EDlTOR'S lETTER

EDlTOR'S lETTER

The Sino Sea, Pistol Prohibition, Online Obsession, and DNA Dominance

Farewell and adieu to you fair Beijing ladies, farewell and adieu you ladies of 北京, for we've received orders to—ahem—sorry about that. We've been somewhat preoccupied of late with the sea. Indeed, so has China in general. China's newfound wealth and power puts the nation in an interesting position to give the planet a whole new heading in the wet parts of the world.

To start with, Xi Jinping's opaque announcement of a new maritime Silk Road has put all hands at the ready in coastal cities throughout the world in the hopes of resurrecting a 2,000-year-old lane of maritime economic traff i c to link Fuzhou to Europe. For now, the idea seems like nothing more than a propaganda pipedream, but big investments in China and throughout Southeast Asia mean that, given a chance, the maritime Silk Road could be a boon to coastal economies the world over, from Sri Lanka to Kenya. However, China's inf l uence on the world's oceans has not been wholly positive. In fact, China's endless hunger for the oceans' ecosystems is wreaking havoc on the environment; overf i shing is a major problem, a diff i culty China should be in the vanguard of fi xing. There is, also, an area where China is changing the oceans far below the surface, very far in fact. China's Jiaolong deep sea submersible, a marvel of engineering, is breaking records, able to reach over 99 percent of the planet's oceans—7,000 meters straight down and below the abyss itself (see page 30).

Also this issue, you can learn about China's internet addiction epidemic. Charlie Custer brings us “Internet Internment” (see page 38), where you can learn why China is at a particular risk for online obsession and what's being done about it. Some of the consequences of internet addiction have been startling and gruesome, but it may pale in comparison to some of the things Chinese parents are doing to cure their kids of the broadband monkey on their back. The cure, for some, may be worse than the disease.

You don't often see guns in China, and there's a good reason for that. Besides the obvious downside of everyone shooting one another, the authorities have their reasons for keeping fi rearms out of public hands. Nevertheless, a small but growing gun and hunting culture does exist in China—whether they are tycoon hunters bagging a polar bear or hobbyists with their BB guns. And, while the punishment is severe for owning an illegal fi rearm, some people just can't resist the pull of the trigger. Find out more in “Trigger Taboo” (see page 50).

We also found room in this issue for a bit of scientif i c navel-gazing. It might surprise you to know that China is on the frontline of changing the world of genomics. Indeed, the Middle Kingdom doesn't fi nd itself lumbered with the annoying ethical questions found in many genomics players in the West. “China's Gene Dream” (see page 44) looks at how China has shot to the forefront of genomics and what it means for the rest of the fi eld.

If you're tired of all this serious hogwash, head on over to Street Talk (see page 11) to pinpoint what kind of male undesirable you are, or, if you're a woman fed up with male chauvinistic rubbish, check out Made in China (see page 26) for a look at the history of the hated virgin complex. If you're feeling a bit lonely, head on over to Group Think (see page 70), where we discuss the leftover men and women of China. However, if you're in the mood for a bit more culture, check out our Dragon's Digest (see page 12) section for a superb existential fi ction about the one-child policy, a wise monkey trainer, and a terrifying tiger. You can fi nd some very feminine high art in our Gallery (see page 60) section, some historic cinema in Zoetrope (see page 80), and some sci-f i literature from China's tumultuous past in Bookmark (see page 86)—all that and more inside.

From all of us here at TWOC, we hope you landlubbers have had a fantastic summer.

Managing Editor

Tyler Roney