Link Banana

If, like me, you had no idea what melamine is or why it was such a bad thing to find in Chinese milk, I suggest this Tech.view column (for that, and a whole lot more):

Melamine is used to make durable work-surfaces for kitchen cabinets and bathroom furniture, and is formed into heat-resistant jugs, bowls, dinnerware, and other household items. To be accurate, such products are made not from melamine, but from melamine resin—a thermosetting plastic produced by combining melamine with formaldehyde.

… Melamine itself is a different matter. In low doses, it is non-toxic; its so-called LD50 (median lethal dose) is on a par with table salt. But should it be combined with a closely related chemical called cyanuric acid, the resulting compound (melamine cyanurate) can cause fatal kidney disease. Melamine cyanurate is widely used as a fire retardant.

Speaking of Beijing… Chinese officials has banned the service of dog during the month of August. It’s not that important anyway, Fuchsia Dunlop says, because few Chinese eat them, and it’s a winter food anyway:

Dog eating, in any case, tends to be a seasonal pursuit. According to Chinese folk dietetics, which classify every food according to its heating and cooling properties, dog is one of the “hottest” meats around, best eaten in midwinter, when you need warmth and vital energy, not in sultry August.

Perhaps in part to validate their story predicting this occurance, Wired Science says that though China’s making a valient effort, air quality in Beijing isn’t really better. (Though, as anyone who’s been in a big city could have told you, rain and wind do a good deal to improve visibility.)

If only to demonstrate how much a fan I am of The Big Picture, another link to another stunning series.

At least one scientist doubts China’s ability to keep Beijing’s air quality within acceptable limits for Olympic competition:

China’s basic air problem is that the city experiences roughly weekly meteorological cycles in which stagnant, polluted air coming from the provinces south of Beijing is flushed out by cold fronts from Mongolia. When the weather doesn’t cooperate, there is little that the authorities can do, Rahn said.

“I’m glad I’m not an Olympic organizer responsible for canceling these events,” Rahn said. “It is a borderline situation and unpredictable until the 11th hour. “

Attached to a story on the topic, the New York Times has an illustrated and annotated map of the boldest new buildings in Beijing. I’d seen or heard nothing of the interesting new egg-like National Theater.

(via CP)

The Big Picture has a great set about China’s recent “Great Wall 5” drills. Included is the already well-known snap of an armed SWAT team advancing on Segways.

I’m a touch late, but Cabel Sasser has collected some thoroughly entertaining pictures of fireworks packaging. It’s ersatz America through the eyes of Chinese gunpowder manufacturers. What could be better?

For the first time in years, China has taken Mao off a denomination of currency (and — it being a commemorative Olympics bill — replaced him with the “birds nest” stadium). Despite relevant historical and cultural issues, my only comment is that it just looks wrong to me.

(via MeFi)

The Big Picture really should try to do a post about this. Even Passport’s rather small picture is impressive.

More than 10,000 people have been mobilized to clean up green algae that has invaded the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao, Shandong, China. The Qingdao Olympic Sailing Committee estimates that the area will be cleared before July 15.

China, forced by the Olympic to worry about the translations of restaurant’s food names, has mandated changes to some of the weirdest ones. Dishes being changed:

• Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman (to become “Mapo tofu”)
• Chicken without sexual life (to become “Steamed pullet”)
• Husband and wife’s lung slice (to become “Beef and ox tripe in chili sauce”)

(via kottke, who also highlights a Manhattan restaurant serving “sea urchin bukkake”)

Apparently it’s going to China. Blake Houshnell calls a chart of China’s cement use “staggering,” while Joshua Keating points out the recent uptake in theft of India’s manhole covers is being blamed on China’s ravenous demand for iron.

My best attempt to write the proper pronunciation.

(via Snarkmarket)

One problem with building new cities where nothing was: architects have no idea how to design buildings.

In Dubai, for instance, what might once have been the product of 100 years of urban growth has been compressed into a decade or so. Given such seismic shifts, even the most talented architects can seem to flounder for new models. No one wants to return to the deadly homogeneity associated with Modernism’s tabula rasa planning strategies.

In a simple chart, The Economist makes the interesting point that though the United States, Russia, and China fought fairly evenly for the most medals in 2004 — and most other games — it’s actually countries like The Bahamas, Australia, and Cuba that did the best per capita.

Speaking of Mr. Keating, he also points out an interesting story from China Digital Times. Confusion about whether or not Zimbabwe’s government received the shipment that South African dockworkers refused to unload remains. On one hand:

THE ZIMBABWEAN government said yesterday that weapons carried by China’s so-called “ship of shame”, the An Yue Jiang, had arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, despite an international campaign to prevent the 77 tonnes of arms reaching President Robert Mugabe’s regime.

On the other:

But China’s Foreign Ministry said the An Yue Jiang was on its way back to China, and denied reports the weapons had arrived in Zimbabwe.

“These reports are baseless and purely fictitious,” spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry’s website (www.fmprc.gov.cn).

“The Chinese side has already said many times that the weapons sold to Zimbabwe will return on the An Yue Jiang. The ship is currently on its way back to China,” Qin said.

Good Magazine has released their second set of interviews with expats in China. The first is here. They offer an interesting perspective on China and why one might choose to live there.

It’s often said that a near-death experience is the surest way to understand what’s important in life. If Edward Wong’s story about Wang Zhijun and Li Wanzhi is to be believed, that’s exactly what’s happened for the couple.

“The only thing we had was each other,” Mr. Wang said. “We encouraged each other to live on, and we said once we got out, we’d live a good life and care for each other. Now we have a new start.”

This is a few days old, but it’s point is still valuable. Though many would like to see China as a country as backward as Burma’s present or it’s own past, Bridget Kendell points out that it’s treated it’s disaster much better than Burma has.

Whether because the eyes of the world are upon it in this Olympic year, or because the Chinese themselves, particularly the increasingly affluent and empowered urban middle class, demand more of their own government, these days in China - unlike in Burma - there seems to be a greater sense of the need to be accountable.

The Economist offers two charts about interesting aspects of modern energy:

• The Price of Oil. Looking at this graph makes it at least seem reasonable that oil could actually get to $200 a gallon.
• Energy Efficiency. Though America’s use of energy per dollar of GDP has dropped in recent years, it remains the least efficient country in the world. This data was also used is a story in the magazine.