Where is Chen Qiushi?

A screenshot of Chen Qiushi in Wuhan to document the coronavirus there

People who have been following lawyer and citizen journalist Chen Qiushi are asking where he is.

In the last few days he has been missing and now he has been "quarantined" but no one knows where.

Some may remember the Qingdao native who came to Hong Kong in August to report on the anti-government protests. He made videos of the protests and posted them on YouTube, challenging state media reports that claimed all the protesters were rioters and separatists.

In August he was in Hong Kong

Instead Chen said most of them were peaceful. "Not all of them are rioters," the 34-year-old said in one of his videos.

He was summoned back to Beijing, and after he returned, he was harassed and silenced by the authorities. His social media accounts, including Weibo that had 740,000 followers, were deleted.

But he vowed to continue to speak out.

When news of the epicentre of the coronavirus was in Wuhan, Chen got on a train on Chinese New Year eve to go there and report what was happening. He promised he would tell the truth, that he would not spread rumours, that he would try to protect himself from the coronavirus the best he could, and he would not leave Wuhan if he caught the virus.

He made videos interviewing people who were sick and desperate for a hospital bed, he interviewed nurses and doctors, one of whom confirmed there were corpses in the hospital hallways covered in sheets but they didn't know if they had died of the coronavirus. He also saw the unsanitary conditions in the hospitals with used gloves, masks and vomit everywhere.

He posted videos, talking about corpses in hospital hallways

At the same time he had to watch his back with the authorities knowing he was there and didn't want him out reporting on his own. They forced him to move out of his hostel, his WeChat account would be blocked if he posted another video on the app.

And now Chen has been missing since February 6. His friend posted a video of Chen's mother the following day, saying her son had disappeared.

"I'm here to beg everyone online, especially friends in Wuhan to help find Qiushi, find out what's going on with him," she said.

Then later that evening Xu Xiaodong, a well-known mixed martial artist, posted a video saying that Chen had been forced into quarantine.

"In the last few hours the Qingdao public security officers and state security officers... notified Qiushi's parents that Qiushi has already been detained in the name of quarantine. Qiushi's' mother immediately asked them where and when he was taken away, they declined to say," said Xu.

Chen (left) with friend and MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong

Xu stressed that in his conversations with Chen, he was in good health before he disappeared.

Chen's friends worry about him, but also that he might be infected with the virus.

Are people looking for him? Will he be found? As some have said online, we cannot have another Li Wenliang...

Obsessed with "Xiangchun Freedom"

If you can afford to eat this vegetable, it's as expensive as a lobster

What can you eat to show your peers you've made it financially?

In China it was cherries, but now it's a vegetable called xiangchun 香椿, the young red leaves of the Chinese mahogany tree that are the in thing to munch on. The basil-tasting leaves have become so prized that in places like Beijing it costs 80 yuan to 100 yuan (US$12 to US$30) for a catty or 500 grams.

People have taken to social media to complain about the price of the vegetable that could cost as much as a lobster, 10 abalone or 39 crayfish.

Xiangchun leaves are from the Chinese mahogany tree

"You can buy this [vegetable] to show off your wealth," one person on Weibo commented.

Another said: "There's plenty of xiangchun trees at my grandmother's house. I feel like I've just found the path to riches."

The first spring leaves of the tree are traditionally used in Chinese cooking, especially in the north, where it is stirfried with eggs or tofu, or used as filling for dumplings.

Xiangchun per catty costs more than pork in Beijing, where it is priced at 8 yuan to 10 yuan. In places like Qingdao in Shandong province, Xiaogan in Hubei province and Xian in Shaanxi province, the vegetable costs 40 yuan per 500 grams.

However, if you can afford to buy and eat xiangchun, then you are considered to have "xiangchun freedom", similar to people who can afford to buy imported cherries to give as gifts. Before the Spring Festival this year, imported cherries were selling for 60 yuan per catty in Beijing.

