Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

a 10-year-old girl, Huang Li, swam for three hours and three kilometres with her hands and feet bound at the bequest of her parents. Her father, a right dork by the sounds of it, said that "the training is necessary to help her improve her skills and eventually achieve her goal of swimming the English Channel."

He's also a middle school teacher.

Steven reports that Skype has been down globally for 24 hours. I've currently mixed connectivity, which might indicate things are getting or have gotten fixed. However, some interesting figures in the post.

Some Chinese dude with nothing better to do than spout numbers did so in front of several dozens of witnesses for 24 hours straight...plus 4 minutes.

The student recited pi to 67,890 digits. That is 50 numbers per line, 40 lines per page = 34 pages of random numbers he memorized.

And for good reason, too...

What can I say but this article is hilarious. Here's a sample:

"Some middle-class westerners are forced to teach for upwards of TWO hours without a break for a nice sit down and a cup of tea.

Middle-class youths are sometimes placed in provinces which contain hardly any stores selling cheese, and often have to make do with inferior Chinese red wine as their only solace."

“We wanted the cadres to have energy for work.” Indeed, service is not always a priority for government workers after a few hours of slugging down shots.

Four giant panda cubs were born within 14 hours at a breeding center in southwest China, a mini baby boom for the rare animals, a state news agency reported Sunday.

The births began Saturday at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center when 9-year-old Qiyuan, or Magic Luck, gave birth to female twins at 5:24 p.m. and 6:16 p.m., Xinhua News Agency reported, citing center expert Yang Feifei.

All these stories and speculation about poor old BJ and her pre-olypmic pollution woes! How about some good ol' facts 'n' figures to drive a stake into her public relations heart?!?!?! Aiya! (sigh!)

Think those kids spending 48-72 hours straight in the net bars were just having fun... think again. This post from ESWN not only illustrates the fine line between Chinese patriotism and outright racism - but it also gives a good glimpse at just how serious a business online gaming is in this country.

A woman sucks a teat for over 24 hours to win a car!