19th of February 2010 (Weekend Edition)
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
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China Daily
The Lantern Festival
17th February 2011
Ancient text marks modern Lantern Festival
Children wearing hanfu, a traditional robe from the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), read Dizigui (an ancient book of Confucius teaching proper behavior) at a Confucius Temple in Hangzhou, Feb 15, 2011. The temple held a ceremony where 80 youths and grown-ups dressed in hanfu and read Chinese classic texts ahead of the Lantern Festival, which falls on Thursday, Jan 15 on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Celebrations ahead of Lantern Festival in China
A child views rabbit-shaped lanterns at Baibuting Community in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, Feb. 16, 2011, one day prior to the Chinese Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar.
CCTV Chinese celebrate traditional Lantern Festival VIDEO
A festive vibe is building around China as the Lantern Festival falls on Thursday. Attending lantern shows, solving riddles, and making lanterns, people are making the most of the last days of the Spring Festival.
In Jiangyin city of Jiangsu Province, a local park has been decorated with one thousand lanterns. Each lantern has a riddle attached.
Solving riddles is a long-standing tradition with the Lantern Festival. In the Song Dynasty, people wrote riddles onto lanterns for visitors to guess for fun. These were later handed down as a kind of brain teaser enjoyed by people from all walks of society.
See Kaixin's - The Lantern Festival
Bank reserve requirements raised
BEIJING - Banks' required reserves were raised by 50 basis points on Friday and further interest rate rises to tackle inflation were not ruled out by Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China.
The move by the central bank was the eighth hike since the beginning of 2010 to control inflation in the world's second-largest economy.
China boosts efforts to tackle trade surplus
BEIJING - China will increase efforts to expand imports this year to help balance trade, and to maintain the surplus-deficit ratio at below 3 percent of GDP on the nation's current account, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.
The General Administration of Customs said the trade surplus in January narrowed by 53.5 percent to $6.46 billion, with imports growing faster than exports.
Yao Jian, a ministry spokesman, said the government will take measures to further balance trade. "Promoting imports will be an important policy this year, and more and more people will realize the significance of imports in spurring economic growth and transforming the economic structure," he said.
See Kaixin's - ECONOMIC CHINA
Property prices rise in cities surveyed
Market likely to slow down once new measures take hold, analysts say
BEIJING - The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said 68 out of 70 tracked cities reported higher prices for new homes in January from a year earlier but the market is likely to slow down, analysts said.
Ten out of the 70 surveyed cities saw prices rise by more than 10 percent, the NBS said on its website on Friday.
While the momentum for rising prices in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai slowed, that was not the case for smaller and inland cities.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
China to further ease cost of medical services
BEIJING - In the next five years, China will further expand the coverage of its basic medical insurance system and ease the cost of medical services, Health Minister Chen Zhu said Friday.
Chen made the remarks while addressing a meeting for the reform of the health care system.
The medical expenditure that shouldered by individuals had been cut to 38.2 percent of China's annual overall spending on medical services in 2009, down from 60 percent in 2001, thanks to increasing government funding support for the measure, said Chen.
'Family ties out of the courtroom'
BEIJING - Judges who have a spouse or offspring working as a lawyer in the same judicial area as theirs must declare a conflict of interest and one of them must get out of town under a new regulation issued by the top court.
The regulation on "recusal" - the technical word for such judicial conflicts of interest - took effect on Feb 10.
Project to tackle heavy-metal pollution
BEIJING - A long-awaited project to tackle heavy-metal pollution has been approved by the State Council as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).
The national blueprint for 2015 has set an emission-reduction target for five heavy metals, in key polluted areas, by 15 percent from 2007 levels, Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian, told a televised conference on Friday.
The metals are lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium and arsenic.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
Apple Inc admits fault in scandal
SHANGHAI - While Apple is enjoying hot worldwide sales of its fashion electronics, its health and environmental responsibilities have come under fire in China.
Poisoned workers at one of Apple's supplier factories on the Chinese mainland have demanded a formal written apology from the Mac maker despite its recent acknowledgment of violations in its supply base. The workers also said that some of them have been asked to leave their jobs.
Poisoned workers at one of Apple's supplier factories said the acknowledgment meant nothing to victims and their rights continued to be under threat.
Senior executive confident of grain supply
GUANGZHOU - Chinese leading grain, cooking oil and food enterprise COFCO on Thursday tried to ease public concerns over inflation, saying China is able to stabilize grain prices this year thanks to "substantial reserves."
The message by Ning Gaoning, chairman of COFCO, came after soaring food prices drove up China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, by 4.9 percent year on year in January.
Ning spoke to Xinhua Thursday on the sidelines of the first APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Business Advisory Council (ABAC) 2011 meeting, which started Tuesday and ended Thursday in Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong in south China.
"Even if the total grain output drops a little in China this year, it won't cause any catastrophic results," said Ning.
CCTV
CCTV Investment environment in US VIDEO
For more insight to this developing story, joining us now on the line is Professor Liu Baocheng from the University of International Business and Economics.
Q1. Professor Liu, Huawei Technologies is holding out for a turn in its favor to enter the US market... but is that realistic given the protectionism there?
Q2. Huawei is in focus now, but it's just the latest example of Chinese companies running into snags when trying to enter the US market. What does Huawei say about the investment environment in the US?
CCTV Reporting from Tibet: Latest on Tibet blizzard VIDEO
For more on Tibet's snowstorm, we're joined on the phone by Tsi Yang, a reporter from Xizang television station in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
CCTV Studio discussion: How to prevent pollution cases VIDEO?
For more analysis into this issue, we are joined in our studio by Ma Jun, Director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.
1. How well do you think Apple have handled this case? Do you think more needs to be done to prevent such accidents in the future?
CCTV Interview: How to meet stiff demand for housing VIDEO
For more on Beijing's new measures to rein in the city's skyrocketing housing prices, we are joined on the line by Professor Xiao Geng, from the Columbia Global Center in Beijing. Hello, Professor Xiao.
Q1. The new rules limit the purchase by non-Beijingers who need a house for living in as well as those buying for investment reasons. How will this affect the stiff demand for housing?
