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• Watch: China so corrupt that even the police are protesting
• Presented By:
• State media reports indicate internet crackdown will continue, worsen
• Watch: Panda cub Xiao Liwu plays with his ball, is impossibly cute
• Beijing Red Cross have an air rescue service that costs patients 100,000 yuan per trip
• Musical Outro: Snapline – Porn Star
• China versus the S.E.C.
• China wants to reduce smoking by 3 percent by 2015. Good luck
• Are You High And Have 27 Minutes To Kill? Here’s Something For You
• Li Ning Torches Inventory. All Chinese Consumer Goods Companies Concede Their Inability To Compete With Foreign Companies.
• Friday Links: “Spark” for Tibetans who set themselves on fire, doomsday stories, and penguin eats its (holy crap!) own young
• US citizen detained in North Korea
• Why No, Chinese Police Are Not Immune To Falling Victim Of Corruption
• Lu Jiali: The grifter mistress who became China's most wanted
• UN takes to Weibo to deny selling 'doomsday ark' tickets (UPDATE)
• Officials apologise for Bijie dumpster warnings after uproar
• Photos: Teenage abortion in China
• Zhejiang schools texts 'Your child is a piece of sh*t' to 600 parents
• Papaya, dairy, soy, and massage can increase breast size: Global Times
• Apocalypse Day In China, In Cartoons

Watch: China so corrupt that even the police are protesting Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST Channel 4 in the UK bring us this report from Shandong Province, where reporter Jonathan Sparks was shocked to be "whisked away by [police] officers who wanted to tell him a story about corruption." [ more › ]

Presented By: Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:00 PM PST

State media reports indicate internet crackdown will continue, worsen Posted: 21 Dec 2012 07:00 PM PST The recent upgrades to the Great Firewall, allowing it to sniff out and block most (if not all) VPNs, are only the beginning, according to internet experts. [ more › ]

Watch: Panda cub Xiao Liwu plays with his ball, is impossibly cute Posted: 21 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST Xiao Liwu, who was born on July 29th this year, is the San Diego Zoo's newest, cutest member. The zoo recently released footage of "little gift" undergoing his 18th veterinary exam (as in, he is examined by a vet, rather than attempting to qualify as a vet) which included a ball to test his coordination skills. If you want to see more of Xiao Liwu, check out the zoo's Panda Cam. [ more › ]

Beijing Red Cross have an air rescue service that costs patients 100,000 yuan per trip Posted: 21 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST When not buying villas with public funds or spending $1,500 on lunch, China's Red Cross actually does perform public-health-related tasks, but only in the most financially questionable way possible. Meet the Beijing Red Cross emergency air rescue service: 100,000 yuan for a flight to hospital, all paid in advance. [ more › ]

Musical Outro: Snapline – Porn Star Posted: 21 Dec 2012 04:00 PM PST We're OK with the Friday Night Musical Outro coming in a bit late today because this show's gonna be good: on Monday — Christmas Eve — Mao Livehouse is hosting a Christmas Party featuring Snapline, Residence A, LILISAY, and CNdY (100 rmb/door, 80 advance; 8:30 pm). Snapline is our music contributor's featured band this week, described by Beijing Gigguide as "perhaps Beijing's fastest rising young band."

China versus the S.E.C. Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:35 PM PST An ongoing battle between the American Securities and Exchange Commission and China over whether Chinese accounting firms can release accounting information required by US law or whether these constitute "state secrets" is pushing China and the United States into conflict in global capital markets, threatening to force the US agency responsible for overseeing capital markets to effectively de-list all Chinese companies. Joining Jeremy Goldkorn to look at this issue, sparked by an SEC investigation into potential investor fraud which wiped out sixty one percent of Chinese and Hong Kong stocks traded in the U.S. markets since 2011, is Paul Gillis, an adviser to the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and professor at Peking University Guanghua School of Management. We are also delighted to have Patrick Chovanec from Tsinghua University come back to contribute to this discussion as well. As always, this show is available as a standalone mp3 file if you'd like to download it instead of listening through our on-site flash player. For those of you looking to subscribe to Sinica through RSS using the new iTunes, the preferred method is now going to the iTunes store, clicking on podcasts, and then doing a search for Sinica. Once the proper page loads you are a click away from having everything automated. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

