This post is a reprint of a post by WSJ that originally appeared at WSJ.com: China Real Time Report.
Sino-American cooperation to increase product safety is increasing, but this does not relieve concern about the safety of food and other Chinese exports to the U.S., Stanley Lubman writes.
This post is a reprint of a post by Elaine Chow that originally appeared at Shanghaiist.
While one of them found a rollicking second life as a haunted house, there are other equally haunting buildings on Suzhou Creek that haven’t been put to use. A member of our Shanghaiist Flickr pool, Hey It’s William, went by last month to snap pictures of some of the abandoned, surprisingly graffitied, buildings by the water.
More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).
This post is a reprint of a post by WSJ that originally appeared at WSJ.com: China Real Time Report.
Motorola seems to be trying in earnest to do things right in China, where it has lost significant market-share in recent years.
This post is a reprint of a post by WSJ that originally appeared at WSJ.com: China Real Time Report.
The country that brought the world martial arts is about to get a taste of American-style extreme fighting, with the introduction of the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization in Asia.
This post is a reprint of a post by alextaggart that originally appeared at Beijing > Articles .
Date: Aug 30th 2010 11:25a.m.
Contributed by:
alextaggart
Beijing’s Public Security Bureau unleashed a crackdown this July on illegal taxis. As with many previous operations, however, this “Pulse Action” crackdown appears ineffective in the face of a growing number of commuters who prefer cabs, legal or illegal, over public transport.
“There are always a lot of hei che,” explains Mr. Li, a hei che driver who said he had not even heard of the crackdown. “Of course, there are some places near Wangfujing where we know we shouldn’t pick anyone up, but, if anything, there seems to be more hei che.”
One exchange student we spoke to, Rafael Muñoz, said he hadn’t noticed any changes either: “I always take [motorbike taxis] near Gulou and Houhai—this week was the same as any other.”
Targeting over 200 high-incidence areas, “Pulse Action” has sniffed out 4,000 illegal taxis and detained over 300 drivers. The police have raised maximum fines to ¥20,000 and dispatched officers to suburban subway stations to catch hei che drivers. Still, in areas near The Place and 798, illegal taxis are often the only option.
Inclement weather is another factor in the continuing market for hei che. Fearing accidents, many taxi drivers stop driving in heavy rain, making hei che the only option, often at twice the cost of a legitimate taxi.
“A hei che should always cost twice the cost of a cab,” says Mr. Li. “We provide a service for people when there aren’t other options.”
If the financial cost doesn’t deter passengers, perhaps education about another cost will: according to official statistics, the first half of 2010 saw 46 injuries and five deaths in motorbike taxis alone.
Despite the dangers, many Beijingren continue to take them. Says Chris Haagen, a teacher from the United States, “Sometimes when …
This post is a reprint of a post by ellaoc that originally appeared at Beijing > Articles .
Date: Aug 29th 2010 11:07a.m.
Contributed by:
ellaoc
Feigning a outwardly nonchalent “I don’t really care if you stop and pick me up or not, I’m so Miranda ‘Sex in the City’ cool and big-city zen right now” image in my own mind, whilst desperately flailing my arms around trying to hail a cab, before one or all of my three children either, a) run out on to the road, b) pee themselves or, c) kill me with whining, is one of Beijing’s daily rituals for me.
And, before those cynics out there have time to cry out, “why doesn’t she just buy a car?” or “leave the kids at home with ayi you silly women!” or “get a driver!” – I must say that, unfortunately, whilst all these solutions for negating transport stress have crossed my mind and would be welcomed with open arms, our budget just doesn’t stretch that far. Now, let’s look at this situation with rose-tinted glasses…. what ‘bonding’ experiences we have had as a family unit in these cabs, what strength of character we have built by being inadvertently being thrown in to (cue: scary music) the ‘ride from hell’, we, (cue: disco music) have survived, we have survived…hey, hey…
Let me elaborate by narrowing this down to two very different driver types:
The long-suffering, intolerant driver:
You know the type. You bundle in, all prams, babies, bags, noise, clutter and exhaustion and say nicely to the driver…”women qu..oh, hang on, I just need to look at my taxi book..if I could just pass you the baby while I get it out of my handbag….oh bugger, the pages are stuck together from the spilt lip gloss without a lid that’s been lurking precariously in the bottom of that bag for months…..sorry …
This post is a reprint of a post by Oliver Kronos that originally appeared at Shanghaiist.