CCTV Major Chinese cities implement property purchase limits VIDEO
Under the new measures issued by the central Government, provincial capitals and other major cities with skyrocketing housing prices must institute purchase limits to rein in the property market.
Qingdao, Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing are the first major cities to implement the policy.
Registered residents in these four cities are prohibited from buying a third home and non-registered residents will not be allowed to buy a second. But details differ in these cities. The purchase limits in Chengdu only apply to homes within the downtown area.
In Shanghai, residents without the city's residency certificate can only purchase a home after submitting proof of a year of paid taxes. But in Beijing, this policy has been extended to five years.
CCTV Drought affects tea production in Shandong VIDEO
A severe drought is hampering tea farmers in east China's Shandong Province. CCTV reporter Shen Le went down to a major tea production base in the region to find out more about how the tea growers there are coping with the dry spell.
CCTV Phone interview: Primary contributor to inflation VIDEO
For more insight on China's January CPI figures, we're joined on the line by Tang Min, executive chief at social entrepreneur organization, You Change Foundation.
CCTV Actions speak louder: Building irrigation facilities out of own pocket VIDEO
East China's Shandong province is bracing itself for its worst drought in a century. A local village head is building irrigation facilities out of his own pocket to help people cope with the dry spell. Our reporter, Shen Le, went to find more about his motives and deeds.
Building dams on the river bed. When I meet him at Lijiahu village, Han Bangtai is supervising an irrigation project. He left the village when he was young and built up a small fortune running a construction company. In 2007, he returned and became the village chief.
Han tells me the new project will catch more water for irragation purposes.
CCTV Beijing auto market drops 60% in Jan VIDEO
Chinese car sales in January were solid overall, but there was a dramatic drop in Beijing, down 60 percent compared with the same period last year.
The drop is likely a result of Beijing's license plate lottery, that only allows a certain number of car buyers to register their cars. But experts say overall, the policy will only have a limited impact. Around half a million cars are sold in the capital every year. But last year that figure almost doubled due to preferential policies.
CCTV Japan confirms China as 2nd largest economy VIDEO
Japan has confirmed that China's economy surpassed its own as the world's second largest economy in 2010. It also says a late-year downturn was its first quarterly contraction in more than a year.
CCTV Cross over: How is water supplies affected by drought? VIDEO
Shandong province is among the regions suffering the most from the severe drought. Our reporter Shen Le has just arrived in Gaoxing county, near Rizhao city, to follow the latest developments there.
Q1. Could you brief us on the situation there? What impact is the drought having on water supplies for residents and livestock?
Q2. Is there enough water for agricultural irrigation? What measures have the local authorities taken to ensure the water supply for crops?
CCTV Fighting drought at village level VIDEO
Severe drought is affecting agricultural production in East China's Shandong province. Our reporter Shen Le went down to a parched village near Rizhao city to find out more about how people there are coping with the dry spell.
Growing wheat is the main livelihood for people living in Qianshanqian village.
Li Qiyun is a local farmer, he has come to the field to examine his wheat.
He tells me the drought is unprecedented.
China plans to dig over 1,000 wells to ease drought
China plans to dig more than a thousand wells in 8 major wheat-growing provinces. The Ministry of Land and Resources said the move was in response to the ongoing drought threatening the country's grain harvest.
CCTV Taipei Lantern Festival gets underway VIDEO
The Taipei Lantern Festival has kicked off with rabbit-themed beacons decorating the city, in celebration of the Lunar New Year. Crowds were hopping on the first day, with technology adding new twists to the showcase on Taiwan Island.
Hundreds of people braved the drizzle, to view the opening ceremony of the Taipei Lantern Festival.
CCTV Coastal firms upgrade manufacturing to cope with shortage of workers VIDEO
China's vast number of migrant workers - as many as 200 million - have begun heading back to the factories that line the country's east coast following the annual Spring Festival. But this year the shortage of workers has become even more acute as many of them are staying near their homes to seek job opportunities. As our reporter Guan Xin finds out, enterprises in coastal manufacturing cities are trying to upgrade their manufacturing to become less-labor intensive to cope with the shortage of workers.
Migrant workers, once largely ignored as merely the backs creating Chinese cities' ever expanding prosperity, are now being fought for by labor-hungry enterprises.
CCTV Phone interview: Future for Freddiemac & Fanniemae VIDEO
For more analysis on the matter, we are joined on the phone by Professor Xiang Songzuo, deputy director of the International Monetary Research Institution at Renmin University.
CCTV Beijing embraces second Snowfall VIDEO
Beijing's record period without snow is well and truly over. After clouds were seeded by related departments fresh snowfall has been seen across the Chinese capital for the second time in a week, and is getting increasingly heavier.
CCTV Public libraries open free of charge VIDEO
Public libraries in Shanghai have taken the initiative to open free of charge to the city's readers. Local authorities are also working to accelerate the program, and ensure that residents can enjoy all available services on a complimentary basis in the near future.
Global Times
The UK taught the world how to produce in the 19th century, the US showed the world how to consume in the 20th century, and China needs to demonstrate how to develop in a sustainable way in the 21st century.
The Internet belongs to all, not just the US
On February 15, the US government announced that it would increase its research into Internet penetration tools, in order to exert pressure on "authoritarian states," including China. Driven by the United States, ideological attacks reminiscent of the Cold War have appeared on the Internet.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered an impassioned speech, saying that the US aims to promote "absolute freedom" of the Internet information flow and that whoever prevents it is "antidemocratic."
The US has forgotten that in 1992 when China first applied for access to the Internet, it was rejected for fear that socialist China would gain information about the West. The selfishness of the US has not changed in adopting this strategy.
The US attempts to control the Internet's direction, constantly committed to transforming the rapid development of Internet technology into a shaping tool for other countries.
It is indisputable that the freedom of information flow in China and other non-Western countries is not as good as that in the US and Europe, but this has changed bit by bit over the past 30 years. China is no longer a country shrouded by the information iron curtain. Increasing freedom to information is a goal for Chinese society.
