Expatriates surrendering their citizenship will have to act as if they have sold all their worldwide assets at a fair market price. If the unrealized gains on these assets exceed $600,000, capital-gains tax will apply. Along with citizens of North Korea and a few other countries, Americans are taxed based on their citizenship, rather than domicile.

We've started a group writing project over at Lost Laowai that is asking all China blogsphere bloggers to list an equal number of things they both love and hate about China, and in so doing create a well-rounded view of the country.

We welcome everyone with a blog to check it out and participate.

It doesn't take long to figure out how low the bar is set for expectations regarding language. We can call this the "soft bigotry of low expectations", a phrase coined by speechwriter Mike Gerson.

I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Lost Laowai's newest addition - JohnB. John's inaugural post cuts to the heart of something all of us expats in China deal with frequently - the China funk.

John offers some good advice on regaining that lovin' feeling for the Middle Kingdom. Whether it be just some hotpot (and copious amounts of warm beer) with friends, a good book or getting the hell out of China for a while...