China’s claim on the South China Sea
“>territorial claims all over the place.
If there’s any nation that’s been “showing some sack” recently, it’s China. With rumors swirling about its grandiose naval ambitions – to draw a “string of pearls” across the Indian Ocean, dominate the western Pacific, expand influence across Oceania, just to name a few – China’s neighbors have evidently become a bit bothered. However, most contentious of all is China’s extraordinary claim to 80% of the South China Sea, a territorial matter which according to some reports, Beijing considers a “core national interest” – on par with Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang.
The escalation of the South China Seas issue was widely reported after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s July 23 remarks at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi, where she called for a multilateral settlement of the many conflicting claims over control of the South China Sea and its riches in accordance with UNCLOS. Clinton’s statement served to bolster the positions of smaller nations and was viewed Beijing as a “sneak attack” on very this very sensitive area.
Not to be outdone, it was reported on Thursday that China erected a flag on the seabed of the South China Sea at a depth of nearly 4000 meters, although it is not stated where exactly the flag-planting took place.
“This success also shows that our country has become one of the handful possessing deep-sea manned submersible technology,” Liu Feng, the engineer in charge of the deep-sea dive, told television news.
Now, we all remember when the Russian Federation planted a flag on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean to assert its claim over that territory.
While that is still a matter of dispute, if the Chinese get the South China Sea and the Russians get the Arctic Ocean, does this mean the United States owns the moon?
This post is a reprint of a post by davidfeng that originally appeared at Beijing > Articles .
Date: Aug 27th 2010 9:41a.m.
Contributed by:
davidfeng
…even though just all the “massy streets” (there’s a little Chinglish with Kunming inspiration on a recent visit) seem full of folks who are going the wrong way or are crossing when millions of pedestrian traffic lights are, well, obviously RED.
The Beijing police will start clamping down on the practice early next month, with pedestrians and bikes fined up to CNY 50 in case they happen to resist a red light and walk in front of oncoming traffic. And although it’s more a case of letting pedestrians through in any case for the drivers (a life should not have a price tag attached to it), it sure is an inconvenience for those with a steering wheel in hand.
If you’ve a driving licence in hand and think you can get away with the mess — especially if you’re one for occupying bus lanes against the law — the cops will be installing those scary road-rule enforcement cameras on the ends of the buses.
Which means that if you escape a fixed camera, if that’s a trolleybus coming and you’re on that bit of the road you’re not supposed to be in, boom. You’re now CNY 200 poorer per offence.
Finally, the emergency lanes will also be watched much more than before. The one by Sihui Bridge where you’re heading west to the CBD from the eastern and southern 4th Rings is especially horrendous. You’ll overtake a slowpoke on the right lane (WARNING! Emergency lane!), get back in lane — only to see that the whole thing has been recorded on tape.
Here’s a thing: instead of risking the law, just use the Subway, for heaven’s sakes. These underground passageways, part of quite a few Subway exits, are yours to use …
This post is a reprint of a post by ChinaTechNews.com Editor that originally appeared at ChinaTechNews.com.
Chinese mobile Internet company KongZhong Corporation today announced its unaudited second quarter 2010 financial results. Total revenues for the quarter increased 9% year-over-year to USD35.3 million and total gross margin was 48% in the second quarter of 2010, an increase of 44% from the previous quarter in 2010. Net income was USD2.6 million, and KongZhong [...]
This post is a reprint of a post by WSJ that originally appeared at WSJ.com: China Real Time Report.
A new report aims to rebalance the world’s approach to health in developing countries like China, particularly when it comes to cancer care.