However, China is clearly unable to remove all the "firewalls" at the moment. All countries consider national security above all.
The US Patriot Act allows the government to monitor citizens' online communications, including their browsing history. The grandstanding of the US about information freedom is fundamentally insincere.
The unfriendliness of the US government in the information field will force China to adopt temporary response measures, which may cause each side to develop the Internet separately. For example, Americans are using Twitter, while Chinese favor micro-blogs. The distance between the two sides is gradually being widened.
At least in the beginning, the US will remain superior but this is not immutable. China is under rapid development, and its number of Internet users has greatly exceeded the entire population of the United States.
The spread of online information in Chinese is also expanding. Although English-language information is still dominant in the world, it cannot dominate the lives of Chinese people today and may not always be able to dominate the future of mankind.
In the future, with the increasing tolerance of information for Chinese society and gradual introspection of the West, the integration of the two sides may begin anew, based on mutual respect and equal access.
Some scholars have said that, when the United States tries to promote soft power, it is when hard power alone has failed. In fact, the power of the Internet is not as large as Hillary Clinton images. It was just the last straw for the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.
China may not achieve political stability only by monitoring the Internet, and the US cannot play tricks on the Internet and expect to turn China into another Middle East.
Great Firewall father speaks out 
The father of the Great Firewall of China (GFW) has signed up to six virtual private networks (VPNs) that he uses to access some of the websites he had originally helped block.
"I have six VPNs on my home computer," says Fang Binxing, 50, president of the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "But I only try them to test which side wins: the GFW or the VPN.
"I'm not interested in reading messy information like some of that anti-government stuff."
There's a popular joke circulating the Chinese mainland about Mark Zuckerberg's surprise visit to Beijing around Christmas last year: The frustrated Facebook president is said to have pleaded with local Chinese entrepreneurs to show him how to beat the Great Firewall.
"Ever since I landed here in China I can't log onto my Facebook account!" he tells them.
The joke might not be real, but the Great Firewall of China is very much alive, blocking the world's most popular websites including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and WikiLeaks.
As to the future of his creation, that's not up to him, Fang says.
The year 1998 was a turning point for the development of the Internet in China, says Zhang Zhi'an, associate professor of the journalism school at Fudan University in Shanghai.
It was when portals Sina. com and Sohu.com first appeared and the number of Chinese mainland Web users hit 1 million. It was also when the government began paying serious attention to the Internet, he says.
"Building the Great Firewall was a natural reaction to something newborn and unknown," Zhang says.
The Middle East has a place for China
Social revolution is reshaping the Middle East, but China has remained a spectator of this revolution, reducing the diplomatic risks at play. In terms of shaping the future of the Middle East, there is little China can do. The changes in the Middle East do affect the global outlook, with China's interests at play.
Although the US has pretended to support street democracy in the Middle East, its real support lay in a different area to that which was claimed. The US has strongly promoted the expansion of street protests in Tehran, but has not commented on the police repression in Bahrain. The reason for this is that the former is an open enemy of the United States, while the latter is the home of the US Fifth Fleet.
The hurricane of revolution is likely to greatly change the Middle East, and it is difficult to predict which "dictator" will remain standing. Due to this uncertainty, diplomats from the US and other major players have become very active in the Middle East, as they try to ensure continued support for American values in new regimes.
China's trade in the Middle East has grown rapidly in recent years, but China does not seek to affect these nations' political processes. Traditionally, China has had no intention to develop the capability to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
Being a victim of Western countries' interference policy, China views non-interference in other countries as a kind of defense. China is very cautious in wielding its political influence in smaller countries.
Yet the expectations for China's behavior are changing. China's society has more and more resources to help resist external political interference.
Diplomacy should be rational. However, weaker countries usually tend to be rational while stronger countries like to "break traditions" and adopt "double standards." China seems to be the only country that is growing stronger but still adheres to diplomatic principle.
However, as China does not involve itself in the political process in the Middle East countries, it will only be to analyze future advantages and disadvantages in the new Middle East, but will not be able to shape these at first as the US will due to its steps in the region.
However, as the world's second largest economy, it is normal for China to begin exploring changes to its behavior.
China should begin to plan for its influence in the Middle East. In fact, China's development model is attractive to the Middle East since major countries there will enjoy more profits that emerge from China's economic development. China has many advantages in sharing its influence.
Pro-China forces in the Middle East should get more benefits, including political gains, so that future influential figures will adopt a pro-China stance rather than use it as a bargaining chip.
First, this does not conflict with China's principles and second, as difficult as the process may be, it will be worth it in the long run.
Democracy is more colorful than imagined
The worldwide shift toward democracy is unstoppable. However, with globalization, democracy has become more like a Russian doll: you always see the one on top, but not those hidden inside.
From the perspective of history, the global wave of democratization will remove a Western-focused center of interest.
The beginning of the Egyptian revolution is like a constitutional revolution. There seems to be a wide gulf between Egypt and Western cultures, with some external influences blocked out and some allowed in.
In the future, the US-backed Egyptian military and democrats will compete with the Muslim Brotherhood. It is still too early to assert that Egypt and the Middle East will embark on an anti-American road.
But it is even more foolhardy to conclude that the Egyptian revolution was a victory for the West. The current world order is unfair, just as a nation's richest city is filled with affluent Western influences while many live on in poverty. They will ask: Why?
The late American scholar Samuel P. Huntington wrote in The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century that elections in non-Western countries often induce politicians to come up with the claims that can win the most votes. These often have racist, religious and nationalist hues and will aggravate divisions, leading to more support for anti-Western rhetoric and policies.
For some Muslim countries, Huntington's conclusion is that people there can only choose between anti-democratic secularism and anti-Western democracy.
Huntington's judgments will undergo testing in decades to come. In the past few years, a sweep of left-wing governments have been elected in Latin America, in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and more. They are more anti-American and anti-Western than previous military governments.
Many pro-Western regimes brought by democratization occurred in former Soviet Union countries, such as Ukraine, Georgia and the Baltic countries, which were under Russian influence in the last century. Democracy in East Asia did not bring anti-American regimes and the rise of China and India seems to ease the pressure on the West.