China wants to reduce smoking by 3 percent by 2015. Good luck Posted: 21 Dec 2012 12:00 PM PST You might have heard that 50,000 cigarettes are consumed in China every second. Choose to believe it or don't, but a ton of people smoke here, to the tune of 28 percent of the population — more than 300 million people. According to World Health Organization, "One of every three cigarettes consumed worldwide is smoked in China," along with other ridiculous facts such as, "About 3,000 people die every day in China due to smoking." (On the bright side, China's not even close to the top in terms of cigarettes per adult.) Naturally, the government is concerned, and it wants to bring the raw numbers down. Reports Bloomberg: China plans to cut the number of smokers to 25 percent of the population by 2015 from 28.1 percent in 2010, according to the plan published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology yesterday, seven years after the country signed the treaty that recommends the graphic warning labels. Even after signing that treaty, however, cigarette packages here are free from graphic labels. We're guessing because tobacco companies have said "Hell no" to that suggestion. What's a government left to do? The government will "comprehensively" prohibit smoking in public places and ban ads, promotion and sponsorship by tobacco companies, according to the plan. There is no mention of tax rates in the plan. Funny thing about that: smoking is currently not allowed in restaurants. You want to know how effective restaurants are at enforcing this ban? Try not at all. Tobacco companies are powerful, because they make lots and lots of money. Money that lines the pockets of politicians and lawmakers. Money that flows in from addicted users and bureaucrats who have learned since the Mao days that the right cigarette gift package can seal deals. Smoking will continue in this country until the culture changes — and that'll take more than three years.

Are You High And Have 27 Minutes To Kill? Here’s Something For You Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:33 AM PST Please consider this the fitting and necessary follow-up to our previous post on Pyongyang Racing, the first computer game to come out of North Korea. Any explanation of it will probably ruin the experience. All you need to know is it's been viewed 14,724 times, mostly in France, where surely the jokes are uproariously funny. Oh, and it's 26 minutes and 59 seconds long, which must be the punchline. (H/T Simon Cockerell)

Li Ning Torches Inventory. All Chinese Consumer Goods Companies Concede Their Inability To Compete With Foreign Companies. Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:15 AM PST Okay, so my headline grossly exagerates.  But the first sentence is absolutely true and I have a sophisticated blog reader who claims the second sentence is not that far off. Let me explain. The first sentence comes from Tom Orlick's WSJ article, entitled, "Li Ning Torches Inventory." In that article, Orlick (who, BTW, consistently does a great job reporting on China's economy/business) reveals that Li Ning's earnings have fallen "from 582 million yuan ($93 million) in the first half of 2010 to just 44 million yuan in the same period this year." The article goes on to say that Li Ning and its domestic rival, Anta, are both losing market share to foreign brands like Adidas and Nike. The second sentence very loosely comes from a long-time blog reader/long-time China expat who is fluent in Chinese and has always had a terrific pulse on China business. This blog reader (who wants to remain anonymous for reasons that are obvious to me in light of his position) sent me an email before the recent Doing Businss in China Seminar that I co-chaired.  His email (which I am paraphrasing because I have since deleted it), was essentially the following: You have a terrific lineup for your upcoming seminar.  Your consumer people all are first rate.  Here is a question you should pose to them: China's consumer brands are failing as against foreign competition. The Chinese know this and it terrifies them. Both the government and the State Owned Entities are talking of how Chinese consumer goods companies just cannot compete against foreign consumer goods companies on product quality, marketing or reputation and as the Chinese consumer continues to get more sophisticated and wealthy, they are going to even more so favor foreign goods over Chinese goods.  There is even talk of imposing either explicit or implicit quotas against foreign goods.  So the question you should ask is whether in light of this anyone is afraid of China instituting quotas on foreign goods in a way similar to what it has done on foreign movies. So I asked this question of one of the panels and I got an answer from Sage Brennan, who knows China's consumer market (especially its luxury goods market) as well as anyone.  Sage's answer (and again I am loosely paraphrasing) was something along the lines of how the above is not really true because the definition of a Chinese consumer good and a foreign consumer good isn't clear cut in that so many "foreign" consumer goods are made in China and even developed in China. I wanted to ask Sage and the other panelists a follow-up question but didn't feel it appropriate, so I will ask the question of you-all. Here goes.  Okay, Sage, let's take what you just said at face value as I think you are absolutely right.  But having said that, wouldn't you admit that an iPhone, whether made in China or not, is really an American product because it was conceptualized mostly in the United States, designed mostly in the United States, marketed mostly from the United States and, most importantly, the bulk of the profits from it go to the United States.  And most importantly, wouldn't you agree that most Chinese and Americans view it as an American product, especially when it comes to issues of nationalism and foreign resentment. Those things being the case, are you still saying that you have no worries about what might happen when foreign goods greatly increase their domination of the Chinese market or are you saying that you don't see that happening? How many headlines of torched inventories can China handle? So everyone, what do you think?

