News

China crowns Miss Plastic Surgery: A 22-year-old student has been crowned China's first ever Miss Artificial Beauty at a pageant exclusively for women who have had plastic surgery. [Also here and here.]

Pampered Young Chinese Splurge on Weddings: Children of China's "one child" generation are splashing out on weddings, spending as much money as their parents managed to save in a lifetime.

Women in China finally making a great leap forward: Not long ago, less than 20 years, the bride's family did not attend her wedding, let alone speak at the ceremony. Brides were sent out the door by parents to the groom's family, where they were obliged to serve with duty and alacrity.

Local Story -- Crazy Daisies

Homemade bags help fund couple's dream to adopt: Jessica and Greg MacNeil want nothing more than to adopt a baby Chinese girl, but it could cost between $15,000 and $30,000 . . . An avid quilter since 2001, Jessica MacNeil came up with the idea of starting her own company Crazy Daisies to sell her homemade totebags, coin purses, bracelets and other accessories this fall. All the proceeds go to baby MacNeil's arrival.

The hand-made totes can be ordered through the Crazy Daisies website.

Crazy Daisies Bags are handmade using the finest fabrics and craftsmanship. We carefully select our fabrics and colors to create individualized and unique products. We can make custom bags according to your selection of colors and fabric types. Or you can select a bag from the Current Stock section. Each Bag is handmade with a custom embroidered Crazy Daisies logo patch.

News

Babies born joined at the chest abandoned in east China: Twin boys born joined at the chest were found abandoned in eastern China on Friday and taken to an orphanage, where staff were trying to care for them and raise money for an operation to separate them.

China to enact anti-secession law: China has announced it will enact an anti-secession law, in a move analysts said was aimed to stifle any ambitions in Taiwan for formal independence.

Dust storm migration begins in China: The Chinese government has begun moving large numbers of people from the country's north in response to the huge, choking dust storms which regularly sweep out of Inner Mongolia, over Beijing, and out towards the Pacific.

Cookie Cutters

You can get country-shaped cookie cutters from Country Cutters.

We have all the cookie cutters you would ever need. Handmade tin with the average size of 2-1/2" to 3".

These wonderful cookie cutters make great gifts for adoptive parents in waiting, adopted or birth children, anyone who loves cookies!!

The second image is a ladybug, not a country!

Book on China's Northwest

Wild West China: The Taming of Xinjiang

Closed to the world for half a century, like a black hole in the Asian landmass, the wilderness of Xinjiang in north-west China is returning to the light. The picture it presents is both fascinating and disturbing. Despite a savage landscape and climate, Xinjiang has a rich past: sand-buried cities, painted cave shrines, rare creatures and wonderfully preserved mummies of European appearance. Their descendants, the Uighurs, still farm the tranquil oases that ring the dreaded Taklamakan, the world's second largest sand desert, and the Kazakh and Kirghiz herdsmen still roam the mountains. The region's history, however, has been punctuated by violence, usually provoked by ambitious outsiders—nomad chieftains from the north, Muslim emirs from Central Asia, Russian generals or warlords from inner China The Chinese regard the far west as a barbarian land. . . . This portait of Xinjiang should be essential reading for travellers and for anyone interested in today's China and the fate of minority peoples.

Adrienne Mong writes in the Jan. 8, 2004, Far Eastern Economic Review,:

Wild West China is the first book to concentrate on the region's perspective, but many of the early historical stories have appeared elsewhere and in far more robust narratives. Tight restrictions on access and information mean there's little first-hand reporting, apart from the few private interviews Tyler conducts with activists and dissidents. Furthermore, Tyler—who expresses sympathy for the Uighurs while remaining even-handed—affects too dry a writing style. Nonetheless, Wild West China fills a gap in Central Asian history, particularly for general readers.

Fox Network -- "Who's Your Daddy"

Many of us in the adoption community are disgusted by Fox's recently announced reality show, "Who's Your Daddy":

Fox announced Tuesday it will ring in the new year with a heartwarming, 90-minute special in which a woman, put up for adoption as an infant, quizzes eight men in the hopes of determining which is her biological father. If she's right, she wins a reunion and $100,000. If she's wrong, she still gets to meet her father, but the guy she incorrectly pegged as her parent wins the cash. [article from E! Online]

If you have something to say about this, here is some contact information:

The Fox Broadcasting email address is askfox@foxinc.com

FOX ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Investor Relations
E-mail: investor@newscorp.com
Address: The News Corporation Limited
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 852-7017
Fax: (212) 852-7145

Peter Chernin, Chairman
Fox Entertainment Group
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-8799
Phone: 212-852-7111
Fax: 212-852-7145

Mitsy Wilson, Senior VP
Diversity Development
Fox Entertainment Group
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-8799
Phone: 212-852-7111
Fax: 212-852-7145
E-Mail: diversityquest@fox.com

Angela Shapiro, President
Fox Television Studios
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900
Phone: 310-369-2731, 310-369-3881
Fax: 310-369-5175, 310-286-6334

Justin Pierce, Senior VP Corporate Communications
Fox Television Studios
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900
Phone: 310-369-2731, 310-369-3881
Fax: 310-369-5175, 310-286-6334
E-Mail: justin.pierce@fox.com

Scott Hallock, Kevin Healy, Producers
Hallock Healey Entertainment
4130 Cahuenga Blvd. #305
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Phone: 818-754-6360

(Thanks to many for posting contact info!)

News

China pandas face food shortage: Giant pandas in parts of southern China are facing food shortages because a favourite staple—arrow bamboo—is blossoming and therefore inedible. The official Xinhua news agency said that the plant normally takes a decade to complete the blossoming process.

Workers Demand Union at Wal-Mart Supplier in China: Wal-Mart has been much in the news recently in China, with the government insisting that the retailer do what it refuses to do in the United States: allow all its workers to join unions. [NYT: free reg. req.]

US 'anger' at Israel weapons sale: The Israeli defence ministry has confirmed that it faced questioning by Washington over arms sales to China.

Ox or Donkey? Tiny Animal Stirs Huge Art Debate: A donkey or an ox—the question is still open—may be at the heart of a controversy surrounding one of China's most treasured national art works.

Snow in Beijing

Additional pictures here and here.

News

The Price of Coal, Jan-Nov—5,286 Lives: From January to November, 3,413 mining accidents were reported in China, claiming 5,286 lives, a decrease of 253 incidents and 451 people from the first 11 months of last year.

Gansu UFO Believed to Be Meteorite: Hundreds of people in northwest China's Gansu Province saw a UFO on the night of December 11. Witnesses said that a strange shining object swept through the sky at 11:36 PM, followed by a loud blast that resembled bombs dropping. People within a 100-square-kilometer area around Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, reported feeling the earth tremble.

Climate change threatens China food production: Climate change could cut China's food production 10 percent by 2050, said an official report at a major UN conference.

Cute Picture of the Day