China map lays claim to Americas: A map due to be unveiled in Beijing and London next week may lend weight to a theory a Chinese admiral discovered America before Christopher Columbus. The map, which shows North and South America, apparently states that it is a 1763 copy of another map made in 1418.
A Piracy Culture: On a recent afternoon at Beijing's famous Silk Street Market, a vendor displayed a wide selection of Burberry rain coats. Price: $40, subject to negotiation. Like virtually all of the luxury goods for sale at the market, the coats were counterfeit.
Giant Panda has a new sub-species: Chinese researchers specialized in giant panda have discovered a new species, Qinling sub-species of panda. . . . One kind is like a cat with a round head, the other is like a bear with a long head, Qinling panda and Sichuan panda are different kinds of pandas.
Wealth Grows, but Health Care Withers in China: When Jin Guilian's family took him to a county hospital in this gritty industrial city after a jarring two-day bus ride during which he drifted in and out of consciousness, the doctors took one look at him and said: "How dare you do this to him? This man could die at any moment." The doctors' next question, though, was about money.
