EastSouthWestNorth has translated and posted "The Top 'Jokes' in China 2007 " originally posted on Tianya by a user named Laome2018. They're not really jokes, but...well, maybe it's better if ESWN explains, "These jokes are not funny at all; in fact, they are solemn and dismal. But these are extraordinary times in China. If you can't laugh at them, then life is really grim." Or, as another poster says, "If there is something that you don't understand, just remember that this is China and you will understand!"

The full list, with helpful links to the original stories, can be found over on EastSouthWestNorth, but here're some of the highlights:

#17. The tea has an 'infection'

Actors: Reporter, doctors

Story: A Hangzhou reporter used tea as his urine sample and asked 10 hospitals to analyze it. Six of the hospitals determined that he had an infection, and five of them prescribed medicine worth about 1,300 yuan in total. The Sanjia Hospital later determined that 90% of the tests on tea should be false positive and this supposedly showed that the problem was not with the hospitals. Ministry of Health spokesperson Mao Junan criticized the media for violating the professional code of conduct in journalism.

#10. "Do not wash that hand!"

Actor: Huang Jinlian, principal of the Special Education School in Sanming city, Fujian province

Story: "If you get the chance to shake the hand of the Central Government leader, please do not wash it. When you get back and shake hands with the students, it would be as if they were shaking the hand of the Central Government leader." On October 17, 2007, while attending the 17th Party Congress, principal Huang said that such was the request from his students.

#7. Greening by paint job

Actor: Fumin county, Kunming city, Yunnan province

Story: On February 13, 2007, the media reported that "Fumin county painted a barren hill with paint as a greening project." There was an abandoned stone quarry in Fumin county for which the locals have petitioned the relevant department to re-plant. The Forestry Department planted some pine trees but the results were undistinguished. In July 2006, a private entrepreneur in Fumin county filed a report with the Forestry Department and then painted the rocks in green.

Kunming Forestry Department cadre: "We only care about unauthorized tree-cutting within our monitored areas. We have no comment about the 'greening' incident."

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