This is why I value Roland's EastNorthWestSouth blog as so much better. Not only does he translate a lot of the most hot topics that are beeing discussed in China, but also provides valuable background information, comments and "reality checks".

Not everybody knows this and may end up endlessly reposting rumors as facts because, well, he found them on some "English" sites...

~ Stan

The Shanghai metro distributes a daily free magazine called Metro Express, which is read by every commuter on their daily ride to work (a couple of millions?). They have been extensively covering the accident and some days ago published the complete list of victims, including names and parts of their ID card number. This is how I found out one of the victims was an Italian woman, by the way.

From another post:

If you think this is "sudden", you have no idea about how China works. People have been able to complain about this kind of things for at least 20 years. The central government is supporting this as a way to keep the local government officials under pressure and let people vent. Unless you critizise the rule of the party or have separatist aims, you are pretty safe to complain about everything here.

~ Stan

Shanghaiist and especially Chinasmack tend to republish a lot of rumors without bothering to verify them.If you want to get some facts, better check Robert Soong's EastSouthWestNorth blog.

Such as this post: Rumors About The Wenzhou Train Crash: How Many Have Your Forwarded? (Permalink does not work, scroll down about half the page)

By the way, both Shanghaiist and Chinasmack can be reached from within China, while EastSouthWestNorth is blocked, guess what?

~ Stan