The more globalized democracy is, the more complex its performance will be and the more difficult to distinguish its benefits and drawbacks. But one point is certain: democratization will not lead to global "Westernization."
The attractiveness of Western countries is not their political program, but their lifestyle, partially obtained on global resources.
However, the dream of imitating emulating Western countries will shatter for many. The ballot box must reflect the characteristics of different countries, lands, regions and nationalities.
After the Egyptian revolution, the West joined in cheers with Iran and Hamas, an all too rare phenomenon. But history will prove that some of them were laughing bitterly.
Kaixin OpEd - As Kaixin has constantly argues, Democracy is neither generally understood or defined in the 'west'. It is seen as a political utopia.
Just what does the right to vote deliver to the average person in the west?
At the beginning of the 20th century it gave a voice to the man on the street in the west. It delivered real power to the man on the street.
By the end of the 20th century that power had been highjacked and the man on the street was once again without effective power.
The right to vote is not democracy, though used properly it can be very effective. It theoretically allows for a revolution, a change of government, with bloodshed.
Now, the voice of the people being heard by the powers that be, is closer to real democracy.
For democracy, however defined, to succeed in a nation it must grow out of the very soil of that nation. It cannot be imposed, and the western model of democracy evolved for those countries. Not for China, not for Iraq, not for Afghanistan …
The ‘Street’ is calling for democracy in Egypt. However, it is likely that if you asked the average person on a Cairo street what he or she means by democracy and just what they want democracy to achieve, you would be many different answers.
Cautious steps to land reform 
Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province launched an ambitious reform of its hukou household registration system in November.
If successful, the reform will free tens of thousands of rural residents to enjoy the same social benefits as their urban counterparts.
All Chinese on the mainland are classified as either rural or urban via their hukou household registration, a document that records a person's home, name, parents, spouse and date of birth.
Beijing officially promulgated this family registration system in 1958 as a means to control movement between urban and rural areas. Hukou plays a decisive factor even today in marriage, education, employment, grain rations, employer-subsidized housing, healthcare, unemployment benefits, pensions and other urban perks.
Chengdu plans to integrate urban and rural hukou by 2012, allowing rural residents to register according to their actual place of residence and update that registration if they move. The same will apply for urban residents.
Apart from providing better social benefits, the reform has another bigger purpose.
"We can see that behind this hukou reform is actually land reform," said Qiao Xinsheng, director of the Social Development Research Center at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Hubei Province. "If a city wants to keep up its economic development then it needs extra land to build and group factories together in an industrial park for more efficient productivity and management," Qiao said. "But there isn't enough land in urban districts so the rural residents' land is a good option.
"But obviously in China acquiring land from farmers is a very difficult, long-term task."
By offering the improved social welfare benefits that come with urban hukou residency, Chengdu hopes rural residents will be willing to hand over their land.
The central government picked Chengdu as a pilot city alongside China's biggest city - Chongqing - for two slightly different types of hukou/land reform.
Rural land ownership and usage in China is extremely complicated. Basically, China has two kinds of land zoning: arable and land available for construction.
The first kind cannot be legally built on at all, and the latter is the location where rural residents usually build their houses.
Rural residents cannot rent or sell either type of land. That's because despite appearances, they don't actually own their own land.
One of the hangovers of socialist land reform implemented after 1949 is that nobody really owns their land in the People's Republic of China.
Dialogue
A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Controversy over fireworks in China
Security adversity on China's periphery
See Kaixin's - Tiger Mum - Amy Chua 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother'
Prospects for the Year of the Rabbit
International News Sources
The Wall Street Journal
China Central Bank Raises Reserve Requirement + VIDEO
BEIJING—China's central bank, continuing its battle against inflation, said on Friday it will raise the bank reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points, the second such hike this year. Economist expect more tightening to come.
Beijing Goes on the Hunt for Hidden Lending
2010 was a tough year for China’s financial regulators. While on the face of it banks sharply reduced their lending, in line with Beijing’s decision to call an end to economic stimulus spending, the reality was banks lent just as much as the year before but hid a lot of it off-balance-sheet.
China Analyzes Its Surge in Inflows
BEIJING—China released new data on Thursday that offered a more accurate picture of the huge volumes of liquidity surging through the economy, highlighting the difficulties that the government faces in reining in mounting inflation.
China Drafts Measure to Control Food Prices
BEIJING—China's Ministry of Commerce released a draft measure on emergency management of food staples, aiming to prevent severe shifts in prices and supply of daily necessities.
See Kaixin's - ECONOMIC CHINA
New Data, But No New Light, on China Property Prices
With all this attention on China’s real estate sector, it is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that the quality of the data is so weak. Data on national property prices from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has been widely criticized – by experts and the public – for understating the true level of increases.
Kaixin OpEd – What we at Kaixin are trying to get our heads around is, where was the venerable WSJ when the bubble in America’s real estate was brewing? (yes, I know I mixed my metaphors, but it is early and I’ve only had one cup of coffee)
The WSJ and most economists and commentators in the ‘west’ seem to believe that the Chinese real estate market is going through the same thing as that crazy ride to the top of the roller coaster as America did (and most of the ‘west’).
It’s not, as a glance through Kaixin’s OpEd’s and more importantly Kaixin’s ‘CHINA REAL ESTATE’ will confirm.
Yes, there are little pops here and there, but there is not the gargantuan bubble forming that President GW and his witches presided over, in particular the really ugly witch who kept stirring the pot, throwing off steam, Wall Street Bonuses, counterfeit $US’s and CDO’s (which should be re-labelled BO’s Bum-o’s), while the rating agencies nodded and smiled and chanted AAA+++.
As Kaixin has pointed out many times, in comparison, China is a model of rectitude. It is managing the surging demand for real estate in China, rather than throwing lots and lots of paper (counterfeit $US’s) on the embers.
The WSJ is making the same mistake as most commentators in the ‘west’ who are looking back and trying to find patterns. They also seem to miss the point that when you have over 1 billion people beavering away and getting richer every day, the money has to go somewhere.
