David Gray / Reuters
A police officer stands in front of three men holding letters, one of which (right) was addressed to the "Leaders of China", outside a building housing the United Nations World Food Programme office in central Beijing on May 18, 2012. The men were ushered into a police van shortly after.
Read more about China's haves and have-nots:
AFP - Getty Images
A villager carrying his child on his back watches the mudflow in the aftermath of a violent hailstorm and torrential rain that swept through Minxian, in northwestern China's Gansu province, on May 17, 2012.
Forty people were killed when a brief but violent hailstorm and torrential rain swept through a mountainous region of northwestern China on May 12, while 29,300 people were evacuated after rain and hail battered the county.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images
Farm workers pick tea leaves in the rain on Wednesday in Wuyishan, Fujian province, southeastern China. Wuyi Mountains is renowned for producing top quality tea. Brightly coloured plants grow on the rocky outcrops with strong aroma and pure taste, the most highly prized among them being Da Hong Pao 'Grand Red Robe' rock tea and Lapsang Souchong red tea.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images
A tea farmer carries tea leaves just picked by hand on Saturday.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images
Tea leaves being sold by farmers to a factory are weighed in the village of Tongmuguan.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images
Workers handle Jinjunmei, a quality red leaf tea at a tea factory in the village of Tongmuguan.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images Contributor
Liiang Junde, producer of top red tea Jinjunmei, roasts leaves to produce Lapsang Souchong red tea, at his tea factory in the village of Tongmuguan.
Kevin Zen / Getty Images
A woman brews tea in Wuyishan, Fujian province, southeastern China.
See more images of tea in PhotoBlog (or coffee, if you prefer).
Carlos Barria / Reuters
A view of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, right, and downtown Shanghai seen through the haze on May 15, 2012.
Aly Song / Reuters
A young man wearing a mask walks along the Bund in Shanghai on May 15, 2012.
The U.S. Consulate in Shanghai began posting hourly air quality readings for the city this week, with data showing "very unhealthy" conditions at times on Tuesday afternoon.
The consulate's classification reflects U.S. pollution standards but operates on a different scale than the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, which called conditions "slightly polluted".
Denied access to official data, Chinese citizens take their own pollution readings
A similar monitor on the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has long been seen as the most reliable source of information on air quality in the Chinese capital.
Bathed in smog: Beijing's pollution could cut 5 years off lifespan, expert says
Read more about the Shanghai monitor at the US Consulate's website and find the latest readings on their dedicated Twitter feed.
Reuters contributed to this report
AFP - Getty Images
Family members grieve during a funeral for the victims of the violent hailstorm and torrential rain that swept through Minxian in northwestern China's Gansu province. Pictures taken on May 13, 2012 and made available today.
Funerals are being held for forty people killed when a brief but violent hailstorm and torrential rain swept through a mountainous region of northwestern China, Agence France Presse reports.
AFP - Getty Images
Family members carry a coffin during the funeral procession. 29,300 people were evacuated after rain and hail battered the county.
AFP - Getty Images
Family members grieve during the funeral.
Wu Hong / EPA
A Chinese fisherwoman rides past old fishing boats on her motorcycle in Qingdao city, Shandong province, China, on May 14. Reports state that excessive fishing, ocean pollution and the high price of diesel have caused a sharp decline in fishery resources, nearly paralyzing the industry in East China.
Zhou Ke / Xinhua via Zuma Press
A car is stranded in a flooded tunnel after a heavy rainstorm hit China's Jiangxi Province on May 12, flooding roads in several cities.
The National Meteorological Center urged local authorities in south China to strengthen monitoring and guard against possible geological disasters such as landslides.
The national observatory uses a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
-- Reported by eastday.com
AFP - Getty Images
A young girl makes her way along a mud-covered street after a storm hit the village of Minxian, China. Forty people were killed when a brief but violent hailstorm and torrential rain swept through a mountainous region of northwest China.
GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains a graphic image that some viewers may find disturbing.
Reuters
Xian Xiyong cries after his mother, Li Jie'e, jumped off a building and died at a demolition site in Yangji village in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China on May 10, 2012.
AFP - Getty Images
Demolition workers look at a building being taken down in Yangji village on March 21, 2012, the same day that Li Jie'e's home was reportedly destroyed.
A Chinese woman leapt to her death on Thursday in apparent despair over the demolition of her home. Li Jie'e's house in Guangzhou had been knocked down on March 21, according to local media reports cited by Reuters.
