The approach of Chinese New Year sees humanity's biggest annual migration of people. China expects to transport 1.97 bilion people over the next month. Which leaves one puzzle. China's population is 1.3 billion. Where have the 670 million extras come from?

Some other news brief-lets:

* Chinese are amongst the top 5 countries for consuming fast food. A disappointing 3% are not eating fast food, thus leaving China adrift of the Filipinos, Taiwanese and Malays.
* The People's Daily has a touching story of Anna, a student in Beijing who doesn't like being called laowai. The patronising pieces finishes with She now plans to find a job in Beijing, to settle down in the city and to become a real Beijinger. If someone can find the manual on how to become a "real Beijinger", please let me know.
* China's plan to slow its economy to prevent overheating in 2004 hasn't quite work out. It's a nice problem for the Government to have, but it seems their efforts to control the economy to date haven't borne much fruit. But any change in the yuan is a long time off.
* Almost 2,000 Chinese bankers are being investigated by the regulator. When state-owned financial institutions are exposed to scrutiny, it's no surprise there are plenty of skeletons in the closet.
* China and India are in a "strategic dialogue" this week. This event isn't getting much attention, even though it has profound consequences for the region.