Yet another random tip.

[randomness]

In China, you should examine the sunscreen products carefully before you buy them. Available sunscreen often includes skin lightening additives. That's probably not what you want.

I noticed this while I was looking along the drugstore shelves for dry skin cream*. (Watsons, CapitaRetail Mall, Xizhimen.)

Another reported problem is that many local brands don't work, but that's a general problem with products in China.

*Also, you'll need plenty of moisturizer for Beijing. The city is dry, dry, dry: particularly in winter, but also early spring, late fall, etc.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

There is that, but there's the additional problem that there's no equivalent of Consumers Union there, and the government isn't particularly happy with the idea of popular organizing not under their control.

It's interesting in this context that Consumers Union is thinking about expanding into China. I don't know how that's going to go, given that they will be stepping on a lot of powerful toes if they do any serious investigating.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

It boggles my mind when I hear any of our fellow Americans talk about wanting to ... get rid of the FDA.

It's one of those cases where the regulatory power of the State works so well that we forget why we installed it in the first place -- Hey, I haven't seen any problems, why do we need all this bureaucracy?

Somewhat similar was the itch by techies for libertarian politics in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course, if you're life has run smoothly from suburbia to a good college and into a well-paying tech job, you're not going to see the value of police, welfare systems, etc. The tech downturn of 2001 raised their sympathy for the welfare state. (Remember the "Declaration of the Independce of Cyberspace"?)

Or the general view instilled by good colleges that people are well-meaning toward each other, because between growing up in good suburbs and a college life (where threatening people were diligently weeded out), people don't learn about the harsh parts of life.