Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

At an English corner, Emily learns the REAL history behind Halloween, which involves, among other things, Mexicans and dead cats.

The most important festival in Chinese society, Chinese New Year is also a time for relaxing entertainment during the long holiday - shopping malls may be closed, but never the cinema. Just as Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street have been the Christmas canons, romantic comedies the chocolates for Valentine's Day, and disposable horror like Scream the Halloween must-sees, there has been a Hong Kong tradition of Chinese New Year films ever since the 1950s.

A real horror story of international shipping.

From Danwei, "Dealing with high prices, sketchy rental agents, flaky landlords, and annoying neighbors can make renting an apartment in Beijing a painful ordeal. Here is one horror story..."

From the LA Times: "A Chinese businessman is executed for a murder plot, but the big story may be shady deals and Beijing's bid to make a grim example of him."

The author tells the story of Yuan Baojing's rise to wealth and the murder that led to his execution by lethal injection.

While the world is watching how the riot plays out in Tibet, I found some interesting discussions on Chinese forums and witness accounts by Chinese civilians living in Tibet. Perhaps these accounts can serve to show another side of the story.

A fantastic article about Hu Jie, a Chinese documentary filmmaker, and his quest to bring to light the story of Lin Zhao - a defiant woman who was arrested and eventually executed during Mao's Anti-Rightest Campaign of the late 50s, and who used her own blood to continue writing her critical analysis of the times from prison. In Hu's own words - the story shows how far China has come.

A heart-warming story about love conquering height differences, this is a scrumptious summer treat that came early this year.

Or, it's another weird semi-news story from Asia.

via The Peking Duck: "This is, quite simply, the scariest article yet about the poisonous products being exported from China to your supermarket shelves. It's about the willful efforts of Chinese companies to block the FDA's frantic attempts to trace the source of the poison and cut it off. You have to read it to believe it. No wonder it's featured as the No. 1 leading story in today's Sunday Times. It's a story of dogged detective work, cover-ups, corruption and death.