Sanlian Life Week
October 8, 2007

Sanlian Life Week looks at the war on Hepatitis B in its latest issue, a preliminary redesign that comes ahead of an overhaul, expansion, and price hike in 2008.

The articles in this feature range from the history of the disease to current efforts to fight it, including a profile of a program aimed at poor areas of Qinghai and Gansu. In May, 2008, Qinghai is expected to become the first province in China in which all children under 14 are protected from the disease. There are also informational articles, covering ways that hepatitis is and is not transmitted, as well as what sort of treatment is effective (the magazine isn't too taken with the search for cures in the annals of Chinese medicine).

Other interesting articles in this issue include a portrait of inkstone artisans in Huizhou, Anhui Province; a look back at the Menglianggu Battle, where 30,000 troops in the Nationalists' 74th Division were killed, including General Zhang Lingfu; and a profile of pianist Yin Chengzong.

New Weekly, September 15, 2007

Since it's September for a couple more days, there's still time to look at the current issue of New Weekly.

"Sorry, I don't want to know," reads the coverline, with the subhead "'The right not to know' in an age of too much information." The feature, illustrated with photos of neon signs in Hong Kong and satellite dishes in Shanghai, takes its inspiration from David Shenk's 1997 book, Data Smog. In typical New Weekly style, the main text is accompanied by short interviews with poets, IT workers, editors, and artists, who discuss their relationship to information in society.

Other featured articles:

• Metamorphosis of China's bicycles - bikes in Shenzhen and Beijing, yesterday and today;
• Protect 'Made in China' - a look at the recent toy recalls;
• The sexualization of society - the sexual revolution comes to China, spurred on by consumerism and the media. There's an interview with professor Pan Suiming, director of Renmin University's Institute for Sexuality and Gender.