Li had been a resident of Yangji, a former village that has been swallowed up by the rapid expansion of Guangzhou, China's third-largest city with a population of over 12 million. In March, PhotoBlog reported on the desperate protests of another Yangji woman whose home had been destroyed to make way for new developments.
Hundreds of miles away in the city of Zhaotong, meanwhile, another woman was reported to have blown herself up on Thursday in a protest over the demolition of her house. The blast at a local government office killed the woman and two others.
Disputes over land rights are the leading cause of surging unrest across China, according to a study cited by Bloomberg News.
Reuters
Xian, center, the husband of Li Jie'e, accompanied by his son Xiyong, right, pushes his wife's body on a transport stretcher as another relative, left, burns incense in Yangji village on May 10, 2012.
Darley Shen / Reuters
Zhang Wuyi sits in his double-seater submarine during a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.
Darley Shen / Reuters
Zhang Wuyi smokes a cigarette as he prepares his double-seater submarine for a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7.
Darley Shen / Reuters
Zhang Wuyi sits in his double-seater submarine during a test operation at an artificial pool near a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7.
Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images
Petitioners protesting about medical and land grab issues are detained by police outside the Chaoyang Hospital where blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is being held, in Beijing on May 8.
Alexander F. Yuan / AP
A petitioner, allegedly persecuted by local officials after reporting a corruption case to the central government, shows a scar, trying to attract public attention for his case, while he is grabbed by a policeman outside the hospital where blind activist Chen Guangcheng is staying for treatment in Beijing, China, Tuesday, May 8.
Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images
A petitioner amongst a group protesting about medical and land grab issues is detained by police outside the Chaoyang Hospital where blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is being held, in Beijing on May 8. Blind activist Chen Guangcheng said May 8 he has met government officials about getting a passport, raising hopes he may soon be able to leave China, but US embassy staff still cannot visit him in hospital.
Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images
Security guards talk outside the Chaoyang Hospital where blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is being held, in Beijing on May 8. Blind activist Chen Guangcheng said May 8 he has met government officials about getting a passport, raising hopes he may soon be able to leave China, but US embassy staff still cannot visit him in hospital.
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Laurent Fievet / AFP - Getty Images
A fan of US pop diva Lady Gaga poses before her concert in Hong Kong on May 2. The eccentric star, who has a record number of almost 22 million followers on Twitter, kicked off her world tour in Seoul on April 27 and will play three concerts in Hong Kong followed by Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
Jerome Favre / EPA
Joey, from Hong Kong, a fan of the US singer Lady Gaga, takes part in the 'Are U the DIVA' contest ahead of Lady Gaga's show in Hong Kong, China, on May 2. Lady Gaga is in Hong Kong for a series of four sold out shows at the AsiaWorld Arena. The singer's four tour dates in Hong Kong mark her second stop after kicking off in Seoul, Korea, on a 33 city world tour dubbed the 'Born This Way Ball' tour.
Jerome Favre / EPA
Fans of the US singer Lady Gaga, strike a pose as they arrive the venue of Lady Gaga's show in Hong Kong.
Laurent Fievet / AFP - Getty Images
Fans of US pop diva Lady Gaga strike a pose before her concert in Hong Kong on May 2. The eccentric star, who has a record number of almost 22 million followers on Twitter, kicked off her world tour in Seoul on April 27 and will play three concerts in Hong Kong followed by Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
Lady Gaga's first concert in this world tour had some people in South Korea praying for its cancellation.
Jordan Pouille / AFP - Getty Images
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is seen in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse at the Chaoyang hospital in Beijing on May 2, 2012.
Diego Azubel / EPA
A man holds a sign that reads 'Free Chen Guangcheng, Democracy, China', outside an entrance to Chaoyang Hospital on May 2, 2012.
Ng Han Guan / AP
Human rights activist Jiang Tianyong speaks to journalists outside Chaoyang Hospital after his failed attempt to see Chen Guangcheng on May 2, 2012.
NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services report — A blind Chinese legal activist at the center of a diplomatic tussle between Washington and Beijing left the U.S. Embassy Wednesday to receive medical care in Beijing and be reunited with his family.
China demanded an apology from Washington over Chen Guangcheng's stay at the U.S. Embassy,according to the government's news service Xinhua.
An unnamed U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that Chen had not asked for asylum in the U.S. and would be staying in China. Read the full story.
U.S. relations with China are being put to the test over the fate of Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese dissident who escaped from house arrest in China and is believed to be in the U.S. embassy or another safe site. NBC's Ian Williams reports.
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