This nation boasts the greatest number of newspapers, with over 400. It is also accused of having jailed the most jounalists, number unknown. Still, a good read of one day’s edition offer insights into Chinese thinking see www.chinadaily.com.cn:

1. Pressure from the U.S. to allow the Chinese currency (Yuan) to appreciate is not motivated by any trade protection of Chinese exporters but entirely by the mid-term elections in the U.S.

2. With Beijing selling 1,500 cars every day, it is getting more dangerous to ride bicycles (duh).

3. A widely used form of contraception for young Chinese women is the “morning-after” pill, where it is available at roadside pharmacies without a prescription.

4. If you kill a person with an auto, the driver pays a one-time penalty. If you cripple that person, you may have to pay the person for the remainder of their life. In the city of Xinyi, a man driving a BMW was videotaped running over a 3 year old boy before doing it several more times, to make sure the boy was dead.

5. There is a summit underway in Brussels on how the 500 million strong European Union can cooperate more closely with the stronger 1.3 billion Chinese.

6. Eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed in the Philipines.

7. One of the fastest growing businesses in the urban areas is “online snacks”, where office workers call for delivery of snacks, not just food but snacks.

8. The Shanghai Composite Index or CSI was down 1.9%.

9. Life goes on……