Danwei Picks is a daily digest of the "From the Web" links found on the Danwei homepage. A feed for the links as they are posted throughout the day is available at Feedsky (in China) or Feedburner (outside China).

Thirsty Dragon at the Olympics: In the New York Review of Books, Geremie R. Barmé translates an essay by Dai Qing on Beijing's water crisis:

While the farmers living on the outskirts of greater Beijing are given strictly controlled allocations of water, in central Beijing the people in charge are celebrating the construction of the ultimate "water follies" which will be ready in time for the Olympic year. These include the vast lake that will surround the titanium, egg-shaped National Grand Theater next to the Great Hall of the People, just off Tiananmen Square, as well as the largest fountain in the world at the Shunyi "Water Heaven"—one that can shoot 134 meters high. The Shunyi water park has been built on the dried-out remains of the Chaobai River—no irony intended. And then there are the hundred golf courses that have been laid out in greater Beijing. These infamous "water guzzlers" occupy over 20,000 acres of land and their imported turf has become a serious drain on the city's dwindling water resources.

The only reason to go to Tongzhou: At tbjblog, Alice Xin Liu writes about a new book warehouse outside of Beijing:

The big mac of book cities the Beijing Publishing Logistics Center, located in Tongzhou district and an hour and a half drive from central Beijing, opened on November 8th. The BPLC is Asia's largest – perhaps the world's – book city and book warehouse. It stretches over 300,000 square meters and houses over 500 state-owned publishers and an estimated 300 private and overseas publishers, including Random House and Penguin.

Designed by Architectural Design Studio and shaped like an eight, the book center is jaw-dropping. At its grand opening the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) stated that this, comrades, was a historical moment; and that publishing had the responsibility for cultural development - no kidding.

1.8 million copies of last Harry Potter book: From AP:

Chinese-language publishers have printed more than 1.8 million copies of the final book about boy wizard Harry Potter and are considering issuing more, executives said Wednesday...Mainland China's The People's Literature Publishing House said it issued 1.1 million copies of the book, the seventh in the Harry Potter series, but declined to provide sales figures. Taiwan's Crown Culture Corp. has shipped 700,000 copies to book stores in Taiwan and Hong Kong...

...In China, which has long been the world's leading source of illegally copied goods, including designer clothes, movies and music, The People's Literature Publishing House marketing executive Sun Shunlin said its new Potter books are printed with anti-piracy watermarks on the first page. China's General Administration of Press and Publication has also ordered officials to get tough on book pirates, he said.

It seems GAPP neglected to inform the guy selling stacks of pirate Harry Potter books within spitting distance of the Danwei office.

Olympic air quality: special Tianjin and Qinhuangdao edition: Shanghai Scrap takes a look at the conditions of some of the other cities where Olympic events will be held:

...one more photo of Tianjin's airport, this time to give a sense of the pollution's density. That's the main terminal in the distance - roughly 200 meters, I'd say. Like many Chinese cities, Tianjin's population burns wood and coal for heat during the winter months - and it was plenty cold when I was there. Also, Tianjin has a significant manufacturing sector, lots of cars, and - most important - it is downwind from Shanxi Province, the beating heart of China's coal country, and home to yet another thriving manufacturing sector.

NPC candidate complains of unfair election: At Global Voices, John Kennedy presents a letter of complaint and related information about Sun Weiguang, a retired professor in Shandong who claims that the election for People's Congress representatives on his campus was manipulated:

On November 6, some departments organized class monitors and deputy class monitors together for a meeting, during which plans and instructions aimed at candidate Sun Wenguang were given, and they were made to passed on to other students: "do not listen to Sun Wenguang's speeches." On November 7, certain departments held an emergency meeting for Party members, the notice for which read, 'some independent candidates have received support from overseas powers, and want to campaign; stop your classmates from listening [to them]. Those who go listen, if seen, will be brought back. No votes are allowed for independent candidates; anyone who votes for them will be found out; students who are found out and those directly responsible for them will be investigated.'

I firmly object to the unfairness of Shandong University's public powers.