My wife swears that MSG gives her headaches. Frankly, my wife gives me headaches when she starts whining about the level of MSG in her Chinese food…because for all the noise generated about MSG’s supposedly harmful effects, nobody has been able to definitively determine that MSG – eaten in normal amounts – causes any physiological problems. Despite this, many people [...]

The Shan family in Shangdong province, China have been forced to choose a new family name – thanks to computers which can’t render the character necessary to spell their name. The residents had no problem when identity cards, driving licenses and other documents could be handwritten, but now they have to be printed using computers, and their name is so [...]

OK, listen up, Hollywood starlets and people with more money than sense: dogs are not made to wear clothes. They are not made to be rainbow colors. They do not like riding in strollers or in your luggage-sized purse. Dogs are made to roll in dirt and eat their own vomit and slobber all over your ankles. You people in [...]

I thought traffic was bad in the place where I used to live- a small city that had outgrown its britches, and had not been designed to handle urban sprawl- resulting in tedious traffic jams (it didn’t help that the majority of the inhabitants there are retarded monkeys who would never use their damn blinkers, let you over, or NOT [...]

One of the most enduring images in William Gibson’s Neuromancer was Case’s oh-so-homey coffin hotel capsule – which became even cooler when you found out Japan actually had such things. Well, now that China’s economy has surpassed Japan’s, they’re looking to get in on the whole ultra-spartan living craze. But instead of being inhabited by weary sararimen who missed the [...]

China is opening a new front on the war against environmental degredation – disposable wooden chopsticks. While the ubiquitous eating utensils may seem harmless to you and me, in China they’re causing a huge problem. 130 million pairs of chopsticks are consumed in China per day, requiring 100 acres of trees to be ground up each and every 24 hours [...]

One wonders what the Chinese government felt was so galling about the original release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King that it was held up for 2 years. If Chinagame is correct, it mainly looks to be a bunch of aesthetic issues (apparently the Chinese don’t like undead dragons or randomly placed skulls). In any case, Chinese [...]

China’s culture minister is pissed that his country’s media has become sensationalist and vulgar. Cai Wu said many Chinese publications were full of gossip and sensational stories advocating money-worship. He accused regional governments of spending money on “vanity projects” instead of basic cultural facilities. So, basically China is turning into the U.S….? BBC Article

Did you know videogame consoles are illegal in China? I didn’t; Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft explains why. “Consoles have been banned in China since the year 2000,” Lisa Hanson from market researcher Niko Partners tells Kotaku. “The government thought that was the best way to protect Chinese youth from wasting their minds on video games, after a parental outcry.” The following [...]

What the Japanese did to the Chinese during WWII was pretty horrifying. But Japan has never offered to give the Chinese anything to make up for the destruction, rape, slaughter, etc. Until now. Korean Times Article The article does not indicate whether males and females can take advantage of this offer, but if you’re a Chinese student in Japan, you [...]

I never watched Friends. I’m not really interested in stories about beautiful, sophisticated  young people and all their significant problems (“Oh my God, I have a blind date and my dog ATE THE SHOES THAT MATCH THIS DRESS!”). Luckily the stupid show has been over for years, so I no longer have to listen to my co-workers agonize over who’s [...]

That whole Mentos and Diet Coke thing peaked about…what? Four years ago? But I guess China is just now catching up. World Record! They’re college students, so really they probably have nothing better to do than stick candy on skewers (fruit Mento skewers sound good, incidentally) and stand under soft drink showers. Bet that was fun to clean up.

Some Caucasians living in China have reported making a little extra on the side by renting themselves out. Cool your jets — not that way, but to pose as visiting American businessmen and accompany entrepreneurs hoping to add an air of cultivated connections to their presence at business meetings. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image–particularly, the [...]

So I work at home for my dad’s company. After I read this story, I called Dad and asked him for a raise, contingent on me not killing myself.  He was all, “Huh? Did you get that payroll done yet?” And I was all, “I haven’t gotten to it yet. I’m almost finished beating Super Mario Brothers for the Wii! [...]

Another day, another dead Foxconn employee. Except this one didn’t take his own life – unless you consider working for Foxconn itself to be a suicidal act. Foxconn Employee Dies After 34-Hour Shift Yes – 34 hours on the clock. That’s the work schedule 28-year-old Yan Li was on when he croaked, presumably from being overworked. I’m not sure what [...]