Visual representation of what China censors online

I was just linked to this image by a friend.  The original is from Information is Beautiful, which is currently available here.  I figure since this blog is blocked anyway, it won't really matter what I write here.

In other news, the spring weather has been teasingly sporadic, there has been tension at work over a possibly pregnancy-related dismissal (ah, I knew there was a reason I didn't put my real name on this blog), and I have been getting annoyed at random obnoxious Americans I seem to be exposed to in public (one of whom used the term 'man sex' repeatedly, loudly, and in a derogatory way in a tiny cafe where he probably assumed nobody could understand him).  Thank goodness for headphones, free wi-fi, 90 minute massages for the price of 60 minutes, and mangos.

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I didn't think street food meant food off the actual street...

I really don't know if I should thank my friend for posting this on Buzz or not.  Apparently every Chinese person in China is likely to have, at some point, consumed cooking oil that was recycled from drains and gutters.  Thankfully I had already eaten my 生煎包* (Shanghai fried soup dumplings) before I read this article.

MORE than 3 million tons of filthy and toxic cooking oil extracted from gutters and drains may end up back in domestic and restaurant kitchens each year.

China's top food safety watchdogs have organized nationwide swoops to stop the illegal recycling practice.

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the setting up of strict regulations to stop the production of so-called swill oil.

Offenders found in the swoops face severe penalties.

The swill oil business was so rampant in Chinese cities that some people made a full-time living from it, according to He Dongping, head of China's oil standardization committee and a food science professor in Wuhan.

He told Chongqing Evening News yesterday these people could make more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,465) every month from excavating oil from gutters and drains.

An estimated 3 million tons of swill oil was unknowingly consumed by Chinese people every year, He said.

Red, cream-like residue from drains and gutters is collected and boiled until a layer of clear oil surfaces.

This is sold to roadside restaurants and other outlets and He believes every Chinese at some stage has probably consumed swill oil.

He said swill oil could be highly poisonous, stunt children's growth and cause liver and kidney problems.

Plus, a chemical that is abundant in swill oil is a known carcinogen.

The problem baffling scientists and food safety authorities is there is no effective method for consumers to distinguish between swill oil and normal cooking oil.

He suggested recycling all waste food oil into biodiesel.

Source: Shanghai Daily.

*Google Translate said that these characters meant 'Shengjian Package', so I did a quick search to confirm I had the right ones.  Google Image search turned up a lot of delicious-looking 生煎包. Oh, Google, please don't leave China.

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Did I forget to mention how I feel about the smoking ban in Shanghai?

Because I'm totally stoked about it.  I didn't actually find out until after it came into effect (at the beginning of the month), but I'm so happy that smoking is now banned in most public places (and if people are allowed to smoke, they need to have a dedicated smoking area).  The widespread smoking here has always been a bit of an issue for me (mostly when you're trying to eat and some dickhead at the next table is blowing smoke in your face), although I tried not to complain about it too much because, well, western countries still haven't all come into line about it (apparently you're still allowed to smoke in bars in Wisconsin?).  But, now that there are rules (although who knows how often they will be enforced), I am really happy about it.  I hope it means that next time I go to the hospital, the doctor won't be finishing off a cigarette like he was the first time I had to go.

Other things to be happy about are perfect Sunday eggs at Mesa (thanks for the recommendation, Wo Ai), tasty tea and free wi-fi at Citizen, old school Bon Jovi, and Thai mangos waiting for me when I get home. 

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Derelicte: Homeless man in China becomes an Internet fashion icon

A homeless man in Ningbo has drawn international attention as a fashion icon, with articles going out about him in Asian publications as well as The Independent and the fashion section of New York magazine. 

I'm not sure if I would call him 'starkly handsome' or compare him to Takeshi Kaneshiro, but I'm pretty sure I agree with what was said at the bottom of the Independent article:

His identity remains a secret, and social workers in Ningbo say they want to keep it that way. "Homeless people are vulnerable. It is incorrect to use them for entertainment purposes," said one worker at a homeless centre in Ningbo. Brother Sharp is said to appear mentally disturbed when approached on the street.

In China, begging is technically illegal, as the Communist Party-run state provides all a citizen could need. In reality, the rapid development of the Chinese economy in the last 30 years has marginalised many.

The rumours surrounding Brother Sharp's true identity persist. Some say he is a university graduate who lost his mind after his girlfriend left him. Others have blogged about how they sought him out and tried to help him find work or to go back to his family, but that he appeared frightened and cried out without speaking.

The local government in Ningbo said it had a policy of looking after the homeless, and that it would extend the same treatment to Mr Sharp.

So, don't approach him for fashion tips.  Seems logical.  What I think is awful is that people are obviously trying to help him because they think he's cool/good-looking/stylish, etc, but what about the other people in the same situation who are just not quite so well put-together?  It's reminiscent of foreigners picking up stray cats on the street and then not knowing what to do with them.  I think it's better to do something at a higher level (that is, not make one person/animal your pet project, if you'll forgive the pun) - donate some time or money to a reputable charity or government organisation.

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Twhy?

So, I have been kind of against the whole idea of Twitter for a long time now, but I have admitted to myself that it's likely because it's another one of those ideas with a lot of potential, but when put in the hands of the idiotic masses made me want to hide under the bed covers. 

Recently I've been noticing more people who I would want to follow on Twitter posting on Twitter, so I thought I'd finally give it a go to see what it can do for me. 

One big problem - Twitter is unavailable in China.  Why did I pick this time and place to sign up?  Probably mostly because I am the queen of bad timing.  So, I have spent an hour or so using a shaky VPN service to sign up and connect with a few other services that I will be using to help me read/post (ping.fm, Posterous, Shozu on my phone, Google Reader).  I know I won't be able to use the full capacity of the service, but it will be interesting to see what can be done from within the GFW. Let's call it another experiment.

Of course, I have still yet to solve the issue that neither of my blogs (and now this Twitter account) are available in China, where I think people would be the most interested in what I have to say.  Hmm.

Anyway, follow me, I guess!  @bananaundercovr

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