19th of May 2011
The Lion Awakes
Daily News, Culture & Current Affairs about China
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People's Daily
China never intends to challenge US: PLA general
A top Chinese military officer told US military brass yesterday that China never intends to challenge the United States, and China's military equipments are at least 20 years behind the US' army.
"The world has no need to worry, let alone fear … China's growth," said General Chen Bingde, chief of the People's Liberation Army's general staff, in an address to a packed room of American military officers and faculty at the National Defense University in Washington.
"To be honest, I feel very sad after visiting (the United States), because I think, I feel and I know, how poor our equipments are and how underdeveloped we remain," Chen told a press conference at the Pentagon.
Chen Bingde (C), Chief of the General Staff of People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, talks to Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen (R) during a ceremony at Fort Myer in Washington, May 17, 2011. Chen Bingde arrived in Washington late Sunday for a week-long official visit to the United States.
China, Pakistan reaffirm 'all-weather' friendship
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Wednesday reaffirmed their "all-weather" friendship as the two countries celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
Chinese economist to replace Strauss-Kahn?
The speculation about whether a Chinese candidate could step forward as the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been picking up steam across China after Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest over an alleged sexual assault on a hotel maid.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday that China's Zhu Min, a special adviser to Strauss-Kahn at the IMF, is one of the potential candidates for the position.
PetroChina to expand overseas, eyes progress in Sino-Russian pipeline
Senior executives of PetroChina Co., Ltd., said Wednesday that the company will continue to seek opportunity for overseas merger and acquisition (M&A) and further expand its Latin American presence.
Morgan Stanley to raise 1.5 bln yuan for China PE fund
Morgan Stanley launched its first yuan-denominated private equity fund in China on Wednesday to tap investment opportunities in the world's fastest-growing major economy.
This comes after private equity giants Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group have launched their own yuan-denominated funds in China. Goldman Sachs has also been reported to have struck a deal with the Beijing municipal government on a yuan private equity fund, but that has not yet been confirmed.
China to shore up greenery in Three Gorges area
The State Council, China's Cabinet, said that Beijing will soon announce measures to improve environmental deterioration in the country's longest Yangtze River system, which has been impacted by the Three Gorges Dam project.
It is the first time the government believes that the dam, the world's biggest hydropower project, has affected shipping, irrigation, water supply and environment of the Yangtze River.
"The government will tackle the negative effects brought by the project to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and improve long-term mechanisms for geological disaster prevention", said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council on Wednesday.
Beijing will also ram up efforts to preserve ecology and improve biological diversity in the places affected by the dam, the statement said.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
"Elegant" divorce ceremonies come to China
Does the final termination of a marital union deserve its own ceremony? If Love, a company that specializes in marriages, divorce and psychological services, certainly believes so, and has begun promoting divorce ceremonies on its website haohehaosan.net
Singapore election coverage shows Western arrogance
The Western media said directly that the existing political system of Singapore is not "true democracy," implying that only Western democracy is the genuine democracy. Some Western media reports even related the political changes in Singapore to the unrest in West Asia and North Africa, claiming that they were all the results of the global wave of democratization.
Kaixin OpEd – Kaixin has consistently argued ( do a SITE SEARCH or scroll down the OpEd pages) that ‘western’ style democracy is for ‘western’ countries.
‘Western’ style democracy is a far cry from the ‘ideal’ – Athens (If it were an ideal).
Democracy in the ‘west’ grew out of the soil. It was fought for and in places hard won.
It cannot be imposed on a country.
By definition, it must come from the will of the people.
It must reflect the society that it governs.
No democracy is perfect. Indeed, it is Kaixin’s opinion that democracy has been high-jacked in the ‘west’ and used as a sop for the people while the 1-5% of those who hold real wealth fleece the rest.
See Noam Chomksy’s article - Is the world too big to fail? (for one take on this theme)
So it is insulting for America to preen and strut. If democracy American style is the best then ‘god(s) help us all’.
Worst energy crunch in years looming
Power shortages that gripped many parts of the country in recent months could herald the worst energy crunch in years amid growing concerns that economic growth may suffer.
Power cuts and blackouts since March, due to price controls, surging demand and a drop in hydropower production because of drought, have hit businesses in coastal areas and some inland provinces.
A vessel is seen stranding on the dried up riverbed of Hanjiang River in Yunxian county of Shiyan, Central China's Hubei province
US top diplomat's etiquette needs polishing
By Li Hongmei
Just as the 3rd round of annual Sino-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue curtained down, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sharpened her tone in an interview with The Atlantic magazine when talking about China's human rights."They're worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool's errand," she was cited as saying in the interview by some American media.
...
Understandably, the U.S. is always finding fault with China, considering the core of its global strategies is to prevent other powers from elevating to a level enough to challenge its otherwise overwhelming superiority. Now that China has grown up to be the world's No. 2 economy, the U.S. would naturally keep a vigilant eye on it, fearing China would one day overtake and replace it.
This also explains why some American politicians tend to hype up "China Threat," taking it as part of tactics to win votes and allies. In stoking fears toward China, Uncle Sam will look more like a protective umbrella in the eyes of some small allies and, in sowing distrust in China at home, the U.S. will have the right to "act on the public will" to wage rhetoric war against China, only to satisfy the need of some vested interests groups to contain China's growth.
In actuality, throughout more than three decades since the two established diplomatic ties, the U.S. has all the way put China in the class of "Frenemy", friend when in need, enemy when conflict occurs.
The double-faced tactics of American politicians are well illustrated by Clinton's undignified comments on China's human rights issue. In an online poll conducted by People Forum, 79 percent of the participants believed that her remarks had badly violated "diplomatic etiquette."
Next time, when Ms. Clinton cannot help blurting out her discontent, it is advisable for her to give some consideration to the feelings of Chinese people. The right to speak should be respected as human rights, but as a self-claimed "human rights defender", the top diplomat of U.S. should never trample on others' human rights by forcing them to hear insults.
US faces dilemma in its Asia-Pacific Policy
By Li Hongmei
Again the United States' strategy in the Asia-Pacific perches at a precarious juncture. When Obama took office three years ago, it seemed that he had a clear vision of his country's national security interests in the Asia-Pacific as well as a better appreciation of the evolving dynamics of the region. The White House even reset its formula to "come back" to the once-overlooked region of "geopolitical importance to the US interests."
To this end, it tries to underwrite its bilateral security commitments, albeit through a less threat-centric lens, and be more cognizant of the region's multilateral overtures by further anchoring US participation in regional multilateral institutions. This shift from a position of bilateral primacy to one of engaged bilateral and multilateral partnership - a "convergent security" approach - is taken as the best strategy for Washington to advance its strategic interests in the Asia-Pacific.
Protectionism cuts U.S. or China
By Li Hong
In global relations, we have observed political partnership often builds on economic intertwinement. After two entities are meticulously interwoven by all industrial lines, the odds for miscalculation and enmity would greatly decrease.
Although the United States and China, the world's two major powers, are now more closely linked economically than 20 or 10 years ago, Washington still has quantitative qualms about endorsing and implementing full-fledged cooperation and integration with China.
A good number of Chinese watchers have made bare: the U.S. government has till today kept its high-technology export controls on China; and, it remains, stubbornly, guarded against Chinese investments in varied U.S. assets. The stringent profiling and screening of Chinese investments in America have been deemed unfair and harmful for employment and economic growth.
New direction needed for China-US dialogues
John Milligan-Whyte and Dai Min
The most profound problem in U.S.-China relations is that when China completes the modernization of its economy, the size of the United States and Chinese economies will reflect the size of their populations. China's economy is in the process of becoming five times larger than the US economy. Plans need to be made for this eventuality in the current China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
China should reject and move beyond the U.S. agenda in the dialogues to present a truly positive, cooperative and comprehensive grand strategy explaining to President Obama and the Americans how America can remain successful if China's massive modernization of its economy gets much larger.
