China Hush points us to a man named Xiao Baiyou (萧百佑) who has recently been making waves across China as a "Wolf Father" who imposes strict restrictions on his children and will beat them if they fail to meet his standards. Although controversial and violent, his parenting method appears to be very successful -- at least outwardly. Three of his four children have been admitted into Peking University, arguably China's most prestigious university. Many parents have sent their own children to Xiao so that he could teach them during the winter and summer vacations. more ›

These disturbing images appeared on Netease showing a 13-year-old girl chained up by her parents inside their noodle shop in Shanghai. Her mother and father claim they were left with no other options when she refused to stop stealing. more ›

CNN comes to China in search of the Tiger Mom and finds out that parents here are turning away from the "Tiger Mom" approach outlined by Amy Chua, author of the controversial book Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother. Meanwhile, the book has already started falling off the Amazon charts, from #5 a week ago to #8 now. Chua's mom won't be pleased she never made it to #1.
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Yale law professor and the world's most hated "Chinese mom" Amy Chua is now doing the TV rounds, after an excerpt of her book, Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother, appeared on the Wall Street Journal and elicited a ton of furious responses from around the world, including this blog -- as well as her own video clip by our favourite Taiwanese animators. In an interview on the Today Show, Chua told Meredith Vieira that her book is "absolutely not about how to parent or saying the Chinese way is better," but "also about my mistakes and making fun of myself and how I eventually had to pull back". Say whatever you will about Amy Chua -- she may not be the top parenting expert out there, but she's definitely a marketing whiz. Her book has climbed rapidly through the charts and now sits at #6 on Amazon. While she laughs her way to the bank, we hear her mom is livid she isn't already #1.
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Let's just say that if you've been waiting to see a fire-breathing Amy Chua chortle maniacally in front of a jail cell (filled, of course, with her poor overachieving offspring) right before being taken away by child protective services... here ya go! more ›

Recently, a Yale professor and "Superior Chinese mother" published a wildly controversial opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal espousing just how much better the "Chinese" method of parenting is - no playdates, ultimate discipline and a complete disregard for your children's feelings because really, what do they know? I thought it was some kind of satirical joke at first. But no - it was a terrible tragedy of a piece that probably only got published thanks to those recent Shanghai PISA test scores demonstrating (to those not looking close enough) some sort of amazing educational secret Asian people have that others MUST KNOW. Having lived through a version of the Chinese Parenting Experience, and having been surrounded since birth with hundreds of CPE graduates, I couldn't not say something. The article actually made me feel physically ill and, judging from the comments section of Amy Chua's piece, garnered similar reactions from others who'd gone through what she's espousing. more ›

We've probably all seen Chinese parents helping their kids relieve themselves of a little pee on Shanghai's charming streets - and we've gotten somewhat used to that - but we don't know if we'll ever get over some of them actually helping their children go number two. more ›

When migrants move from their villages to look for jobs in the big city, they often don't take the kids. According to a recent press report, as many as one out of six children in China - 58 million - are left behind with town elders. This video is about some of the “left behind” children in the southern provinces of China. Source:McClatchy more ›

A farm dog in Fujian Province has found itself an unlikely helper for raising its newborn puppies: a chicken. The hen reportedly moved into the kennel after the dog gave birth last month and has refused to leave since. She watches over the puppies all day, only walking outside when the dog is nursing, and refuses to let anyone else near them. Talk about mother henning. Source:Ananova more ›

Zookeepers at Polar Land in Harbin, China have observed a pair of gay penguins trying to dupe other straight penguins by placing stones in front of them before waddling away with their eggs thinking no one was watching. Eventually, the straight penguins realised what their gay friends have been up to and started to actively ostracise them from their social club. Keepers had to intervene by segregating the pair of three-year-old male penguins (how cruel!) "to avoid disrupting the rest of the community during the hatching season". The odd behaviour of the gay penguins has been explained as being a manifestation of the strong paternal instinct of male penguins that exists irrespective of sexual orientation. more ›