Stir Fried China

Everyone goes back to work today in China after 7 days of forced vacation known as a Golden Week, this one for the October 1 National Day (the other two being the first week of May and Chinese New Year). To cut right to the quick, the Golden Weeks simply have to go, and China should use the 60th anniversary as a turning point where they say that this will be the last one.

The debate over whether to end the Golden Weeks has gone on for some time within China, and to be fair, it is a complicated issue. Here are the three main reasons usually given in support of the holidays. Continue reading “When will China’s Golden Weeks End?”

Yesterday in Longyan in Fujian Province, another rash of lead poisoning cases in children was reported. The 120 cases reported in Longyan come after nearly 2400 children in total were sickened in similar incidents in Hunan and Shaanxi within the last month and a half. Most of the children poisoned came from households very near to the factories that were the cause of the poisoning, some only a few hundred meters away. Continue reading “Bringing out the Lead (Poisoning) – China needs strict rural zoning now”