Rat Fink

Though they cater to a clientele that's officially communist, China's restaurateurs are canny practitioners of free-market competition. Price wars, negative advertising—virtually anything goes. But in the eastern Chinese city of Tangshan, capitalism has morphed into mass murder. Someone sprinkled rat poison on breakfast treats served at the Heshengyuan Soy Milk snack shop in Tangshan, killing at least 40 people and sickening 300 more. The alleged culprit, arrested by local police, is a rival whose eatery suffered because the Heshengyuan snack shop was more popular. Such culinary skulduggery isn't new: earlier this summer the owner of a rice-noodle shop in the southern province of Guangxi poisoned a competing shop's broth, causing gastric distress for 57 diners. Other restaurateurs routinely pay off health inspectors to close down rivals. All this has left many Tangshan residents wary of dining out. "From now on, I think I'll stay home and eat," says He Liangjun, a cobbler who frequented the Heshengyuan eatery. Only problem is, neither he nor his wife know how to cook. Says He: "I guess we'll be eating a lot of instant noodles."