Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

Following my first post a couple of days ago, I wanted to post some of the responses I received a couple of weeks ago when I posted this question Linkedin.

It is by no means scientific, but some of the answers were really well thought out, interesting, and thought provoking.

From the article:
The Tea-Leaf readers will look at [the recent media rules], nod their heads sagely, and in hushed tones suggest that this is a part of Hu Jintao's ongoing effort to deepen his hold over the media as he continues his soft purge of Jiang Zemin supporters left in government. That might be true in part, but as with most things in China, that is at best only part of the real reason (and possibly only a political fig-leaf for the action.)

In reality, I suspect this is as much about money as politics.

ESWN has translated an excerpt from a recently published book by Yu Keping - deputy director of the Central Translation Bureau and a member of the think-tank for the Hu-Wen administration. It's title, then, might surprise some: "Democracy Is A Good Thing".

At first it seemed rather outlandish that the Party would allow such a piece to be produced, but upon completing the excerpted bit, it's easy to see why it was.

Recently the Economist put out its Democracy Index which is always interesting reading. Pretty much anytime you start fairly arbitrarily ranking things, I’m in. There were a few interesting points that I noticed.

Follow Turner Sparks, an American expat living in Jiangsu, as he and his friend Jake trek the 1,000 km from Suzhou to Chengdu to aid in the earthquake relief efforts there. This is part one of a multi-part series.

This is the final part of a series in which we look at China’s emerging relationship with the Africa. The first part of the series examined China search for oil on the continent, while part two looked at what China was giving back to Africa. Part three examines the Sino-African relationship, its current state, and possible future.

I spent most of last week in Inner Mongolia as a part-time observer, part-time participant in Ordos 100, a gathering of architects from around the world, organized by Ai Weiwei’s FAKE Design Studio and the good folks at Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Co. Ltd. It was a strange few days...

From Frog in a Well, here are 5 things that didn't happen.

10. People only shout hello to you on the street if they actually know you.

9. Crazy things may actually have logical explanations.

8. There’s grass out there. And you’re allowed to walk on it…

7. Traffic lights mean something.

6. White lines separating lanes mean something.

...