Spitting is a fundamental part of Chinese culture, reports the New York Times today. Something tells me this is the first time the term “dollop of phlegm” has ever appeared in the first paragraph of a Times article. (History in the making, folks!) The story focuses on how the Beijing regime now discourages spitting because of SARS. This is a job for the multiculturalists: Defending an age-old practice from Western notions of health and cleanliness.