China Environment

Beijing’s First-Ever Red Alert for Smog

During the evening of December 7th, Beijing government announced its first-ever red alert for smog. Schools are required to close and a limited amount of vehicles are allowed on the roads. The alert is on from December 8 (7:00) until December 10.

Published

11 years ago

December 7, 2015

Manya Koetse

The news of Beijing’s first-ever red smog alert travels fast on Monday evening. People tell each other the news in downtown bars while Weixin keeps bleeping.

“I heard of the news because…

China Animals

China Faces Unprecedented Donkey Shortage Crisis

“We have plenty of cattle and horses in China now — just not enough donkeys” (“目前我国牛马都不缺，就缺驴”).

Published

11 months ago

October 5, 2025

Manya Koetse

China is facing a serious donkey shortage. China’s donkey population is far below market demand, and the prices of donkey-related products continue to rise.

Recently, this issue went trending on Weibo under hashtags such as “China Currently Faces a Donkey Crisis” (#我国正面临缺驴危机#).

The Donkey Branch of China’s Livestock Association (中国畜牧业协会驴业分会) addressed this issue in Chinese media earlier last week, telling China News Weekly(中国新闻周刊): “We have plenty of cattle and horses in…

Chapter Dive

Behind the Mysterious Death of Chinese Internet Celebrity Cat Wukong

“Dont believe the media,” Zhao Shuo said: “And also don’t believe me.”

Published

1 year ago

May 11, 2025

Manya Koetse

How did the death of a young stray cat lead to a online wave of grief and outrage over the past few days? It started with fans mourning a beloved Chinese internet celebrity cat, then turned into backlash against fake news, anger over animal cruelty groups, and suspicions that local officials were more concerned with controlling the narrative than finding the truth.

Although things turned dark quickly, it began beautifully light.

The journey of…