The current framework of the dialogues, designed before the world suffered a series of global crises, deals with issues one by one, achieving little change. This needs to be altered by China, which must offer a positive, coherent, compressive grand strategy aligning the economic and national security of both nations.
The dialogues lack a workable U.S. grand strategy. They are incoherent and inadequate "all balls in the air" processes of dealing with individual issues rather than a comprehensive alignment of the always interrelated and often unaligned needs and goals of the United States and China ...
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China Tibet Online
China Daily
Projects to ease impact of Three Gorges Dam
BEIJING - China said on Wednesday that the Three Gorges Project, the world's biggest hydropower complex, had affected shipping, irrigation and water supply downstream on the Yangtze River.
The disclosure came after the State Council passed plans for future work on the project and for the prevention and treatment of water pollution in the downstream valley.
The giant project is also facing problems that need immediate solutions, such as the livelihoods of people displaced by the project, the protection of ecosystems as well as the prevention and treatment of geological hazards, according to a statement issued after the State Council conference.
Chinese economist to replace Strauss-Kahn?
BEIJING - The speculation about whether a Chinese candidate could step forward as the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been picking up steam across China after Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest over an alleged sexual assault on a hotel maid.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday that China's Zhu Min, a special adviser to Strauss-Kahn at the IMF, is one of the potential candidates for the position.
China ready for peninsula talks with ROK
BEIJING - China said on Wednesday it is ready to continue strengthening communication and coordination with the Republic of Korea (ROK) on peninsular issues.
"We hope to promote the northern and southern sides of the Korean Peninsula to improve relations through dialogue, and promote further easing of the peninsular situation and an early restart of the six-party talks," said Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hu Zhengyue.
EU expects to address challenges with China
SHANGHAI - European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said Wednesday here that he hopes the European Union (EU) and China will work together to address their common challenges.
Van Rompuy made the remarks in his speech at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. "We can all benefit from addressing our challenges together while exchanging best practices," he said.
He mentioned three aspects of the exchange, including innovation, urbanization and talents
PetroChina boosts its overseas operations
The company is looking for greater exposure in the global market
BEIJING - PetroChina Co Ltd, the nation's biggest energy firm by market value, plans to establish three operation centers, in Singapore, London, and New York, in an effort to boost its foothold overseas, according to the company's top official.
PetroChina, which traditionally focuses on the upstream sector, will expand its overseas trading to gain greater influence on the global stage, Jiang Jiemin, the company chairman, said on Wednesday.
"We're planning to set up storage and transport facilities in the Caribbean Sea region to strengthen cooperation with local companies, as part of our steps to support the New York operation center," Jiang said.
The major oil company is aiming to double its trading value to $200 billion by 2015 from 2010's level.
Legal aid presents a case for the vulnerable
Legal aid services are provided free to disadvantaged groups, including the disabled, the elderly, minors and migrant workers. However, not all qualified people are covered yet.
"In 2010, the number of cases that received legal aid was 700,000 . . . The annual increase of legal aid cases from 2005 to 2010 was 26 percent," said Sun Jianying, chief of the legal aid department in the Ministry of Justice. Yet she said more than 2 million cases need legal aid services each year in China, particularly in western areas.
Xie Dan, deputy director-general of the Gansu Justice Department, agrees. In his western province, Xie said, "1.2 million people need legal aid services. That is 42 percent of the entire population." But only 3 percent, 36,000, received legal aid from 2008 to 2010.
The lack of legal professionals, especially lawyers, is a major factor: 213 poverty-stricken central and western counties have no access to lawyers, and more than 500 counties have only one or two lawyers each, said legal aid chief Sun.
'Wolf Clause' betrays China-US cooperation
WASHINGTON - US space shuttle Endeavor blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, kicking off its 25th and the last space mission in history, which draws great attention from media worldwide.
China's scientists have played a crucial role in designing and manufacturing some core parts of the device. However, Chinese journalists who hoped to cover the launching of Endeavor were simply denied entry to the site by a ban initiated by Frank Wolf, chairman of the Committee of Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in the House of Representatives.
The United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revoked the media passes granted to journalists from China due to the ban, or the "Wolf Clause", which was regarded as "discriminative" by even Americans themselves.
On April 15, US President Barack Obama signed into law the budget bill for fiscal year 2011 which will end on September 30 after the House of Representatives passed it.
The bill included a clause which bans any China-US joint scientific research activities related to NASA or coordinated by the White House's Science Policy Office.
Today, while the Chinese and US governments are deepening their cooperation, Wolf acted against the trend with a cold war mentality. This is something that should raise the vigilance of peace-loving people in the world.
Kaixin OpEd - Aptly named .... 'This is something that should raise the vigilance of peace-loving people in the world.' ... equally aptly observed.
Kaixin has been closely observing China v America (‘the west’) each day as the China News & Current Affairs is collated.
There is an aggression that emanates from America that is disturbing.
Much of the reporting by the western media has descended to the level of propaganda. It is therefore rather amusing to watch the self same media pointing the finger at China and bleat on about the media in China being used as a propaganda tool.
Well, it would be amusing if it weren’t so bloody irritating.
America does not accept that. It sees itself as a cuddly bear bringing peace, joy and democracy to the world.
The benevolent interpretation of that is that America is like a big clumsy teenage, so sure it is right in everything and determined to have everyone think the same way.
The sinister interpretation is that America is like a ravenous Eagle looking for prey. The Eagle has become so used to being the top predator that it does not know how to get along with any other sentient being on this planet.
China is the Panda cub. China is very wary of this ravenous Eagle and is hoping it can have enough time to make enough friends and grow up enough to fend off the Eagle if it strikes.
It is in the interest of the world to ensure that the Eagle does not try to strike the Panda cub.
A scantily-clad model daubed in body paint strikes a pose in a provocative campaign highlighting morals. The show, held at the Wen temple (Confucius temple) in Taiyuan, Shanxi province on May 15, was staged as a publicity stunt to spotlight what organizers say is a growing vulgar culture within society. Most tourists at the site thought the stunt was in bad taste and an affront to traditional Chinese culture and the legacy of Confucius.
See Kaixin's - Confucius in Modern China
See Kaixin's - Confucius, Traditional Chinese Medicine ... best represent Chinese culture
See Kaixin's - Confucius 5 Part Video Documentary
Resort manager to double business
Singapore-based luxury company expects growth of 20 percent every year for the next five years
BEIJING - Banyan Tree Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-based manager and developer of luxury resorts, hotels and spas, is seeking to double its hospitality business by 2015, with a majority of new openings to be built in China, a senior manager said.
"We expect growth of about 20 percent every year for the next five years, with more than 30 projects currently in the pipeline under the names of Banyan Tree and Angsana brands, which will double the total number of resorts by the end of 2014," said Luca Deplano, vice-president of marketing with Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts. He added that several of the new openings will be in China by the end of this year, including Banyan Tree Riverside, Shanghai, and other developments in Tianjin and Hangzhou. Others in Chengdu, Chongqing and Guilin will open after 2011.
The move indicates China is an increasingly popular destination for both international and domestic travelers. The company believes international travelers want to see more than just Shanghai and Beijing. They also want to visit places such as Lijiang and Ringha in Southwest China's Yunnan province.
Locals crossing a bridge outside Banyan Tree's Ringha facility in Shangri-La in Southwest China's Yunnan province.
Japan's tourism recovery pins hope on China
SHANGHAI - Japan, keen to rebuild its tourism industry, is expecting the number of Chinese visitors to level off within six months after steep decreases since March, a senior official from Japan's tourism authorities said.