Then again, the comfort zone for most to the media in the ‘west’ is criticising China. It’s probably where most of their readers are. So, most to the media is content to be lazy and follow (mostly un-informed) public opinion rather than lead it with responsible and quality journalism.
Thanks a lot Rupert!
Where was I?
Oh yes.
China Real Estate is not a bubble. Price increases are driven by organic demand in general, not speculation (which Beijing is addressing), and fuelled (in general) by prudent lending policies.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
Will Massive Debt Derail China’s High Speed Train Plans?
Is China’s much-hyped and fast-expanding network of high-speed railways bracing for a slowdown?
After the head of China’s Ministry of Railways, Liu Zhijun, was removed last week because of an investigation into possible corruption, questions are being asked by various high-speed train experts whether the sacking of its leader would force the ministry to revise its plans to expand high-speed rail links across China.
Kaixin OpEd – In China the High Speed Train has become a symbol of how China is leading the world in many areas. It is also a symbol of just how fast China is progressing.
Kaixin watches China television via satellite. Of late the big spectaculars that celebrate things like Chinese New Year start off with a model of a high speed train coming onto the stage to disgorge the stars.
What does that tell you?
Beijing is not about to lose International Chinese Face over something trifling like money, of which it has heaps.
China Criticizes U.S. Review of Sensitive Deals
BEIJING—China said Thursday it wants the U.S. to make its national-security reviews of investments more transparent, following news earlier this week of concerns surrounding an acquisition by China's Huawei Technologies Co.
India, Brazil to Press China on Yuan
PARIS–Brazil and India will join the U.S. in putting pressure on China to let its currency appreciate at a faster pace during meetings of finance ministers and central bankers from the group of 20 leading economies, an official at a G20 government said Friday.
"The three countries have formed an unofficial pact to express their disappointment," said the official.
Sarkozy's Push on Yuan Falters
PARIS—French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ambitious plan to get the Chinese government to discuss its exchange-rate policy with other world leaders this year is getting off to a rough start, according to several international officials.
See Kaixin's - YUAN REVALUATION & INTERNATIONALISATION
New Shanghai Apple Store Will Be Biggest in China
Size over speed appears to be Apple’s new strategy for tackling the China market.
The company is planning to open a new store–it’s biggest in China–on Shanghai’s famous Nanjing Road, an Apple spokeswoman has confirmed to China Real Time after news of the plan appeared in Thursday’s Beijing Youth Daily.
Customers queue to buy the iPhone 4 at the Shanghai Apple Store September 25, 2010. Apple has announced it will build a new store, it’s largest in China, on Shanghai’s famous Nanjing Road.
Chinese Chukkers: Latest Must-Have is Polo Pony
In the booming Chinese city of Tianjin, an hour outside Beijing, a snow machine has been blowing artificial flakes across a 300-meter-long field for the past several weeks. It’s not for skiers or snowboarders. This marathon preparation is for a six-day snow polo tournament.
The New York Times
China Assails New U.S. Policy on Internet Freedom
BEIJING — The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday criticized a new Obama administration policy on Internet freedom, saying it was an attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries.
See the Global Times Editorial above
Court Considers Revising China’s Marriage Law
Under a draft interpretation of China’s marriage law, expected to be issued in coming weeks, mistresses would not be allowed to sue their married lovers for reneging on promises of money, property or goods, said legal experts who have reviewed the language. Nor would wayward husbands be allowed to seek the courts’ help in retrieving money or goods that they bestowed upon mistresses.
Kaixin OpEd – You don’t get rid of millennia of tradition in just one edict and a decade or two.
In China, one of the perks of being rich and/or powerful was having several wives and a mistress or two.
Mao got rid of all that and bought in monogamous marriage.
This worked in general because no-one could afford a mistress anyway, except high officials and Mao … but we will pass on from that.
Many people in China have become rich and one of the traditional perks of being rich was a mistress or two.
This is mostly new money, but the thinking of how to spend it is old. There is no point in being rich if you don’t get a perk or two.
However, in old China, before Mao, the women had no say in just about anything. Women in China now have redress to the courts and the women are finding their voice.
For some reason, not fully understood by men, the women are not too fond of this particular perk of the rich.
After the Cultural Revolution, around 1976, the universities in China were thrown open to anyone who would pass the entrance exam. Traditionally, only people from the cities went to University, or could afford to go.
Deng Xiaoping realised that the way forward for China was to develop the intellectual potential locked up in the young people of China. He threw open the universities to young people from all over China.
A university education became achievable for people from the country for probably the first time in China’s history.
To understand China, you need to understand the deep divide between city and country.
The two had never mixed in China and lived in different worlds.
The young people of China, from both the city and the country, were thrown together for the first time in China’s history.
Young people being young people and hormones being hormones, there were many marriages that simply could not have occurred before.
Differences were shed like unwanted skin and these young people mixed as equals, for the first time in China’s history.
Most parents resisted the marriages, they knew that the deep divide between city and country had not disappeared, the young people had merely acquired a veneer.
However the parent had lost a lot of their authority and were generally ignored.
Young people being young people.
In China, you do not just marry the person, you marry into a family.
The families of the young people from the country were not university educated and often had not lived outside their village or town. They were steeped in tradition ways.
The partners, usually women, from the city found themselves in a strange and unfamiliar place, that of old China were the wife was considered little more than a slave and an extra mouth to feed.
University educated young women who had experienced a new open exciting world did not accept this straight-jacket, they rebelled.
There were many divorces.
The young women were often left with a child. In the China of the one-child policy, these young women were unwanted.
Men still demanded a child, preferably male, from a marriage.
Men were able to find another young woman who had not had a child.
Many of the women who had children were forced into the role of mistress. The men were steadily becoming richer in this new China and could afford this particular perk of the rich.
The women were, however, not subservient and tended to demand some rights. They went to the courts and created no end of havoc for the men.
Hence, the new laws.
However, it is not that simple.
The law should deal with the world that ‘is’, not with a world the powers that be, mostly men, want to portray; one of a happy monogamous marriage.
The one-child policy is supported by Kaixin and most people in China. However one of its consequences has been to in effect throw a woman with a child on the street.
