China Chronicles April 23, 2012
- Porsche, 964, Carrera, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong
Daryl Chapman's - Automotive Photography has added a photo to the pool:
Ok, is this a 964.. or 930??
- Ford, Focus, RS, Luk Keng, Hong Kong
Daryl Chapman's - Automotive Photography has added a photo to the pool:
Always have to think of things to do when you're up close with a bigger lens :)
- Lotus, Elise, Tai Mei Tuk, Hong Kong
- Ferrari, F355, GTS, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Daryl Chapman's - Automotive Photography has added a photo to the pool:
Nice Ferrari out in the rain.
- Porsche, 911, 997, GT3RS, Luk Keng, Hong Kong
Daryl Chapman's - Automotive Photography has added a photo to the pool:
Great car and even better looking in this non standard red. The car also has a matte wrap.
- China, Russia in joint navy exercises
CHINA and Russia launched joint naval exercises yesterday that highlight warming ties between the two countries' militaries and growing cooperation in international affairs.
The six days of drills feature simulated anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and search-and-rescue operations, including electronic countermeasures and other sensitive technologies.
Rear Admiral Leonid Sukhanov, Russian naval deputy chief of staff, announced the start of the exercises in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao, home to China's northern fleet.
Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy delivered exercise tasks.
Four warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet, as well as support vessels, warplanes, helicopters and naval infantry are taking part.
China's Defense Ministry said 16 of its ships, including destroyers, escort vessels and hospital ships, and two submarines were participating.
The exercises are the first naval drills to be carried out between China and Russia, following four military exercises involving the two nations since 2005.
The exercises, in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast, focus on joint maritime air defense and defense of marine traffic arteries, including anti-submarine tactics as well as joint efforts to rescue hijacked vessels.
The drills will further promote strategic coordination and mutual trust between the two militaries, according to Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army.
He said the drills will strengthen the navies' ability to confront new regional threats and demonstrate their confidence to maintain peace and stability in the region and world.
Retired Major General Yin Zhuo said that the exercises indicated a high degree of trust between the two militaries.
"It's an excellent exchange for China to be able to drill jointly in such sensitive areas," Yin told China Central Television yesterday.
- China, Russia in joint navy exercises
CHINA and Russia launched joint naval exercises yesterday that highlight warming ties between the two countries' militaries and growing cooperation in international affairs.
The six days of drills feature simulated anti-aircraft, anti-submarine and search-and-rescue operations, including electronic countermeasures and other sensitive technologies.
Rear Admiral Leonid Sukhanov, Russian naval deputy chief of staff, announced the start of the exercises in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao, home to China's northern fleet.
Ding Yiping, deputy commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy delivered exercise tasks.
Four warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet, as well as support vessels, warplanes, helicopters and naval infantry are taking part.
China's Defense Ministry said 16 of its ships, including destroyers, escort vessels and hospital ships, and two submarines were participating.
The exercises are the first naval drills to be carried out between China and Russia, following four military exercises involving the two nations since 2005.
The exercises, in the Yellow Sea off China's east coast, focus on joint maritime air defense and defense of marine traffic arteries, including anti-submarine tactics as well as joint efforts to rescue hijacked vessels.
The drills will further promote strategic coordination and mutual trust between the two militaries, according to Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army.
He said the drills will strengthen the navies' ability to confront new regional threats and demonstrate their confidence to maintain peace and stability in the region and world.
Retired Major General Yin Zhuo said that the exercises indicated a high degree of trust between the two militaries.
"It's an excellent exchange for China to be able to drill jointly in such sensitive areas," Yin told China Central Television yesterday.
- You look sweet on the seat ...
A bride and bridegroom lead the way on a tandem for a wedding day tour of Wujiang City in Jiangsu Province yesterday, joined by more than 100 members of their cycling club. Bride Yi Fan and groom Qiu Qiu fell in love due to their mutual love of cycling. And as well as romantic associations, the couple also wanted an environmentally friendly way to celebrate their big day.
- You look sweet on the seat ...
A bride and bridegroom lead the way on a tandem for a wedding day tour of Wujiang City in Jiangsu Province yesterday, joined by more than 100 members of their cycling club. Bride Yi Fan and groom Qiu Qiu fell in love due to their mutual love of cycling. And as well as romantic associations, the couple also wanted an environmentally friendly way to celebrate their big day.
