It pains us to say that the scourge of drought that began earlier this year has yet to abate. more ›

The water level at the Three Gorges dam, aka the largest hydropower plant in the world, reached its maximum yesterday, spurring electricity output to full capacity for the first time since it began operations in 2008. Dam officials have been holding back water since September in order to let it rise to its peak height of 175m Tuesday morning. more ›

They've been called the worst floods in a decade, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage, killing at least 928 people and causing another almost 500 to go missing. And with more rains coming to all parts of the country, China can only brace itself for more devastation. more ›

• Terrorists, dollars and (polar) bears, oh my: why the United States should focus more on China's strong stance against the first rather than its less-than-perfect record on the last two. Reads a bit like something by Ann Coulter, but still worth reading nonetheless. [China Law Blog]
• The newest discovery RE: China's paleolithic dino-sty: more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints, ranging in span from 10 to 80 centimeters, blanket the ground near Zhucheng "dinosaur city" Shandong. [Yahoo! News]
• China's Next Top...Antique Collector? Now that Mao's dead, those who went against his orders to destroy all things old are cashing in on their defiance, reality TV style. Instead of getting "voted off the island," however, your item must pass an "authenticity test," lest you smash it, Cultural Revolution-style, on live television. [New York Times]

Daniel Gross of Slate has been over here reporting on the controversial Three Gorges Dam project. And while we can't say anything too bad about his coverage of that - which, while it reads more like a disgruntled travel piece than actual hardhitting journalism, is generally close enough to what little facts we know about the dam that it makes it impossible for us to nitpick - we were surprised by one of his pronouncements: more ›

• Wow, that's a huge amount: 1.5 million people per day are getting innoculated with the swine flu vaccine. [AP]
• This year's Chinese Blogger Conference was held in an ancient cave in Lianzhou, Guangdon. Why? You'll have to watch this video to find out. [WSJ]
• A government report has said that China's Three Gorges Dam has doubled in cost and has been plagued with multiple problems. Here's a summary of them. [Al Jazeera (on Youtube)]

• Who knew that one simple gesture, like holding your own umbrella, could mean so much? Obama made an awesome first impression by shielding himself from rain on Sunday evening, thanks partially to the habit of Chinese officials usually having a flukey to hold their umbrellas, P. Diddy style. [Wall Street Journal]
• The LA Times has a great look at the story behild Jiyuan, a place known for manufacturing lead batteries where lead poisoning has gotten so bad that entire villages are being evacuated. [LA Times]
• So should we be calling President Obama 奥巴马 (àobāmǎ) or 欧巴马 (ōubāmǎ)? Both have been used in press releases, though the U.S. Embassy said it was now standardizing the Chinese translation of Barack's last name and should now be using the latter exclusively. [Danwei]

• Top Chefs Leave Jean-Georges, Head to HK [Cityweekend SH] "Former Jean-Georges Chef/Partner Eric Johnson and his right hand pastry man, Jason Casey, both veterans of Three on the Bund’s most luxurious dining destination, have wrapped up their multi-year stints under Jean-Georges Vongerichten and will launch their own restaurant, Union J, in a prime location in Hong Kong—on the 2nd floor above the California Club."
• Chinese displaced by Three Gorges Dam protest [AP] "More than 2,000 people displaced by construction of the Three Gorges Dam clashed with police in central China during a protest Wednesday over missing resettlement payments, leaving 30 protesters injured, a Hong Kong-based group said."
• Report: Zhang plans film to mark China anniversary [AP] ""Raise the Red Lantern" director Zhang Yimou plans to make a movie to mark the 60th anniversary of communist China, cementing his shift from a dissident to a government-favored artist. Zhang is still working on the script for the film, China Central Television reported Wednesday."

Photojournalist Chua Chin Hon has amassed an impressive collection of photographs charting the transformation caused by the Three Gorges Dam project, soon to be showing at Southern Barbarian. The pictures, taken over repeated visits to the area in the last five years, document historic townships being submerged and new communities taking their place. more ›

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Current TV's Sherif Soliman travels along the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir and does a commendable job of describing how life has changed for the 1.5 million people that were displaced by the project, which some experts have described as an environmental disaster in the making. We find in Soliman's observation that "nothing will get in the way of China's one-way ticket to modernisation" an eery echo of some of the statements that were made in that The Onion clip we showed you earlier. more ›

By Derek Sandhaus more ›

The yuan broke the 7.4 mark against the US dollar for the first time yesterday largely fueled by expectations that China is seeking a quicker appreciation of the currency to fight inflation. more ›

For the ever-pragmatic Chinese, adopting English names has always represented a way for them to bridge the linguistic and cultural gap. Now, as China widens its reach abroad and as the number of expatriates living in China swells, picking an English name has become a rite of passage for most young, urban Chinese. So ... this is news?

There's a serious drought affecting Chongqing and neighboring Sichuan, which recent reports have stated is the worst such drought to hit the region in 50 years. Water levels on the Yangtze are at lows unseen for 100 years, water is being rationed in Chongqing, and millions of people are already without safe drinking water. Losses are already in the billions of yuan, and it looks like the autumn harvests are going to be shite, thus leading to huge agricultural losses. more ›

Photo by Shanghai Sky taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site. more ›

Back in September we told you about the new eco-city of Dongtan out on Chongming Island. It seems that it's made the news again though it seems that this new Reuters report doesn't tell much of anything new. A couple of trivial new facts: all the cars will be electric, and the precarious wetlands, which are what the environmentalists are mostly concerned with, will be protected and separated from the eco-city by a 5 km buffer zone. The reporter (we saw no byline) then does what every reporter does when they want to seem like they've canvassed local opinion -- talk to a cabbie. See for yourself: more ›

In New Orleans, we have seen the devastation that can come from failing to heed scientific warnings. Will Shanghai be the victim of a similar stubborness regarding the Three Gorges Dam? Well, here's another warning: more ›