Today, in China, it is estimated that fully two thirds of the male population smokes, along with about 7 percent of females over the age of 15. “Oxford epidemiologist Richard Peto predicts that ‘of all the children alive today in China under the age of 20 years, 50 million of them will eventually die from tobacco.’"

In China, it’s customary for the host to pick up the entire bill. That’s true at family dinners, business dinners, and dinners out with friends.

Where are the great versions of bird’s nest soup from Shandong, or Zhejiang’s beggar’s chicken, or braised Anhui-style pigeon or the crisp eel specialties of Jiangsu? Or what about the tea-flavored dishes from Hangzhou, the cult-inspiring hairy crabs of Shanghai or the fabled honeyed ham from Yunnan?

AP - China's secretive communist government said Tuesday it has approved rules boosting official transparency but added that state secrets have to be safeguarded and social stability preserved.

Chinese people only rarely drink plain water, and if they do, they drink it boiling hot, no matter what the temperature is outside.