- 400 stranded in highway collapse
More than 150 vehicles and around 400 people were stranded on a section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region yesterday, after a road collapsed.
This occurred about 8am in the Suotong Village section in Bomi County.
Police have been dispatched to the scene to clear and maintain the road, evacuate people and implement traffic restrictions.
Heavy rainfall and water seeping in beneath the road surface from a nearby river led to the collapse of the 70-meter stretch of highway, said Zhang Zhanwu, leader of the repair teams.
Excavators and loaders are being used in the repair efforts and traffic was expected to resume last night, police said.
This section of the highway also collapsed in July 2010, leading to a 16-day traffic disruption.
- 400 stranded in highway collapse
More than 150 vehicles and around 400 people were stranded on a section of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region yesterday, after a road collapsed.
This occurred about 8am in the Suotong Village section in Bomi County.
Police have been dispatched to the scene to clear and maintain the road, evacuate people and implement traffic restrictions.
Heavy rainfall and water seeping in beneath the road surface from a nearby river led to the collapse of the 70-meter stretch of highway, said Zhang Zhanwu, leader of the repair teams.
Excavators and loaders are being used in the repair efforts and traffic was expected to resume last night, police said.
This section of the highway also collapsed in July 2010, leading to a 16-day traffic disruption.
- Winds disrupt train services
Strong winds affected northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region yesterday, disrupting seven train services and leaving around 7,000 passengers stranded.
From about 5:15am, winds of 117 kilometers per hour were recorded from Turpan to Yuergou, said the Urumqi Railways Bureau. Services had still not resumed last night.
- Winds disrupt train services
Strong winds affected northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region yesterday, disrupting seven train services and leaving around 7,000 passengers stranded.
From about 5:15am, winds of 117 kilometers per hour were recorded from Turpan to Yuergou, said the Urumqi Railways Bureau. Services had still not resumed last night.
- Decrepit school in island tourism hotspot
SHATTERED windows, broken desks and dirty walls are a sad but common sight in rural schools in China's underdeveloped west.
But the same sight can be seen in a classroom in Sanya, a bustling tourist city in south China's tropical island province of Hainan.
A shabby two-story building belonging to the Haipo Primary School contrasts sharply with the city's high-end hotels and villas, some just a stone's throw from the school.
Photographs of the school were posted on Tianya.cn, a popular Chinese message board, by a netizen using the screenname "King of Iron Fist."
These caught the eye of many users, who expressed their concerns regarding the state of public education.
One netizen with the screenname "yishenghaose" said educational authorities had failed to fulfil their obligation to improve the condition of the school, causing the students to suffer hardship.
Built in the 1960s, the school is attended by 140 students, who are taught by 13 teachers, according to Feng Chanjuan, the school's principal.
Sanya, a popular destination for Chinese tourists attracted by its beautiful beaches and sunshine, is striving to become a world-class tourism destination. The village of Haipo, where the school is located, has witnessed explosive growth, with numerous shiny skyscrapers springing up.
However, the school is just as shabby as it was before the construction spree began.
Gong Weidan, deputy chief of Sanya's education bureau, said the bureau earmarks money every year for renovating school buildings.
However, the Haipo school has been unable to benefit from this fund because the land it sits on has been rezoned for commercial use, deterring educational authorities from spending more money on the school, Gong said.
Feng said education is sometimes overlooked by local governments in their pursuit of fast economic development.
China's total expenditure on education represents no more than 4 percent of the gross domestic product, lower than t! he globa l average of 4.9 percent.
Feng said while many students have moved to other schools due to the poor conditions, there is still a large number who come from families of migrant workers, whose meager incomes are not enough to allow them to send their children to other schools.
"I hope we can get a new building so that students can study in comfort," Feng said.
- Food poison case kids 'forced to eat bad food'
HUNDREDS of children who suffered food poisoning after having lunch at a school in southwest China's Yunnan Province claim teachers made them eat the "smelly, bitter" food or face a 10 yuan (US$1.58) fine.
"We ate rice and peas, but the peas were black, smelled bad and had a bitter taste," one pupil told China Central Television news reporters at the weekend.
"It was hard to swallow the peas, but teachers said we had to eat them all or else each pay a 10 yuan fine," another added.