Friday Links: “Spark” for Tibetans who set themselves on fire, doomsday stories, and penguin eats its (holy crap!) own young Posted: 21 Dec 2012 06:00 AM PST Spelling with People's Daily characteristics Sigh. The headline reads: "'Spark' for Tibetan self-immolation unwilling to do the same." "Lorang Konchok smiled and greeted a police officer he met in a detention house in Aba, a Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture of southwest China's Sichuan Province. // It's hard to imagine that such a humble monk is a murderer." (Xinhua) Doomsday cult stories: What's with the Chinese Mayan-Doomsday Cult? (Evan Osnos, The New Yorker) Cadres and Evangelists. (Sinostand) "UN denies selling China apocalypse ark tickets." (AFP) Corruption does not discriminate by gender. "A dozen women cadres have expanded the envelope for official corruption on the mainland, becoming entangled in a scandal that involved accepting prepaid cards for spa treatments and hairdressing." (SCMP) Penguin eats its own young in Heilongjiang zoo interlude, via Guardian via Shanghaiist: Finally… Lots of parties tonight and this weekend, Beijingers. (the Beijinger) Infographic comparing China's and America's rich. (Tea Leaf Nation) "Teenage abortion in China." (Ministry of Tofu) China's obsession with cars. (The Guardian) Finally, finally… "Do you have a gun?" is the new China taxi driver "Are you scared of black people?" question when you say "I'm American." #progress — Abe Sauer (@abesauer) December 17, 2012

US citizen detained in North Korea Posted: 21 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST North Korean state media has announced that security services have detained an American citizen who has confessed to unspecified crimes "proven through evidence", according to the Guardian. [ more › ]

Why No, Chinese Police Are Not Immune To Falling Victim Of Corruption Posted: 21 Dec 2012 04:33 AM PST Via YouTube description on Channel 4 News: Jonathan Sparks filmed in Shandong, China where he was whisked away by officers who wanted to tell him a story about corruption. In an extraordinary tale, the police told Channel 4 how they'd been cheated out of millions by their chief. This is my favorite part, from a policeman that's interviewed: In the past we tried to stop people from protesting. But now we're in the same situation as them. We don't know what to do.

Lu Jiali: The grifter mistress who became China's most wanted Posted: 21 Dec 2012 04:00 AM PST Though the mistress-industrial-complex usually enables creepy old cadres to exploit the poverty and youth of beautiful women all over China, Lu Jiali turned the tables on officials. While providing and arranging sexual services to senior officials, Lu made sure to tape cadres' sexual indiscretions as 'insurance', Want China Times reports. [ more › ]

UN takes to Weibo to deny selling 'doomsday ark' tickets (UPDATE) Posted: 21 Dec 2012 03:00 AM PST Roland Emmerich has a lot to answer for. The United Nations, which has more important things to be dealing with, has had to take to Weibo to reassure concerned netizens that the organisation is not distributing tickets for a secret ark on which humanity's elite will survive the apocalypse. [ more › ]

Officials apologise for Bijie dumpster warnings after uproar Posted: 21 Dec 2012 02:30 AM PST Officials in Bijie, Guizhou Province, have responded to widespread uproar over the placement of signs on dumpsters in the city reading 'humans and animals prohibited' apparently in response to the deaths of five young homeless boys in November. [ more › ]

