Tinkling advertisements for adult products also bombard the country's computer as the Internet has spread throughout China.

• Expo touches sensitive area
  ALTHOUGH he has held many expos before, both big and small, Liang Helin, a business manager of China International Exhibition Centre Group Corp, appeared nervous about the coming expo of "adult products" which is scheduled to run from August 6-8.
• Sexual statistics
  A SURVEY conducted by Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences shows that sexual relationships before marriage and cohabitation among local youth has increased as sexual attitudes have become more open. According to the survey, half of those interviewed think it is understandable for engaged couples or people in love to hit the sheets before tying the knot.
• Sexual predators
  LI Jinfa (not his real name) was lying in bed. What he was finding hard to endure was not his lonely nights but the anger he felt towards his toy woman.
• Paying for waste
  HAVING just been hit by a sharp pricehike in water rates, locals will soon suffer another blow to their household budgets - a new fee for disposal of their rubbish.
• Shanghai shake-down
  MANY cities in China have now started charging fees for the treatment of domestic waste.
• Dying to invest
  A SHANGHAI woman was murdered and a Chinese man was wounded in an armed robbery at their house in Witbank, about 150km east of the South African capital of Pretoria, on July 16.

• Fresh floods hit South Asia
  GUWAHATI, India/Dhaka - Flood waters unleashed by fresh rains swept into the largest city in India's northeast on Wednesday and further submerged low-lying parts of the Bangladeshi capital.
• Hostage crisis defused
  BAGHDAD/TOKYO - A Filipino truck driver released in Iraq after being held hostage for two traumatic weeks headed for Baghdad's airport on Wednesday to leave the country and be reunited with his family.

• When 35 means you are a withered flower
  My aunt has been a shop assistant for more than 30 years. Though she is 48, she looks much younger. Recently, her store shut down and she had to borrow an ID card from a 35-year-old fellow worker when she went for for a job interview. She finally got the job and proved well qualified for it.
• Once upon a time, there were 2 good Americans
  On July 4 Americans proudly celebrated the 228th anniversary of independence from Britain. Chinese people everywhere understand how China in the 19th century was also struggling for independence from foreign domination.
• School should not be hell
  After reading the article in the Shanghai Star about how some Chinese students nowadays suffer serious physical reactions simply from the dread of going to school, I was appalled.
• Super for Seattle silly for Shanghai
  Most old China hands and a few others, know that TCM stands for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Some old China hands are indeed a little sceptical about the miracle cures trumpeted especially when you read claims made for TCM in an advertising blurb that a single bottle or powder or capsule is the cure-all "par excellence" for such hardy diseases as herpes simplex and AIDS and Hepatitis A, B and C and Alzheimers and is also an effective contraceptive.
• Saving lives comes first
  At exactly the same moment that the police sniper shot a kidnapper, the latter's dagger cut open the throat of the woman hostage he was holding, killing her.
• Why the pirates are winning the DVD war
  One of my friends bought a DVD version of a movie blockbuster from a well-known online bookstore last week. However, the DVD, which was said to be authentic, didn't live up to what she expected from an "authentic" disc. The sound was a mixture of English and Chinese and the picture was far from being digitally clarified.

• Dancing to success
  TWENTY-TWO years ago, Candy Tang was a beautiful young dancing teacher in Taiwan. Two decades later, she is the President and CEO of the Alexander Group, responsible for over 20 luxury fitness clubs with total yearly sales of over NT$2 billion (US$58.8 million) - and she still looks young and pretty.

• Where have all the flowers gone?
  OUR country is a big garden and the children are happy in the garden, like the flowers." The lyric of this Chinese children's song has entertained generations of children. They are taught that their country is a perfect greenhouse for them to grow up in. Maybe some of the children will go abroad, but according to a traditional understanding, the time for living in another country will not come until they become adults. In other words, going abroad is not part of life for most children, especially for those who haven't yet finished their high school or even college education.
• Looking back without regrets
  IN the modern history of China, Shanghai has always been the centre of fashion, with its almost miraculous hectic lifestyle. A large number of graceful and courteous locals from the "genteel" classes used to put on numerous minor comedies or tragedies in this Vanity Fair.