Water China

China has launched a three-year campaign to stop the nation's toilets from leaking, confident that it has overcome the defects of socialist plumbing. Dripping toilet systems in countless Chinese homes are wasting 200 million tons of water a year, the official Economic Information newspaper said Friday. A unified toilet system, central planning and cooperation between departments could plug all leaks in three years, the newspaper said.

In the debate over global warming, some historical meteorologists in China pose a contrarian view. Their theory, in a nutshell? Some like it hot. Looking back over the millenniums, these scientists suggest that China has prospered during periods when temperatures are higher than usual. Conversely, they point out, cold spells have accompanied tragedies along the order of barbarian invasions, collapsing dynasties and civil war. The proposition that global warming might actually be good for China, or at least a mixed blessing, has been quietly discussed -- and largely dismissed -- in academic circles here.

After five hours of driving, night had finally caught up with us. Through the forest we caught glimpses of the lake and the flames of campfires, and by the time our high beams fell on our turnoff, we were ready to collapse. We unpacked the car and walked down to the dock. Huntington Lake, this unexpected gem in the middle of the High Sierra, lay before us, dark and still beneath the stars. It had been a spur-of-the-moment getaway, and we had been running late all day.

China has launched a three-year campaign to stop the nation's toilets from leaking, confident that it has overcome the defects of socialist plumbing. Dripping toilet systems in countless Chinese homes are wasting 200 million tons of water a year, the official Economic Information newspaper said Friday. A unified toilet system, central planning and cooperation between departments could plug all leaks in three years, the newspaper said.

In the debate over global warming, some historical meteorologists in China pose a contrarian view. Their theory, in a nutshell? Some like it hot. Looking back over the millenniums, these scientists suggest that China has prospered during periods when temperatures are higher than usual. Conversely, they point out, cold spells have accompanied tragedies along the order of barbarian invasions, collapsing dynasties and civil war. The proposition that global warming might actually be good for China, or at least a mixed blessing, has been quietly discussed -- and largely dismissed -- in academic circles here.

Taxes Raised on Property Profits: In a move that may throw cold water on China's fiery property investment sector, Beijing unveiled a tax law that could take a huge bite out of developers' profits. Starting Jan. 1, China will take as much as 67.34% of capital gains on land deals. Beijing says the law will reduce speculation.

Swimming pools in Beijing have been forced to stay closed this summer because of the soaring cost of scarce water, the China Daily said Wednesday. The city has increased charges for water use but forbids the public pools to raise their admission fees, making it unprofitable to open, it quoted pool managers as saying. It said one pool has reopened as a dry roller-skating rink, while sales of swimming suits have slumped in the capital.

It might be the most ambitious construction project in China since the Great Wall. The Chinese government is planning to reroute the nation's water supply, bringing water from the flood plains of the south and the snowcapped mountains of the west to the parched capital of Beijing. First envisioned by Mao Tse-tung in the 1950s and now coming to fruition, the South-North Water Diversion ? as it is inelegantly known in English ? has a price tag of more than $62 billion, twice as expensive as the famous Three Gorges Dam. It is expected to take decades to complete.

In their studies of the modern Chinese family, Zeng Yi and his team of demographers at Beijing University ran into a glitch in the statistics when they came to China's prosperous southern Guangdong province. Elsewhere in China, they found, the shape and structure of families had changed radically after 45 years of Communist rule. Everywhere it was the same story: Family size was much smaller; fewer generations lived in the same household, and the divorce rate was up.

The environmental health division of Orange County's Health Care Agency performs routine unannounced inspections of the county's more than 6,000 restaurants, markets and other food establishments. When conditions violate state law or applicable county and municipal codes, inspectors can issue notices of violation. If inspectors find during an announced recheck that conditions cited in the notice have not been rectified, they can effectively close the business by suspending its health permit.

The environmental health division of Orange County's Health Care Agency performs routine, unannounced inspections of the county's more than 11,000 restaurants, markets and other food establishments. When conditions violate state law or applicable county and municipal codes, inspectors can issue notices of violation. If inspectors find during an announced recheck that conditions have not been corrected, they can effectively close the business by suspending its health permit.

They crowd the beaches of this Taiwanese island just two miles from the Chinese coast: tens of thousands of anti-personnel land mines meant to deter an invasion from rival China. The mines were first planted in the 1950s when this tiny beachhead, also known as Quemoy, was subjected to frequent Chinese shelling, and war was a constant threat.