The country's national and local governments will pull together to dispel the gloom in its inbound tourism sectors, which is set to be responsible for 2.2 percent of Japan's gross domestic product and 2.3 percent of employment this year.
Tourists from China stand outside a Laox Co shop in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Chinese shoppers in Akihabara outspend all other overseas shoppers, according to the local tourism body, parting with more than four times more cash than their US counterparts. The district's stores are hiring Mandarin and Cantonese speakers and putting up two-meter tall billboards to bolster tourism.
Tibet invests 57m yuan to maintain ruins
NGARI - The government has invested more than 57 million yuan (about $8.8 million) to maintain the ruins of the famed Guge Dynasty, an ancient kingdom in western Tibet Autonomous Region, local authorities said.
The project, started on May 1, is now in full swing in Ngari Prefecture, said an official of the Cultural Relics Bureau of the Ngari Prefecture government.
The famed Guge Dynasty Ruins, built in the 10th century, are the largest ruins and also best preserved artifacts from the kingdom, which includes color paintings, clay sculptures and stone sculptures.
"The five palaces of the ruins have problems with cracked walls and loose ceilings, to a different extent, which are expected to be fixed," said Phubu Chosang, an official of the administration of the ruins.
See Kaixin's - CHINA & TIBET
Witness of Tibet Photography Contest and Exhibit
2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, and the magazine China's Tibet and Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Tibet Autonomous Region are jointly holding a "Witness of Tibet, 1950-2010" photography contest. In addition to prizes, all winning works will be exhibited in Beijing and Lhasa in May 2011.
See Kaixin's - CHINA & TIBET & Jambhala (Photographer)
The China Daily website is inviting foreign readers to share their China stories with our worldwide audience. Please send your story with your contact information to:
mychinastory@chinadaily.com.cn.
Photos of the author or the story are also welcome.
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XinHua News
China sets up floating minimum living allowance system pegging rising prices
BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China has established a floating system of minimum living allowances for low-income groups in a bid to peg allowances to rising prices.
Local governments should take the basic subsistence costs, local Engle coefficient level or the expenditure-income ratio, into account when setting their own allowance standards, said a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday.
The circular also asked government departments to adjust the allowance standards on a regular basis to suit the changes of the prices for necessities and the improvement of people's living standards.
The new rules are to be applied to the allowance system for low-income groups in both urban and rural areas in China.
See Kaixin's - ECONOMIC CHINA
Top Chinese legislator meets governor of France's Reunion
SAINT-DENIS, France's Reunion, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China's top Legislator Wu Bangguo on Wednesday met with Governor of France's Reunion Michel Lalande on advancing China-France ties.
Wu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the country's top legislature, stopped over at Reunion, a French island located in the Indian Ocean, on his way to visit three African countries of Namibia, Angola and South Africa as well as Maldives.
Conferring with Lalande, Wu praised the China-France relationship, expecting both sides to step up efforts to increase political trust, deepen substantive cooperation and boost sound and steady growth of bilateral ties.
Interview: China's goal towards "green economy" in the right direction: former Norwegian PM Brundtland
STOCKHOLM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- That China is talking about developing "green economy" is a move in the right direction, said former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in an exclusive interview with Xinhua during the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability being held in Stockholm on Wednesday.
She said China is one of the good examples in the world to try to transform the development path into a more sustainable path.
"I think the leadership in China know that the pattern of development in China cannot be coal-based, oil-based, transport- based in private cars, so they talk about green economy, because they know they have different energy resources, they have to use solar and they are entering into changing all these technologies and implementing them," Brundtland said.
"Why? Because they know it is not only good for China, for its own people, it is also good for the rest of the world, and it is the only way we can move ahead," Brundtland said.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
Drought leaves nearly 1,400 reservoirs "dead" in central China province
WUHAN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A lingering drought in central China's Hubei Province has rendered 1,392 reservoirs virtually useless as only dead water remains in them, said the local water authority Monday.
Known as the "land of a thousand lakes" and a major producer of grain and cotton in the country, Hubei is suffering from a drought that has lasted for five months.
As of Sunday, water in four medium-sized and 1,388 small-sized reservoirs had dropped below the allowable discharge level for irrigation and other purposes, said Yuan Junguang, director with the reservoir management office of Hubei Provincial Water Resources Department.
One fourth of all small-sized reservoirs in Hubei were unusable with just dead water remaining in them which could only be pumped for use in an emergency, he said.
A vessel is seen stranding on the dried up riverbed of Hanjiang River in Yunxian County of Shiyan, central China's Hubei Province, May 15, 2011. A severe drought has pushed down the water level of Yunxian section of Hanjiang River
Vice President urges officials to enhance study of Marxism
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Friday urged leaders and cadres to attach great importance to the study of Marxist theories and to creatively use them in analyzing and solving the country's practical problems.
...
Officials cannot do without the guidance of Marxist philosophy and the methodologies of dialectical materialism and historical materialism in making proper judgements on situations, keeping a sober mind in complex situations, and analyzing scientifically the country's development opportunities and challenges, he said.
CCTV
Reporting from Washington: China-US military ties 
For more on General Chen Bingde's visit to the US, we can cross to our correspondent Daniel Ryntjes in Washington. Hello Daniel...
Q1. Military bands from China and the US performed together in Washington on Monday - the first public event of the General's visit. Do you think it was an attempt to set a lighter tone for the week-long trip?
Q2. General Chen is scheduled to visit several US military facilities during his stay. Can you give us more details on ...
Three Gorges Dam helps fight drought 
The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest capacity hydro power station in Central China's Hubei Province, is once again stepping up its anti-drought effort to discharge more water.
In the next two days, the reservoir will increase its water discharge volume to 95-hundred cubic meters a second. That's more than 30-thousand cubic meters a second more than the previous volume. According to staff,low rainfall has reduced water flow along the Yangtze River by 40-percent. It reached a record low on Tuesday. So far, the Three Gorges Dam is doing all it can to help ease the drought along the Yangtze River.
It's the second water dispatch this year, following the first one on May 7th, which saw 400-million cubic waters dispatched to the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
Problems finding a kindergarten
Every year, parents whose children are ready to go to kindergarten worry at application time. Many parents in Guangzhou even stay up for a whole night waiting for a place.
These parents are queuing up the night before the first primary school recruitment day in Guangzhou.
Turning waste into fertilizer 
Refuse treatment is a crucial issue for all nations, and China is no exception. In big cities like Beijing, each person produces around 1 kilo of household waste each day. CCTV reporter Xue Jingmeng takes a look at what happens to refuse once it leaves our homes.
The journey starts here.
Problems in trash handling
China has set an ambitious target of being able to treat 100 percent of the country's refuse as non hazardous waste by 2030.
In order to kick start the process, the central government is urging people to sort their rubbish out at home. Shen Le tries to find out just how practical the proposal is.
Located in a suburban area of the city, this processing unit handles thousands of tons of garbage everyday. You can find almost everything in people's junk from tin cans to decomposed onions.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
Nursing in China sees rapid development
Thursday marks the one hundredth International Nurses Day. The number of nurses in China has seen fast growth in the past five years. Patient satisfaction has also improved.
By the end of 2010, the number of nurses in China had exceeded two million, a growth rate of more than a half over the previous five years. The ratio between doctors and nurses rose to nearly 1:1.2. The education level of nurses has also improved.
Over half of the nurses in China now hold a college diploma, a 20 percent increase compared with 2005. Nursing divisions also expanded into a wide variety including professional care, assisting treatment, health instruction and psychological support. Nursing has also expanded to include treating families and communities, as well as the elderly and terminal patients.
Has China's inflation peaked?
Earlier we were joined by David Ingles in Shanghai. I asked him whether China's inflation had peaked, and could soften in the 2nd half.
How stolen antiques return to China
The return of the Tang murals is identical to that of a sarcophagus from the same tomb.
