First Head Rolls

China executed Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the China FDA, yesterday. Good riddance.

This is just in from Beijing. I've often looked at the water jug in my house and wondered why I should feel comfortable drinking out of it. That holds true with the brands of Chinese bottled water in the stores. There doesn't appear to be much preventing someone from filling jugs up with a water hose.

When my aunt first came to Shanghai years ago, she watched a woman on a street corner sticking Sunkist tags on oranges and the selling them. That still happens of course, but now the people put the stickers on behind closed doors. I frequently see Sunkist labels on fruit at small sidewalk vendors.

Very little is as it appears to be.

Generally I shop at the western market in our building. US $10 for a box of cereal. US $1.20 for an imported Coke. Cheap insurance.

Dining out is a bit sketchier. Most western places where I eat are probably safe. Most Chinese places are probably not.