Around China

Rice safety

As scandals of contaminated rice make people worry about the quality of the grain in their bowls, two Chinese media outlets, China.com.cn and Life Times, and Fangxin365.com, a company that provides third-party quality food lists, jointly launched a crowdfunding program to engage the public to identify quality rice products on supermarkets. The organizers are seeking small sums of money to raise a total of about 200,000 yuan ($32,280). Together with 100,000 yuan that Fangxin365.com is donating, the capital will be used to sample and test rice products on supermarket shelves in Beijing and later across the country through third-party institutes. A list of quality rice will be released later based on the survey, and cash donors will be rewarded with vouchers for food products. Learn more at the crowd-funding program website: Zhongchou.com/deal-show/id-126121.

Coming, going

Beijing's award-winning restaurant Brian McKenna @ The Courtyard will close for good in mid-June. McKenna, whose creative menus also brought star power to Blue Lobster and Room, says on his website that he no longer has the time needed for the restaurant due to a workload of consulting gigs, catering jobs and an upcoming gastro pub. (That project, Ron Gastrobar by chef Ron Blaauw, has an opening date of June 19.)

Ganges, the award-winning Indian restaurant chain in Beijing, has opened a new location in Xi'an.

Conrad Beijing Hotel will host guest chef Michael Rosenblum from the US embassy for a week of American cuisine at its Chapter restaurant, June 15-21.

Opera Bombana recently celebrated its second anniversary in Beijing