chinadaily.com.cn - 29 Dec 2006

Press excerpts

Opening China: Changed Regulations on Foreign Media

Foreign journalists 'welcome in China'
New regulations for foreign media may be prolonged

As of December 1, 2006, foreign journalists in China may interview anybody with the consent of the interviewee only - the scope is not only sports but also politics, the economy, society and other fields. The new rules expire on October 17, 2008 (after the Olympics) but might be extended. They replace restrictions that have been in place from 1990 (when Regulations on the Supervision of Foreign Journalists and Resident Foreign News Organs were issued).

There are currently 606 resident journalists from 319 foreign news organizations of 49 countries working in China. About 3,000 to 5,000 foreign journalists visit China each year.

"I'd very much like to go to rural areas in China because
farmers' issues are the biggest challenge for China."
Joanna Brent, spokeswoman of the WHO China Office

Nouveau Rich Undermining Family Planning

Are the rich challenging family planning policy?
China adheres to family planning policy: premier

According to the family planning introduced in the 1980s:
- An urban couple can have a second child, if both husband and wife are the only children.
- Farmers can have a second if their first child is a girl.
This regulation helped Asia's biggest economy reduce its population by 300 million.

- Those who have second children are fined, but for the rich, the fines are more than affordable:
A shoe factory boss who has a net value of 14 million yuan had to pay some 60,000 yuan (US7, 500$) in fines for his second child, Web portal sohu.com reported.
- Returned overseas Chinese can have the second child.
- For Shanghai's emerging bourgeois, it's popular for the mothers to give birth to their second children in foreign countries, thereby securing a visa for them.
- Gender identification for non-medical purposes will be severely punished and policies advocating the rights of girls and women as well as gender equality and birth control will be carried out.
- Countryside is the priority and the most difficult task of family planning, where maintaining a low birth rate is crucial.
- Family planning among migrant workers needs to be strengthened as well.

chinadaily.com.cn - 29 Dec 2006

Press excerpts

Death Sentences in China

Top court reviews all death sentences
The Supreme People's Court will now take a closer look at death sentences passed by the local courts. From January 1, it will review all death sentences in the country.
Each case will be reviewed by a team of three judges. They will be required to check the facts, laws applied and criminal procedures adopted.
Courts at all levels must exercise extreme caution when passing the death sentence, and the penalty should be reserved for only an "extremely small number" of serious offenders.

Nie Shubin, a young farmer in North China's Hebei Province, was executed in 1995 after being convicted of raping and murdering a local woman. But early last year, a rape and murder suspect arrested by police confessed he had committed the crime.

Shaanxi 'Temple Killer' loses appeal, executed
Qiu Xinghua was executed with a single gunshot near a river in Ankang, Shaanxi Province. The court found that Qiu killed 10 people in a temple near his home, because he thought one of the victims flirted with his wife which was found to be not true. However, lawyers and scholars have voiced doubts about Qiu's mental state.
Some experts believe that Qiu was clear-minded while committing the crimes. Li Meijin, a psychology professor at the Chinese People's Public Security University, said Qiu filled in a psychological questionnaire which showed he was in control of his faculties.

Gang members sentenced in Loudi
Seven of the 97-member gang, which committed crimes as murder, gambling, blackmailing and drug trafficking from 1990 to 2003, were sentenced to death, four to suspended death, and seven to life imprisonment.
----------

China issues white paper on national defense
- China pursues a national defense policy which is purely defensive in nature.
- Its strategic task is to build a powerful and fortified national defense, to build informationized armed forces being capable of winning informationized wars by the mid-21st century.

chinadaily.com.cn - 26 Dec 2006

Press excerpts

Rich-poor divide serious, study finds

..Today in China, rich people, accounting for 10 per cent of the population, control 45 per cent of the total social fortune, and poor people, also 10 per cent of the population, only control 1.4 per cent..

..There are 130 million poor people in China, most earning less than US$1 a day..

..While the white collars in Beijing are planning a New Year trip to Hong Kong or Thailand, many others are trying to scrimp and save and worrying about increasing costs in medical care and food.

..A good educational background and knowledge were not the decisive factors in gaining wealth..

Blue book: Medical costs China's top social concern

..Medical expenses had risen to 11.8 percent of household consumption in China, surpassing expenditure on education and transportation.

..Most rural dwellers have no medical insurance.

