 WeChat is the center of the Chinese internet — powering everything from messaging to payments — and the main portal where China’s news outlets and bloggers publish their work. Let’s talk about sex Parents and grandparents in China are turning to night school — to learn about sex. The sex education courses aren’t just about reproductive anatomy: They also help adults recognize signs that a child is being sexually abused. In China, where many consider sex a taboo subject, teens don’t have much access to sex education. And even when they do, Sanlian Lifeweek magazine wrote, they don’t benefit if the lessons they learn are “rejected by parents when they return home.” One reason the night classes are for adults only is because “in sex education, parents are more important than children,” an organizer of the workshops told Sanlian: They can help parents “break through their psychological defenses and face this serious topic.” Angry Apple Chinese social media exploded this week when rumors began circulating that WeChat would be bumped off the App Store over the commission Apple levies on transactions made through the store and in-app payments. WeChat has been circumventing that payment by allowing links to external payment systems, angering Apple. An App Store ban is unlikely, according to the Yilan Business blog, but because the commission Apple charges in China is higher than elsewhere, some apps are more expensive on iPhones compared to other devices — and that’s driving some Chinese consumers away. Apple no longer ranks in the top five companies for high-end smartphone sales in China. Nonetheless, China is still Apple’s third-largest market, and any probe of its pricing policy is unlikely since Beijing knows that “the lives of hundreds of millions of people will be affected” if it sanctions Apple, Yilan Business wrote. Back to reality Hostels in China are housing more young unemployed people and fewer tourists, according to the Truman Story cultural blog. With some beds costing less than $3 per night, the hostels offer temporary refuge as the visitors — many of whom were laid off from big corporations amid China’s economic downturn — search for new jobs. Hostels have also turned into support groups for these job seekers: Guests share tips, advice, and leads, and comfort one another during moments of homesickness. Their situation is similar to China’s “Sanhe Gods,” a moniker for millions of young Chinese migrant workers who unsuccessfully flock to big cities for better opportunities. But unlike the migrant workers who have “given up hope,” the hostel communities “still have expectations for a successful future,” the blog wrote. | 