In June 2010, the stone coffin of Tang empress Wu Huifei finally arrived at the Shaanxi History Museum, four years after it was smuggled out of the country.
And that successful case offered a precious clue leading to the retrieval of the murals.
Studio discussion: Factors bringing down CPI in April from March
For more, we're joined by Professor Liu Baocheng again.
Q1. First let's focus on CPI. What are the factors that brought down CPI in April from March? Also ten provinces have raised the minimum wage by nearly 20 percent. With surging commodity prices internationally, what further changes are likely for the CPI?
Q2. Currency loans in April exceeded market forecast, while there have been repeated hikes of the interest rate and required reserve ratio. How can the government strike a balance in monetary policies between countering inflation and facilitating economic growth?
Chinese herbal company to survive in Europe 
Since May 1st, herbal remedies that failed the registration process are no longer prescribed by doctors across Europe. This is a new Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products passed by the European Union in 2004.
However, the up to 65,000 euros registration fee for each medicine has cooled down the enthusiasm of many Chinese herbal companies. Meanwhile, some Chinese officials are still trying to help the European Union realize the uniqueness of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
New system to elect China's rural law-makers
2011 is election year for China's county- and township-level law-makers. The elections are expected to involve a population of 900 million in China's vast rural areas. But this year's election is no ordinary one. As CCTV reporter Wang Guan tells us, a new election system will be adopted to ensure larger representation of Chinese farmers.
For the first time, rural residents and urban dwellers could have the same representation in the country's legislature.
According to an amendment to election law, starting this month,a law-maker from the countryside and one from the city will represent the same number of people in a constituency.
Tel interview: How to empower rural residents?
For more insight on the change to the election system, we're joined on the line by the Associate Professor of Tsinghua University Law School, Cheng Jie, in Beijing.
Q1. Hello Professor Cheng, as our reporter just said, this change, in principle, should give rural residents more voting rights. What do you think of it? And how can it empower rural residents?
Q2.Migrant workers are a unique group. Because of China's Hukou system, they are still rural residents. Although they work in cities, they're not eligible to vote in elections in urban areas. But it's hard for them to go back to villages to elect their own deputies to the local people's congress. So what should be done to protect migrant workers' voting rights?
Insight: Will new election law make a real difference?
For more on rural residents' voting rights in China, we're joined in the studio by our reporter, Wang Guan. Hello, Wang Guan.
Q1. Will the new law make a difference? I mean, will the rural population become better represented in the country's law-making bodies.
Well, that's a question we are also asking. Because if we look at history, the government has been trying to close this rural-urban divide, but that hasn't meant more rural legislators. For example, 50 years ago, the population a city lawmaker represented was 8 times greater than that of a rural lawmaker.
See Kaixin's - China & Tibet
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.
Theories abound for overseas web access troubles
Web users in a number of major Chinese cities reported difficulties in getting to overseas websites as their access has been seemingly frequently interrupted since early this month.
Overseas websites, including Gmail and Yahoo, became inaccessible as requests to log onto these websites returned error messages, while connections to MSN Messenger were unstable and Apple's App Store was off-limits, Web users in cities including Beijing and Shenzhen reported since May 6.
This stop-and-start access to sites whose servers are located outside of the Chinese mainland was mostly reported by corporate users and businesses, where demands to visit overseas sites are large.
A number of institutions, including Zhejiang University in Hangzhou and Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, posted notices earlier this month, attributing instability to "restrictions on visits to foreign websites by the Internet service providers – China Unicom and China Telecom."
An anonymous official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology declined to explain why foreign websites were frequently inaccessible a telephone interview with the Global Times, and instead urged users to "check their own technology problems and with the websites' servers on the first place."
The official referred the Global Times to the State Internet Information Office, a newly established department to administer both online publishing and Internet access management.
Calls to the office went unanswered Tuesday. The Internet Surveillance Department of Beijing Public Security Bureau said they were not aware of this matter.
Kaixin OpEd – Kaixin experiences similar problems in China. In general, people cannot open the Kaixin site from China. We suspect because our server is in Canada.
This indicated how cumbersome it has all become.
After all, you cannot accuse Kaixin of being anti-China.
The people in China are getting frustrated and will soon demand change.
The response from Beijing will be interesting.
US hits federal debt ceiling (The China Perspective)
As lawmakers in Washington remained deadlocked over whether to extend the federal government's credit line, US government debt hit its ceiling, spelling potential trouble for investments by China, its biggest creditor.
According to US figures, China holds around 7 percent of the country's total debt, putting it in the firing line of any consequences should the US default, analysts warned.
...
"We are talking about a unique and fragile asset of the US – the full faith and credit idea," Neal Wolin, deputy Treasury Secretary, told the Financial Times. "And certainly in the current context of the global recovery and other headwinds, this is not something we can afford to let happen, or to let people think might happen."
Without congressional action, the Treasury Department will be removed from bond markets and the government would eventually default on its obligations of repayment, which would have tremendous repercussions worldwide.
...
Song Guoqing, a professor of macroeconomics at the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, told the Global Times that China will have few options if Congress does not find an effective solution.
"To be on the safe side, China should split its debt investments. Authorities have begun taking actions to that end. In the meantime, China should gradually adjust its foreign exchange policy and manage the trade surplus so as to reduce the holding of US debt," Song said.
Despite great damage hidden in the crisis, Song said it seems highly unlikely that the US would not repay the bonds as this would trigger a broader financial crisis than the one in 2008 and would threaten the integrity of the entire global financial system. The worst scenario is to churn out greenback to pay the debt.
...
To reduce its dependence on US bonds, Zheng said China should act faster in internationalizing its currency amid ballooning foreign reserves and escalating debt crisis among Western countries.
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Dialogue
A 30 Minute Current Affairs Programme on CCTV - 9 (In English) where current issues are discussed by experts from China and Internationally:
Europe struggles to handle crisis
China debates personal income tax
3rd Strategic & Economic Dialogue
Premier Wen's tour of southeast Asia
International News Sources
The Wall Street Journal
Economists Predict at Least One More Rate Hike – Poll
China ‘s long-running campaign to tighten monetary policy may have a little more life in it with economists expecting the People’s Bank of China will raise interest rates at least one more time this year, a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires showed Wednesday.
Six out of ten economists polled said they expected China’s central bank will likely raise the benchmark lending and deposit rates by a further 0.25 percentage point each this year to combat high inflation. The other four forecasters predicted between one and two hikes through the end of the year.
See Kaixin's - ECONOMIC CHINA
PBOC to Boost Role of Interest Rates
BEIJING—China's central bank said it will increase the role of interest rates this year in managing inflation expectations and regulating overall demand.
The People's Bank of China also said that during the 12th five-year plan, which lasts until 2015, it will continue to loosen its interest-rate oversight by "gradually liberalizing the pricing rights of some financial products" at chosen financial institutions.
EU's Van Rompuy Speaks on Yuan
SHANGHAI—European Council President Herman Van Rompuy lauded China Wednesday for leading the global recovery even as he made an indirect criticism of China's exchange-rate policy.
"Nonappropriate exchange rates contribute to internal imbalances as [well as] external ones," Mr. Van Rompuy told students in Shanghai, adding it's necessary to address the causes of global macroeconomic imbalances, such as large current account surpluses, which China perennially chalks up, because "nobody has an interest in prolonging an unsustainable situation."
The president's comments come as nations seek ways to rebalance global demand amid the growing clout of emerging economies. Many finance ministers say the ...
See Kaixin's - YUAN REVALUATION & INTERNATIONALISATION
New Home Prices Up in Most China Cities
SHANGHAI—More Chinese cities saw new home prices rise in April compared with the previous month, and price growth has risen a tad in some major cities despite a fall in transactions, underscoring challenges the central government faces in curbing prices.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
Taiwan, China Discuss Possible Rare-Earths Deal
TAIPEI—Taiwan and China are discussing a possible agreement in which Beijing would allow the export of more rare-earth materials to the island as it tries to shore up its technology and petrochemical companies.
