Explosive Rewards This year Beijing authorities are promising rewards of up to ¥20,000 for reports of anyone buying illegal firecrackers, up from a rather measly ¥5,000. Since Beijing lifted the fireworks ban, illegally-produced fireworks have been all the rage, with the police seizing over 1,000 cases since 2008 began! To tip off the fireworks police, ring up 6207-4289 and collect your reward.

Plasticity Beginning June 1, 2008, there'll be no free plastic bags offered in shopping malls or supermarkets, not including small or middle-sized convenient stores. Moreover, China has decided that plastic bags manufactured after that time must be thicker than 0.025mm.

Dogs Go Underground Beijing’s and Shanghai’s subway systems just got another update: police dogs. They’re being used to sniff out firecrackers and other items banned on the subway and will be part of increased security.

Online Drama In case you missed Cheeky Monkey Theater’s performing arts festival on January 19 at 798, you can now watch it online. The site, cheekymonkeytheater.com, includes both footage and a discussion forum on the festival, which included performances in both English and Chinese exploring life in pre-Olympic Beijing.