Local Story

Tiny gift from China: Whitney Elizabeth Lane celebrated her first birthday many thousands of miles from the rural Chinese village where she was born. On Dec. 20, tiny Whitney dined on her first cupcake after a traditional meal of Chinese food as she spent the day surrounded by her new family in the Lane household of Phoenix.

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Thousands trapped in China snow: Almost 250,000 people in north-western China have been trapped by heavy snowfall, as the country faces its worst winter in 20 years. Temperatures have plummeted to -43C [-45F], and snow is blanketing large parts of Xinjiang province.

Microsoft Shuts Blog's Site After Complaints by Beijing: Microsoft has shut the blog site of a well-known Chinese blogger who uses its MSN online service in China after he discussed a high-profile newspaper strike that broke out here one week ago.

Privacy rule angers China police: Police in the Chinese city of Nanjing are angry at a new demand to disclose details of their private lives. The new order, part of an effort to stamp out corruption, requires police officers to tell their superiors if they are getting married or divorced.

Cantonese Is Losing Its Voice: Speakers of the spicy tongue that can make words of love sound like a fight are having to learn its linguistic kin, the mellower Mandarin.

Birth Mothers

Brian Stuy's Research China Blog has an entry about his interview with two birth mothers.

I grew excited, and machine-gunned questions at Lan to ask. I couldn't believe it! After all these years, I was finally going to be able to find the Holy Grail -- a birth mother of one of my girls.

He adds some additional comments at this link.

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Blizzards force evacuation of 97,000 people in Muslim part of China: Violent blizzards have forced the evacuation of 97,000 people in a largely Muslim region of western China, as the nation braces for its worst winter in 20 years.

Great Wall competes for new world wonders: The Great Wall of China, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are among the 21 global landmarks chosen as final candidates in the New Seven Wonders of the World.

More than 126,000 people died in accidents in China last year: More than 126,000 people died in nearly 728,000 industrial, road and work accidents in China last year, although there were fewer fatalities than 2004, the government said.

Bird flu found in China's Sichuan: A new outbreak of bird flu has been reported in China's south-western province of Sichuan.

Featured Flickr Photo

Prone Pandas
One year old pandas on their backs.

(Courtesy of Polyphonic Kitten)

Local Story

Adoption families unite for holidays: The Wood River Families with Children from Asia recently celebrated the holidays at the home of Annie and Greg Bloomfield in Bellevue. More than a dozen families in the valley have adopted, or are planning to adopt, from Asia.

Picture of the Day

This photo shows the night view of Chenghuangmiao, or Town God Temple, in Shanghai, east China. Tourists and local residents gathered here to enjoy various snacks and brilliant night scene during the New Year holidays.

NPR -- Chinese Court Rules for Starbucks

Chinese Court Rules for Starbucks: A court in Shanghai hands a victory on intellectual property to coffee giant Starbucks. The court has ordered a competitor -- Xingbake (pronounced shing bah-kuh) -- to stop using the chain's name and logo. The Chinese company's owners have been ordered to pay Starbucks about $62,000 in damages and come up with a new name for their cafes.

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Chinese language catching on in U.S. classrooms: Twenty-four young faces in the kindergarten class at Woodstock Elementary School watch intently as their teacher holds up a construction paper cut-out of a large red circle, and waits for them to identify the shape. Piece of cake for a roomful of savvy 5-year-olds, except that teacher Shin Yen is looking for the shape's name in Mandarin Chinese.

Hall of Supreme Harmony to Be Restored: The most important building in one of China's top tourist attractions is closing for two years for renovation work. Repairs on the Hall of Supreme Harmony Taihedian in Chinese at the Forbidden City, or Palace Museum, are due to begin on Friday. They are expected to be completed by 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games.

Beijing drops out of top 10 "best city" list: Beijing is the nation's capital, but according to a recent survey, it does not even rank in China's top 10 cities in terms of suitability for living. The city came 15th in the list, as compared to third in 2004, due to its bad traffic, high housing prices and heavy pollution.

Well-off Chinese learn manners fit for Queen: Their star may be rising in the worlds of business and international affairs, but the manners of the Chinese are lagging rather further behind. Now one woman is campaigning to change that, starting by training her fellow countrymen to be "ready to dine with Queen Elizabeth II".

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Child theft up in China despite baby-buying ban: The eerie pencil outline of 6-year-old Cheng Ying, drawn by her father one night last summer before she went to sleep, remains on the wall above the bed. Her parents haven't seen her since they sent her off to school in a black-and-white-checked coat more than two months ago. The school was no help in finding her, they say. The police weren't, either, even refusing to fill out a missing person report.

Big freeze to sweep over China: China, already enduring its coldest winter in 20 years, is preparing for a cold snap that will see temperatures drop by as much as 16 degrees Centigrade (29 degrees Fahrenheit).

China confirms new bird flu death: China has confirmed its latest bird flu fatality following tests carried out on a factory worker. Xinhua news agency said the 41-year-old woman from the southern Fujian province had contracted the lethal H5N1 strain of the virus.

Billionaire Builder of China: There are only 10 known billionaires in China, and he is one of them. His name is Xu Rongmao, and he is no Donald Trump, Sam Zell or Mortimer Zuckerman. He's bigger.