Hou Kuan-chih, a consultant to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said Wednesday that he met recently with Chinese negotiators and said Beijing was receptive to a possible deal. Beijing might lift some of its export quotas or lower export tariffs on shipments of rare-earth minerals to Taiwan, Mr. Hou said. China's Commerce Ministry was unavailable for comment.
Preferential treatment by China for Taiwan in supplies of rare-earth ...
See Kaixin's - CHINA & TAIWAN
Hong Kong Exchange Begins Gold Trading
HONG KONG—The Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange began trading U.S. dollar-denominated gold futures on its electronic platform Wednesday, in an attempt to lure commodities traders in Asian-Pacific economies away from bourses in Chicago and London.
Beijing's Top General Says U.S. Overstates China Threat
WASHINGTON—China's top military officer warned that America's tendency to "hype" the threat from Beijing could thwart better U.S.-China military relations.
In a speech Wednesday at National Defense University in Washington, Gen. Chen Bingde, the People's Liberation Army chief of general staff, said China's economic rise and recent military-modernization efforts had "unfortunately aroused unfounded suspicion and exaggeration of China's defense and military development."
Yahoo Expanding R&D in China
BEIJING—Yahoo Inc. is aggressively expanding its China research and development operation, Chief Product Officer Blake Irving said in Beijing Wednesday, despite worsening tensions between the U.S. Internet company and the operator of its Chinese website, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Yahoo added more than 100 people last year to its Beijing research and development center, and plans to continue hiring at a similar rate this year, Mr. Irving told reporters on a visit to the Chinese capital. He said the China R&D operation has "hundreds" of employees—he didn't specify a figure—and is Yahoo's third biggest after centers in California and Bangalore, ...
Chinese Wine Earns Top Honors
China’s wine, long derided by drinkers outside the country as cheap swill, has taken one tiny step toward respectability this week.
At the Decanter World Wine Awards in London, a red Bordeaux-style blend called Jia Bei Lan, from the winery He Lan Qing Xue in Ningxia province, won the trophy for “Red Middle East, Far East & Asia over £10 ($16).
Kaixin OpEd - Western Kaixin dearly loves his wine.
But let's face it, it's just rotten grape juice.
It can't be that hard to make.
Argentina’s New Hot Export? Polo Boots for Chinese Women
A long-simmering trade dispute between China and Argentina may be finally settling down thanks in part to some highly unlikely common ground: the sport of polo.
For most of last year, South America’s second-largest economy and Asia’s largest economy have not been playing nicely.
A ceramic female polo player, from northern China, Tang Dynasty, first half of the 8th century, made with white slip and polychrome.
Shanghai’s One-Dog Policy More Bark Than Bite
A new law that prohibits Shanghai residents from owning more than a single dog may have more bark than bite.
China’s Rich: Status Is Out, Travel Is In
The rich in China are less status-driven today than they were five years ago, according to a study released Monday by accounting giant KPMG.
Goldman’s Jim O’Neill on China’s Slowdown
Mr. O’Neill is well-known for coming up with the acronym BRICs, a grouping of fast-growing and large emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China. Now he’s trying to do away with the term “emerging markets.” Mr. O’Neill is a long-time proponent of the idea that the future of the global economy lies outside the developed world. Here are edited excerpts from his presentation and Q&A.
China is slowing…a happy landing and possible a big rally…
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YUAN REVALUATION & INTERNATIONALISATION
The China Challenge
By Henry Kissinger
Societies and nations tend to think of themselves as eternal. They also cherish a tale of their origin. A special feature of Chinese civilization is that it seems to have no beginning. It appears in history less as a conventional nation-state than as a permanent natural phenomenon. In the tale of the Yellow Emperor, revered by many Chinese as the legendary founding ruler, China seems already to exist.
The Times of India
Pakistan wants China to play lead role in world affairs
SUZHOU, CHINA: Pakistan wants China to take a lead in shaping world events, the country's prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday amidst rising differences between the Pakistani government and the United States since the killing of Osama Bin Laden on May 2.
China Media Project
Why China’s left is up in arms
By David Bandurski
In recent months we have noted a resurgence of China’s hardline Maoist left. It can be glimpsed symbolically in the red pageantry of Bo Xilai (薄熙來), the former commerce minister and now Chongqing head honcho who has suspended advertising at his official television network and filled the lineup with “red culture” programming — and who has his propaganda chiefs, like so many Pied Pipers, leading the local population in “red songs” to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
See Kaixin's - For Whom the Bell Tolls
Carnegie Endowment
Is China Really Rebalancing? No.
Michael Pettis
Is China currently rebalancing? The currency has been appreciating, the PBoC has hiked interest rates four times, and wages have been surging. Because of all of this I am often asked if China has finally begun the long-waited rebalancing process and whether we have yet seen an improvement in the underlying economy caused by a rising consumption share.
Those who were hoping the answer was yes will have been disappointed by the release Thursday of the World Bank’s China Quarterly Update – April 2011. Here is their summary:
GQ
Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference
Exiled from the NBA, vilified by the press, and ridiculed for a serious of questionable YouTube videos (eating Vaseline? c'mon!), Stephon Marbury is seeking redemption—and vast riches—in basketball-mad China. Now, if he can just win over his Communist bosses, he'll be the biggest thing since Yao Ming
Time
Red Tide
China-bound friends and acquaintances often ask me what to read to get a fix on the country I teach and write about for a living. So I've always got a set of titles to reel off. However, the occasional interlocutor will interrupt my litany of must-reads to say they only have time to absorb one. I'm often flummoxed when this happens, but fortunately Zha Jianying's Tide Players: The Movers and Shakers of a Rising China has come to free me from the dilemma by covering all bases — in under 250 pages to boot.
The New York Times
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Visits China
BEIJING — The Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, arrived in China on Tuesday for a four-day visit, picking up some welcome diplomatic support at a critical moment in Pakistan’s relations with the United States.
China Reports AIDS Mortality Is Cut by Two-Thirds
An online report said that free antiretroviral drugs had drastically reduced AIDS mortality in China.
China’s Rich Try to Fly Around Red Tape
WENZHOU, China — Here in this smoggy coastal metropolis, the nouveau-riche heart of entrepreneurial China, the latest sign that one has really made it is not a Benz, or even a Bentley. It is a helicopter. Perhaps 10 of Wenzhou’s super-rich have one.
Guan Hongsheng, speaking on two phones at once, is among a growing number of Chinese who own private aircraft.
BOOK REVIEW
When Attlee met Mao
Passport to Peking, A very British mission to Mao's China by Patrick Wright
Contrary to popular belief, United States president Richard Nixon was not the first Westerner to visit China since the communist takeover in 1949. As far back as the early 1950s there was a steady flow of foreign delegations that came to observe, probe or pay homage to China's mysterious new rulers, but their visits achieved few breakthroughs and were soon forgotten.
Caixin Online
Logic Behind Big Steel's Logistics Expansion
Logistics parks for storage and leisure are the next big thing for China's profit-hungry steel companies
Life has changed radically for China's steelmakers since the 2008 global financial crisis ushered in a more disappointing business era marked by occasional losses and, at best, slim profits.
Rising Rents Behind CPI Growth in Big Cities
HomeLink's analyst Zhang Yue told Caixin that rents are unlikely to surge until July and August when university students graduate
(Beijing) – Rental inflation has become a major factor contributing to higher CPI figures in many of China's big cities.