Photos: Teenage abortion in China Posted: 21 Dec 2012 02:52 AM PST From NetEase Statistics released by China's National Population and Family Planning Commission show that at least 13 million abortions are performed each year in China, which makes it the country with the highest number of abortions in the world. That does not include the 10 million abortion pills sold or the unknown number of abortions performed at underground or unregistered clinics. Against the backdrop of the country's One Child Policy, abortion in China is not only legal but easily done. Besides, to unmarried women, the social stigma of raising an illegitimate child and the lack of adoption services means that having an abortion after getting pregnant is almost the only way out. August 1, 2012, outside the abortion operating room at a hospital in Zhejiang province, a girl who has eyes as beautiful as ones of the girl printed on her T-shirts, is about to undergo abortion. Nowadays, women going through abortion are apparently getting younger. A survey shows 50 percent of women seeking abortion are below the age of 25; 65 percent are unmarried; 54.3 percent of all abortions are unwanted pregnancies as the result of failure to take any contraceptive method; 50 percent are repeated procedures. July 16, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang province, girls seeking abortion line up in front of the operating room. All of these fashionably dressed girls look uneasy and upset while standing in the waiting lounge. Many of them lack basic knowledge of contraception and are totally unaware of the health risks of abortion. Girls who have gone through multiple abortions in a certain sense rely on it as a form of birth control. July 10, 2012, a man waits outside the operating room at a hospital in Zhejiang province while carrying the handbag of the girl inside. It is required that a woman seeking abortion must have escorts – be they a boyfriend, a good friend, or a family member. Often times, it is her confidant who comes with her, because at that moment, her boyfriend is too timid and discombobulated to show up, and her family is usually kept in the dark. July 26, 2012, right before her abortion surgery, a girl sits on the exam table waiting for the doctor to clean her surgical site. Most of  the girls who come to this hospital for abortion are young rural migrants who are poorly informed about women's health. Because they are far away from home and free from parental supervision, they are more likely to get pregnant. On average, a surgical abortion, including preoperative examination and postoperative medication, costs around 1000 yuan and is not covered by medical insurance. Therefore, psychologically as well as economically, this could be a huge price for them to pay. August 19, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a girl takes off her shoes before entering the operating room (as surgical abortion has to be carried out in a sterile environment) alone. Usually at this stage, a girl who is to undergo abortion for the first time in her life will have been consumed with anxiety and fear and wondering what will happen next. Those who have done this before will be more worried about its adverse effect on their fertility in the future. Above: July 7, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a 12-week-pregnant high school girl is undergoing a "painless surgical abortion". Anesthetic has been delivered intravenously, but her body keeps shaking while she is unconscious, so the nurse has to hold her hands tight to prevent her shaking from affecting the surgery. A scar from her cutting herself can be clearly seen on her wrist. Below: July 17, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a 14-year-old girl who comes to abort her pregnancy has a Chinese character for "Hate" carved into her arm. She had sex with a boy in her class inside a karaoke booth. After learning about her pregnancy, the boy begins to shun her. The girl says she is "heartbroken and desperate for help," and that she "hates the boy's guts for betraying their oath of love and abandoning her." She feels she is too disgraced to go back to her school and wants nothing but to transfer to another school. July 26, 2012, inside an operating room, a "painless abortion" is being performed. The entire surgery lasts less than 20 minutes. Different types of abortion include medical abortion, conventional surgical abortion, painless surgical abortion and partial-birth abortion. Both the conventional and the painless type consists of removing the fetus from the mother's body by suction, the only difference being that the painless surgery involves anesthesia, taking away the feeling of pain from the patient. Partial-birth abortion is often performed on the fetus after the 12th week of gestation. August 19, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a girl is having a pregnancy ultrasound test. The sonogram image shows an eight-week-old fetus the size of a watermelon seed holding out its tiny hands. Soon afterwards, this life will be sucked out of the uterus. July 7, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a doctor is performing a painless surgical abortion. Her legs have been tied up to the table so that they won't slip off when the patient is under anesthesia. Complications may occur during and after the surgery, whereas long-term damages, including fertility problems (infertility caused by pelvic inflammatory disease), spontaneous abortion, premature birth, placental abnormalities, stillbirth and prenatal/postpartum hemorrhage are also likely to occur. A tool used during surgical abortion to help suck out the fetus from the uterus. Nowadays, many illegitimate medical facilities, in order to maximize their profit, uses misleading or false advertisement. In April 2012, seven mothers in the northern city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei province displayed over 10,000 fliers promoting "painless abortion" they have collected and accused unscrupulous abortion clinics of touting business and encouraging unprotected sex. July 26, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a cervical dilator used during the procedure. July 9, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a doctor emptied blood from a bottle. A strainer is used to catch large lumps in the blood before they are disposed of according to relevant regulations, whereas blood is flushed down the drain. August 20, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, 16-year-old Little Wen is the last girl on the day to have an abortion. Because she is infected with HIV, doctors