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 ›

Alleged smuggling boss and former entrepreneur Lai Changxing has been prosecuted for smuggling and bribery by the People’s Procuratorate of Xiamen on Monday. more ›

On Saturday, 79 Japanese pond turtles were found in a package with a return mailing address of Chiba, Japan. Wrapped in women's stockings, it's speculated that the turtles were bound for secret tests with The Ooze China's exotic pet market. 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 ›

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.
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For all of you heading south to Hong Kong to pick up your beloved iPhone 4’s and iPad’s, you’ve been warned. Chinese customs officials have been notified to crackdown on iPhones and iPads by assessing a 20% import duty. more ›

Here's an eye opening, but perhaps not that surprising, consequence to expanded tourism between China and Taiwan - many mainland visitors go to the island and just... disappear. According to CRI English, roughly ten people have pulled this vanishing act in recent months. Travel agencies are now being pressured to keep better track of their wards by the Cross-Straits Tourism Exchange Association, which said it will deport these missing persons if it finds them, but they will not be charged. In return, agencies have begun doing background checks on clients, holding onto personal documents during the vacation and asking for large deposits (to be refunded after the tour),. Yes, but are those deposits more than the cost of a Snakehead? more ›

Ever wonder what happens to your old electronics? 60 Minutes aired a story on the dirty underbelly of electronics "recycling" in the States, and it turns out that a significant amount of American "e-waste" ends up in Chinese landfills. As if China didn't produce enough garbage of its own, computers, cell phones, household electronics, and pretty much anything with petty salvageable parts find their way to Chinese junkyards, and are burned, ripped apart and corroded for valuable metals. more ›