See Kaixin's - CHINA REAL ESTATE
CLSA Sunny on Real Estate Stocks
A research director at CLSA expects China's inflation to peak by the second or third quarter and tightening policies on the property market to wind down by then
(Beijing) -- China's real estate stocks, with prices at just 10.2 times of earnings on average, are "attractive" to buy as they may outperform other stocks in the second half of 2011, Wang Yan, property research director at CLSA, told a forum here on May 17.
The Australian
Press the flesh or fail in China, executives told
AUSTRALIA'S ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, has accused senior Australian executives of not having enough knowledge of, or interest in, our largest trading partner.
Dr Raby said they were also not properly developing relationships.
Downgrade points to risk, but banks still AA
THE Moody's credit downgrade is no cause for panic. Australia's big four banks still belong to the exclusive AA-rated global club.
Australia got through the GFC because our banks had not been caught up in subprime lending, the government provided emergency funding and deposit guarantees and China came quickly to the rescue.
Treat it as a reminder that complacency over China may one day bite us on the backside.
Kaixin OpEd - I don’t agree with many of Stutchbury’s comments on China, but I do agree with your analysis of this little nudge by Moody’s.
The rise and rise of China will continue, in my opinion, driven by domestic consumption that will increase as the economic potential of rural China is unlocked.
Let’s hope Australia can do more than just sell its backyard to capitalise on this economic gift.
If I am right, then the banks can ride this easy wealth into higher and higher profits.
I have my 50 CBA shares in the bottom draw and I’m not selling.
Asia Times Online
A SCO canopy for South Asia
By M K Bhadrakumar
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is well on its way to turning the United States' neglect of a "Great Central Asia" strategy to its advantage, with China and Russia tempting Afghanistan to step under the security group's umbrella and bringing in India and Pakistan. With such wider reach, Russian-Chinese coordination on strategic issues is graduating to a qualitatively new level.
Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.
By Sreeram Chaulia
In terms of the high-level attendance of American and Chinese government and business officials as well as the breadth of issues under the scanner, the latest United States-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington stood out as ground zero of global policymaking. Yet, the elephant in the room of this most consequential of all diplomatic forums was literally the elephant - India.
Russia and China challenge NATO
By M K Bhadrakumar
Growing unease that North Atlantic Treaty Organization intervention in Libya aims to perpetuate the West's historic dominance in the Middle East fueled the weekend announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Moscow and Beijing would act in concert. Both share concern that the United Nations hierarchy may acquiesce to a ground invasion in Libya without a Security Council mandate.
Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.
DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Is the world too big to fail?
By Noam Chomsky
Just what is taking place both in the decaying industrial heartland of the richest and most powerful country in human history, and in what former United States president Dwight Eisenhower called "the most strategically important area in the world" - the Middle East? And more important, is Earth, as we humans have organized it, too big to fail?
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See Over for the 18th of May 2011
CULTURAL CHINA
Articles of interest from the week's news
Insights into China's Society & Cutlure
CCTV9 - Rediscovering the Yangtze River
Wedding customs exhibited in Ninghai, China's Zhejiang
A decoration for traditional Chinese wedding is seen at a museum in Ninghai, east China's Zhejiang Province, May 18, 2011. A museum in Ninghai, highlighting objects related to the wedding customs in east Zhejiang Province since Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 AD), opened to public on Wednesday. The wedding customs of east Zhejiang Province was enlisted as one of the national intangible cultural heritages.
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China - Ancient & Modern
Suzhou: Heaven on Earth
Time-tested adages sing praises of Suzhou.
Many cities have slogans to entice you to visit and spend your tourist dollars. These are usually written by some tourism office or travel agency, and no matter how clever or well thought out, they often fall on the deaf ears of seasoned travelers or the cynical.
But there are adages that are time-tested - like this one, which roughly translates to: Up in the sky there is heaven, down on earth there is Suzhou and Hangzhou.
That's a pretty bold declaration when you consider the size of China and the many beautiful places to see within its borders. Yet, Suzhou's beauty has won it boasting rights.
Suzhou, built in 514 BC, has a storied past.
Marco Polo spent time there in 1276 while on the Silk Road. Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War in Suzhou when it was the kingdom of Wu.
Wooden pagoda seeks for world heritage status
TAIYUAN - Authorities in north China's Shanxi Province said Sunday that they would finish the application for the Sakyamuni Pagoda, the oldest wooden structures in the world, by July for it to be included on the UNESCO list of cultural relics by 2013.
The Sakyamuni Pagoda, also known as the Yingxian Pagoda as it was housed in the Fogong Temple of Yingxian County, is the oldest full-wooden pagoda still standing in China and believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world.
Standing 67.31 meters tall, the octagonal pagoda was built in 1,056 AD during the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty.
On-line Dating：A New Craze Sweeping China
Due to the dating pressure, millions of China’s singletons log on dating websites to find love, especially for men, which has been driving a major boom in on-line dating business.
Where does this dating pressure come from? As a Chinese saying goes,”A man should get married on coming of age, so should a woman ” Nowadays, Chinese parents commonly expect their daughters to be married by the time they’re 25 and sons by the age of 30. There’s even a word for those who are not married by the time expected: Shengnan and shengnv, literally a “left-over man” or “left-over woman”. Shengnan and Shengnv are bearing all aspects of pressure coming from their worried and pushy parents as well as their busy jobs. “I was very busy; my life circle was very small” Ada Zhang, one of my ex-colleagues, said, “So I turned to on-line dating, and I made it, now I’m married. I believe everyone can find their true love on the internet” She is just one of millions of Chinese people who are turning to on-line dating as a solution to their relationship woes in a society where the pressure to find a partner can be very oppressive.
According to research by the National Women's Union and Baihe.com in 2010, China currently has 180 million bachelors, 23.8% of who are going on dates arranged by their parents, the rest are looking for dates by themselves. A male netizen makes a joke of his being-busy in his blog,“if I’m not on a date, I must be on the way to it”. Among 180 million bachelors, some ask for dates from matchmakers, some “sneak” into dating agencies in a low profile, some even step out and chat up with girls on the streets, however, up to half of whom are thought to be looking for love on-line.
By Jan, 2011, there are three main stream on-line dating websites: Jiayuan.com with 32 million registered members, Baihe.com and Zhenai.com with 26 million members each, which all together account for nearly half of singletons in China.
Those numbers mean big business. In china, the combination between the immense demand of finding love and the advanced network has started generating the windfall profits. Every on-line site now is like a 24-hour convenient store, collecting and selling their member’s information. What makes people jealous is that those websites are taking in billions of revenues annually, with the annual growth rate at 200%. Every year, there are 20 million singletons who would become the potential clients for the on-line dating sites. According to Time.com, it's estimated that online dating sites attracted three million paying customers in 2010, who collectively spent more than $150 million.
See Kaixin's - Marriage in China - Ancient & Modern
Gan En Store in Sichuan - VIDEO
Liu Anrong runs a store called Gan En Store in Sichuan, which was hit by a massive 8.0 magnitude earthquake three years ago.
She named the store Gan En to show her gratefulness to those who have been offering help to the quake zones.
Old Beijing hutong reopens with new look
After years of renovation, the much noted Xianyukou Hutong in the bustling Qianmen area of downtown Beijing is welcoming visitors with a whole new look.
Xianyukou is literally translated as Fish Street. It's an appropriate name because it was the fish market for old Beijing.
The alley, packed with time-honored brands of Beijing snacks, was once among the most frequently visited places by locals.
See Kaixin's - Beijing Hutongs
Miao ethnic singer Song Zuying debuts in Taiwan
Song Zuying, one of the most capable singers on the Chinese stage, held her first solo concert in Taiwan on Sunday night.
The success of her concerts could blaze a trail for more top singers from the Chinese mainland to perform in Taiwan.
Clad in glamorous costumes, Song Zuying performed a program of Chinese folk songs for her debut in Taiwan.
