West meets East: Shanghai Daily's Eastday.com reports that the city's first foreign comics store will open later this month. Called OK Comic, the store will carry between 8,000 and 10,000 titles, primarily American comics, and Japanese manga that have been translated into English:

"It's an open secret that most foreign comics translated into Chinese have copyright infringement problems. Many small privately owned shops are selling counterfeits. Only a few shops have originals, but they are reserved only for customers to read on the premises.

"Chen Weiye, vice president of Shanghai Book Traders, says their books are purchased directly from foreign book agencies such as TOKYOPOP Inc - a leading North American publisher of manga. He promises a wide variety of genres and manga storylines that enables readers to 'nibble on some of the finer delicacies from a gourmet selection.'"