China Chronicles December 31, 2012
- Blast at tunnel construction site in Shanxi kills 8, injures 5
EIGHT people died and five other were injured in an explosion at the construction site of a railway tunnel in north China's Shanxi Province last Tuesday, local provincial government announced today.
Authorities said the accident happened at around 3pm on December 25 when construction workers were digging a tunnel face and fired cannon to re-blast a hole in Nanlu-Liangshan Tunnel being built in Linfen City.
The project manager of the blast area is alleged to have concealed the accident which caused the death of eight workers. The five injured are receiving treatment at hospital, authorities said.
The tunnel is being built by Erchu Co., Ltd of China Railway Tunnel Group whose officials from the safety quality and environmental protection department has confirmed the accident. Details of the accident are still under investigation and will be open to the public soon.
The accident was first exposed online last Saturday as some netizens posted microblogs saying a severe railway project accident happened in Linfen City of Shanxi. - Noodle for lunch@Shanghai
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20121224
Minox BL-1217214
Fomapan100
Studional (1+30)8min./ 4min.20℃
Distilled Water
JOBO Tank with DIY JOBO reel
Dots report : Minor black & white
Film wide : 9.30mm - Thousands march to show support for Hong Kong leader
Scuffles broke out yesterday as thousands marched in support of Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying.
Around 2,500 people took to the cold and windy streets waving Chinese flags and shouting slogans in favor of Leung, who faces possible impeachment proceedings over illegal alterations to his luxury home.
Leung was chosen to lead the city in March, promising to improve governance and uphold the rule of law.
But in his first six months in power, Leung has seen his popularity ratings slide and faced a no-confidence vote in the city's legislature.
"We welcome people to support the government and to support the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong citizens," said Caring Hong Kong Power, organizers of the march which began at Victoria Park and ended at the government headquarters.
But scuffles erupted mid way between pro-Leung supporters and anti-government campaigners.
"I am not comfortable with the increasing power of groups that create turmoil in Hong Kong," Stan Ngan, a 63-year-old retiree at the event said, referring to increasingly vocal "pro-democracy" groups.
The groups plan to hold a rally tomorrow to demand the resignation of Leung and ask for universal suffrage.
Leung survived a vote of no confidence earlier this month over illegal structures in his home.
But he faces an impeachment motion scheduled for early January, with 27 lawmakers in the 70-member legislature saying they would support the motion.
- Xi urges greater efforts in fight against poverty
Chinese leader Xi Jinping urged local authorities to step up the fight against poverty during a weekend visit to villages in north China's remote Fuping County.
Braving temperatures of around minus 10 degrees Celsius, the Party chief reached Fuping, a county set deep in the Taihang Mountains of Hebei Province, on Saturday afternoon.
Yesterday morning, Xi visited farmers' homes in the villages of Luotuowan and Gujiatai in Longquanguan Township to see for himself how people lived their lives there.
During chats with several of the villagers, Xi paid special attention to the difficulties they experienced in their daily lives, such as problems concerning income, food, education and medical care.
He also visited village clinics and shops and talked with village officials.
Xi said the local Party and government authorities should place more emphasis on helping people out of poverty, especially people living in impoverished regions such as Fuping.
He said this should be done by adjusting policies to conditions in a scientific manner.
Xi said that policies designed to support agriculture, rural areas and farmers and alleviate poverty must be implemented fully, and he called the embezzlement of poverty-alleviation funds an "intolerable crime."
Farmers in resources-poor Fuping, a former revolutionary base 300 kilometers from Beijing, earn an annual net income of around 2,400 yuan (US$385).
"The most arduous and heavy task facing China in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society is in the rural areas, especially the poverty-stricken regions," Xi said.
A well-off China won't come about if people in rural areas can't live a well-off life, he said.
Xi said the central authorities were highly concerned about poverty-alleviation work, and were urging all local Party and government organs to fulfill their responsibilities to bring people out of poverty quickly.
According to a report from the 18th CPC National Congress, Chin! a aims to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society by the end of 2020, with a sharp decrease in the number of poverty-stricken residents.
The report said China would take bigger steps to boost growth in old revolutionary bases and other impoverished areas.
Based on the current poverty line of 2,300 yuan in annual net income per capita, China has 128 million impoverished people in rural areas, accounting for 13.4 percent of the population in the countryside.
"We're deeply inspired by General Secretary Xi's visit," said Li Ningtai, secretary of the CPC Fuping County committee. He said the county would be speeding up its poverty-alleviation efforts.
Meanwhile, he expressed hope that more policy initiatives, regarding government allocations, and personnel training and placement, among others, would be launched to support impoverished regions like his county.
Xi expressed his own vision for change in impoverished regions during his visit. "With confidence, people can make yellow soil into gold," he said.
- New mainland passes
A new pass for Hong Kong and Macau residents to use to travel to the Chinese mainland is to be issued by the Ministry of Public Security.
From January 2, Hong Kong and Macau residents can apply for the pass that features upgraded anti-counterfeiting technology.
The period of validity for people under 18 will be extended to five years from three years, and Hong Kong and Macau residents can enter the mainland via a third country with the pass, the ministry said.
Unexpired old passes can still be used.
- 我的舍友
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- Lhasa pays 1.2b yuan to update, protect old area
THE city government of Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, is investing 1.2 billion yuan (US$196 million) to upgrade infrastructure in old urban areas.
The face-lift project will cover upgrading water supplies, drainage, pipelines, electrical lines and street lamps, as well as construction of heating facilities, preservation of buildings with Tibetan architecture styles, and sanitation improvements.
