Editor's Note:

Are you up on what the hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens are talking about? Take a moment and get the rundown of what's hot, what's trending, and what's drawing the most buzz on the Chinese blogosphere.

Dogs cry earthquake!

Residents living near the seismological bureau of Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, are disturbed every night around 11 pm, when the dogs kept in the bureau bark tirelessly, local news portal jxnews.com.cn reported Tuesday.

Despite multiple complaints from residents, the barking has not ceased. Officials from the bureau say the dogs are used to forecast earthquakes and that they have no idea how to deal with the disturbance issue.

The news went viral online as many netizens questioned the credibility of the scientists' claims. 

"The bureau has various equipment and well-trained experts as the public expects, so why do they rely on dogs to tell them when an earthquake is coming? If dogs can do the job the bureau is supposed to do, we can save the taxes and just raise the dogs ourselves," Qingfenglangyue126 said.

"There must be an earthquake at 11 every night in Nanchang, as the dogs bark like clockwork," Vvduola-xiaowanzi said. 

But others are skeptical of the skeptics.

"Before an earthquake occurs, some animals can sense that something is awry. So it is acceptable for the bureau to claim that they keep the dogs as a way to forecast an earthquake," Wucha said.

Some Web users hailed this attitude, helpfully suggesting that the bureau relocate the dogs used for forecasting earthquakes to a rural area with fewer neighbors.    

White House and tofu

We the People, the official White House petition website, has become a widely discussed topic among Chinese netizens, not only due to a high-profile petition regarding the paracylene (PX) project in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and the cold case of poison victim Zhu Ling, but also thanks to a petition that appeared Tuesday requesting that the US government make the official taste of tofu "sweet."

According to a report by the Nandu Daily on Wednesday, a similar appeal also appeared on Tuesday requesting that the Obama administration declare that tofu is salty.

Many netizens expressed shame that their compatriots were posting on issues as meaningless as the taste of tofu and pointed out that the site is meant for serious topics.

"Those spoofs may distract the public's attention from serious petitions, such as the case of Zhu Ling or the PX project. But I don't think they can," Little_kyo said. But others hold that the tofu issue is worthy of attention.

"People living in southern China prefer sweet tofu, but people living in the North may have only eaten salty tofu in their lives. It's a culture-shock issue within China, but it may attract international attention after these petitions," Maliaimaxiumaxiutu said.

Global Times