..One third of poor rural patients in China choose not to go to hospital and 45 percent of the hospitalized farmers ask to be discharged before they have recovered.

..Unemployment was the second major concern, followed by the wealth gap, corruption, pensions, educational charges, housing prices, public security, social values, and pollution, according to the blue book.

..83.4 percent believe the social problems are temporary and 91.6 percent believe the Communist Party of China and the government are able to deal with the problems satisfactorily.

Subsidy net to cover all rural poor

..The rural poor are the most vulnerable segment of the population that must be taken care of in the country's drive to build a 'harmonious society..

..In particular, the allowances would help those who have lost their farmlands to development projects..

..The amount of allowance for each person will not be large, since there are many in need..

Social safety top concern of urbanites

..Social security has edged out employment to become the top concern of residents in urban China where a record number of jobs were created this year..

Unified 25% corporate tax proposed

..After enjoying favourable tax policies for decades, overseas companies may have to pay the same as their Chinese counterparts a unified corporate income tax of 25 per cent.

Happy End of 2006!

Unexpectedly, I spent quite Christmas like last few days.

On Friday, there was the invitation of a manager to her house to celebrate with her employees, colleagues, husband, an American colleague and me the Western style Christmas. There was the tree, home made delicious food, and presents. Thanks Fang!! :)

On Saturday, my office mate Carter and his wife took me for a trip to the Great Wall (Badaling) and Ming Tombs (Dingling). It was freezing, but still sunny; the wall was quite crowded, the tombs empty, but the tomb museum was very interesting and the history related to that including the Cultural Revolution consequences equally insightful (during that period, the original tombs were thrown away with all its remnants to be used by farmers most probably as lavatories.. a sad end for emperor's tombs).

The area of the tombs looks like a very badly kept park for weekend amusement for families, ..many of the gates no longer exist, however it still draws many visitors like me. The place is set in a beautiful countryside with views of nearby mountains and fields, the right place for emperors to be buried. Out of 16 Ming emperors, 13 were buried in the area. Dingling is the only Ming tomb excavated up till now, the works started in 1956 and finished two years later.

On Sunday the day was spent in a beautiful Lama Temple full of peaceful atmosphere with people burning incense as an offering to Buddha. There is the Guiness Book of World Records listed Maitreya Buddha made of one piece of sandal wood 18 meters high. There is also a statue of Congkhapa who was the founder of yellow hats in the 15th century, ..and many other preserved statues, but mainly the place is full of live because of the pilgrim visitors.

In the afternoon I was lucky to get in touch with some friends (thanks Jan for getting me in touch with Regis) who took me to antiques market where they were looking for items for their house/appartment. (The photo above is from there.) The storage place was quite big and full of old statues, furniture of various quality, price, allure, and stubborn sellers who did not want to reduce the price. Finally everyone was happy, all of my 3 friends bought something (kitchen table, wooden Buddha, big stelae with Chinese inscriptions)!

There was a dinner organized by the local French community in a small and friendly restaurant in the center of Beijing, to which I was invited by these friends. Many people turned up, about 25, from all 'walks of life' - French/English teachers, professionals, travelers, students of Chinese and Chinese culture and politics.

Katarina, a Quebecoise, who had a good knowledge of Russia and has traveled to Bohemia, asked me about the origin of word 'Vanoce'; we divined that 'noce' comes from night but I could not find any explanation for the preceding 'va'. So here it is, according to internet: it might come from the German "Weihnachten" originating from the pagan festivities of winter solstice - on sacred nights - "zu den wîhen nahten", so the Czech version might have kept the first part and translate the latter one..

Winter solstice (shortest day or longest night in year) now fell on 22 December, and in China, people celebrate this with having dumplings for dinner. Enjoy!


..Children playing at the antiques market

Summer Palace (1750)

It is quite near to my hotel and I headed there on Sunday morning. It was quite cold, however the place was crowded mainly by Chinese tourists.

I found a spot with elderly people practicing Tai Chi, it looked impressive to see fluent movements full of strength and power, intensified by the place of an old pavilion overlooking the lake. I was told that people usually practice Tai Chi in parks round 6 am, and I might find a teacher or a class in a university (there is the Peking University nearby).

I was going with the AudioGuide (recorded description of significant places being played automatically when you approach such a location) equipped with my camera, and I just fell victim to taking pictures for most of the time. The place is very big and requires fast walking if one wants to see everything..

