Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

For the avid river swimmers of this Chinese border city, North Korea is 10 minutes' brisk freestyle away and yet a world apart.

Each day in the warmer months in Dandong, hundreds of Chinese swimmers plunge into the narrow Yalu river dividing their country from the North and dozens kick 500 meters to the opposite side for a rest and a glimpse of the poor, withdrawn communist state.

China has been building a massive barbed wire and concrete fence along parts of its border with North Korea in the most visible sign of Beijing's strained ties with its once-cozy communist neighbor.

Freedom-house, "an independent non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world", has issued its annual report this week called "Freedom of the World" detailing ranking for freedom in countries around the world. The article gives a summary ranking on Asian countries.

Will China take over North Korea? As the world rumored whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has died away in a stroke or close to death, that is the question from Gordon Chang, author of the Coming Collapse of China.

China may be far freer than North Korea, but it's a perilous way station for North Korean refugees who flee hunger and darkness in their homeland. Branded as illegal immigrants and subject to arrest and deportation, some dwell in hidden work camps or caves. Others scrounge for food in the hinterlands.

We visit Englishman Nick Bonner, a Beijing-based filmmaker who has produced a series of documentaries about North Korea. His latest film, "Crossing the Line" is the story of an American Defector who has lived in Pyong Yang for 45 years after fleeing from a U.S. military court martial in 1962.

South Korea and China have agreed to cooperate to prevent a possible nuclear test by North Korea amid increasing reports citing suspicious activity in the communist nation, Seoul's presidential security adviser said Friday.

88 shared a hilarious story about traveling with his Chinese in-laws. This is the experience of some guy who has been living with his Chinese in-laws for several months...seems he has much more to tell.

When Public Enemy, the militant rap group, came to Beijing this weekend they were not censored at all. In seems The Rolling Stones are a bigger threat to authoritarian rule than lyrics like "Our freedom of speech is freedom or death; we got to fight the powers that be."