A somewhat biased view on China…
The avian influenza virus H5N1 analyzed in the human cases in China is different compared to the ones related to victims in Vietnam. The virus is mutating.
This mutation still cannot cause human-to-human transmission. If the virus further mutates to a point where transmission between human being becomes easy, this could result in a global pandemic capable of killing hundreds millions of people.
So far, there has been 132 confirmed cases including 68 death. Most of the human cases have been reported in Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Chinese mainland.
Source
China View - 2005 11 29
Last Sunday, an explosion occured at the mine in the city of Qitaihe (????), in the HeiLonJiang (????) province in the North East of China. 221 miners were working underground. 140 of them already died, 72 have been rescued and 11 are still missing.
The compensation for the relatives of the victims has been announced. Each familly will receive between 200,000 and 220,000 RMB (between 24,600 and 27,100 USD)
The Chinese government is trying to modernize the mines all over China and to shut down the most dangerous ones. However, efforts in that direction are difficult due to the demand in power and energy to sustain the country’s booming economy. Yesterday, another explosion occurred in an illegal coal mine. After investigation, it appeared the mine was owned by Peng Guocai, a local official in charge of the coal mine security. 18 people died in that incident.
This happened in HeiLongJiang province, which is only recovering from the SongHua river (???) ecological catastrophe. The water supply has been restored in Harbin (???) bu the benzene slick - 60 km long - is now crossing rural areas before crossing the border to Russia. Russia is expected to stop the water supply in Khabarovsk and some other 70 cities. Chinese government made official appologizes to Russia last Sunday.
This really shows the difficult challenge faced by China. At a global level, the government wants more transparency in order to uncover the problems and improve the system. However, mostly due to corruption, local officials are still taking part in illegal activities and hiding the issues.
Sources
China Daily - 2005 11 29
China View - 2005 11 28
Times Online - 2005 11 29
Le vent de la Chine - 2005 11 28
Next April 12-16, Nordic Ways will organize the first Mountain Bike Festival in the Huang Shan (??) - the Yellow Mountains - located in the South of the Anhui Province. The Huang Shan, UNESCO World Heritage since 1990, is famous for its landscapes, hot springs, Mao Feng green tea.
The Festival will take place in Yellow Mountain and the traditional villages of HongCun (??) and XiDi (??). Participants will explore rare and marvelous nature by bike, enjoy great cycling, top entertainment and fascinating culture.
You may find more information on their website or by contacting directly Michelle Hsia .
Links
Nordic Ways
Huang Shan Mountains on Wikipedia
HuangShan Mountains, UNESCO World Heritage
HongCun and XiDi traditional villages, UNESCO World Heritage
In Asia, the smileys they use are totally differents and I thought it could be interesting to have a look at (some of) them.
Some basic concepts in asian emoticons…
Let’s take one of the most popular asian smileys as an example… (^_^)
The mouth
- It is optional! (^^) is less obvious but totally accepted!
- You may make the difference between males (^_^) and females (^.^) Females are not supposed to show their teeth…
- You may also show that you are happy or even laughing. (^o^)
(more…)
The province of JiangXi (??) experienced its biggest earthquake since 1949 with a magnitude of 5.7 on the Richter scale. At least 16 persons were killed and more than 370 injured. 130,000 houses have been damaged and 420,000 have been evacuated to safer place in fear of aftershocks.
This earthquake was quite violent but, fortunately not as deadly as previous earthques. In July 1976, Tangshan (??) in the East of Beijing was severely hit and 242,000 persons died and 164,000 injured. The city was erased from the map in just a few seconds!
Links
TangShan earthquake - 28 of July, 1976
China Daily - 2005 11 26
Well… It seems that you really need to be beautiful. And if you qualify the following conditions:
Then, you might have the chance to become a Shenzhen millionaire’s wife! He is 1.77 meters high, nearly 40 years of age, and has an annual income of at least 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million).
How do I know this?
Well, the guy published a full-page advertisement - costing 210,000 yuan - in Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News on Wednesday. More than 5,000 copies of the newspaper were circulated in Shanghai universities. Anyone who help him find the perfect bride will be awarded a trip abroad.
The identity of the millionaire has not been disclosed.
Source
Another way to become a Shenzhener
China Daily
For you people who want to learn Chinese Mandarin online, I discovered a PodCast dedicated to learning Chinese presented by Ken Carroll and Jenny Zhu.
Ken Carroll is from Ireland and spent 17 years in greater China managing education businesses. He also worked as a Radio host in China for 6 years and as the Chairman of Irish Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.
Jenny Zhu is from Shanghai and studied Masters Policy Analysis at the University of New South Wales and has an Advanced Certificate in Translation and Interpretation. She works for the public relations at launch of Chivas Regal, Shanghai Grand Prix and other events
Ken and Jenny propose an on-demand free daily podcast. The podcasts are on-demand, you may vote for the next topics. Each of them is classified as beginner, intermediate or advanced. While the MP3 are downloadable for free, you will have to pay - from 20$ to 30$ a month - to get access to premium features such as PDF transcripts, exercices, personalized word bank. ChinesePod podcasts can be automatically downloaded into your iTunes. Making it easy to listen to them when and where you want.
There are so far 46 beginner and 3 intermediate podcasts. And they are adding one more every day!
Links
ChinesePod Website
ChinesePod RSS Feed
This news is dedicated to Jenny… Sorry though, it’s not Brad Pitt, Keanu or Jude.
Tom Cruise is currently in Xitang(??), east China’s Zhejiang Province (??) where he is filming part of Mission Impossible III. He will then continue filming in downtown Shanghai (??) in the coming days.
For those who don’t know, Xitang(??) is a beautiful city where 9 rivers converge, dividing the town into 8 sections with many bridges link this water town together.
I’ve never been there but I might consider going… After having a look at their website, it seems similar to other small river cities in the West of Shanghai.
Sources
China Daily - 2005 11 24
City of Xitang
A few days ago, a short news said that the water supply would be shut down in Harbin (???) for four days. Now, information is starting to flood… and not only information. A huge pollution slick, 80 kilometers long, is reaching the doors of Harbin. The polluted SongHua river (???) is the drinking water source of Harbin, one of China’s biggest cities with about 10 millions people.
A Benzene plant situated upstream in the nearby city of Jilin (??) along the Songhua river exploded on November 13, 2005. The Benzene levels were 108 times the national safety levels. People from Harbin started leaving the city or buying all available water and containers in the shops.
On November 22, city officials decided to cut off the water supply for four days. The price of bottled water doubled, schools and public bathhouses were closed.
On November 23, water supply was reinstated for 12 hrs because officals concluded that the toxic water would not reach the city until November 24. This allowed people to store some more water for the next days.
This morning at 5:00 am, the polluted water finally reached Harbin with level of Benzene 29 times above safety levels.
People who drink the polluted water can have from oral festering to leukaemia depending on how much they drink. I’m wondering how long it will take to handle 80 kilometers of polluted water.
The government allocated 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) to deal with emergencies; and 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to help the poor, elderly and those living alone. 10 hospitals have been designated to treat patients in case they drink contaminated water.
Other cities upstream or downstream will not suffer as much as Harbin because they mostly rely on underground sources of drinkable water.
Sources
China Daily - 2005 11 24
Wikipedia - Harbin
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