• The Heat Is Off: Warm Afternoons Coming, But Erratic Pollution Over the Next Few Days

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  It's happening, it's finally happening! Spring is in the air. If you hadn't already, throw away those thermals (or stash them for next year), and roll up your sleeves! But still wear a coat, because mornings and evenings will be chilly until we really hit summer.

• Charity law aims for culture of giving

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  Chinese lawmakers approved the country's first charity law on Wednesday at the closing meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

• Illness doesn't keep holiday schedules

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  Each year I've spent in Beijing, I've been amazed that within days of Spring Festival the winter chill melts away into sunshine and warmth. Each year anew, a glorious spring bursts forth as if commanded by the lunar calendar.

• Baidu O2O app for food delivery is using AI, just like AlphaGo

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  Internet giant Baidu claims the company has made great strides in artificial intelligence and is applying it to the company's O2O food delivery service, tech.sina.com reported on Tuesday.

• Car-hailing companies' subsidies unfair competition, minister say

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  The minister of transport criticized car-hailing app operators on Monday for the subsidies they offer to users, describing the practice as unfair competition.

• Statistics show 'signs of stabilization'

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  January-to-February economic data released over the weekend do not seem to indicate a V-shaped recovery coming anytime soon but show slow stabilization, analysts said.

• Measles Season: Yet Again, a Vancouver Outbreak is Traced to Beijing

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  It's been 11 months since our last measles blog, so we'll take that as a small victory. But a warning about a possible Beijing-linked measles harks back to earlier, similar exposures to the disease over the last two years.

• Literary Lushes: China’s Ancient Poets and Writers Liked Their Drink

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  The pages of Chinese literature are soaked with alcohol. Even Confucius wasn’t immune. The persnickety sage might have been careful with his portion sizes for meat and rice, but according to the Analects, “It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself.” In fact, it can be hard to find a famous writer or philosopher in Chinese history who didn’t like a drink or two when putting brush to paper.

• NPA securitization program not linked to rising bad loans: PBOC

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  China's central bank said on Saturday that the non-performing asset (NPA) securitization program has nothing to do with the country's rising bad loan ratio, and is an institutional move aimed at developing a market for bad assets management in China.

• How to Get a Taxi in Shanghai

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  The subtitle for this article was going to be "why won't the taxi stop when the light is on and you're clearly waving your hand like there's a particularly stubborn bee on your finger."