Apple's labour practices have been under the spotlight a lot this year since a monologue by Mike Daisey published by the podcast This American Life gained widespread interest and led to international protests against the manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad. The monologue was eventually retracted after This American Life found Daisey to have fabricated numerous details in his report, thanks to the investigative work of Rob Schmitz, China correspondent of Marketplace. more ›

A man in Shenzhen invited his father to rape his girlfriend twice after quarrels with her, an "offer" which the dad accepted on both occassions. Both father and son have now been sentenced to (a shockingly low) 39 and 18 months respectively behind bars, according to a report by the Southern Daily. more ›

A gang of 4 men has been arrested for faking a public bus to rob passengers in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Yangcheng Evening News reports. more ›

A 6-year-old boy's penis was bitten off by his dad Wednesday morning in Shenzhen. Doctors are understood to have reattached the boy's penis but aside from being mentally scarred for life, the boy may never regain full use of his penis. Shanghai Daily reports: more ›

A video (with a perfect tinkly soundtrack) featuring an inconspicuous traveler crossing the border into Shenzhen from Hong Kong proves China's drug of choice for cross-border muling in 2012 is still the iPhone. more ›

Dongguan, Chang'an Town, a notorious nightclub was the scene of a clash between Shenzhen special police and gangsters with knives. During the altercation, officers opened fire, accidentally striking a nearby cab driver in the process. Though the driver was taken to the hospital, he was pronounced dead the next morning. more ›

As of January 1st, new provisions in Shenzhen's "Traffic Safety Management Regulations" have come into effect, which state that pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks and all motorists who fail to yield face a 500RMB fine. more ›

A man has passed away in Shenzhen a week after being admitted to the hospital for bird flu. This is said to be the first bird flu fatality since 2010: more ›

Food safety regulators in Shenzhen, Guangdong, say they've found carcinogenic mildew in peanuts and cooking oil more ›

Residents of Shenzhen can let out a sigh of relief and help people on the streets without the fear that the person they're helping is going to turn around and sue their rescuer. In light of the recent Yueyue debacle, Shenzhen has drafted China's first Good Samaritan Law to encourage the general public to help those in need. more ›

We told you on Sunday how a Russian woman was sentenced to death in Zhuhai for heroin smuggling. A 35-year-old Filipino man is set to join her in the gallows for the same crime -- he was found carrying 1.495 kg of heroin in September 2008 at the Guilin International Airport, and his execution is set for December 8. more ›

Roughly 1,000 factory workers left their work stations and blocked a highway this week to protest extreme working conditions at their factory which produces parts for Apple and IBM in Shenzhen. The protest is the latest in a growing series of labor disputes in China, highlighting a need for truly independent trade unions amid worker fears over the future of China's economy. more ›

At 11:25am on Saturday the 19th, a 19-year-old woman was run over by a truck going in reverse, which then backed over her body two more times. The incident occurred near the Buji long-distance coach station (布吉客运汽车站) in Shenzhen's Luohu district. more ›

Andrew Steven, an Englishman who claimed he was robbed in Shenzhen, had been begging around the Guangzhou's Zoo Metro station. The man, who appeared to be in his 40s, was seen sitting with his passport and a request letter at the parterre adjacent to a Subway station. more ›

At 11:17am yesterday, at Xixiang Village in Shenzhen's Bao'an district, a 1 and a half-year-old young girl was killed outside of her home after she was struck by a truck. more ›

A Shenzhen public servant surnamed Liao is reported to have committed serious domestic violence against his parents and older sister. Liao’s, parents who are both in their 60s, were beaten recently during a visit to their son's home. Liao's mother, whose Hunan dialect and chronic headaches were enough to send Liao into a rage, was recently told by her son, "Why don't you get hit by a car and just die?" more ›

On Monday in Shenzhen's Longhua district, an aggrieved building contractor decided to protest for his rights (an act known as weiquan/维权) by unfurling banners from a building rooftop, along with stringing two dogs up by their necks. more ›

