Testosterone levels appear to be running high these days in some of the mainland's key state-run news organs. Known primarily for its turgid propaganda and terse official decrees, the Xinhua website has decided to flesh out issues of late. Indeed, flesh, flesh and more flesh appears to be a key editorial focus. President Hu Jintao still gets a look in, of course. Last week he proudly declared once again that 'the country's economic and social development should be in line with the scientific concept of development'. But, while visitors are letting this wisdom sink in, they are also invited to ponder life's other big questions, such as: Who is the most beautiful woman in France - Isabelle Adjani or Sophie Marceau? And while the site offers one picture of the smiling president, there are dozens of Isabelle and Sophie in an array of seductive poses, to help us make this difficult decision. Always ready to cast a critical eye, they also recently ran a host of close-up photos to compare and contrast the legs of Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry and Cameron Diaz, among others. A similar photo essay focused on an impressive collection of lithe backs. The postings are not always so thought-provoking, mind you. A headline entitled: 'Supermodel goes on vacation', for instance, opened the door to a gallery of images of the said woman wearing very little. And, more often than not, there is a lingerie fashion show or body-painting exhibition happening somewhere in the world that warrants pride of place on the homepage. The editors appear to have a keen eye for irony, too. Although many of the items mentioned above were sandwiched in between the standard propaganda rants - which declare Beijing is winning the war against pirating and counterfeiting - most of the photographs appear to be scanned in from foreign magazines or calendars, or copied from other websites. In fact, Xinhau is building a new reputation for itself. Jeremy Goldkorn, who runs danwei.org, a site that looks at media and advertising developments on the mainland, refers to Xinhua as 'Sinhua - the state-run lads' mag'. This government mouthpiece is attempting to blow the men's magazines out of the market, he said, only half-jokingly. Not to be outdone, CCTV9, the state's English-language channel, has adopted the habit of ending news bulletins with the presenter grinning and saying: 'So much for the news. Now we bring you models from...' and the screen is adorned with gorgeous, pouting women from somewhere around the world. No story, no information, just plenty of women. Another recent Xinhua article - one that does not exactly bear all the hallmarks of the State Council's propaganda department - was a report on 'methods of measuring penis length'. The story informed readers that it is 'an important part of the male reproductive organ, and is very important to men'. So far, there appear to have been few complaints voiced about the shifting editorial direction. It's more a case of amusement tinged with confusion: Could Hugh Hefner have taken over editorial duties at the government organ? Given that the Chinese-language version is not nearly as racy as the English service, perhaps editors have concluded this is the only way to grab foreigners' attention. A clue might be found in the section of the English-language homepage, which teaches a new Chinese slang word every few weeks. The latest one that Xinhua editors want their foreign readers to learn is hua which, they inform us, is the colloquial term for 'randy', or 'lecherous'. That hua is not the same as the one in Xinhua - for now, at least. Peter Goff is a Beijing-based journalist