A somewhat biased view on China…
Harbin (哈尔滨, Hā’ěrbīn), the very same city that was heavily hit by the huge pollution slick on the SongHua river (松花江, sōng hūa jīang) (1) (2), will open its annual Ice Festival next week on Thursday the 5th. The Festival will last for one month.
The first organized show took place in 1963 and it became annual in 1985. During the Festival, the whole city, especially the parks, is decorated with ice and snow scsulpture. The most amazing spots are the Snow Festival and the Ice and Snow World.
The Snow Festival consists of a international competition of Snow Sculptures. Each team receives a big cube of packed snow and start carving it. And man, the sculptures are really beautifull! If you go there, I advice you stay until just after sunset, when the sculptures are illuminated.
After the Snow Festival, on the way back to Harbin, you’ll find the Ice and Snow World. There, you’ll find huge constructions made of ice blocks. When I went there in 2003, they had a huge boat, the cathedral Notre Dame, etc.
If you like to eat in a fridge, you may even try the Ice Restaurant. Everything is made of ice, from the walls of the restaurant to the furnitures. It covers 260 square meters and provides Hot Pot.
So, if you find Beijing not cold enough, go to Harbin and enjoy its -30C! 
And if you go there, try that Ice Restaurant and send me pictures!!!
Source
China Daily - 2005 12 30
Any western visitor in China will be amazed about the number of small jobs in the streets, shops, restaurant, etc. Some might even think that the system is good for fighting unemployment rates. And it’s true, till a given extent.
A recent survey showed that 80% of the private enterprises in China have not signed contracts with their employees. 80 percents!!! This means that those employees can be fired without notice, do not benefit any right to medical treatment, and do not receive pension fund contribution from their employers.
And for the 20% remaining enterprises, some only state the obligations of the employee and the rights of the employer. Some even state that the enterprise will not be liable in case of illness or death of the employee, even when injuries occur in the workplace.
Besides contracts there are also other issues such as salaries lower than the minimum wages, late payment and employers refusing to provide an insurance.
This situation is due to the growing unemployment rate in the major cities and the 150 million surplus workers in countryside.
Do you need a last example to understand the situation better? The All-China Federation of Trade Unions shows that more than 100 billion Yuan (US$12.1 billion) was owed in unpaid wages to migrant laborers in China last year.
On a positive note, the Chinese Government knows that there are big issues in China and the media talk more and more about it. This news made the first page on China Daily.
Links
China Daily - 2005 12 29
The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and its work
iPod are not that cheap in China… except if… ermmmm… well…
Hahaha! I’m wondering who would buy something like this! It really looks like a Portable Audio Player but who would mistake this for an iPod? Let’s see if Apple will even bother putting a lawyer on this one…
After 4.5 years in China and 5 appartments, a few friends convinced me to organize my first House Warming Party… And Waow!!! That was a party!
We were 30 people and 11 nationalities: Korean, Chinese, French, Spanish, Indian, Italian, American, English, Malaysian, Hungarian and Belgian. We had also good food, with a special thanks to Jacques for his fish head and bowl of worms… :-S and of course good drinks and good music!
As you will see in the pictures, at a given time in the night, nobody exactly remember what happened…
Thanks again to all of you for coming and see you next time!
This and next Saturday are quite important in the West. Christmas is usually celebrated with the familly while New Year’s Eve is spent with friends. on the 24th, 12 000 kilometers far from Belgium, I will think about my familly gathering near the tree… And then, on the 31st, I’ll remember my friends in Belgium, France, etc. But then…
Chinese New Year will come and then, I’ll get out of Beijing and probably out of China! As usual for the Chinese New Year, the Labour’s Day (May 1st) and the National Day (October 1st), suddenly, billions of people will start to move on the road by bus, train, plane! Most of them are students and migrant workers going back to their cities and villages to see their familly.
This time, they expect to have more than 2 billions persons on the road: 1.8 billion by road, 144 million by train and 15 million by plane. The government is pushing local authorities and petroleum companies to be ready in order to handled this periodical transportation crisis. While Chinese New Year starts on the 29th of January for 15 days, the transportation crisis will last from January 14 to February 22.
CLink and Nico Jewelry will organize a cocktail at Brasserie Flo today 12th of December. This will give you a good opportunity to buy some last Christmas gifts before going back to the West for celebrating Christmas with your familly.
As Gaelle Souchez - the designer behind CLink - says, “Cufflinks inject style into a traditional shirt. Cufflinks are a simple and tasteful accessory to add a unique personal touch to your shirt.”
After 8 years in Vietnam and France, Nicolas Favard is now based in Beijing and will show you his unique jewelry.
The event will take place on Monday 12th December, from 17:30 to 20:30, with free cocktails at Brasserie Flo!
And for those who do not know the Brasserie Flo, here is all you need to show to the taxi driver:
2/F, Rainbow Plaza,
16 Dong San Huan Lu,
Chaoyang District
朝阳区隆博广场东三环路16号
Map
Links
CLink
Brasserie Flo
Today, websites and especially news websites and blogs provide RSS Feeds, an easy way to keep up-to-date witht he changes occuring on a website. For example, Today in China provides you an RSS Feed for the Posts and another one for the comments.
Well, a company in TaiWan - Yi Tien Electronics - proposes a new Product, the rsstroom reader
Wikitravel is… a wiki about travel tips.
Wikitravel covers most of the countries. However, for this short review, I will concentrate on China. Following the usual wiki concept, Wikitravel will improve in content and in quality as the community grows. So far, they already provide some information about major cities, transports, currency, language, etc. They explain how and where to eat, drink, buy things, sleep. They even explain to you how to get a language teacher’s position in China!
For those who are planning a trip to China and who don’t speak Chinese, they might be interested in Wikitravel’s Chinese PhraseBook, covering topics as diverse as basics, problems, numbers, time, colors, transportation, lodging, money, eating, bars, shopping, driving, etc. For example, you’ll know how to say: ???????!
Links
Wikitravel
Wikitravel - China page
Lucianao Pavarotti is back in China for his Farewell Tour. At age 70, he decided to retire end of 2005, after a 44 years singing career. He was in Shanghai last Saturday and is now in Beijing for a few days.
Luciano Pavarotti’s first came to China in 1986 to stage Bohemian by Puccini. He also was here in 2001 with two top tenors - Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras - to stage a performance in the Forbidden City for Beijing’s bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Source
China Daily - 2005 12 08
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