Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

China on Sunday expanded massively its censorship of the flow of news from foreign sources into the country, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

A post any foreigner in China can relate to, this entry talks about the rather blatant way in which Chinese vendors charge one price for locals and one hugely inflated price for foreigners.

VIDEO: A news report from the scene of the now infamous Shijingshan Amusement Park, where an amazing change had taken place. After foreign media coverage of the amusement park’s blantant unauthorized use of Disney characters, the park was taking action.

Despite the striking similarities to foreign characters, Yin insisted the Beijing park’s are all locally designed.

“Take our Cinderella as an example. The face of Disney’s Cinderella face is European, but ours is a Chinese. She looks like a young Chinese country girl,” he said.

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.

As Steve Dickinson very concisely summarizes in this recent post on China Law Blog, the government is actively expanding their control over foreign investment in China’s real estate market. That isn’t to say that real estate is completely off limits for foreign players, but rather that the Central Government has put themselves in a position where they can disapprove or delay projects completely at their own discretion.

A follow-up to the clubbing of 50,000 dogs in Yunnan last month. Though a wave of grumbles were made by the public, largely the fear and abuse has been copycatted throughout the country.

One of the things you will get over VERY quickly in China is the need for validation by students, colleagues or friends. The Chinese don’t give one another a break, so don’t expect one for yourself. Sure, they will hand you a compliment, but….

Even with all of the fawning that goes on with a new foreign male or young female teacher there is always an addendum…. Here are but a couple real ones.

At least four foreign correspondents have been hauled into the Foreign Ministry for a dressing down in the last month, according to Tim Johnson, who writes for McClatchy. China is officially embracing a freer press, but Johnson says the pressure is actually increasing.

Also worth reading the comments, which sound like trolls who wandered over from the Duck Pond.

One of the problems with living in China is that you begin to feel disconnected with the culture from your home country. You don’t get up on the latest trends, and it can be hard to follow the news carefully, or at least as closely as you would like to.