Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

The boss of a toy company commits suicide after his company's toys are recalled.

"Lee Der made 967,000 toys recalled earlier this month by Mattel Inc. because they were made with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead. The plastic preschool toys, sold under the Fisher-Price brand in the U.S., included the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters.

In an attempt to assure the world's children that the millions of Chinese-made toys currently being recalled for containing toxic lead paint and tiny choking hazards can no longer hurt them, high-level Chinese officials announced Tuesday that millions of playthings are being rounded up and immediately put to death.

Are you worried about buying toys without hallucinogenic chemicals this year? With all of the recent media scaremongering of toys soaked in mind-altering substances, you may be wondering which toys have the best drug content for Christmas. Here is your guide to ensure that you and your loved ones have a safe, good trip-happy holiday season this year.

CNN: Millions of Chinese-made toys for children have been pulled from shelves in North America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested.

What's the fastest-growing industry in China? Mobile phones? Computer components? Toys? The last wouldn't be too far off, but not in the sense that the word toys is conventionally understood. Call them playthings.

"The customs department recalled the face and body paint sets, called SixColors, saying it contained excessive amounts of lead, chromium and barium. It said the lead content exceeded safety limits by as much as 25 times."

At least they aren't painting their bodies with cell phone batteries...

The Shanghaiist examines the story of a giant fish found in southern China.

A mysterious epidemic is killing pigs in southeastern China, but international and Hong Kong authorities said today that the Chinese government is providing little information about it, or about the contaminated wheat gluten that has caused deaths and illnesses in other animals.

The lack of even basic details is reviving longstanding questions about whether China is willing to share information about health and food safety issues with potential global implications.

In a rather difficult scenario, China has recalled all of its recently shipped, disposable wood chopsticks – in excess of 45 billion pairs – the equivalent to about 25 million trees. China’s governmental food spokesperson, Chiu Ree, said the problem is centered on the chemical makeup of the lacquer that is applied to the chopsticks in the finishing process. Lead has been discovered in the paint and lacquer by the testing body.