Finally, the men who made the first wave of money and had stayed married were generally in their late 40’s or early 50’s. So were their wives.
A young pretty thing found it easy to take the eye of a rich bored businessman.
Many marriages were broken as old wives were traded in for new ones.
In a country were the wife still has little real protection from the law, this often left the women in financial difficulty.
All in all, a toxic mix that is not the fault of anyone in particular. However, to single out the mistress as the one to blame does seem a little unfair. Anyone should have a right to take their matter to court.
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China Ancient & Modern
The Age
China leads fight against Western economic formula
China led resistance to making bulging foreign-exchange reserves a measure of economic imbalances as Group of 20 finance officials struggled for consensus on realigning the skewed world economy.
Asia Times Online
US Internet declaration bugs China
By Peter Lee
Finger-wagging will be the order of the day in Internet policy exchanges between China and the United States after Washington, with one eye on events in the Middle East, took the provocative step of defining Internet connectivity as a "freedom". Beijing, taking the declaration as a threat to sovereignty, may restrict the web further and woo regimes that view the US as high-minded and hypocritical.
See Over for the 18th of February 2011
CULTURAL CHINA
Articles of interest from the week's news
Insights into China's Society & Cutlure
CCTV Lantern Festival celebrated in China VIDEO
Thursday is the traditional Lantern Festival of China. Falling on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the new year, it marks the ending of the celebration of the Spring Festival. From sweet treats, to unique folk art performances, much is on show to welcome the arrival of spring.
On this special day, sweet dumplings are a must. Lion dancing can be seen just about everywhere during this time of year. At night, delicate hand-made lanterns are lit up and displayed in cities, creating picturesque scenes. Meanwhile, in Northern China's Hebei Province, local villagers in Nuanquan town are captivated by the special performance of a sparkling flower shower. The striking flowers are created by spinning wrought iron. It sets the village visually on fire, winning non-stop applause and praise from locals.
Ancient text marks modern Lantern Festival
Children wearing hanfu, a traditional robe from the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), read Dizigui (an ancient book of Confucius teaching proper behavior) at a Confucius Temple in Hangzhou, Feb 15, 2011. The temple held a ceremony where 80 youths and grown-ups dressed in hanfu and read Chinese classic texts ahead of the Lantern Festival, which falls on Thursday, Jan 15 on the Chinese lunar calendar.
Celebrations ahead of Lantern Festival in China
A child views rabbit-shaped lanterns at Baibuting Community in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, Feb. 16, 2011, one day prior to the Chinese Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the first month of Chinese lunar calendar.
Lantern Festival celebration: spraying molten iron
A performer sprays molten iron against a concrete wall to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Nuanquan town of Yuxian County, Hebei province, February 16, 2011. For over 300 years, the town has carried out the tradition of spraying molten iron at 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,372 degrees Fahrenheit) against a cold concrete wall to form sparks-like fireworks during the Lantern Festival, which falls on Thursday Feb 17.
Lantern makers keep flame alive
Falling demand for ancient craft may lead to a dying of the light, reports Zhou Wenting in Fujian.
Li Zhuqin and her daughters have been burning the midnight oil making lanterns over the past two months. Days and weeks were consumed by the task and holidays sacrificed but they did it without complaint as this is the peak time to display their craft.
Sun Shulan, 67, joins friends adorned in traditional costumes in a parade in Bozhou, Anhui province on Wednesday to celebrate the upcoming Lantern Festival, which falls on Thursday. The festival officially ends the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Riddler strives to revive art
It is a common trend that most festivals worldwide adapt to the times and they sometimes become thinner. While the opportunities for fun remain or even enhance, the associated history is often sacrificed.
When asked for a description of Lantern Festival, most responses will state it is the last chance for fireworks, the end of the Spring Festival and an opportunity to consume vast numbers of delicious tangyuan.
But Wang Qian wants the public to remember another point of the Lantern Festival, namely the tradition of gathering together to solve riddles.
Wang, a retired professor who lives in Beijing, aims to achieve this by hosting a lantern riddle guessing party at the flagship store of Wuyutai, Beijing's famed teashop, on Feb 17, with around 100 of his own riddles.
Chinese riddle creator Wang Qian will hold a lantern riddle guessing party on Feb 17 at Wuyutai's flagship tea shop in Beijing.
Tea culture comes to life at Wuyutai + VIDEO
Wuyutai is a name known to almost every tea lover in Beijing. First established in 1887, Wuyutai enjoys fame as one of the Time-Honored Brands of China, and is well-known for its high-quality tea products and hospitable service.
The history of the teahouse is encapsulated in its name. Wu Xiqing, its founder, came from Anhui province to open a tea store in Beijing during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Wu named the shop Yutai, which was later updated to include his family name.
Wuyutai is most famous for its secret jasmine tea recipe - a sought-after mixture of green tea and jasmine that rings the right note for tea lovers. And it is in the process of applying to make jasmine tea part of Beijing's intangible cultural heritage.
After over a century's development, Wuyutai Tea House, which was renamed Beijing Wuyutai Tea Co in 2005, has more than 190 chain stores, two tea houses and two stylish tea cuisine restaurants.
For over 120 years, Wuyutai has been holding up its traditional tea producing methods and has won high reputation and credibility among generations of tea lovers.
People in Beijing like to go to tea houses. In olden days, they used to be the center of social activity. Nowadays, tea houses are still considered an ideal venue for socializing. The preparation of tea is an important part of the Chinese tea culture. Different kinds of tea require different methods of preparation. Offering tea is considered a sign of respect, courtesy and gratitude.
Along with Wuyutai's renowned traditional tea products, the company has developed various new products to expand its market share; namely, tea-flavored moon cakes, ice cream, candy and cuisines.
At the end of 2006, Wuyutai recovered an old tea cuisine recipe that belonged to Wu Xiqing, who was also a gourmet cook and was keen on introducing tea elements to traditional Chinese cuisines.