WSJ - A Director’s Message in ‘Buddha Mountain’ + VIDEO
Over the past decade, Li Yu has emerged as one of China’s most provocative art-house film directors. Her movies have often run afoul of mainland authorities because of the taboo and sensitive subjects they take on.
Her latest, “Buddha Mountain,” which opened this week in Hong Kong, also explores potentially delicate social topics but it has been less fraught with troubles over censorship.
Actors from left, Chen Po Lin, Fei Long, and actress Fan Bingbing star in ‘Buddha Mountain.’
Trailer: Buddha Mountain 观音山 - 最新预告片 (范冰冰东京封后!!!)
Feast of tea
An ethnic Dong woman serves oil tea, a mixture of tea and many other ingredients, to guests to the opening ceremony of the Sanjiangchun Tea Culture Festival in Sanjiang county, Liuzhou, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
See Kaixin's:
The story of the Pu'er Tea 普洱茶 the famous red tea of China.
Chinese green tea -Tie Guan Yin’s story 铁观音
Magic Tibetan Tea - Po Cha 'Tibetan Butter Tea'
Logging on to find Mr and Mrs Right digitally
BEIJING - Li Huijuan is a highly-educated woman who was born in Hunan province and works in Beijing. Her family is pushing her to get married because traditionally in China a woman is supposed to find a husband before she reaches 30. However, in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the average age for marriage has been postponed to 35 or 40 because of the fast pace of life and work.
Like most metropolitan women, because of her busy work schedule, Li doesn't have much time for meeting people and finding a boyfriend. "A few months ago, some of my co-workers encouraged me to register with an online matchmaking website to find a boyfriend," she said.
Although she is accustomed to using the Internet for online shopping and socializing, it was still a new experience for her to find romance on the Web. "I registered at night," Li said. "I was surprised to receive more than 10 messages the following morning."
High notes of life
Young opera star combines her own passion with seven generations of family tradition
Unlike her peers who were born in the 1980s and are fascinated by modern Western pop music and soap operas, Tan Na focuses her mind on Peking opera, determined to learn and develop the traditional Chinese art.
Tan's success in resisting modern temptations may be due to the long tradition of opera in her family.
Born in 1981 in Beijing, Tan is a seventh-generation descendant of Tan Xinpei, a famous Peking opera artist who lived from 1847 to 1917 and was well-known for his roles of laosheng - a term that refers to elderly male roles.
Tan fell in love with Peking opera at a very young age. In 1992, Tan was enrolled at Beijing Opera School (which is now renamed Beijing Vocational Institute of Local Opera and Arts). Her focus was to play qingyi - a term that refers to roles of faithful wife, lover or maiden in distress.
After graduation in 1998, Tan became a professional performer in Beijing Peking Opera Theater. After that, with the stage name Tan Mingxin, she played different roles in classic operas such as Celestial Beauty Scattering Flowers, Farewell My Concubine and The Drunken Beauty.
Clockwise:Tan Na checks her make-up and puts on an elaborate hair ornament before her performance. The diva performs, sans face paint, singing highlights from the opera Mu Guiying. Elaborate fingerwork and footwork demand hours of rehearsals before a performance. Tan Na (middle) performs another classic, The Drunken Beauty. The actress grips a prop at rehearsal.
Sailing to Yangzhou
It's best to visit Yangzhou in spring, when the gardens and parks are blooming, even if the place is crowded, Zhang Yue discovers.
My trip to Yangzhou coincided with Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival in April and I was worried about the crowds.
I've never been a big fan of scenic spots during holidays because in most cases you will find yourself surrounded by elbows, trying to find a way out.
Luckily, my two-day trip to Yangzhou, in Jiangsu province, was filled with pleasure.
My interest in Yangzhou was aroused by a Tang Dynasty poem written by Li Bai about 1,300 years ago - "Sailing to Yangzhou in March when blossoms curl like smoke on the river".
Five Pavilion Bridge, built 500 years ago on Slender West Lake, in Yangzhou.
Shangri-La - CCTV DOCUMENTARY
Literally meaning "sun and moon in heart" in Tibetan, Shangri-La, located in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan province, covering 23,870 square kilometers, is a well-know tourist spot, an ideal home only found in heaven.
Not everybody has read the book - lost horizon (1933), but few would not recognize the name of Shangri-La, a heaven away from the turbulent mundane world. 
Precious Jade Dew Tea faces risk of disappearing in Hubei
A tea maker screens fragmentary tealeaves with a sieve to make Enshi Yulu Tea or Jade Dew Tea in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hubei province, April 30, 2011. The Jade Dew Tea, originating from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and popular during the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911), is one of the very few types of steamed green teas in China. The fresh tealeaves can only be processed from early April to early May with tealeaves steamed first and then rolled, dried and picked totally by hand. During the process of making the tea, the tea makers have to stand for a long time and have hands bear high temperature, so very few young people are now willing to learn the skill, making the craftsmanship on the verge of death. Li Zongmeng and Lei Yuangui, professional Jade Dew Tea makers, have been engaged in manually making the tea for 40 years here.
See Kaixin's:
The story of the Pu'er Tea 普洱茶 the famous red tea of China.
Chinese green tea -Tie Guan Yin’s story 铁观音
Magic Tibetan Tea - Po Cha 'Tibetan Butter Tea'
WSJ - Art’s Obsession With Mao Zedong
Would you hang a picture of Mao Zedong in your home?
Many people do, says Eric Chang, the international director of 20th-century Chinese art and Asian contemporary art for Christie’s in Hong Kong. In the auction house’s sale of Asian contemporary art — on May 28-29 — the face of Chairman Mao will be a recurring theme.
Wang Guangyi’s ‘Mao Zedong — No. 2 of Red Box’
Food safety concerns drive Chinese back to the farm
To say that Shen Huiqiang, a former real estate executive, is passionate about organic farming would be a gross understatement. Three years ago, the 32-year-old Zhejiang native quit a 200,000-yuan-a-year job in Beijing to return to his hometown, where he put his entire 400,000-yuan-in-savings into a new home for him and his wife and parents, and a 40,000-square-meter farm he leased from local farmers. Shen had decided to live off the land.
You are what you eat: Former-executive-turned-organic-farmer Shen Huiqiang proudly shows his naturally-grown corn from his own field.
Hangzhou cartoon festival kicks off
The seventh International Cartoon Festival has kicked off in Hangzhou, east China. The event will last for six days until Tuesday.
With the theme "cartoon my city and cartoon my life", the Hangzhou cartoon festival holds multiple events including exhibitions, competitions and forums.
More than 300 foreign cartoon companies are attending the event. Hangzhou-made cartoon movie "Dream back to Jinsha City" won the best Chinese Cartoon Award.
Thousands of Beijing residents got into the green spirit last Friday to celebrate the 42nd World Earth Day
During an event organized by Roots and Shoots, artists from China and the United States tried to convey the idea "no waste material is useless" by creating works made out of used paper and plastic.
A wedding gown made of paper, an old tablecloth and a plastic net used to protect packaged fruit was just one of the works on show outside the Capital Library.
"All waste can be turned into art if we make the best of their characteristics," said Cao Zuolan, who made the dress.
As the chief editor of a fashion magazine, Cao likes to design fashionable and environmentally friendly clothes in her spare time, but this was her first attempt at a wedding gown.
A wedding gown made of paper, an old tablecloth and plastic net on show at an Earth Day event on April 23 in front of the Capital Library.
See Kaixin's - GREEN CHINA
1st Beijing international film festival kicked off Saturday
The first Beijing International Film Festival kicked off on Saturday night, April 23, with a star-studded red carpet walk and a grand opening ceremony at the National Center for the Performing Arts.
