Chin up, America. China ain’t so great. That 10% GDP growth they’ve been having? A lot of it is fake. Take this investigate report that looks at the big trend over there of Chinese ghost cities and ghost malls. China is building ten of these cities a year, cities that can serve millions, with rows of apartment complexes, shopping malls, and universities. But almost no one lives in them. By pouring materials and resources and labor in, the government can keep national GDP at its state-mandated levels, even if its not meeting any real demand. It’s like someone is playing SimCity with all cheat codes, but this is a game China is going to lose. [More]
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Hotels.com Leaves You Without A Place To Stay In Beijing, Shrugs
By 6.15.11
Dylan traveled to China a few months ago. His consumer complaint doesn’t directly involve any company in that country, though: his issue is with the company that was supposed to provide him with a place to stay in Beijing, Hotels.com. Miscommunication ensued when Hotels.com first had the wrong address for the hotel, then failed to actually reserve a room for Dylan. When he called the company for help, he learned that while they help customers book rooms in foreign countries, they don’t necessarily have anyone on staff who speaks the language of those countries to smooth over issues. [More]
Boy Wishes He Hadn't Sold His Kidney For An iPad 2
By 6.2.11
A 17-year-old boy in Shanghai is experiencing extreme buyer’s remorse after his health has begun to falter after selling his kidney to buy an iPad 2, reports the Global Times. [More]
Chinese Prisoners Forced To Farm Warcraft Gold Or Get Beatings
By 5.26.11
To get ahead in online games like the popular World of Warcraft, sometimes people will turn to the black market and purchase in-game gold from other gamers using real world dollars. It sounds relatively harmless, except the person you’re buying it from could be a prisoner in a Chinese labor camp under threat of cruel physical punishment. [More]
Three Workers Die In Explosion At Foxconn Factory
By 5.23.11
Three workers have died in an explosion at a plant run by Foxconn Technology Group in Hongfujin, China. Fifteen other workers were injured at the plant, said to be a manufacturing base for Apple’s iPad. [More]
Fisticuffs Erupt When iPad 2 Goes On Sale In Beijing
By 5.9.11
Four people were sent to the hospital when the crowd outside Beijing’s number one Apple store turned violent as they stormed to get their hands on the new iPad 2 when it went on sale there this weekend, reports AFP. [More]
Pizza Hut Put Kibosh On The Amazing Salad Towers Of China
By 3.31.11
Our post last week about “How To Game The Salad Bar” reminded commenter power lurker of the Chinese way of playing the game at Pizza Hut. See, in America when you tell people their salad bar is limited to one plate, they shrug because no American eats salad. But in China in the mid to late 2000’s, they turned into a competition to see who can create the tallest and most elaborate salad tower. [More]
You Can Now Open A Chinese Bank Account, Invest Directly In Yuan
By 1.19.11
This week, for the first time ever, the Bank of China in the US is letting American customers open up accounts and invest directly in Chinese currency. Last year the “closed” currency yuan gained 3.3% against the dollar while the highest American “high interest” accounts were delivering around 1.7%. WSJ gives 5 reasons for getting in on the hot renminbi action: [More]
New Law Says Pentagon Must Buy American Solar Panels
By 1.11.11
Sorry, Chinese solar panel salesmen, your days of racking up commissions from sales to the American military are over, because a new federal law forbids the Pentagon from buying non-American panels. [More]
Starbucks To Grow Its Own Coffee Beans In China
By 11.19.10
In March 2011, Starbucks will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first store. And while the company has since grown into the beverage behemoth we all know today, it has never attempted to actually grow its own coffee beans. That’s all about to change as the Starbucks CEO announced yesterday that they are going to be going the DIY route in China. [More]
Pix Of Where The Chinese iPhone Worker-Drones Sleep
By 11.4.10
Gizmodo’s Joel Johnson got to peek inside the Foxconn factory in China where your iPhone and other fancy gadgets get made. Some 200,000 workers work inside, and also live in on-site dorms. Perhaps the most gripping images, however, are of what’s on the outside. Every building is draped in protective nets to prevent workers from suiciding off the roofs. [More]
China To Exceed US Credit Card Use By 2020
By 9.17.10
We don’t need to worry about China getting ahead, Mastercard said today that China is set to surpass the US by 2020 in America’s favorite pastime: using credit cards. It will only be a matter of time after that they implode on a consumer credit bubble, muahaha, exactly as we planned. See, you’re not the only ones that can export poison! [More]
Airport Installs 40-Foot-Tall Twister Slide
By 9.2.10
To distract travelers from delayed and canceled flights, Singapore’s Changi Airport installed a 40-foot-tall super twister slide that they can zip down at 19 feet per second. [More]
Sunglass Hut To Customer: Italy And China Are The Same, Don't Be Picky
By 8.31.10
Brett tried on a pair of “Made in Italy” Ray-Bans at a Sunglass Hut and liked them, but they were the display model so he had to come back to pick up his own a few days later. When he did, he discovered that the real pair he bought said “Made in China,” and in his opinion they felt lower quality. [More]
Chinese Traffic Jam Enters 10th Day
By 8.24.10
A 62-mile traffic jam going into Beijing, China has entered its 10th day. Roadside vendors have quadrupled prices on noodles. Interviewed drivers say they’re not leaving because alternate routes would use up more gas. [More]
Chinese Milk Accused Of Sprouting Boobs On Babies
By 8.14.10
They say that girls are developing earlier and earlier these days, but this is just disgusting. Chinese authorities are investigating reports that three Chinese infant girls prematurely developed breasts after consuming hormone-tainted powdered milk made by Chinese manufacturer Synutra. [More]
~600,000 Chinese Die Making Our Shiny Toys
By 8.13.10
Let’s expand our foreign language vocabulary! Can you say, “guolaosi”? It’s a Mandarin word meaning “death from overwork!” The word describes the phenomenon of Chinese workers falling dead on the spot as they toil in sub-Dickensian conditions so you can save a dollar on your next laptop! [More]
Lowe's Proposes To Settle Sulfur-Spewing Drywall Claims With Piddly Gift Cards
By 8.12.10
Lowe’s is proposing to settle in the tainted drywall class action lawsuit with gift cards. The gift cards will be $50, $250, or $2000. Never mind those who entire homes, way of life, and most of their possessions and electronics ruined or contaminated by the sulfur-emitting drywall. Here, how about a discount on a new showerhead? [More]