and nurses HIV, doctors and nurses are armed from head to toe with protective suits and masks  for her surgery. The doctor asks her how she contracted HIV, to which she answered, "I started dating my current boyfriend at 14. He is my only man. I am not sure if he spread that to me. I did not know I have VD until I had my first abortion. My boyfriend took a test later. He said he is fine and won't spread it." July 26, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, surgical waste after abortion, which must be disposed of in accordance with the provisions. August 27, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, a man carries in his arms a woman too weak to walk after the surgery. "Painless abortion" does not necessarily mean no pain or harm. A survey conducted by the China Population Association shows that among all age groups of women who seek treatment for infertility, women aged 20-24 have the largest figure. Of all factors that lead to their infertility, " Fallopian tube obstruction cause by inflammation following abortion, which prevents the union of the egg and the sperm" ranks as the number one cause. August 27, 2012, a hospital in Zhejiang opens a postoperative care center. Nurses and caregivers can be consulted on information about women's health and birth control. A packed condom can be seen from the handbag of a girl who is seeking help here. She has come for her second abortion. Because her boyfriend hates to wear a condom, she asks the nurse for alternative contraceptive method. August 2, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, an educational video about birth control methods is played on the TV on the wall outside the abortion operating room. According to statistics released by China Population Communication Center, 74 percent of parents never talk to their children about the facts of life. 49 percent of adolescents acquire knowledge about sex from the Internet. August 20, 2012, at a hospital in Zhejiang, the doctor talks to a young woman before terminating her pregnancy. Behind the younger age of abortion-minded women lies the problem of Chinese feeling of shame associated with sex-related top and lack of sex education. Selected comments on NetEase:  Michaeljob [网易广东省深圳市网友]：2012-12-21 10:23:14 发表 There is an amazing country, where commercials of condom cannot be broadcast, but painless abortion ad can be seen on each channel. Here, abandoning life seems to be so much more graceful and decent than buying a condom! meix104 [网易天津市网友]：2012-12-21 10:18:45 发表 (If you) Love her, protect her first. 杨永信的七三一 [网易美国网友]：2012-12-20 07:55:07 发表 In countries like the United States, it is said that even though it is legal, doctors that perform abortion are too ashamed to show up in public. Americans would ask, why not give birth to the baby and give it up for adoption. lip5117 [网易中国网友]：2012-12-20 07:54:35 发表 The consequence of loose sexual morals. 夜风24737376 [网易黑龙江省鸡西市网友]：2012-12-20 08:06:37 发表 The problem will be solved if price of abortion due to reasons other than birth defects is raised several times higher. For example: charge 100,000 yuan for abortion. If you want no birth control, look at your pocket to see if there is enough money. Vote this up if you agree. 飞飞飞飞 [网易江苏省苏州市网友]：2012-12-20 08:14:16 发表 America experienced sexual liberation in the 60s. But in America you can have as many children as you want, and there is good awareness of birth control and contraceptive measures! Sad! wzw1080 [网易上海市网友]：2012-12-20 08:14:06 发表 I am strongly opposed to those little ads in many cities, "Painless abortion in three minutes"…As if it were saying, "F**k all you want! Not a big deal even if it goes wrong!" 网易北京市网友 [臭多多] 的原贴： This is mostly the man's fault. 灬思密达灬 [网易江苏省盐城市网友]：2012-12-20 08:00:19 发表 Shit. So women blame men when they don't know how to protect themselves? The biggest responsibility is on women! If you don't even care about yourself, who do you blame? 网易山东省济南市网友 [freewilson] 的原贴： Did you ever see a single hand gives a clap? 网易浙江省杭州市网友 [楽涛涛] 的原贴： It is the woman's fault that she is too cheap. First turns herself into a loose woman at a cheap karaoke box, then goes on to demand her later men to have a house and a car. 网易广东省网友 [皮皮空] 的原贴： Well, indeed. I saw so many comments blaming the woman. Isn't the man also in the wrong? My wife and I had always used protection before getting married. 网易辽宁省沈阳市网友 ip：116.2.*.*2012-12-20 08:22:24 发表 This should be blamed on us men. How many women dislike their men to wear a condom? Actually it is men who dislike wearing one, but in the end, they will compromise. Or what? Let's put us in women's shoes. Or should we give up on sex and break up over this? MKWU [网易广东省惠州市网友]：2012-12-21 17:26:01 发表 I wonder if those animals at the family planning office have seen this. 网易黑龙江省哈尔滨市网友 [tian920] 的原贴：1 Motherf**ker. Damn Heavenly Kingdom. This is goddamn murder!!! Go to hell, One Child Policy! I have never heard of any developed country that can destroy life like this! 喜仁 [网易河南省郑州市网友]：2012-12-21 16:24:56 发表 Abortion is the biggest harm one can do to her own body. There is no such thing as painless abortion. Promotions and ads of painless abortion have brought harm to many ignorant young men and women. I discussed these heartless ads with my wife years ago. It is those heartless hospitals who are pain-free. It is you who are going to suffer from pain. 夢尐貝 [网易天津市网友]：2012-12-21 16:13:57 发表 Girls, love yourself! If you don't even love yourself, who will love you? 网易广东省深圳市网友 ip：113.116.*.*2012-12-21 15:31:38 发表 Health is important. Abortion is too senseless. Those murderers authorized by law. 网易广东省河源市网友 ip：112.91.*.*2012-12-21 11:49:12 发表 If it is between me and my girlfriend, I will use protection if she does not want a baby. I will not put her through such sufferings. Just looking at those images pains me. So many innocent lives. Sigh… 老糊涂神212 [网易广东省广州市荔湾区网友]：2012-12-21 11:35:10 发表 What a sin!!!!!!!!!! 网易湖南省常德市手机网友(211.143.*.*)的原贴：1 Those surgical tools stained with blood really give me the chill and nausea… szecm [网易广东省深圳市网友]：2012-12-21 11:15:26 发表 It is good that more campaign on this topic is launched… Wake up those ignorant kids….This is so harmful to the physical health. Such educational drive is a bona fide cause… UFO0 [网易上海市网友]：2012-12-21 11:09:05 发表 Sigh…I accompanied my wife to do that too…Regret it quite a lot… Would like to caution bros here: use birth control; don't put your women through such unnecessary and meaningless sufferings. 网易陕西省西安市网友 ip：117.39.*.*2012-12-21 11:06:33 发表 When you get older, look back at things you have done, you will feel stupid and ridiculous.