Among the celebration were heavyweights from Chinese film industry like actor Jackie Chan, Zhang Ziyi, the festival's image ambassadors, and directors John Woo, Peter Chan as well as big names from key international film festivals like Marco Muller from Italy, Cameron Bailey from Toronto and Lee Yong Kwan from Busan.
Renowned director Darren Aronofsky from Oscar-winning film "Black Swan" and Rob Minkoff, helmer of "Lion King" and "The Forbidden Kingdom" also showed up for the spectacular gathering.
This event marks another world shaking event in Beijing after it successfully hosted the Olympic Games in 2008, and a big stride the modern metropolis has made to have the same influence in the world's cinema culture alongside sports.
As the culture center of China, the capital city produced the very first Chinese film "The Battle of Dingjunshan" in 1905 and takes up 50% in the country's film output, said Guo Jinlong, mayor of Beijing at the ceremony.
Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi, image ambassadors for the 1st Beijing International Film Festival walk the red carpet at the festival's opening ceremony in Beijing's the National Center for the Performing Arts Saturday night, April 23, 2011.
See Kaixin's - Chinese Movies
CCTV Beijing International Film Festival kicks off at NCPA - VIDEO
One of the most anticipated events in China's film industry this year and the first ever Film Festival in the capital, "Beijing International Film Festival" kicked off at the National Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday. Many renown directors, actors and actresses walked the red carpet.
Organized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Beijing Municipal Government, the festival saw Top Chinese film stars and renowned directors such as Fan Bingbing and Feng Xiaogang strut their stuff in front of the Beijing and international media.
Meanwhile, the opening ceremony also saw many international representatives of the movie industry attend including John Woo, Lion King Director Rob Mintoff, actors Edmond Wong and Director Bak-Ming. International movie stars Jackie Chan and Zhang Ziyi were featured as the "Image Ambassadors" of the event, who have contributed much of their efforts on promoting not only the film festival, but also the city of Beijing.
Ethnic Minority Languages Film Festival kicks off
As part of the ongoing Beijing International Film Festival, "China's Ethnic Minority Languages Film Festival" is an event that screens films produced by China's ethnic minority groups. This is the first time that a film festival has dedicated an independent event to ethnic films in the country.
Opened in Jackie Chan Cinema on Monday, the panorama features 30 films from 12 ethnic minority groups, all shot in their native languages with Chinese and English subtitles. All the familiar elements representing the minorities such as the Kazakh yurts, yaks on Tibetan Plateau and Mongolian's Horsehead Zither will show up in the panorama.
Jade necklace worth 200 mln Yuan
A staff member shows a jade necklace worth 200 million Yuan (some 30 million U.S. dollars) in a jewelry shop in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, April 24, 2011. It took eight years to finish the 199.8 gramme jade necklace.
Serve the goddess who drinks - VIDEO
You spin a prayer wheel. You bring a pot of butter. You prepare a white Hada. And you buy a bottle of wine.
Bringing all the necessary offerings, China Daily's multimedia reporter Feng Xin takes you to Drashilhakang Monastery, in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet autonomous region, to serve one goddess who drinks.
See Kaixin's -CHINA & TIBET
Chinese tea culture - VIDEO
Q1: Good evening, Zhang Shuo. Can you tell us more about Chinese tea culture?
A1: Yes, tea is the national beverage of China. Chinese are believed to have enjoyed tea drinking for more than four thousand years, the longest in the world. In Traditional Chinese culture, tea drinkers were always considered to be elite and are highly respected by society. Drinking tea also demonstrate personal morality, education, principle and social status. This is why serving tea gradually became an essential part of Chinese social life. In modern China, even the simplest dwelling has a tea set and a water heater for making a hot cup of tea. These implements are symbols of welcome to visitors and neighbors. Traditionally, a visitor to a Chinese home is expected to sit down and drink hot tea while talking.
In Chinese culture, it is also a sign of respect to serve someone tea. A younger person can show respect and thanks to an older person by offering them a cup of tea. This is especially common during big events, like birthdays and during spring festival.
And I want to show you another special occasion where tea is served. It is this, traditional Chinese weddings. In a traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents and serve them tea. This is a way of expressing gratitude to their elders for raising them up.
Also, in modern China, tea is an important social tool. People go to tea houses, not for the drink, but for a place to meet with people. So the next time, if someone ask you out for a cup of tea, it is actually an implicit way to invite you to a gathering.
Over the course of 4 thousand years, tea has also had a major influence on the development of Chinese culture. Tea is a mainstay in Chinese literature, arts, philosophy and also religion. Tea is connected closely with Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Going back to the Tang Dynasty 15 hundred years ago, drinking tea is seen as an essential part of personal cultivation.
Also starting from the Tang Dynasty is the tea ceremony. From there, the art form spread to neighboring countries including Japan and Korea. Unlike the world-renowned Japanese tea ceremony, the Chinese one emphasizes the tea rather than the ceremony, like the taste of the tea and the difference between various cups.
Considering all those aspects, I believe China has done a very good job in the past 4 thousand years to preserve tea culture. However, during my investigation of the tea market, I found that China is not doing so well in translating this rich culture into a world leading business. Let's take a look.
See Kaixin's:
The story of the Pu'er Tea 普洱茶 the famous red tea of China
Chinese green tea -Tie Guan Yin’s story 铁观音
Magic Tibetan Tea - Po Cha 'Tibetan Butter Tea'
“Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival” - VIDEO
With drumbeats thundering and lions dancing, the Beijing Xicheng District Shichahai Maiden Voyage Ceremony was kicked off on the lakeside of Shichahai on April 20, 2011.
Sixteen sculling boats, built according to the renowned Chinese painting “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival”, sailed on the lake. The captain of the ship sang traditional sailing songs, taking the guests to enjoy the beauty of Shichahai, an oasis in the heart of Beijing.
The event was designed to recreate the busy scene of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from ancient times, as well as to attract more tourists by showcasing the charm of Shichahai at the beginning and the end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
The ceremony will become an annual event on the date of Grain Rain, the 6th solar term each year.
The joy of school for Tibetan pupils
Tibetan primary school students write sentences and words on a blackboard on April 18, 2011, in Kangding, Sichuan province. The school with a history of more than 60 years has evolved into a model school in local rural areas for its free and boarding education system.
CCTV Ancient Tibetan temples get makeover VIDEO
Let's head to southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, where ancient Buddhist temples dating back several centuries are receiving a facelift.
A professional team is hard at work to ensure an authentic restoration at Sera Monastery near the regional capital Lhasa.
The Sera Monastery plays a major role in Tibetan Buddhism and culture.
But 600 years of exposure to the plateau's harsh weather has taken its toll on the temple just north of Lhasa.
See Kaixin's - CHINA & TIBET
Tsinghua in her students' eyes - VIDEO
If you love a place, you dread any moment of it slipping away. So you take pictures.
That's the way a group of Tsinghua students have chosen to record the most treasured years of their lives – the time they spent on the Tsinghua University campus.
After sharing these photos on the Internet for some years, they decided to make an album of their best works as a present for the university's centenary.
Chinese state councilor visits Harvard University
BOSTON, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong says she expects Harvard University to continue playing an active role in promoting exchanges of education, science and technology, and culture between China and the United States.
Havard has shared a long-standing friendship with China and has established fruitful cooperation with several higher education institutions in China in recent years, Liu said at a welcome reception hosted by the world-renowned university on Wednesday.
China mulls legislation on domestic violence: women' s federation
CHANGCHUN, April 14 (Xinhua) - Drafting China's first independent law on domestic violence has already been put on the country's top legislature's agenda, an official with the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) said.
This would be the country's first independent and comprehensive law on domestic violence, as currently only a few clauses in several other laws, such as the Marriage Law, have addressed some aspects of the offence.
Chinese Women's Research Network (WSIC)
All0China Women's Federation (ACWF)
Women in China
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