Dog lovers, including yours truly, are ecstatic to hear the news of Liyuan Dog Market closing – hopefully very, very soon. The market has been hit by scandals of improper breeding and mishandling, yet has remained extremely popular according to an article published in Beijing Today.

Liyuan is located in the Tongzhou District, which happens to be a hot spot for low-end breeding as breeders could earn as much as RMB 200,000 annually. A specialty breed would sell for approximately RMB 10,000. The market has attracted a large number of vendors that have lead to management and “quality” control issues:

“By 2006, there were frequent reports of Liyuan vendors selling sick animals that had been subjected to industrial dyes and amateur plastic surgery to make them resemble more valuable breeds.”

–Beijing Today

According to the article, Liyuan County stated that the troubled dog market didn’t represent the standards of China’s breeding industry.

Liyun is situated close to the proposed new Universal Studios Beijing site–Perhaps this was the reason? Whatever the reasons for the crackdown, at least sick dogs will no longer be sold at ridiculous prices. The local government rebranding its image from rural to urban is just icing on the cake.

If you would like to get a pet, then adopt one from ICVS. Here are the things you need to consider before adopting an animal.

Photo: stanfordflipside.com

After years of waiting for the subway to come to our neighborhood of Wangjing, (motto: Good things come to those who wait while enjoying kimchi!) Line 14 finally opened this week. Sure, there is still work being done on many of the exits and several stops remain closed, but that doesn’t bother me one bit since now I can ride the train from my place to the neighborhood of best Beijing buddies without even switching lines.

When we descended the steep escalators at the station outside Indigo Mall, we were reminded that the subway system, even the new lines, like most of Beijing, are not stroller friendly. Nor friendly to wheel chairs or people with any kind of walking issues for that matter. Steps leading up to the station entrance so that you can go down into the subway is still the norm. Once inside, the system for purchasing tickets in English was simple enough, though if we didn’t know the name of the station we were going too, it would have been challenging.

After passing through “security” we headed down the escalators again to the brand spanking new platform. Minutes later, a sparkling new “wide body” train arrived. It still has that new subway car smell – no doubt slightly toxic – with plenty of available seating for weary travelers. My eyes were immediately drawn to the “family friendly” advertising of a young woman with pursed red lips wearing only a bra and panties. I can’t help but feel the ad is out of place.

The train runs smoothly and the extra space will no doubt be welcome when the crowds finally catch on. One unfortunate note is that the new subway toilets on the platform already smell like those of older lines and look grungy. It seems some things in Beijing will never change.

Photo: Michael Wester

Nearly two weeks ago, the Chinese government mandated that local schools and non-essentials government offices are going to be closed during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) from November 7-15. Well as of today, the Canadian International School of Beijing and the Children’s House Montessori Kindergarten (all campuses) are both going to be closed as per the notices they have on their websites. So far we were only able to determine that the two schools located in the CBD area have been affected by the notice.

A quick scan through the websites of the schools in Shunyi did not show that their calendars have been affected. But that could or could not change. We will keep you informed.

We did write that the car restrictions will come into effect using the even-odd license plate rule as used during the Olympics. Find out what this means here.

Photo: Dadonenineseveneight (flickr)