As we noted earlier this week, Baimiao village in Sichuan has been experimenting with "naked government," and that doesn't mean what you might think it does. What it does mean is that all government expenses have been made available online for the public to scrutinize. ChinaHush has some details (65 percent spent on booze and dinners!) and the normally snarky Chinahearsay welcomes the news.

It seems we can't go a week without a ChinaSMACK post. This week, it's a strange one about a naked man attempting to lift up a taxi ... . Why? After finding out the reason, you probably won't be any the wiser.

Few people seem to know much about the upcoming Shanghai Expo, and even fewer have a strong opinion about it. So if you want to decide what to make of it all, Danwei has commissioned a for and against: a rare opportunity to interact with cultures from around the world, or the biggest pile of banknotes ever to have gone up in flames? And to make a more informed (and aesthetically aware) decision, check out the pictures of expo pavilions gathered together at Lost Laowai.

If you've ever eaten Sichuan hotpot or some street food from a grimy stand, you've probably wondered how they afford all that oil, and how many times that oil has been used. We don't want to put you off eating out, but this ChinaHush story will definitely put you off your food: Apparently, to keep costs down, restaurants have been buying "drainage oil." Yes, that's oil that's been scooped up from a drain. For strong stomachs only. Bon appétit!

I have been seeking recipes for tasty but healthy cookies. The ideal cookies would be made with veggie oil. Also, since I make my own applesauce and yogurt, it takes some planning and time. They might not be read when I have a "baking fever" attack. I recently found a new blog and immediately became a fan of its author, Heidi, who is like me, is an advocate of healthy eating and prefers whole-grain food--and she's also vegetarian. Her original recipe contains coconut oil, which is a bit expensive to order here, so I've substituted it with coconut cream powder and veggie oil. And I also accidentally forgot the ginger when I baked it, so it doesn't taste exactly the same, but I assure you that it already tastes good! I believe if follow her original recipe it would taste even better!

Yields: 27 cookies

Ingredients
1/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup bread flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup oatmeal
15g (1 small pack) coconut cream powder
2/3 cup walnuts
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup honey
1/2 canola oil
1 tsp ginger powder

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 176 degrees.
2. In large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Fold in walnuts and carrot shreds.
3. In a separate container, stir together the honey, oil and ginger powder. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Place balls of dough by the tablespoonful onto a baking sheet.
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Sichuanese native and Chengdu resident Annie blogs about her adventures in cooking vegetarian meals, adapting recipes from around the world. Recently she has translated some of her favorite posts into English for GoChengdoo readers to enjoy. The original, Chinese-language version of this post can be viewed here. Photo by Annie Chen.

Act fast, and you can win a pair of all-day passes to the Bookworm International Literary Festival for this coming Sunday. The afternoon kicks off at 3 p.m. with two documentary screenings, the feature-length Summer Pasture and the 10-minute Kham Filmmaking Training, presented by Tibetan cultural-preservation organization Rabsal. Both explore the impacts of development on life in Tibet.

Yang Erche Namu (7:30 p.m.), who left her matriarchal Mosuo roots as a young woman to become a singer, socialite, celebrity talk-show host and household name in China known best for being the self-described "biggest bitch in China," her collection of outrageous hats, and her rejected marriage proposal to French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sound intriguing? All you have to do is add three reviews to the Gochengdoo.com listings, and be the first person to send us an email within 24 hours of the appearance of this post.

The Details
Post reviews of three separate venues in the listings section of GoChengdoo. Then send an e-mail to chengdoo.events [at] gmail [dot] com with your name, registered GoChengdoo username, and mobile number, no later than 9 a.m. Saturday, March 20.

The winner will be contacted via email and SMS by Saturday evening with instructions on how to claim the prize.

《我是王菲》 -- I Am Wang Fei

A serious outbreak of lead poisoning in the four villages surrounding the Zhongyi Alloy Co. plant in Longchang County, Sichuan, has induced officials to order the plant to close. So far, 94 out of the almost 1,000 residents who were tested have confirmed cases of lead poisoning; 88 of these are children.

The local government of Baimiao Township, Sichuan, purchased a pad of writing paper for RMB1.5 this year. How government officials managed to find such a bargain is a mystery, though locals and foreigners alike are beginning to hunt for similar deals in the vicinity. Actually, the real news is that this purchase was made public, along with every other purchase that the Baimiao Township government made in the recent past. This disclosure, made ostensibly to quell fears of government corruption, makes the small township the first government in China ever to attempt complete fiscal transparency.

《将我喜欢的东西组合》 -- A Collection of the Things I Like

An international art exhibition focusing on female artists and "a feminine perspective and approach" opened last week in Luodai, just outside of Chengdu. The show, called "Her Vision: 2010 International Exhibition of Contemporary Cutting-Edge Female Artists" ("她视界"2010年国际当代新锐女艺术家展览) was timed to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8 and features the work of 80 artists--using many different media--in a space of about 1,500 square meters. The exhibition is free to view and will run through April 7.