After lunch at the Dingla Primary School last Thursday, 368 of the 665 pupils were taken to hospital with symptoms of food poisoning, including feeling sick, stomachache and high fever, CCTV reported.
The pupils are among around 350,000 schoolchildren in Yunnan who receive a 3 yuan daily subsidy from the central government to help provide a nutritious lunch.
However, the school allegedly paid the subsidy to an unlicensed canteen to make lunch, said the news report.
According to an investigation reported by Yunnan government, packages of rice used in the canteen carried no information - including the production date.
And vegetables, bottles of oil and other ingredients were found piled on the floor, instead of being stored in fridges or cupboards, inspectors found.
Neither the school nor canteen had food safety qualifications or food service permits, required to be issued by local food and drug administration, the report found.
After the incident, Yunnan education authorities told schools in the province to end illegal deals with private canteens.
A school head teacher has been sacked and other school officials held responsible. The investigation is ongoing.
- No fresh milk used in 80% of milk wine
FOUR out of five bottles of Inner Mongolia's specialty milk wine on sale contain powdered creamer instead of fresh cow's milk, an investigation has discovered.
This contravenes national standards and has damaged the reputation of the beverage, China National Radio reported yesterday.
Illegal producers in China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region cut costs by using edible alcohol and base liquor as raw materials and adding creamers, edible creams and fragrance, said the report.
The resulting product makes up around 80 percent of total output.
Under a 2009 standard, making milk wines requires blending liquor with fresh milk or whey before undergoing fermentation, the report said.
However, despite the difference in ingredients, fake milk wines taste similar to the genuine product, said Deng Zhao, an employee with an alcohol company in Chifeng City in Inner Mongolia.
Deng said the factory price of fake milk wines was less than 20 yuan (US$3.17) per liter, and it could sell for twice that on the market.
It is also reported that the alcohol content of fake milk wines is 40 percent proof - compared to 18 percent or less in the genuine article.
Many alcohol companies in Chifeng, Hohhot and Baotou cities have joined the milk wine business.
However, only 19 companies are qualified to produce milk wines, the report said.
Quality watchdogs in Inner Mongolia carried out a four-month inspection of alcohol producers at the end of last year.
This saw 88 dairy product companies removed from the dairy producers list.
- Probe into ex-village committee members
EIGHT of the nine members of the former village committee in Wukan in southern Guangdong Province, where there were protests last year over illegal land use, are being investigated over possible violations of land trading and financing laws.
They have been put under "double designation" - a procedure under which Communist Party officials are ordered to confess or explain wrongdoings at a designated time and place - since last Friday, according to the China News Service.
On September 21 and 22, villagers in Wukan, which is administered by Lufeng City, began to protest over issues related to land use, financing and the election of village officials.
Last November, the villagers stepped up their action with large-scale protests against the village authorities.
The villagers gathered again on December 11 after Xue Jinbo, a man who was detained for "organizing" the November demonstrations, died in police custody.
Officials from a provincial work team in charge of handling the village unrest conceded that the residents' major demands were reasonable and "some mistakes" had been made by local officials.
Serious problems
Discipline watchdogs launched an investigation into the village committee and their report uncovered serious financing problems.
The report said inspectors found clues indicating that committee officials had broken the law. During development in the village, the committee was found to be "damaging the direct economic interests of farmers," the report said.
The officials were found to have been transferring public funds into private bank accounts, making their own invoices and receipts, and not publicly disclosing details of the financing of village projects.
Several members used public funds to purchase their cars or gifts for others. They were also found repeatedly taking money from the social security system, the report said.
The committee failed to collect rent from companies in the village in time and some public fu! nds went missing during business deals with real estate companies, discipline watchdogs said.
The villagers elected a new committee last month.
- High tea prices causing a stir
FOR centuries, tea has been considered one of the seven daily necessities of Chinese life, alongside rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar and firewood.
Nowadays, however, some tea is no longer a humble necessity, but a luxury item few can afford.
During the promotion of this year's first batch of green tea, which usually hits the market this month, a Chinese company rolled out a tea priced at 26,800 yuan (US$4,253) per 100 grams.
The tea, named daqi, meaning treasure, is a type of Xinyang Maojian, a renowned type of green tea produced in Henan Province. The tea comes in a cloisonne container with a jade lid and a sandalwood base.