Covering an area of 1.33 square kilometers, the old urban areas of Lhasa have a population of 80,000 and boast the famed Barkhor Street, with bustling businesses and tourist and cultural sites, and the Jokhang Temple, a major monastery and World Cultural Heritage site in Tibet.
"To protect the ancient temples and street, the government and cultural relics preservation authorities joined hands to work out a delicate and scientific renovation plan, so that we can eliminate safety hazards and protect the religious sites," said Chimed Tsering, deputy head of the Chengguan District government. The plan was raised in March, and 96 percent of locals who responded to questionnaires agreed, Chimed Tsering said.
Barkhor Street's history dates to the seventh century.
Nyima Tsering, a monk of Jokhang Temple said, "The project will be significant for the protection of the ancient city. I believe a pristine, neat and beautiful Lhasa will appear in the future as long as the renovation can maintain its traditional style."
- Homes near 13th-century towers to be demolished
THE government is about to demolish rows of shaky residential buildings surrounding a 13th-century landmark in the heart of historic Beijing.
Government officials said the overhaul is to restore the beauty of Beijing's Drum and Bell Towers, which acted as a signature timepiece for three dynasties since 1272.
The landmark consists of two towers, one housing a huge bell, the other a drum. The bell was struck at dawn, while the drum announced sunset to tell the time.
It lies on Beijing's historic central axis, which also holds Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.
The whole Drum and Bell Towers area has shrunk from 14,000 square meters originally to less than 4,000 square meters now, as the past four decades have seen the land surrounding the structures used for poorly built, normally one or two-story courtyard houses, the officials said.
"There are so many shaky homes, all illegally constructed and susceptible to fire," said Jin Hui, a spokesman for the district of Dongcheng.
Li Guanghui, deputy head of the district government's housing bureau, said 136 families in the area are being asked to move. Evacuees will be resettled in newer residential apartments, receive cash compensation, and an additional 170,000 yuan (US$27,200) bonus if they move early.
But demolition in Beijing, especially at or around ancient landmarks, can cause controversy. In 2007, the face-lift of Qianmen Street, which also lies on the central axis, triggered outcry from preservations. The street reopened as an upscale commercial center built in the original style to retain the air of old Beijing.
- 'Lost in Thailand' finds what public wants
AT the end of the year, most filmmakers hope to rake in profits and praise, but it seems that few Chinese blockbusters have been able to escape cracks and flak this season.
The recent success of a low-budget comedy shows that Chinese audiences are not too demanding. They simply want to be entertained and, sometimes, have a nerve touched.
"Lost in Thailand," a conventional comedy about two rival Chinese businessmen and a simple-minded pancake maker, grossed more than 700 million yuan (US$111 million) by Christmas Eve and has broken box office records for domestic films since it premiered on December 12.
The comedic hit cost just 30 million yuan to make, but has outshone and out-earned other blockbusters that bombed at the box office after costing millions to make.
After laughing through the 105-minute gut-buster, many moviegoers have hung around in the theaters to watch behind-the-scenes clips included in the movie's closing credits.
The response is unusual for a low-budget affair, especially amid strong competition from blockbusters such Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" and Feng Xiaogang's "Back to 1942."
The comedy won rave reviews by giving Chinese audiences what they want: popular stars, funny dialogue, good timing and a prompt for self-reflection.
Religious and political fanatics are absent from the movie, making it a breeze to sit through, and it stars three of China's top comedians, Xu Zheng, Huang Bo and Wang Baoqiang.
It is also Xu's directorial debut.
Xu has been devoted to stage shows for many years, which may explain why he knows exactly how a comedy should work, and the dialogue is consistently humorous, even though a few punch lines are predictable.
In a plot that twists and turns, the lives of the businessmen and the pancake maker collide on the journey to Thailand. Also thrown into the mix are the man who owns the largest share of the two businessmen's company, an unhappily married wife, a lonely daughter and a real-life celebrity.
Chinese modern writer Lu Xun said a comedy should tear apart the worthless and showcase the process, and "Lost in Thailand" does just that.
The plot moves so swiftly and smoothly that a moviegoer might wonder where the time went - that is, if he or she is not too caught up in thinking about what is worth pursuing in life, or pondering what the movie has to say about modern Chinese society.
- one week later and still at it
- Walking away from your Violence
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- Rain, snow to hit NE, SW China
RAIN and snow will hit parts of northeast and southwest China in the coming three days, the national observatory forecast today.
Snow or sleet is expected to hit Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, most of northeast China and some parts of Guizhou Province from Sunday to Tuesday, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement, adding that these regions may see moderate to heavy snow.
Meanwhile, Yunnan and Hainan provinces and Taiwan will see light to moderate rain, it said.
It also forecast that a cold front moving southeastward will drag temperatures down by 4 to 8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday in areas north of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
- Gas surges through world's longest pipeline
CHINA'S second west-to-east gas pipeline, the world's longest line, became fully operational when the last section of the line opened today, China National Petroleum Corporation announced.
The 8,704-kilometer pipeline, including one trunk line and 8 regional lines, will carry natural gas from central Asia to as far afield as Shanghai in east China and Guangzhou and Hong Kong in south China.
The 142.2 billion-yuan (US$22.57 billion) pipeline traverses 15 provincial regions and will benefit about 500 million people, according to the CNPC.
The pipeline's annual natural gas transportation capacity is 30 billion cubic meters. It runs from Huoerguosi, located on the China-Kazakhstan border in northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to Hong Kong.
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