiency examination for foreigners will be scrapped in two years.
• Jenny Leung of China Digital Times interviews Qi Hanting, the student who founded the Anti-CNN website.

Image by Roger Wo more ›

... comes from The New York Times. Check it out and let us know if you have found anything better. more ›

Oops of the Day 2: Jack Cafferty, CNN commentator more ›

As the Chinese government goes about in its last minute preparations for the long-awaited Olympics, elsewhere in Sichuan Province, local officials are pressurizing parents whose children have died in the May 12 earthquake to accept hush money. Sign a contract to get a cash payment plus pension or risk further trouble from the authorities? Very, very disturbing. [Source] more ›