Economist Yao Zhiyong is with the School of Management at Fudan University and says the wide use of the terms "xiangchun freedom" and "cherry freedom" showed a decline in real spending power.

Xiangchun are stirfried with egg or tofu, or in dumplings

"Many items have become more expensive, but people's salaries haven't gone up accordingly," Yao says. "In the meantime there are other expenses -- education, housing, healthcare -- that can't be ignored. That's why people are bemoaning their lack of 'cherry freedom' or 'xiangchun freedom'."

The Chinese have this cruel obsession of constantly comparing themselves to other people, either to psychologically feel like they have a leg up on their peers or to bemoan the reality that they are never going to win the rat race.

It's as if this competition is the only way they know how to relate to others which is unhealthy and scary. But the ironic thing is that people are willing to pay top dollar for a seasonal vegetable, and I'm all for a greener lifestyle!

Greed: How Much is Enough?

With corrupt Chinese officials, how much cash can one stash in one's home?

How much is enough to live on?

For corrupt Chinese officials, not matter how much they embezzle it's never enough.

Take disgraced former general Gu Junshan, who allegedly took more than 20 billion yuan in taxpayer money.

He was a former deputy logistics chief of the People's Liberation Army, who strangely built a pistol-shaped house in his hometown of Puyang, Henan province. He filled it with so many valuable items that it took four full loaded trucks to take them away when corruption investigators busted him last year.

The items included maotai or Chinese liquor produced exclusively for the military filled two trucks alone. Then there were also gold figurines, including one of Mao Zedong.

Gu also pocketed over 100 million yuan for selling a Shanghai military property worth 2.4 billion yuan.

So he just sold land owned by the PLA (really public property) and kept a cut to himself? Didn't anyone notice?

It all caught up with him last year when he was charged with bribery, embezzlement, misuse of state funds and abuse of power. His fate is not known.

Another official with ill-gotten gains is former National Energy Administration head Liu Tienan.

He and his family had access to 12 foreign passports, and Liu had five properties in Beijing, Qingdao (Shandong province), Taiyuan (Shanxi province), and also possessed five luxury watches and five artworks by renowned painters Qi Baishi and Fu Baoshi.

Liu was jailed for life last year by a Hebei court for taking bribes of more than 35 million yuan and abusing his power.

Then there was former energy official Wei Pengyuan, who stashed so much cash that graft inspectors broke four bill counting machines when trying to find out exactly how much money he had.

"Wei owned more than 10 properties worth over 100 million yuan... more than 230 million yuan in cash was found in his home," stated a  transcript of his case.

Last year 680 corrupt officials were caught by the Ministry of Public Security, and with Operation Fox Hunt 2015 launched yesterday, the government intends to catch even more suspects.

Reading about these three corrupt officials makes one wonder how easily they had access to whatever money and valuables they could get their hands on, and it was never enough. Or did they think it was a game to steal as much as they could before they got caught? Or did they do it because everyone else was doing it and felt they were missing out if they didn't do it too?

Someone should do research on these corrupt officials to find out the the psychology behind them, because no matter how many officials get caught, there are still many more behind them...

Picture of the Day: Fake Windows

Check out the windows on the side of the building

Ah, China... the land of the fake.

You can get everything fake, from designer handbags and clothing to furniture. It even extends to fake food, from soy sauce and black sea moss to even eggs. How you even make fake eggs and make a profit doing that is nuts.

And so we love this picture of an apartment building in Qingdao, Shandong province where windows have been painted on the side of the building to enhance the aesthetics of this low-cost accommodation than to fool potential buyers.

While some wondered if government officials were cutting corners to save money, others queried if it was the builders trying to cheat the authorities to increase profits.

But local officials said the painted windows were there to decoration and that they were painted where the elevator shafts are.

The windows are artistically painted, but aren't functional

However the latest now is that the authorities have asked the developers to rectify the painted windows as they have been "misunderstood" and caused "an adverse social effect".

Too bad. It was going to become the next tourist attraction in Qingdao...