Tea Leaf Nation

In January alone, a stifling and noxious haze twice enveloped the Chinese capital of Beijing, pushing air quality indexes literally off the charts and inciting widespread outrage both on-line and off. Pollution — and the outcry surrounding it — has gotten so severe that, according to the New York Times, Beijing has taken emergency measures which “include temporarily shutting [...]

Netizens have one word to describe their feelings about rising fuel prices: @#$%. On Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter, public opinion about the largest hike in fuel prices in three years is perhaps best represented by a university student who has shot to (likely ephemeral) fame as “Brother Gas Price” (油价哥). This “brother’s” rise began after [...]