While ordinary Xinyang Maojian sells at several hundred yuan per kilo, a single cup of daqi can cost 804 yuan, which, according to its producer, reflects the value of its rarity and "cultural flavor."
"Only a few kilos of daqi tea are produced every year - the tea only grows on a tiny patch of land, and our master-level selection and processing techniques have added to its value," said Huang Yixing, vice general manager of producer Henan Auspicious Cloud Tea Co Ltd.
Huang said that its high-profile promotion was aimed at increasing the fame of Xinyang Maojian, which is not as well-known as China's other famous teas.
"Compared with Anji white tea, Pu'er and Longjing, which have all fetched high prices, Xinyang Maojian has lagged behind. We hope our efforts can help consumers realize the tea's true value," Huang said.
China's tea market, now the largest in the world, has churned out a large number of luxury teas in recent months.
In March, a high-end Longjing tea outvalued gold with an auction price of 180,000 yuan per 500 grams in Zhejiang Province.
In another eye-popping story, a Sichuan Province businessman introduced a type of tea fertilized with panda dung. He is charging 20,000 yuan for 50 grams, provoking public debate about his bid to produce the world's highest priced tea.
Some entrepreneurs say the! y want t o push the ancient brew into China's luxury market to compete with watches and red wine in appealing to the rising numbers of wealthy Chinese.
"A watch can easily fetch a million yuan with its fine craftsmanship, and we want to show that tea also has this, as well as a profound cultural background," Huang said.
Wang Yong, head of the Henan Tea Association, said the profit margin for luxury tea is unduly high, as its production cost is, at most, 3,000 yuan per 500 grams.
To make tea appear luxurious, companies tend to overpackage and overprice, contributing to a 10 percent rise in this spring's tea price in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, over the last year, Wang said.
The retail price surge, however, does not please tea farmers. Many have complained about a drop in purchase price due to a surplus after this year's bumper harvest as well as the exploitation of tea traders.
The bubble in the market has left a bad taste among experts and the public, many of whom identify the luxury tea trend with money worship, and corruption.
- Nationwide probes into toxic gelatin
Police have confiscated more than 77 million drug capsules made from toxic industrial gelatin and shut down 80 illegal production lines across the country, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.
Nine suspects in seven cases have been arrested and 45 others believed to have been involved in the production of medicine capsules containing excessive levels of chromium have been detained.
"The ministry has organized police forces in Zhejiang, Hebei and Jiangxi provinces to work jointly with the State Food and Drug Administration to crack the gelatin cases soon," it said.
A government official and two employees at the Hebei Xueyang Glair Gelatin Factory were held over the weekend in connection with a fire at a gelatin plant, the ministry said.
Song Jiangxin, former chairman of the National People's Congress of Wangji Village in Hebei's Fucheng County and Song Xunjie, sales manager of the Xueyang Glair factory, are said to have encouraged Liu Aiguo, who worked at the plant, to start a fire to destroy evidence following a claim on April 15 by China Central Television that the plant provided industrial gelatin to a capsule producer in Zhejiang Province.
Song Haixin, legal representative of the factory and brother of Song Jiangxin, was also said to have been involved in the plot, Xinhua news agency said.
"Song Jiangxin hoped that this fire would destroy computers, account books and files in the plant, and destroy any connections to the scandal," the Hebei public security department said.
The Xinhua report said that Liu initially escaped by using the back gate of the plant before he was apprehended.
Song Jianxin and Song Xunjie have been detained while Liu has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
The factory was established in 2004 with registered capital of 2.1 million yuan (US$332,592), and had an annual production capacity of 280 tons, employing 32 workers.
Its products, mainly industrial gelatin, were sold to other factories in Beijing! , Changz hou and Xiamen cities, as well as buyers in Zhejiang, Xinhua said.
The State Food and Drug Administration confirmed at the weekend that it had sent more inspection teams to investigate the scandal and establish who is responsible.
Inspection teams from several departments, including the police, health authorities and supervision agencies, have been sent to Zhejiang, Hebei and Jiangxi provinces to supervise the investigation, the drug administration body said.
Supervision agencies have begun investigations into officials who may have neglected their duties, it added.
The administration promised its findings would be made public.
The scandal came to light after the report broadcast on China Central Television which claimed that several companies were using industrial gelatin to make medicine capsules.
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