At the Refreshments and Cuisine of Wuyutai Court (Wuyutai Nei Fu Dishes), you can not only enjoy tea beverages, but also taste tea-related cuisines. Wuyutai advocates a healthy and natural way of eating. The dishes on its menu are mouthwatering and creative.
For instance, Puer Tea with Natural Fried Chrysanthemum is cooked so delicately from fresh chrysanthemum flowers without losing the natural shape or color of the flower. And the Puer tea on the side neutralizes the flower's coolness with its warmth.
Fresh Shrimps with Biluo Tea is quite fun to eat. The teapot alongside the shrimp is an automatic dark-red enamel pot, which pours tea automatically as soon as a cup is placed on the base.
And the "brushes" on this pallet are not made for Chinese calligraphy but for your stomach. This snack is made of wheat flour mixed with cubilose, shark's fin, snow clam and papaya. The ink-like stuff on the inkstone is actually blueberry sauce. You can also choose chili sauce if you prefer.
And one appetizer is made from French goose liver and green tea pudding. There's a piece of Kuding tea leaf on each cube of pudding. The appetizer combines the bitterness of Kuding tea with the scent of green tea, as well as the creamy texture of goose liver.
Eating at the Wuyutai theme restaurant is more than just a tea banquet. While you are dinning here, you can also feel the traditional Chinese tea culture and see how it was rejuvenated under Wuyutai's business philosophy.
History of the Shop
Wuyutai Tea Shop was first established in 1887 (the 3rd year of Emperor Guangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty), Its original name was Wuyutai Tea House.Wu Xiqing, the founder, was a native of Xicun Village, Shixian County, Anhui Province who died in 1930. Wuyutai Tea Shop has been located in No.44 Dongsi North Street since its inception.The teas supplied by Wuyutai Tea Shop directly came from the tea-producing areas of Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. And the scented Jasmine teas were specially made in the cells of Fuzhou and Suzhou and then were transported or shipped to the capital city and pieced together at different grades.The teas produced by Wu family tea house enjoyed good fame in the Northeast District of the city as well as in the distant suburban areas such as Changping, Shunyi, Pinggu and Miyun. They were the favorites of various professions and trades.At the time of public-private joint ownership operation after liberation, Wuyutai Tea House was renamed "Wuyutai Tea Shop". And the horizontal inscribed board carrying the green characters of "Wuyutai" in black setting was done by Feng Yiwu, a noted scholar.During the ten years of turmoil (1966-1976), Wuyutai Tea Shop was renamed as "Red Sun Tea Shop". On its 98th Anniversary in 1985, the time-honored brand of "Wuyutai Tea Shop" was restored.
A chef makes yuanxiao (tangyuan), or rice glue balls, at Laoshuku Yuanxiao Shop in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, Tuesday Feb 15, 2011. Yuanxiao is a traditional food for the Lantern Festival on the fift eenth day of the first lunar month, which falls on Thursday this year.
See Xiaosui's Chinese Home Cooking - Tang Yuan
CCTV How ancient lantern making skills passed down generations VIDEO
Lanterns are the main focus in marking the end of the Spring festival holiday. The Lantern Festival which falls on Thursday, is like many traditional holidays, as artisans try to show off their ancient handicraft skills that have been passed down generations.
82-year-old Wang Fuxin is renowned for his unique talent in making palace lanterns in Luoyang, the capital city of 9 ancient Chinese dynasties. More than ten people in Wang's family are able to help with lantern making, but only Wang Fuxin can finish the whole process all by himself.
Wang Fuxin’s son Wang Jianyong said, "There are 72 procedures in all to make a palace lantern. If the number is reduced any less, the style will change. It's not easy to make a Luoyang palace lantern."
The family has been making palace lanterns for more than 200 years. This photo was taken when Wang Fuxin was young. He says this kind of lantern is called Pai Lantern, which is very hard to make.
Where qipao is still in vogue + VIDEO
When Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai's movie, In the Mood for Love, hit the big screens in 2000, the 20-some pieces of qipao presented by the leading actress, Maggie Cheung, inevitably made the scene. Has it ever made you wonder where to find something as graceful and gorgeous? At Ruifuxiang, you may get your answer.
Taking a walk along Dashilan, the oldest commercial street in Beijing, it is hard to miss the baroque-style building, where the legend of Ruifuxiang started.
Ruifuxiang Silk Store, a time-honored brand in Beijing, has been enjoying popularity among consumers for over a century. The brand was built in 1893 by Meng Luochuan, a businessman from Shandong province. Ruifuxiang soon won its reputation by providing high-quality dyed cloth, silk and satin at fair prices, and meticulous tailoring service, and became people's first wardrobe choice. The first national flag of the People’s Republic of China was also made with Ruifuxiang silk.
Even now, Ruifuxiang is well-known as perhaps the best qipao tailoring service you can find in Beijing. As the trend of wearing qipao has returned not only in China but also overseas, Ruifuxiang is always at the top of the shopping lists of women who want to sport a traditional Chinese look.
It takes two weeks to make a piece of qipao; a month if embroidery is involved. The customer needs to come to the store for one fitting before the garment is completed. There are more than 100 procedures, including measuring, cutting, sewing, edging, buttoning…most of which are done by hand. If you just can't wait to put on a piece of qipao or Tang suit, you can also find ready-to-wear clothes at Ruifuxiang.
Zou Qiuming, who has been working at Ruifuxiang for over 30 years, is happy to see that more and more people, especially young people, are coming to Ruifuxiang looking for outfits.
Ruifuxiang has developed many new products to attract more customers. Silk quilts, for example, their cover and stuffing are made from 100 percent natural silk, and customers can watch the entire production process at Ruifuxiang. And the designs of Ruifuxiang clothes are becoming more diverse and have been combining with more modern design elements. Or, customers can just design their own styles, and let Ruifuxiang turn them into garments.
Dragon dance livens up S China
Creating Beijing enamel art
Cloisonné, or enamel art, is internationally considered a traditional Chinese art form, but according to Mao Jinfu, manager of the Beijing Enamel Factory, the materials were brought from Europe in the 1300s.
