"xin" means "new" "nian" means "year" (or a monster) "hao" means "good" or "happy"

It's Lunar New Year today -- the start of a 15 day season celebrating the beginning of the Year of the... more

"OK, OK," says China. "Forget that air pollution business you were just writing about. We're on board with that greenhouse gas thing you all keep talking about after all!"

Yep,... more

The BBC makes me think about what my kids may have missed out on with their recent report on the unexpected benefits of breastfeeding (which is something I've written about before on here).

The University of Bristol team looked at 1,400 babies born from 1937-1939 and followed their progress for 60 years.

Those... more

This show is still freaking me out a little with the birthparent/supernorphan storylines.

Not much else to say about it.

It's very popular, and the best storyline on the darn thing(*) hinges on an adoption narrative.

(*)OK, the best storyline in English.

That isn't necessarily based on reality, given the making fire shoot out of fingers, the flying politicians and the secret agents with guns. OK, well, maybe that last part is realistic, but it's not, like, mainstream.

This is where we're at, I guess. What the culture... more

So, in addition to seeking out songs by Kou Chou Ching, I've been thinking I need to get a record or two by Cui Jian, the Elvis/Beatles/Bob Dylan/Johnny Rotten of China. He's the guy who took... more

In the Texas area? Interested in actually talking to officials with the CCAA? Or just anyone who knows stuff about adopting from China?

I've just been forwarded an email about The East Meets West Conference.

It's something that happens twice every year in a different American city each time, when One Of The Big Agencies brings Chinese officials, adoption... more

Here's a twist on American urban music -- a style bouncing back to us after a trip 'round the globe. It's hip-hop. And it's traditional Chinese music. (OK, Taiwanese, but culturally speaking, it's Chinese -- one of 'em plays the suona, after all.)

Kou Chou... more

The BBC has nothing new to report about China's growing gender inequity.

But that doesn't stop 'em from reporting it anyway.

Pictures of a kindergarten with few girls and of young men loitering on the sidewalks as callow teens tend to do.

Sigh.

Sure, they've got a great economy, but look what it's doing to the rest of us.

(This reminds me of the vibe I'd get from German relatives through the 90s, only about the US. And, no surprise, the article here was originally printed in Der Spiegel.)

Anyway, yeah. Lots of industrialization, limited amount of air on the planet, so all that booming is, well, having echoes.

This Salon article starts by taking a few deep breaths in San Francisco:

Back in a lab at the University of California at Davis, Cliff and his colleagues analyze... more

Mazu Temple, Pescadores Islands, Taiwan

BBC reports on China's 300 million faithful:

The number of religious believers in China could be three times higher than official estimates, according to a survey reported by state media.

A poll of 4,500 people by Shanghai university professors found 31.4% of people above the age of 16 considered themselves... more