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No surprise here, except maybe the insane speed and degree with which smog swept back into the city following the closing of the Universiade in Shenzhen on Tuesday night. For ten days, the city experienced bright, clear blue skies with visibility up to 25 kilometers. By Thursday morning, that had plunged to 4-5 kilometers. So basically they went from Shire to Mordor in less than 48 hours. more ›

The last time we heard about Mark Ndesandjo, the China-based half-brother of US President Barack Obama, he was still busy raising funds for the orphans in Shenzhen. more ›

Using fishing line, a pulley, a canvass bag, and glow sticks, some very wily border smugglers have been transporting thousands of dollars worth of electronics through the air across the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. Apple products are obviously the focus of their pursuits, and when border authorities caught them they found 50 iPhones and 50 iPad 2s. more ›

It looks like the scourge of suicide at Foxconn continues unabated: a 21-year-old Foxconn employee fell from the sixth floor of a factory dormitory in the Longhua district (龙华) of Shenzhen on the 18th. Foxconn is of course the infamous manufacturing giant that produces iPhones, iPads, Xbox's, Playstation 3's, and not to mention products for other clients like Dell, HP and Nokia. It is the third suicide this year, following incidents in January and May, and the 18th since the beginning of 2010 (other sources [in Chinese] have the number lower, at 16). more ›

In an effort to absolutely terrify everybody everywhere, escalators have started going haywire all over China! Or rather, in two cities within a week. Following Beijing's disaster last week, another escalator accident occurred at 9pm last night in Shenzhen's Huaqiang Road (华强路) metro stop, leaving two people injured. more ›

Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), wife of jailed AIDS activist Hu Jia (胡佳), has reemerged after a one-day disappearance that took the local AIDS activist community by surprise. more ›

Perhaps there is an official weekly ban-quota we don't know about that needs regular topping up? "Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, has banned electric bikes in main downtown areas as of Monday to reduce related traffic accidents. Electric bikes should be put off roads in districts including Futian, Luohu, Yantian, Nanshan and Bao'an, the city's public security bureau said in a statement Monday. The ban will be effective till December 5 when the city authorities will review it to see if further ban is needed, it said. Electric bike riders will be persuaded off roads this month and face fines of 200 yuan starting next month. Statistics showed electric bikes were blamed for 64 deaths in 268 roads accidents last year. The city has over 500,000 electric bikes and the ban is believed to greatly increase the operational costs of express delivery companies." [Xinhua] more ›

Fierce hail and wind storms swept through Guangdong province on Sunday, hammering buildings, people, and crops with up to 50mm of rain (about 2 inches), winds reaching over 150kph (93mph), and hail as big as 8mm. 17 people were killed, mostly when walls and sheds collapsed from the winds. Trees were uprooted, houses knocked down, and newsstands said to drift 20 meters. Over 1000 hectares of crops were affected, and estimates put the total cost of damages at around 5.5 million RMB. Pictures above are mostly of Foshan, but Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhongshan, Dongguan, and many others were also affected. more ›

Shenzhen: the bright star of market liberalization and home to Foxconn controversies and Obama's half-brother is now being touted as the next... political reform breeding ground? On the heels of Premier Wen Jiabao’s political reform comments made during an August trip to the city, it is at the heart of an experiment that gives more responsibility and greater freedoms to independent social and civic organizations... aka NGO’s. more ›

From RTHK via Xinhua: The twelfth employee to jump from Foxconn's Shenzhen plant this year became the tenth person to plunge to his death at the factory just now around 11pm. Earlier in the day, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou arrived in Shenzhen to bring the media for a tour around the factory's recreational facilities said to be available to employees, such as the swimming pool you see on the right. He bowed multiple times for the "unstoppable tragedies", adding that he was willing to stop making Foxconn employees sign the non-suicide pact. He also added that those who jumped did so because of boy-girl relationships, and that he was in no position to stop that from happening. Families of the suicide victims were seen outside the factory wailing, demanding for an investigation. more ›