It is on the outskirts of the inner Beijing, the Longevity Hill can be seen from distance and it promises a different, almost out-of-the-city day with views of the lake, and mountains and a pagoda in the near distance.

The whole complex is renovated (some spots rebuilt in the 1990s, renovation is still undergoing for 2008) and at times one has to imagine the spirit of history there..

It was severely destroyed in the war of 1860 (which is always mentioned on the info panel near each site), now on the list of UNESCO World Heritage (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/880).



Detailed info / photos on web, e.g.:
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/summer/index.htm
http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/beijing/summerpalaceindex.htm

Hutong Cafe at the Mouth of Tiananmen Square at Night

..Completely different atmosphere than in the modern city. Small streets, dark corners and whole areas unlit, I was walking there on Sunday evening, it was the first night of my stay it was really freezing.

Strange atmosphere, other passers-by were also bitterly cold, silent, rushing to their place; no one was bothering to stop me with touristic things. I walked it for about an hour then ended up in a small cafe in its heart, selected a meal (vegetables and some meat which turned out to be almost inedible for me.. but I chose it so I was struggling with it for a while before giving up). The locals were apparently enjoying their meal - slices of thick bacon, fat skin and chops of pig tail etc. :)

As I looked quite frozen, the guys at the next table offered me almost immediately something like Slivovice to pour into my fruit juice... and they were quite friendly, me being the only stranger in the cafe. They also offered me their meat.. which I could not refuse.., so for the first time I was trying out pig tail.. just a tiny bit.. :)

We started communicating -- me in Czech, them in Chinese, this whole story ended up translating from Russian by a guy who joined us and who lived in Russia for some time in the 80s. So just sitting with a couple of locals on a freezing night in a hutong in the heart of Beijing...

Hutongs - narrow streets typical for Beijing still about 20-30 years ago. Now they disappear very fast due to the construction megalomania embracing the highly ambitious and awaited year 2008.

People...

All days I have spent in the office so far. So here are faces of my closest colleagues:

The girls.. :)
..Aileen, Joy, Lois, Evi, Jane and Ellen..


..and the guys :)
..Johnson, Carter, Paul and Aaron.



They laugh all the time, speak very fast and mainly Chinese, and are very friendly, helpful and busy (to leave the office on time :)). We all went for a lunch today to a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious!

Office View in Beijing

I go to work by taxi (14 yuan) or by bus no. 307 (1 yuan) and it takes about 20 minutes depending on the traffic. I am working in a large office park like there are many around the world..

Apartment....

For 6 weeks, I will be living in this hotel apartment, 60 sq meters with kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. Nice. (More pictures later..)

Hotel View in Beijing

Two pictures from my hotel apartment in Beijing, near Summer Palace. My first impression was that I landed on a construction site somewhere out of the city...

Who is Buba? - II

Another appearance of Buba..

..It is also a Volkswagen Beetle (in Serbian, buba means a beetle) which I have had for many years but did not take care of much. I am planning to get the beetle flying again next year..

Winter in China

I will be in China from December 8th 2006 till February 18th 2007 working, learning, dancing and travelling.

Who is Buba? - I

..There seem to be several appearances of Buba..

Buba by a Mexican designer and cartoon writer Jose Quintero.

Richard Bach - Illusions II

Another excerpt from Bach's book..

"The thing that puzzles you," he said, "is an accepted saying that happens to be impossible. The phrase is hurt somebody else. We choose, ourselves, to be hurt or not to be hurt, no matter what. Us who decides. Nobody else. My vampire told you he'd be hurt if you didn't let him? That's his decision to be hurt, that's his choice. What you do about it is your decision, your choice: give him blood; ignore him; tie him up; drive a stake of holly through his heart. If he doesn't want the holly stake, he's free to resist, in whatever way he wants. If goes on and on, choices, choices."

..I particularly like the sentence "We choose, ourselves, to be hurt or not to be hurt, no matter what" on the conditionality of being hurt. I still find this idea strange, uncomfortable (Me being responsible for my feelings of being hurt?.. Am I emotional masochist?.. Does it apply in all cases?) but I think of it quite often and I am fascinated by this idea thinking if I implemented it, my life could be much easier. :) A matter of changing thinking, a long process..