Rarely do we see a positive story in the stream of food safety headlines in China. Fortunately, some new regulations regarding allergens will be put on the books this spring. Food authorities will soon require prepackaged food producers to list all potential allergy-inducing ingredients on their product labels. more ›

In order to "promote the prosperity and development of the film industry and to enrich the cultural life of the people" last week the State Council of Legislative Affairs drafted a series of new restrictions on film in China. The new legislation will increase the amount of film content banned in China, as well as provide some new laws to rein in sketchy box office practices. more ›

Sometimes the line delineating reasonable and unreasonable becomes apparent after it's been crossed. This is one of those times: "Grabbing a street-food breakfast on the way to work could soon become a thing of the past for Shanghai residents, as the unlicensed vendors will be banned starting September 1, when the Shanghai Food Safety Regulation takes effect. All food sellers will be required to have a license, and while current street vendors can apply for licenses, they must operate their businesses only at designated spots and during certain times. Urban management officers will watch for illegal vendors, who will face fines of 500 yuan (US$77.5) if in violation. Companies will be banned from the food industry for five years if they are found violating the clause on expired foods. Authorities will put into citywide use technologies that were used during last year's World Expo, including real-time monitoring systems and the ability to trace food to its origin." [Eastday] more ›

Last week we posted about a coal mine fire in east Shandong province that trapped 36 miners underground in a mine owned by Zaozhuang Fangbei Coal Mine Co. Ltd. In more recent news, 24 miners remain trapped with little hope of a successful rescue. more ›

This should be welcome news to anyone who has been a victim of China's notorious shanzhai alcohol. As of Thursday, China's food safety regulators have launched a nationwide campaign to battle unlicensed, counterfeit, and smuggled liquor. The new rollout contains new stringent procedures for liquor license applications, more frequent inspections, as well as tracing and accountability mechanisms. The regulatory board had harsh words for smugglers saying the illegal transportation of liquors would "severely cracked down on" and that counterfeiters and unlicensed producers would be punished, shut down, and blacklisted.
more ›

Shanghai Daily is reporting what might just be the most disturbing bit of public safety news so far this summer: Shanghai's skyscraper windows have started cracking and crashing to the ground. We're not sure how we missed this, but three separate incidents happened on the same day last month, causing the city to review regulations concerning high-rise glass maintenance. As it turns out, there are none. more ›

Large-scale advertising enthusiasts and Louis Vuitton dons, you should be sitting down for this: "The landmark Louis Vuitton 'suitcase' on Nanjing Road W. may be demolished within a week in a government crackdown on advertising sites launched yesterday. The distinctive advertising box was built during the World Expo last year around the Plaza 66 shopping mall to conceal renovation work. The regulations say that advertising facilities hanging on a building's outer walls must be no more than 9 meters high and 0.5 meters thick and must not endanger pedestrians. However, the LV suitcase - as well as other advertising boxes currently being built - is more than 20 meters high and 4 meters thick." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

As the 90 year anniversary on 1 July of the founding of draws closer, authorities have ordered TV stations across the country to no longer air any detective shows, spy thrillers or dramas about time-travel for the next three months with immediate effect. Instead, programs praising the party are top priority. more ›

The purpose of China Strikes is to track strikes, protests and other collective actions by Chinese workers to defend their rights and interests. I hope that over time the site will serve as a resource to those wishing to better understand and support the labor movement in China.

Yes, that's right. The State Council Information Office is mulling an "an identity authentication system for users of online bulletin board systems" which will require you and I to provide our real names before we can post comments online anywhere. This, of course is all not new. The so-called "real name system" has been proposed since 2006 but everything fell apart due (in part) to the huge public outcry that ensued. Looking at the way things are going here, we have no doubt that Chinese authorities will eventually bring about this proposal to fruition. And when they do finally do it, they'll just have to point to our neighbours in South Korea, and say, "See, they have it. We should, too." more ›

In a bid to preserve the "purity of the Chinese language," mainland broadcasters were apparently asked to avoid English abbreviations in Chinese programs. In other words, it may be the end of NBA, GDP, and CPI in newscasts -- they would be replaced with their Chinese translations. In the case of "unavoidable" English abbreviations, a Chinese explanation would have to be provided. more ›

Shanghai's thinking of putting a stop to revolving doors, debating new regulations for officials after their retirement or resignation in order to check "future corruption." The regulation draft stipulates that high-level officials should not work in profit-making organizations that had a direct link to their government jobs for three years after retiring or resigning. They would also be forbidden from things that might be in conflict with the public interest. Personnel departments are now being asked to keep records of ex-officials' jobs. Source: Xinhua more ›

Definitely welcome news to our ears, eyes and headspaces - the televisions streaming constant looping advertisements in the back of Shanghai's taxis are thankfully on the out. more ›

Valleywag points us to an interesting article in the Financial Times which highlights five markets in which Google plays second fiddle to local rivals — Russia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Korea and, you guessed it, China. more ›

The Peoples Daily reports the Ministry of Education has added new rules for primary school teachers to "take care of their students' safety" and "teachers should pay more attention to the health of students", spurred on by the public condemnation of secondary school teacher Fan Meizhong who ran for his life, leaving behind his students during the May 12 Sichuan quake. No word on what they'll do with errant teachers next. Will all teachers be expected to give up their lives for students when the next earthquake strikes? more ›

