Himalayan Viagra fuels caterpillar fungus gold rush

​Overwhelmed by speculators trying to cash-in on a prized medicinal fungus known as Himalayan Viagra, two isolated Tibetan communities have managed to do at the local level what world leaders often fail to do on a global scale — implement a successful system for the sustainable harvest of a precious natural resource, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.​

Humans have been changing Chinese environment for 3,000 years

A widespread pattern of human-caused environmental degradation and related flood-mitigation efforts began changing the natural flow of China’s Yellow River nearly 3,000 years ago, setting the stage for massive floods that toppled the Western Han Dynasty, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Scat-sniffing dog helps save endangered primates

A scat-sniffing dog by the name of Pinkerton may be the best friend ever for a small, highly elusive group of endangered monkey and gibbon species now scrambling for survival in the vanishing forests of a remote Chinese mountain range. The high-energy Belgian Malinois is a critical player in efforts to preserve the black-crested gibbon and the Phayre’s leaf monkey.

Cabot-Zhang Lecture explores leadership in China

On Tuesday, Oct. 9, the inaugural Cabot Corporation – Xinsheng Zhang Lecture was held in Steinberg Auditorium. The Cabot Corporation-Xinsheng Zhang Lectureship Series was created in 2011 and offers the university community opportunities to learn about issues of global leadership, particularly in China.

Mid-autumn show celebrates unity​

The first Mid-Autumn Celebration Show, sponsored jointly by the Chinese Students & Scholars Association and the Taiwanese Graduate Students Association, was held Sunday, Sept. 30, in Graham Chapel. “Mid-Autumn Day” is a festival akin to American Thanksgiving and widely celebrated by people across the Taiwan Strait.

Growing unrest leads Chinese authorities to turn against formal law

In the late 20th century, Chinese authorities enacted sweeping legal reforms, but in recent years, officials have stepped back from these reforms in the face of increasing citizen protests and concerns about social stability. “Horrified by the chaos of the Maoist era, Chinese authorities rebuilt their legal system in the 1980s and 1990s,” says Carl Minzner, JD, leading expert on Chinese law and politics and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. Now Chinese Party and court authorities have begun to move away from the reform track of the last several decades, reasserting tighter control over the Chinese judiciary, restricting the activities of public interest lawyers, and resurrecting earlier mediation practices.
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