Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

Beijing authorities have been working hard to rid the 2008 Olympic host city of beggars, stray cats, bad English signs, polluted air, rundown hotels, and foreign students who are seen as a political threat to the Games. Now that hand-foot-mouth disease has once again reared its ugly..

Beijing subway's line 2 was closed to passengers on the morning of July 21. The closure coincided with the introduction of a new system whereby cars are only allowed to drive on alternate days depending on their license plate numbers.

As China counts down the days towards the Summer Olympics, Beijing has been embarking on the final leg of an 8-year journey to improve the environs of the capital city. From pollution to traffic congestion to Nigerian drug dealers, Beijing is not the same city it was just a few short years ago. Here's a first-hand look at some of the changes which have occurred over the past two years, and how they might effect the daily life of both locals and visitors alike.

A 13,112-meter-long painting scroll is stretched out along the Juyongguan Pass section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 13, 2008, to mark the 7th anniversary of China's winning the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games

BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Taxi driver Wang Xiancheng thought his English language level urgently needed improving, as the summer Olympics in his home city of Beijing is just one month away as of Tuesday.

Beijing has declared time out on Time Out. The English-language edition of the monthly magazine that gives foreign residents and visitors the latest lowdown on the coolest bars, the hippest shops and the hottest shows in the Chinese capital has disappeared. The June issue of Time Out Beijing has been banned from distribution by China's censors.

The four-day test poses a challenge for the Chinese government's relationship with a rising middle class that has fallen in love with private car ownership. Although upwardly mobile Beijing drivers mostly went along with the plan, it wasn't without grumbling.

56-year-old Dong Jiqin, could be evicted from his home in western Beijing and sleeping on the streets of the capital tonight. Homeless, wife-less, and daughter-less. The question begs to be asked - why? Nothing entirely "new" about this story, but still worthy of our attention I believe.

Like seemingly everything else in China prefaced with ‘The World’s…Biggest, Longest, Most Populace, etc.,’ the Beijing Subway is presently the world’s fastest growing rapid transit network. By Tom Carter for Air Macau infight magazine.