The views expressed by Professor Peng Xiaohui (彭晓辉) of the Central China Normal University at a lecture last Tuesday entitled “Sex and Interpersonal Relationships" has fired up a maelstrom of debate, among students present at the lecture and online. more ›

24-year-old Chen Hao, a Shanghainese girl studying abroad in Sweden, was stabbed to death by a fellow international student from Shanghai. According to news reports, "unrequited love" may be the motive for the murder. more ›

When we first heard the reports that Xinhua had featured a story on a lesbian man-hating town full of sapphic amazons in Sweden, we thought it was crazy. First off, everyone knows the only lesbian man-hating town around is in Massachusetts. Secondly, we couldn't actually find the Xinhua article, which made us wonder if The Register had invented the controversy themselves. more ›

Tonight could have been the night that changed your life. The (International) Noise Conspiracy, "one of the wildest and most uncompromising live acts out there" flying in from Sweden, were to take total charge over the Yuyintang stage, but thanks to certain National Day-flavored machinations, it was cancelled. more ›

We were tipped off (thanks @breningstall) to this neat photographic experiment/coffee table book that compares and contrasts Shanghai scenes and Stockholm sites in 164 color images, finding weird connections and juxtapositions between the two vastly different cities. more ›

• China Raises Tobacco Tax Rates [Caijing] "China has raised the tobacco tax to as high as 56 percent in a bid to meet the central government's target of 9.8 percent fiscal revenue growth for 2009, according to the State Administration of Taxation (SAT)."
• Why Do Chinese Save? Boys Want to Marry [NYTimes] "The high Chinese savings rate has been one of the wonders of the world. The household savings rate, as a proportion of disposable income, is 30 percent, and has been rising rapidly in recent years. That figure is twice as high as the highest rate ever recorded in the United States. Traditional explanations for varying savings rates, such as life cycles — working age people save more — and income uncertainty, do not help much in explaining the rapid rise in China. Now two economists say they have found a reason that explains a large part of the increase. China has too many boys."
• China to Amend State Secrets Law, Avoid Internet Leaks [Xinhua] "China's top legislature Monday reviewed for the first time a draft revision to the Law on Guarding State Secrets, underlining the cutoff of Internet or other public network access to the country's confidential information. The draft revision was submitted to the ninth session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation. It had been discussed and passed in April at an executive meeting of the State Council, the Cabinet."

Recliners made by the Dongguan-based company Linkwise are causing cases of eczema, stinging allergic rashes and infections among French customers who bought them. The problems were traced to the use of the chemical, dimethyl fumarate, which is used to prevent mould and fungus on the chairs. The French distributor Conforama has since severed its business ties with Linkwise and told its suppliers to stop all use of the chemical. Out of the 38,000 Linkwise chairs it sold, it says customers have returned about 800 so far. A rash of cases has also cropped up in Britain, Sweden and Finland. One British attorney is now representing 1,300 customers and suing Linkwise for compensation. [Source] more ›

Listening to the ever-excellent Football Weekly podcast from Guardian Unlimited the other day, we stumbled across the story of the Tibetan "national" team playing against Padania this week in Milan. If you're thinking "how can Tibet have a national team?" or "what the hell is a Padania?" then you've clearly never heard of the Viva World Cup. Frankly, you probably wouldn't be the only one. more ›