resumption: mao goes under the hammer

A painting of Chairman Mao, which served as a model for portraits hung above Beijing's Tian'anmen Rostrum in the 1950s and 1960s, is scheduled to be auctioned in June, says the China Daily. The painting, owned by a Chinese American, is expected to fetch 1-1.2 million yuan [US$120,000-150,000]. But then, this is the age of extravagant expenditure: a woman in Zhejiang Province pays 1,200 yuan [US$150] for a bus ride to Beijing. And a train ticket to Tibet costs 8,000 yuan [US$1,000] a day for a singalong.

In espionage news, China angrily denies spying on the US, but the Americans still won't use Chinese computers, thank you very much.

Kofi Annan is on his way to meet President Hu, and he is already making the right noises. But what will happen to Angela Merkel?

Meanwhile, beautiful women may be keeping this man alive, but they sure are ruining the bodies of all the other women. And a particularly vain university student poses nude for 800 yuan [US$100].

In A-bian Watch: Chen's son-in-law resigns amid scandal, as the mainland cracks down on fruit fraud.

In society news, China records more divorces and less marriages, as student couples divorce on campus.

And the US$28 billion Three Gorges Dam is ready: "China's symbol, and source, of power," says the Washington Post.

Finally, in 1966, it was the Cultural Revolution; in 2006, it is the Culture Fair!