6.99 Is the Magic Number

Fall of the U.S. dollar makes expat packages look not so golden

The RMB broke through the magical seven barrier in April, spawning radio call in shows all over China and hand-wringing among expats on U.S. dollar salaries. For 10 years the ... Read more »

National News

The Empire Strikes Back

Chorus of criticism against Western media bias becomes crescendo

There has been one story burning up the global bandwidth of late which has drawn clear lines in the cyber sand, and one interesting knock-on effect in China has been a torrent of criticism against ... Read more »

National News: The Torch Arrive

Official arrival of the flame ignites Olympic fever in China

On Monday, March 31, the Olympic flame makes its China debut, exactly 130 days before the Opening Ceremony. Beijing will party for a day, with all the action broadcast live by CCTV, before the torch ... Read more »

National News

Will Yao Play?

China's hopes for basketball gold rest on Yao's tender fee

There are 157 days until the Olympics, but for China, it's the next 120 days that matter, as Yao Ming recovers from foot surgery. The season-ending injury has raised a firestorm of ... Read more »

Sex, Lies and Video Clips

Edison Chen career is ruined but that's just the start of his troubles

The annual Spring Festival TV variety show, which attracts more viewers than the Super Bowl, had little to offer audiences again this year, save heroic footage of Wen Jiabao climbing a ... Read more »

How Yellow Are You?

China’s campaign against smut yields up some unusual bad guys

It’s no secret the Chinese government has taken an increasingly firm stance against all-things-spiritually-polluting, anything from deviant films, to mentions of deviant films in the press, to online porn. The latest twist is the ... Read more »

Government outlaws free plastic bags, will expats even notice?

The Chinese government has announced a ban on free plastic bags. Starting June 1, supermarkets will cease giving out the ubiquitous little buggers, though they will still be available for a fee. Meanwhile ultra-thin plastic bags (the kind used bag your ... Read more »