Cloisonné is French for "cell", and refers to the technique of applying thin wires to form raised barriers on different areas of enamel on top of the original metal form. An ancient metalworking technique, it is a multi-step process used to produce jewelry, vases, and other decorative items. Objects produced by this process are also called cloisonné.
Cloisonné first developed in the Near East. The technique reached China in the 13-14th centuries from Byzantium or the Islamic world. The first written reference is in a book of 1388, where it is called "Dashi ('Muslim') ware". No Chinese pieces clearly from the 14th century are known.
The earliest datable Chinese pieces are from the reign of the Xuande Emperor (1425-35), which however show a full use of Chinese styles suggesting considerable experience in the technique. It was initially regarded with suspicion by Chinese connoisseurs because it was foreign and appealed to feminine tastes.
Chongqing Hotpot
Hotpot is the most famous and favorite dish in Chongqing. Chongqing local people consider the hotpot a local specialty, which is noted for its peppery and hot taste, scalding yet fresh and tender. Nowadays, as a matter of fact, Chongqing hotpot is famous and popular all over the country. Chongqing hotpot was first eaten by poor boatmen of the Yangtze River in Chongqing area and then spread westwards to the rest of Sichuan Province. Now it is a very popular local flavor and can be found at every corner of the city.
People gather around a small pot filled with flavorful and nutritious soup base. The pot may be boiled by various means, such as charcoal, electric or gas. You have a choice of spicy, pure or combo for the soup. There are a great variety of hotpots, including Yuanyang (Double Tastes) hotpot, four tastes hotpot, fish head hotpot, tonic hotpot, entire sheep hotpot, etc. Chongqing hotpot is characterized by its spiciness, but to suit customers of different preference, salty, sweet or sour flavors of hotpot are available. As long as you can stand the spiciness, you are advised to try the spiciest one to ensure an authentic experience.
Thin sliced raw variety meat, fish, various bean curd products and all kinds of vegetables are the main ingredients for this cuisine. All of these are boiled in the soup, and then you can dip them in a little bowl of special sauce.
CCTV Valentine's Day for singles VIDEO
As couples are enjoying Valentine's Day together, there are many singles hoping to end their lonely days as soon as possible. As the number of single women above 28 and single men older than 30 is on the rise in China, Zhang Ni takes us a look at how these singletons are searching for love.
Yu Bo, boss of a culture company in Beijing, is going to be her own boss today -- by spending Valentine's Day alone.
Desperate and dateless,men learn new tricks
BEIJING - Finding one's better half can be a tricky business in modern China, with hectic work schedules, nagging parents and a gender imbalance conspiring to make selecting a partner a nightmare for single men.
According to the "2010 China Marriage and Relationship Survey Report", released on Monday, 260 million Chinese are looking for love - 180 million singles and 80 million concerned parents.
Eager singles swamped matchmaking events held in Beijing during the Chinese New Year holidays, with an estimated 50,000 people attending a week-long event in the capital's Ditan Park, according to organizer Jiayuan.com, a popular matchmaking website with more than 40 million registered members.
"I am the third oldest in my family, and everyone has a girlfriend except me," said 29-year-old insurance worker Chen Nan, who said he felt pressure to step up the search for a wife.
People taking part in the event, mainly white-collar workers in their late 20s and early 30s, flirted and exchanged phone numbers and pieces of paper.
According to Jiayuan.com, more than 70 percent of participants were in fact anxious parents hoping to fix up children too busy or shy to meet members of the opposite sex.
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China
Centenarian couple celebrates Valentine’s Day
104-year-old Huang Desheng and his 99-year-old wife Cheng Yinzhi receive a heart-shaped rose bouquet on Feb 14, in Leping city, East China’s Jiangxi province. The city’s Working Committee Office on Aging send the bouquet to the couple as they celebrate their first Valentine’s Day.
Studio interview: Changing view of love
Romance is in the air as people marks Valentine's Day in China. Love birds looking to celebrate are being offered all kinds of treats by retailers and restaurant owners. Roses are proving to be the number one necessity as bouquets are flying off the shelves at flower markets, despite a 10 percent price increase.So how is love and marriage perceived in China? To help answer that, we're joined by our current affairs commentator, Professor Teng Jimeng.
Museum worships poet on 'Day of Humans'
A grand ceremony was held in the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to worship Du Fu (712-770AD), one of the greatest Chinese poets, on February 9 which was the seventh day in the first month of the lunar Chinese calendar.
Tofu culture in China
Tofu, or literally translated as bean curd, is a food of Chinese origin and known throughout the world. It is made from soy milk, water and a coagulant. The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to that of cheese from milk. It is made by coagulating soy milk, then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.
Tofu is said to originate in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 24). At the time, Liu An, the grandson of Emperor Liu Bang, was eager to learn the magical art of immortality, so he went deep into the mountain to refine immortal pills. He failed in his efforts to produce immortal elixirs; instead, he created pile of white and tender material with enticing fragrance after mixing the bean juice with gypsum. The brave local peasants tried to taste the product, only to find that it was delicious. And it was named “bean curd” or “tofu”. Liu An became an unexpected inventor of tofu, and his hometown, Shouxian county of Anhui province, has been dubbed the “hometown of tofu”.
Chinese New Year
2011
The Year of the Rabbit
CCTV Ancient Peking Opera theater thrives VIDEO
Want to watch an old-style Peking Opera performance? Then the Chinese capital's ancient Zhengyici Theater might be a good place to check out. The facility boasts a history dating back 300 years, and has experienced the evanescence of social change, from the Qing Dynasty to modern times.
CCTV Temple fair attracts visitors in Taiwan VIDEO
Let's head to Taiwan Island, where an original Beijing Temple Fair is being held in the city of Taichung for the first time. For some local residents, a top item on their Spring Festival "to do" list, is getting a taste of the old style flavor on display.
CCTV Visitors flock to free museums VIDEO
Chinese libraries and museums have begun a free access campaign to encourage greater public patronage. Libraries' borrowing fees have been axed and admission fares waived at all national and provincial art museums. As Jie Bai finds out, the campaign has attracted a surge of visitors.
The National Art Museum in Beijing has been crowded with visitors during its week-long free admission.
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