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Cardboard baozi and a summer cure for a winter disease

Posted by Banyue, July 16, 2007 3:04 PM

The Beijing News, 2007.07.16

The top story on the front page of today's beijing News is The top headline about the closure of North Korea's Yongbyon reactor.

The second headline is about food safety issues:

As the price of pork has skyrocketed in recent months, a small restaurant in Beijing cut costs by mixing minced cardboard in pork fat to make filling for baozi (包子, a type of steamed bread usually stuffed with real pork). News of this filled the traditional media and the internet last week (CNN link).

Today's Beijing News reports that the Chaoyang branch of the Administration for Industry and Commerce yesterday inspected 23 restaurants in Beijing. According to an article, all the locations passed.

The photo on the front page shows a traditional Chinese medical prodedure, 头伏帖, a medicinal plaster applied at the start of the hot season. Yesterday was the first day of 头伏, the first 10-day period of the hot season, calculated as beginning on the third 庚 day (according to the old lunar calendar) after the summer solstice.

These plasters, applied to eight acupuncture points on the back during the hottest days of the year, are intended to prevent certain chronic respiratory conditions from returning once winter arrives.

There are currently 3 Comments for Cardboard baozi and a summer cure for a winter disease.

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Comments on Cardboard baozi and a summer cure for a winter disease

Today at about 18:40, BTV has appologized, in its news program, about its previous reporting on the issue of 'minced cardboard baozi'. It has been found out to be a make-up.

The make-up:
link

The apology:
link

[here's a short written report - JM]

Posted by: Absurdfool | July 18, 2007 8:23 PM

In other words, China can do nothing about overseas news reporting on such scandals (except for asking them to be "more truthful") but has a very economical, if not entirely convincing, way, of getting rid of unfavourable reports from within.

Posted by: mike | July 19, 2007 1:57 PM

a hoax?

Come on now...I don't buy it as a hoax.

Posted by: FRITZ | July 19, 2007 8:25 PM