I once wrote that the only thing stopping Beijing from being a great world city was a giant monster of its own. Could it be that humble Gansu province is "germinating" Beijing's future monster? Could a devasting "space chili" be the beast that rumbles down Chang'an Avenue? Perhaps so:

It is learnt from Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Department that Tianshui Lupeng Agricultural Science and Technology Co .LTD, Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology and Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly started to grow No. 4, 5 and 6 space peppers in 2001.

They selected good quality plants of Gansu bell peppers and Gannong thin peppers (thin peppers grown by Gansu Agricultural University) and sent them to the space by Shenzhou-3 spaceship. The plants were then returned to the earth after one-week traveling to the space for breeding.

Who knows what exposure to deadly, mutagenic cosmic rays will do to humble Gansu peppers. Look what they did to the Fantastic Four! I would keep a close eye on this so-called "Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology and Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology". A den of mad scientists if ever I saw one.

Still, one has to admit that being attacked by a giant, radioactive chili would be a fitting fate for a city where so many dried chilis have met their end at the bottom of a bowl of shuizhuyu.

Godzilla!

And that's what will happen to you if you eat one!