Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

August Pfluger, CEO of the baiji.org Foundation, declared the extinction of China's Baiji dolphin on December 13. A recent expedition to the Yangtze River failed to find any Baiji dolphins, thus confirming the worst fears of researchers and animal conservationists.

Over one million people are facing water shortages because the Yangtze River is being ravaged by drought. But what effect will the ongoing drought have on the operation of the Three Gorges Dam? If the rain stays away, power generation targets must surely have to be amended.

China’s white river dolphin appears to now be extinct, according to a team of biologists that spent six weeks searching for it in its usual habitat of the Yangtze River. This makes it the first mammal globally to become extinct in the past 50 years, despite private attempts to preserve the animal. China’s rapid industrialization and pollution of the Yangtze River have largely been to blame, with no serious attempts by government to act to save the 25 million year old species.

Have you ever seen a Chinese aircraft carrier? I had not seen one until today, and I was very surprised when I saw one today while driving to Dianshanhu. When we left the highway on our way to the lake, we suddenly saw the huge boat on our right. My first thought was that the Chinese navy has a ship wharf here, and that there might be a connection to the Yangtze river. But it turned out that the boat is fake: it is made out of concrete and a small lake has been dug around it.

“My mother has never told me that she loves me,” explained a 23-year-old Chinese friend of mine recently. “She doesn’t have to say the words because she shows me her love through her actions.” Such perceptions on the meaning of love are common in China...

Y Chromosome and MtDNA testing of Northern and Southern Han Chinese populations shows greater genetic diversity on the female ancestrial side (MtDNA) than the male. The indication is that Han Chinese males from Northern China married indigenous non-Han female population in the South, such as the Bai Yue (relatives to modern Vietnamese, Thai/Lao, Hmong) populations.

Stranded ships, plagues of rats, pollution: Is China's mighty Yangtze river on the brink of environmental disaster ?

Chinese Women's Ice Hockey Team recently qualified for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. But the poor living standards of these female players cast clouds on over the future of ice hockey in the country.

23 ancient structures dating to the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the Mingguo period, were recently discovered in Shanghai’s Songjiang District