Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

I wanted to see for myself what, if any protests were going to take place at my neighborhood Carrefour in Beijing. I noticed the added security, with uniformed police officers at each entrance. I also noticed in the parking lot, two officers in black with German Shepherds in tow (pictured).

The last week saw 3 people die in a Chongqing Carrefour, and the news that between 900 and 5350 yuan per month, depending on city, allowed one to be called a 'white collar' worker.

An interesting post on Danwei regarding Google's translation engine making some pretty serious goofs in English/Chinese translation. This all just furthers my view that online translation continues to suck more than Jenna Jameson working overtime.

Historian Wasserstrom explains the historical resonances in the debate over Western boycotts of the Olympics, decision of individual runners not to carry the torch, and Chinese boycotts of the French chain Carrefour, with thoughts on the boycott of CNN.

A very long analysis by Joel Martinsen about the Beijing Mayor's recent criticism of extravagant real estate advertising. Includes a good translation of a Wang Xiaofeng post, who points out changing the ads ain't going to make housing more affordable.

If your understanding of Chinese is limited to takeout menus, you need a friend fluent in Mandarin. With a telephone interpreter and translation service, English-speaking visitors to China can get directions, make reservations and basically avoid embarrassment. We tested two interpreter services in the market: chinaONEcall, a British company started in 2006 that promotes itself as "the interpreter in your pocket," and Language Line Services, which was started by a former California police officer 25 years ago.

The only online guide to Chongqing available that provides both the English and Chinese (pinyin+characters) needed to help you navigate around the biggest city you've probably never heard of. Get tips for tourism, dining, nightlife, lodging, transportation...

Richard Spencer offers an interesting analysis of Premier Wen Jiabao's role as a good official in the government.

A bit of interesting commentary from a long-overseas Chinese who admits she can't help but feel the call to nationalism these days. She also raises an interesting question on why the NYT's coverage of the recent rally in New York for Chinese pride wasn't just lacking, but in fact, was missing.