Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

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.

Sinosplice has a funny and interesting post about a Chinese children's book that teaches the kids the finer points of how to say, write and draw the likes of machine gun, heavy machine gun, handgun, rifle, semi-automatic rifle, Uzi, revolver, hand grenade, flame thrower, rocket launcher, smoke grenades, tank, aircraft carrier, bomber plane, fighter jet, guided missile, stealth bomber.

It raises an interesting question of is it military propaganda, or just fun for kids. Where's the line?

My wife and I went on a cruise last month. There was a magician who was incredible. He made things come together - the audience's money and his pockets.

He made things disappear - again the audience's ...

Steven over at Suzhou-Atlas has a good post about some re-designs BMW has done to their 5-series (with Chinese characteristics) to better suit the "I wanna be an emperor" market that is so prevalent among China's upper-crust.

Recently the Economist put out its Democracy Index which is always interesting reading. Pretty much anytime you start fairly arbitrarily ranking things, I’m in. There were a few interesting points that I noticed.

"What prevails here is worse than garbage," musician Liu Sijia said.

"Because China emphasizes stability and harmony, the greatest utility of these pop songs is that they aren't dangerous to the system. If people could hear underground music, it would make them feel the problems in their lives and want to change things."

Provides insight into the growth of China's super-affluent class, incomes growth, and affect on global economy, as well as their personal health.

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."

A compilation of five of the 'monster hit' songs which seem to be part of the fabric of urban life, as well as a look at the Chinese trait of finding comfort in relentless repetition.