China in the News

[Anonymous]

The morning news ran a brief story on the preparations for the Beijing Olympics. With about 500 days to go - crews are working 24 hours a day, and projects are estimated to cost about 1.5 billion dollars. In just a few days we will get to see this in person...

Christina Varela

[Anonymous]

Today, in the Daily Breeze, "Ruby Yang, who won an Oscar for a documentary about orphans of Chinese AIDS patients, says Beijing is now more open about the disease after being accused of covering up the 2003 SARS outbreak." Yang won an Oscar last month for her documentary, "The Blood of Yingzhou District." She is pleased to report that the Chinese government is now putting more effort into public service announcements about AIDS.
Jewell

[Anonymous]

I'll be interested to hear from you traveling to China, how Beijing is faring. When we were there last year it seemed as though the entire city was under construction. I wonder if they're still making progress. I also wonder how the pollution will be. Last year everything was grey: buildings, sky. I wonder if it will be any better for your trip this year.

[Anonymous]

USA Today posted an article online today titled, "Chinese officials cracking down on bad English to prepare for Olympics". The article stated that over 500,000 foreigners will be expected for the Olympics and bad English will be an embarrassment to the country. as a result, Beijing officials are discussing ways to encourge city members to help by setting up a hotline for people to call to report nonsense English. Officials are also trying to rid "bad" manners in pulic such as spitting in the streets. I found this quite interesting as we just witnessed this as a typical way of life. As for the English signs, I am just so impressed with the number of people that speak English-and not the least offended that the language might read a little "off"!
Hope you all are recovering from Jet-lag!

Stephanie

[Anonymous]

Apparently the Chinese are on to something with Tai Chi!!

Today, with the art and exercise of tai chi growing in popularity across the United States, scientists have found that older adults who practice this martial art strengthen themselves against an opponent as stubborn as any — the tiny chickenpox virus, which can cause a painful and often persistent nerve inflammation called shingles.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-taichi16apr16,1,6364062.story

[Anonymous]

This is very appropo for what we saw and discussed while in China

China, U.S. taking notes on education
Experts are trying to adapt the strengths of two differing systems -- the yin and yang of teaching styles.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-school8apr08,1,2855244.story

[Anonymous]

With models like the Hover and Roewe, Chinese-brand cars aren't household names in the U.S. and other big markets _ not yet, at least. But Chinese upstart automakers with equally obscure names such as Chery, Geely and SAIC are challenging industry leaders like General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota in the fast-growing China market.

China Cars Face Hurdles to Sell Abroad
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700876.html

[Anonymous]

Beijing Olympics tickets go on sale

BEIJING - More than seven million very affordable tickets are now on sale for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) announced on Sunday. About 75% of the tickets will be sold domestically and the rest will be available to the overseas public.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/2008/2007-04/15/content_850780.htm

[Anonymous]

China launches "Compass" navigation satellite

China on early Saturday morning launched a navigation satellite, part of the country's "Compass" navigational system, which is expected to provide services to customers all over China and neighboring countries by 2008.

The "Compass" navigational system is mainly designed for the country's economic development, providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security, among others.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366478.html

[Anonymous]

In the news, the long-forgotten ancient Silk Road is witnessing a new rise as a famous attraction in Xinjiang. According to Xinjiang Regional Tourism Adminstration, tourism has become a backbone for Xinjiang with more than 360 thousand tourists visiting it from abroad in the last 12 months. Perhaps, we will have the opportunity to visit this area of China next year.
Lea[Edit by="lfrlekin on Apr 17, 3:19:44 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Not only is the city of Xinjiang becoming an importart part of the Silk Road experience for tourists, the city of Luoyang has recently dedicated a monument marking the Eastern Starting Point of the Silk Road. It is said that silk trade with the West in Luoyand started in the early Shang Dynasty.

[Anonymous]

During our visit to China, we certainly experenced poor air quality. Evidently, on extremely bad days, the dust is blown to Beijing from dried salt lakes, wasteland, and degraded grassland. A researcher said that on April 16, last year, a total of 336,000 tons of sand fell in Beijing in the form of a large sandstorm. We can be glad that our visit was not scheduled on this date! For the past 50 years, people in Beijing and Tianjin have tried to control the sandstorms by planting many trees. However, according to the researchers, this method has not been very effective. They are now suggesting that people improve the ecological environment by growing more grass instead of planting trees.

[Anonymous]

Did you find that in Beijing everything was grey? Last year, I think we all remarked that there didn't seem to be much vegetation in Beijing, the buildings all seemed grey, the sky, everything. Did anyone have any asthma trouble? Last year I had to use my inhaler a few times.

[Anonymous]

During our trip, we experienced several days of poor air quality. When we first arrived in Shanghai, it was overcast. It was especially uncomfortable for those of us wearing contact lenses. Our sun glasses became very important in order to protect our eyes. Evidently, this air quality was primarily due to dust coming from the desert. This situation primarily affects Beijing during the spring. However, we felt the results in Shanghai. It was a good thing that Beijing was on our itinerary later during the trip. When we visited the Great Wall, it was the best day. The weather was nice and the sky was clear. This was probably our best day of weather. All cities are planting lots of trees and vegetation. I was actually amazed at the cleanliness and landscaping of the roadways. They are trying to really beautify these areas. The excessive amount of smoking on the streets, in the restaurants, and in the hotels, was an issue for lots of us. We are fortunate that our government has taken a stand on a smoke free environment.

[Anonymous]

Today, the Daily Breeze reported that the FDA is looking into the pet food-tainting issue. Investigators are being allowed to visit production plants in China, as soon as, their visas arrive. According to the report, melamine's have been found in both wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. Now, I wonder if any other products (rice, spaghetti, flour, etc.) meant for human consumption could also be tainted with melamine's.

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