We just got off the phone with a very upset American Steak & Eggs employee who confirmed the diner's forced closure until August 6. They said it was because the teams playing in the USA Basketball International Challenge are training in Jing'an Stadium, which houses the restaurant. "There's lots of security outside right now," she said. "It's really bad." She said Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, also in the building, was also forced to close. This is all quite strange to us — wouldn't the members of Team USA, who we hear are staying at the Portman Ritz-Carlton next door, enjoy some American steak and eggs? Also read: Tongren Lu to close for the Olympics? more ›

In fact, all cities hosting Olympic events will do the same. The Shanghai Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission said it will postpone approval of notification letters needed for business visas until mid-September for all but essential travel, ruling out visits for market research, training or to carry out inspections. Some, albeit limited leeway exists. Foreigners can apply for business visas for "urgent" matters but the Chinese counterpart inviting them will need to give detailed supporting documentation. more ›

From the New York Times: more ›

A friend of ours went to the Huashi Pharmacy, at the Portman, to purchase the inhaler she uses due to asthma. She didn't have a prescription, but she never needed one before. As long as she had lived in Shanghai, such meds were always over-the-counter, perhaps because of the excellent air quality found in the city. But on Saturday, the workers at the pharmacy told her she could no longer buy the inhaler she needed to breathe without a prescription. Why? "Because of the Olympics," she was told. A little more digging shows that certain inhalers are considered stimulants by the International Olympic Committee, and thus new regulations were put into effect. Luckily, our friend had health insurance and walked to her doctor's office, got a prescription and her meds — the expenses were all covered, but for uninsured asthmatics, this policy change could be quite a surprise hit to the pocketbook. Just thought we'd warn you: Don't wait until the middle of an asthma attack to get all your paperwork in order. more ›

The Sichuan earthquake caused such a large number of Chinese people to step out and donate blood that mobile blood donation buses around the nation had to stop accepting donations because more has been given than needed. Several lesbians were unhappy though when told their blood would not be accepted because of a blanket ban on blood donation by homosexuals by the Ministry of Health under the Blood Donor Health Check Requirements 《供血者健康检查标准》. Para 6.16 of the above ordinance bans homosexuals and people with multiple sex partners from donating blood. more ›

We've all seen over the last week how the cruel earthquake has left parents without children and children without parents. As the focus now turns to healing and restoration for survivors and giving them tools with which to pick up the broken pieces of their lives, the government has now begun to disseminate information on active steps that concerned individuals considering adoption of children and babies orphaned by the disaster can take. Here is some English-language information we found on China Daily via People's Daily (the availability of which indicates they are open to foreigners adopting the earthquake orphans): more ›

All ye lucky yuletide souls whose employer's lack of the Scrooge gene has enabled ye to escape Shanghai over the Xmas break, rejoice! Those of you flying back into China after January 1 no longer need to fill in that pesky health declaration form. Although Shanghaiist kind of enjoyed the pre-landing self-diagnosis ritual. Just how many avian flu carrying fowl had we fraternized with over the past month? And could the hail of sputum from the guy sitting next to us develop into full-blown SARS? These questions, along with which fellow passenger to scrounge a pen off, took our thoughts away from the strip of tarmac hurtling at horrific speed towards our plunging aircraft. According to the national quarantine watchdog and civil aviation regulator (quoted in The Guardian), "The move aims to simplify immigration procedures and improve efficiency." Dunno how this would have any affect on queues, seeing as people fill out the forms in-flight, though apparently from from February 1, people with no goods to declare won't have to fill in customs forms when leaving or arriving in China, which may speed things up slightly, judging from the confusion over said forms we've witnessed at Pudong International. more ›

Following up on yesterday's post about China's new holiday lineup for 2008, we now have the official official list of dates, so now everyone knows what Saturdays and Sundays they might be asked to work (and that nonsense starts soon). Here we go: more ›

Well, then: Oops. What last month we said was going to happen, this month was made official. China has scrapped May holiday, one of its three Golden Weeks, and turned three traditional festivals into national holidays. Here's how your official 2008 Chinese holiday schedule now looks: more ›

Remember the little 8 year old girl Zhang Huimin whose father made her run from Sanya, Hainan all the way to Beijing, wearing out 20 pairs of shoes and covering a staggering 3,560 km in 55 days? This time, another girl, Huang Li (黄澧), 10 years old, had her hands and feet bound by her father before being thrown to swim in the chilly waters of the Xiangjiang River (湘江) for 3 hours. Apparently, her father is training her to swim across the English Channel. more ›

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 ›

Recently while out of town, our landlord called us on our cell phone to inform us that he wanted his apartment back ASAP. Why, we asked? He wanted to renovate it, he said, but we were not convinced. You see, the few of us have been living in this apartment for coming to 3 years now, and there was this implicit agreement that we could stay on for as long as we liked, so some time back we didn't sign any lease with him, but continued to dutifully pay our rent each month (no delays) as we have done for such a long time. more ›

Thou shalt not collude on pricing, the regulatory god said unto the Moses of industries in most countries, including China. But the instant noodle cabal either did not hear it or turned a deaf ear. In late July, noodle makers joined forces in raising prices by about 20 percent, and as much as 40 percent for some products.After less than three weeks of regulatory pressure, media assailing and public discontent, the industry backed down, apologized and initiated an across-the-board price cut. Is this a triumph of consumer rights and regulatory protection? Yes ... hmm maybe. more ›

Are there any Living Buddhas among the enlightened readership of this blog? You have been informed: With immediate effect, all your reincarnations must receive government approval, and if not, they will be deemed "illegal or invalid" by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA). more ›

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines to be the first. Hmm... we wonder what made them bend those rules! more ›