Those looking for an inexpensive way to join the (almost) mile high club should steer clear of Yao Mountain in Guilin, as signs recently displayed at the site announce "Be cautious, it is risky to conduct intimate behavior aloft". Along with exhibiting an overly-demonstrative picture, the signs emphasise that the warning is directed especially at those born after 1990 who, as we know, are all sexually deviant exhibitionists. more ›

Will this make eating out safer, will it? "THE Shanghai Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued a rule requiring local eateries not to use cooking oil for more than three days if they can't control the oil quality. Officials said they have developed an instant oil checking method to test oil quality, and those using oil too frequently will face punishment. A testing method for eateries using kitchen waste oil is expected to be launched in August." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

We already know that absolutely everything is already banned in China, including: foreign cat videos, networks of people having more fun than you, Western religious music, indoor smoking, console videogames, time travel, siblings, blue tree-worshipping cat people, Miley Cyrus, English usage in the media, pajamas in public, U.S. pork (since lifted), Bjork, and the employment of strippers at funerals. 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 ›

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 ›