Zhejiang schools texts 'Your child is a piece of sh*t' to 600 parents Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:30 AM PST Over 600 parents in Zhejiang province were... surprised to get a text message from their children's school calling their little emperors "a piece of shit", the Wenzhou Metropolis Daily reports. [ more › ]

Papaya, dairy, soy, and massage can increase breast size: Global Times Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:30 AM PST I don't really have much to say about this story except that there's a typo in the headline: Excerpt: The immediate effects of breast enhancement surgeries has lured many women to go under the knife. However, the steep cost, potential side effects and unnatural-looking results have led other women to seek natural and inexpensive alternatives. "We get a lot of young women between 20 to 35 years old with A or B cups who come to consult us on breast enlargement," said Song Yiyi, a beautician and breast masseuse with the Sanctuary Spa in Chaoyang district. "They are eager to enhance their bust sizes but a lot of them are unable to afford the expensive surgeries." A breast enlargement surgery can start from 10,000 yuan ($1,605). Plastic surgery also comes with risks, Song noted. In the 2011 French implant scandal, more than 300,000 women were given implants with cheaper, industrial-grade silicon rather than medical-grade, causing leakage, ruptures or even cancer. What's more, breast implants may impede the breast-feeding process. Therefore, more women are looking for natural ways, from diet and massage, to acupuncture and exercise. These methods might take longer to work, but can be safer. Titilating TCM (Global Times)

Apocalypse Day In China, In Cartoons Posted: 21 Dec 2012 12:55 AM PST Click to enlarge The end of the world is upon us! AHHHHHHHHHH. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. AAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The above image comes to us via Rob, who you might know around these parts. He writes in: We were planning to run a massive front page feature about the 10 Best Places to Get a Vajazzle in Beijing – you know, solid expat-rag stuff, scooping the competition – but most of our editorial team skipped work on Friday, thinking it was Armageddon, so might as well ride that shit out in bed. I saw a gap in the market: once the apocalypse hits, you're going to need a magazine, sure, but what kind? Well, here it is: the only, number one, post-apocalypse listings magazine in Beijing. Suck on that, Beijing Review. Read 'em and weep. Let's look at other images from around China. This next one is from Liuzhou Laowai:   And this is from a BJC reader who's an avid follower and fan of Laowai Comics (it depicts an apocalypse of self, which is really the only kind there is, right?): And finally, a classic that isn't really China-related, but was posted on China Digital Times – from Dan Piraro:   Happy Apocalypse Day, everyone! Related: check out our apocalypse-tagged stories.

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