Birth defects soar in coal regions

Coal mining regions of northern China are reporting a big increase in levels of defects in newborns, an apparent result of heavy pollution, state media said Monday.

"The rate of birth defects is related to environmental pollution," the report said, citing provincial population planning official An Huanxiao. (more)

Tallest building in Beijing seals the top

Shooting on own foot?

Iran has signed a deal with China to buy two squadrons of J-10 fighter planes that are based on Israeli technology, the Russian news agency Novosti reported Tuesday.

The 24 aircraft are based on technology and components provided to China by Israel following the cancellation of the Lavi project in the mid-1980s. The engines of the J-10 are Russian-made.

This is not the first time Israeli components were part of weapons systems aimed at Israel. Some reports claimed that China sold Saudi Arabia long-range missiles containing Israeli know-how. (more)

Olympics and religion

Gotta love the government's reasoning....

Ye also dismissed allegations that China restricted the printing and sale of Bibles, which he said receive state subsidies and other preferential policies.
China, with 16 million Protestant Christians, has printed 42 million Bibles, he said.
"We distribute the Bible only through churches and do not allow ordinary bookstores to sell them," he said. "This is aimed only at preventing illegal vendors from driving up prices."
People's Daily

Chinese Robot Chef

Shenzhen Pansum Technology Limited company unveiled its latest breakthrough on Monday in their product launch press conference on Monday - a robot that can cook 1000 Chinese dishes - the first robot cook for Chinese food. SCORE!

The robot "proudly" demonstrated its cooking capability by whipping up a Sautéed Crystal Shrimp within 5 minutes for the audience. And all you need to do is do the shopping job and push the button. WOW! This is going on my shopping list...

Source (Chinese) here.

Golden Week

Firstly, hope all of you kids back in the Middle Kingdom had a good holiday during the past week for National Day.

Secondly, an update of the 9-year lasting debate in the country on the justification of the Golden Weeks, which came into existence 9 years ago. Right time to talk at the closing of the 25th Golden Week in history.

Apparently the original purpose of the Golden Week plan as in to boost the domestic demand has been accomplished, if not surpassed, financially. In 1999 when the first Golden Week came into action on the October National Day the unexpected nationwide enthusiasm was evidenced by 28 million people out traveling and 14.1 billion RMB of tourism revenue. Up until the week of Spring Festival 2006, tourists out were 78 million, and tourism revenue 38 billion RMB.

However it has also been a valid argument that Golden Weeks are not the sustainable solution for economic growth，given the capacity, infrastructure, and customer service level in most of the tourist attractions. The easiest example can be that Forbidden City and Great Wall have both reached the maximum tourist capacity this year during the May and Oct Golden Weeks.



As the rumor has it, the new holiday plan has got into the final review stage and is waiting to go through the National People's Congress's review panel, and it's possible that the May week would be cancelled. Before the final decision is made, maybe you can take part in the public survey by Chinese domestic media?

　　调查：休假制度将调整，黄金周应如何改革，您认为 [Survey: As part of the Holiday Policy adjustment, how do you think the Golden Week schedule should be reformed?]

黄金周匀一点至传统节日 [Spare some days of the Golden Week for traditional holidays] 每周上6天，月末休4天 [Make working days 6 days a week, and a 4 day leave every month-end] 取消黄金周，带薪休假 [Cancel Golden Weeks, increase paid personal annual leaves] 挺好，不需要改革 [Everything is fine now, no need to reform]

Make your voice heard!

How to order Chinese food?

Ben Ross' new gem:

How to Order Chinese Food.