The Hukou Waterfall, China's second largest waterfall, located on the border of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces, are an absolutely spectacular sight in winter to behold. more ›

Mr Shangguan Junle, the chairman of Haomen Jipin Restaurants, wrote on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo last week that he had decided to stop serving shark's fin from the beginning of this year to 'protect sharks and the environment'. But the 34-year-old entrepreneur felt it would be too wasteful to throw away his remaining stock. more ›

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a primary school in Anze County, Shanxi Province, killing himself and wounding another 6. Local authorities say that at around 1530 on November 24, Feng Aihong (冯爱红), the suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a local primary school, killing himself on the spot. One teacher and five students who were having sports class were also wounded. However, they suffered only facial burns and there is no danger to their lives. more ›

Changchun police have arrested a murderer who has been wanted for 16 years straight in Yangquan, Shaanxi Province. The murderer, as it turns out, is a member of the local CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) named Hou Jun (侯军). more ›

In the Yaopu village (瑶圃村) of Shanxi province's Xiaoyi city (孝义市), a local widow has served as a one-woman orphanage, having adopted 80 orphans and disabled children over the course of 22 years. The widow, 49-year-old Li Yanping (李艳萍), subsists on a meager income, and lives inside a 40 square meter country-style yard home with 13 children who call her 'Mother'. more ›

A 12-year-old girl participated in the 11th annual Chinese Professional Modeling competition's Shanxi regional finals, held in the provincial capital of Taiyuan on Tuesday night. Guo Xin (郭昕), a girl who's yet to begin middle school, managed to take home an Award for Excellence at the competition, where she happened to be the youngest contestant. We aren't sure if Guo was amongst the 6 models chosen from 50 Shanxi contestants that would go on to compete in the national finals, but really, it's quite beyond the point. more ›

One participant in a Beijing-advertised Shanxi Province "international beauty pageant," has recounted her experiences to the Global Times in gripping expose filled with pretty girls, mid-level official ogglers and less pay than they originally thought - though 4000RMB for 11 days of sitting around isn't that bad, I suppose. more ›

Yet another health scandal, but what's new in China? Wang Keqin, one of China's best investigative journalists, reported on March 17 how a gross failure to refrigerate vaccines had led to the deaths of four children and the illness of at least 74 others in Shanxi province. Ironically, the vaccines had been deliberately left unrefrigerated to prevent stickers displaying the government's quality assurance from peeling off. more ›

Some of us here have tried our hand at learning Kung Fu before, and one of the reasons we've quit is because of 7-year-olds like Guo Siping. Guo, who appeared on the 2008 championship round of “Sunshine Kids” and now has a film contract, reminds of exactly the type of primary school student that used to titter in the background as we struggled to touch our toes. more ›

Counterfeit money in Asia is not just a fantasy fictionalized by that Jackie Chan atrocity film Rush Hour 2. It is a real situation. Very real.. and usually very problematic. One reason why you won't find denominations over 100RMB here: the government hasn't found a way to make sure it'll infiltrate the population without getting counterfeited up the wazoo. more ›

A toddler in Shanxi province has been confirmed infected with bird flu. The two-year-old, originally from Hunan, was taken to the Shanxi Children's Hospital on Wednesday night and tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. She is now in critical condition. This is the second case of bird flu this week, after a 19-year-old Beijing resident died after handling ducks at a local wet market. See our tips for preventing bird flu here. Source: Caijing (Chinese only) more ›

"The governor of north China's Shanxi province stepped down Sunday over a landslide that killed at least 254, the second time he has fallen from grace over a major scandal." more ›

Although it sounds like a particularly weird chapter of "Journey To The West", we are assured that this Pig with the face of a Monkey is a real animal. Born to freaked out farmers in the small town of Fengzhang, the freaky swine has shot to the top of the tourist attractions in Shanxi Province. more ›