Liaoshen Daily
February 15, 2008

The endless stream of cultural content regulations issued by GAPP and SARFT may not be very stimulating reading, but the reaction from the media can be quite entertaining. Usually this takes the form of parodies and mockery cooked up by online commenters, but occasionally the traditional press will contribute something interesting.

Take today's Liaoshen Daily, for example: the cover story concerns GAPP's latest campaign against horror videos (as the notice itself mentions, this is a continuation of last year's Death Note-inspired ban on ghost stories in print). Illustrating this important report is a collage of horror movie posters (still bearing the watermark of the PCPop forums) covered in police tape and emblazoned with the title: "Ghost Film Banned."

Inside the paper, the actual report is fairly short: the proprietor of a DVD shop is quoted saying that it's mostly young people who buy horror films, a college student relates how he likes the thrills that come with watching (even if he has to cover his eyes at some points), and a parent tells of how her 14-year-old son couldn't fall asleep after watching a horror film. The paper notes that this is the sixth time that the state has ordered the confiscation of horror-themed materials.

The headline in the upper right reports that property taxes will not be implemented for at least the next two years. Apparently there was some confusion over central government plans, with previous reports claiming that Liaoning had been selected as a test site for a property tax system.

Below that is a report from yesterday's Valentine's Day festivities. 1,115 couples in Shenyang registered for a marriage license yesterday.

On the left is a headline that announces the streamlining of China's bureaucracy: three positions have been eliminated in each of the country's 31 province-level administrative teams.

And, in a piece of seasonal news, a fireworks stand in Shenyang exploded in the wee hours of the morning yesterday, when the owner was out for a drink. No one was injured.