The ongoing drought in southwest China has continued unabated as recent cloud seeding attempts have largely failed. This drought has been cited in some places as the worst of the past 100 years, although Sichuan appears to be less affected than Yunnan or Guizhou. While AFP simply calls it a "once-in-a-century drought," an Asiaone article places the dry spell in the context of global climate change.

Sinopec is planning to build a major gas pipeline between Sichuan and Guangdong, it announced last Wednesday.

Compiled by Isaac Myers. Images from Sichuan Online

GoChengdoo's own DJ Joe reunites with live vocalist MC Douglas/Li Daiguo for one last dance before the latter leaves Chengdu.

The event takes place this Friday at 10 p.m. at the Hemp House. Tickets are RMB20 per person, but one lucky GoChengdoo reader and a friend can get in for free! NOTE: We erroneously wrote that the event would take place on Saturday, but it is actually Friday. Apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused.

German DJ Joe has been instrumental in vitalizing Chengdu's underground electronic-music scene over the past six years. His mixes of dub, dubstep, and drum n bass always get the crowd moving, and with the immensely talented MC Douglas/Li Daiguo on the mic layering words and sounds over the heavy beats, party-goers are in for a special, last-of-its-kind treat.

How to Win
1. Register for GoChengdoo if you haven't already done so.
2. Send your name, mobile number, and registered GoChengdoo username to us no later than midnight on Thursday, March 18.
3. That's it! The winner will be announced and contacted via e-mail and SMS during the day on Friday.

Last Dance with DJ Joe and MC Douglas. Friday, March 19, 10 p.m. at Hemp House.

Our friends at Hands On Chengdu recently completed a repurposed shipping container project in the outskirts of Chongzhou City. The project, dubbed "Community Flowers," brought eight shipping containers to Xiezi Village in Jiguan Shan Town, and set them up to be used as multipurpose community spaces.

A shipping container is reimagined as a community library. Photo courtesy Hands On Chengdu.

Arranged in a flower-petal layout, each container is assigned a specific use: library, healthcare center, entertainment room (equipped with computers and mini movie theater) and so forth.

Shipping containers are considered stable and safe structures that have the added benefits of being pre-constructed and easy to install. Additionally, they are easily moved and rearranged so that if the community's needs change, the structure can accomodate those changes.

The project took about a year-and-a-half to plan, raise sponsorships, and implement. Volunteers will continue to visit the site to provide further training and counseling to the villagers.

Hands On Chengdu is a branch of the Shanghai-based Hands On Network. The former was formed shortly after the May 12, 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

A girl in Chengdu sparked a "mass incident" this week when she appealed for a boyfriend on a campus message board at the University of Electronic Science and Technology. Potential suitors were to call out her name outside her apartment, but it seems she got more than she bargained for when over 1,000 guys turned up below her window; EastSouthWestNorth provides the details.

We live in a city partly known for its big-name and bigger-selling artists. Don't know where to find said creativity? eCitiesChina has a post this week about the North Village Art District in suburban Xindu.

Chengdu residents will probably feel a bit deprived upon learning that Peter Hessler has "postponed" his scheduled appearances at this year's China-based literary festivals, including the Chengdu Bookworm's Literary Festival. If this at all can make up for it, he writes a long post about how snapping away with a digital camera has aided his writing, with examples from his new book, Country Driving.

It was Lei Feng day last week, and it seems like the man himself came back to life to talk about how to do good deeds in the 21st century. Danwei translates the micro-blog parodies. (Requires proxy.)

Finally, back to EastSouthWestNorth, which transcribes an interview with artist Ou Zhihang, a Guangzhou TV host who has won a prize at the World Press Photo (WPP) competition for his photography series depicting himself doing naked push-ups around China. The artist discloses how he manages to avoid arrest while photographing himself in front of Chinese landmarks and the locations of major social events as well as his motivations for his nude photography.

On the weekend most people sleep in and wake up to find it's 10 a.m. already, too early for lunch and too late for breakfast. I guess it's best to have a brunch, or a big breakfast. On weekdays when I have to work, I normally don't take time to make pancakes, because one takes about 5 mins to make, and I have to do at least 4 at once. If you add the preparation and dish-washing time, it's awfully time-consuming. But if you have time on the weekend, you can slow down and fry your pancakes, one by one.

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup bread flour
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup soy milk
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp sunflower seeds
1 Tbsp black sesame
some canola oil

Directions:
1. Mix the mashed banana and wheat germ. Add the flour and soy milk together and mix into a batter. Add the spice and seeds.
2. Heat the pan with canola oil. Add the batter 1/4 cup at a time, and tilt the pan to make the batter coat it evenly. Fry at medium heat, 2 to 3 mins, flip, and continue cooking until done.

Sichuanese native and Chengdu resident Annie blogs about her adventures in cooking vegetarian meals, adapting recipes from around the world. Recently she has translated some of her favorite posts into English for GoChengdoo readers to enjoy. The original, Chinese-language version of this post can be viewed here. Photo by Annie Chen.