Chen Nan Yang

By Chen Nan Yang Originally published at Launchpad; reprinted with the author's permission.
From China's bamboo forest villages in Yunnan to the high-rises of Shanghai, Mongolian Cow Yogurt Super Girl—a hugely popular American Idol-like TV program—has created quite a stir. And when Li Yuchun, a music student with a tomboy haircut and girl next-door beauty, won the coveted title, she spawned a new short and edgy hairstyling craze among young girls living across the vast expanse of Mainland China.
Super Girl also created [...]

Originally published at Colored Stone; reprinted with the author's permission.
According to China's Jewelry and Jade Association (CJJA), the total size of the Chinese jewelry market was 140 billion yuan (US$17.3 billion) in 2005. Colored gemstones, including jade, accounted for 30.6 percent of the market.
The CJJA forecast that the market would increase at an annual rate of 8 percent to 9 percent to about $26 billion between 2006 and 2010, but the increase of gold, diamond, and platinum jewelry might slow down [...]