Photo: GM

Hopefully It'll Have More Commercial Success than BYD EVs
China will be one of the initial markets to get the Chevy Volt PHEV, and today GM is announcing that the first drivable Volt has landed in the Middle Kingdom. "GM has made a long-term commitment to bringing our industry-leading technology to China," said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group.

Small debris-free plateau glacier with glacier lakes at Gangrinchemzoe Pass at 5,200 m, south of the main Himalayan divide, Bhutan.

Photo: Flickr, CC

That's a Lot of Chopsticks
Apparently China's Ministry of Commerce has had it with disposable chopsticks. It sent out a warning to chopstick makers in June to warn them that: "Production, circulation and recycling of disposable chopsticks should be more strictly supervised." The reason?

Xinhua via Global Times

The Beijing-Tibet Highway has been having a bit of a traffic jam- for nine days so far. The Traffic Bureau says the cause is "insufficient traffic capacity", which Bike Portland thinks is "hilarious....too many cars maybe?" Other wags have noted that "it's quicker to wok."

But drivers aren't leaving.

Photo via Le Grand Portage

China has a water problem. In fact, the only resource constraint standing in the way of their rampant growth is water. There just isn't enough of it, especially in the north.

Original 12th-century paintings by Ma Yuan (left) and Zhang Hongtu's contemporary reworkings (right) to show the effects of agricultural pollution (top) and dams (bottom). Images via Foreign Policy.

Zhang Hongtu has never shied away from tough subjects.

Image via China Daily

Torrential rain in China has caused extreme flooding, affecting at least 134 million people in 28 provinces. But many more could be impacted due to another major issue caused by the rain.

Photos: Chinanews

Too Expensive to Go Under? Go Over...
What if there was a way to get most of the benefits of a subway, but without the costs of digging up all those tunnels? The Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co.

Photo by Suthep Kritsanavarin

A hydropower dam project planned for the lower Mekong River is getting greater attention from conservationists as it nears the final stages of an approval process.

Photo via eutrophication&hypoxia

Earlier this week, we pointed out that only a small fraction of China's water is usable, let alone drinkable. And yet, the country is at the height of development.