© 2009 China Daily All Rights Reserved
w w w.c h i n a d a i l y.co m .c n
T H E
VOL . 29 No. 9181
Bank sells HAPPYANNIVERSARY
monetary
standpoint
More lending for smaller firms;
polluters, energy-wasters miss out
By Si Tingting
China pledged yesterday to
stick with its “moderately loose”
monetary policy to consolidate
an economic recovery that is not
yet solid and that is haunted by
weak external demand.
The People’s Bank of China,
the nation’s central bank, said
at its quarterly monetary policy
meeting that it will continue to
ensure reasonable growth in
loans and direct more financ-
ing toward the agriculture sec-
tor and small and medium-sized
companies (SMEs).
Lending to industries that
are polluting, energy-intensive
or overcapacity will be strictly
controlled, the bank said.
Growth in new lending
shrunk in the past two months
after the government stepped up
its scrutiny of loans and bank as-
sets in a bid to prevent bad debts
and asset bubbles. The nation
had a record new loan boom of
7.37 trillion yuan ($1.08 trillion)
in the first half of 2009.
The country’s top leaders
have recently reiterated the
nation’s commitment to an
eased monetary policy and more
stimulus measures to secure the
recovery.
“The central bank is unlikely
to adopt a policy change in the
coming two years as the invest-
ment-driven economy will re-
quire a lot of bank lending,” Liu
Yuhui, director of the Center for
Chinese Economic Evaluation at
the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, told China Daily.
Liu added that China’s new
loans will reach 10 trillion
yuan this year and 7 trillion
in 2010.
“The massive fiscal stimulus
announced last year and the
aggressive monetary easing
in 2009 has softened the blow
of the global slump,” said Lee
Jong-wha, chief economist of
Standardized
spices
Cooking up
new hotpot
rules
Page 5
A princess
returns
Zhang Yimou aims
for another stir at
Bird’s Nest
Page 19
HOTLINES
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N A T I O N A L
the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), last week.
China’s investment and
lending boom prompted the
ADB this month to raise its
forecast for China’s economic
growth in 2009 from the 7
percent predicted in March to
8.2 percent.
The Manila-based multi-
lateral finance organization
pointed out in its report that
fiscal and monetary stimulus
spending must be continued
to guarantee the continuation
of the recovery.
The central bank said yester-
day it would aim to “powerfully”
develop consumer credit, which
is seen as one of the best ways to
boost domestic demand.
Liu said August saw a change
in China’s macroeconomic
policy, which shifted in focus
from massive government-led
infrastructure investment
toward structural reforms that
will generate new sources of
productivity.
Since then, the government
has made it easier for SMEs
to access funding. China has
also encouraged more private
investment and cut back on
spending on industries with
overcapacity.
“This will help to generate
more jobs and increase people’s
income — both of which will
lead to resilience of private
consumption,” said Liu.
Private consumption ac-
counts for 35 percent of the
Chinese economy, according to
a report by the London-based
Economist Intelligence Unit.
The proportion in the United
States is about 70 percent.
Some experts expect the cen-
tral bank statement, released
two days before the weeklong
National Holiday, will boost
the lackluster Chinese stock
market after its benchmark
stock index fell to a four-week
low yesterday.
In this issue:
Nation .........................2, 4, 5
Comment .............................8
Opinion .................................9
International .............. 10, 12
Business............................. 13
Business China........... 14, 15
Business Intl ................ 16,17
Life ................. 18, 19, 20, 21
Sports ................... 22, 23, 24
E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E
W E D N E S DAY S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 9
Today, we offer a glimpse of New China’s first 60 years by meeting
60 of the people who helped make the nation what it is today
In
the Lunar Cal-
endar, 60 years
carries a special
meaning: it marks one full
cycle, or Jiazi. Six decades
is but a short moment for a
republic, much shorter for
a civilization. And yet, for a
country that until 60 years
ago was a “failed state” that
has since emerged as a con-
fident, vibrant global power-
house, the past six decades
were a major milestone.
So, at the moment when
Chinese people are reflect-
ing upon the legacies of our
founding fathers, cherish-
ing the lessons gained from
achievement and failure,
and envisioning the land-
scape of tomorrow, China
Daily has selected 60 figures
to help the effort.
“We deliberately es-
chewed the best-known
achievers when we made
selections for the profiles.
Instead, we opted for those
individuals who, in a sense,
symbolize the dynamics of
that field or industry,” said
Zhu Ling, editor-in-chief of
China Daily.
These figures range
from a pilot who kept the
secret of almost becoming
China’s first astronaut,
and the dream, alive for
30 years after the manned
space program was halted,
to an AIDS doctor himself
infected with HIV, to an
American zoologist who
has pursued the conserva-
tion of China’s wildlife for
nearly 30 years.
China Daily
Famed names make fresh impression
By Mu Qian
Chinese people have not had
to declare their family back-
ground on registration forms
for 40 years, but that has
not switched off the public’s
interest in the heritage of
their peers.
In addition to the much
talked about “rich second
generation” and the “poor sec-
ond generation”, a “red third
generation” is emerging.
The relatively small group
comprises the grandchildren
of New China’s first top of-
ficials and is getting much
attention.
Typically, people in the “red
third generation” were born
after the “reform and open-
ing-up”. Many were educated
abroad. And most are embark-
ing on their careers.
Among the better-known
members of the group is Bo
Guagua, grandson of former
vice-premier Bo Yibo (1908-
2007) and son of former
Commerce Minister Bo Xilai.
Wan Baobao, granddaughter
of former Chairman of the
Standing Committee of the
National People’s Congress,
Wan Li, is another member, as
is Ye Mingzi, granddaughter
of Ye Jianying (1897-1986),
who was one of the “Ten Great
Chinese become
targets of terror
Chinese citizens have become
the target of foreign criminals
and terrorists as the country’s
profile on the world stage has
been increasing, said vice
foreign minister Song Tao. “We
are facing a more and more
complicated overseas security
situation,” he said. Page 4
N E W S P A P E R
Ye Mingzi
Marshals” of China.
Wan is a jewelry designer
with her own brand, Bao Bao
Wan Fine Jewelry. Ye is a fash-
ion designer. Bo is a student at
Oxford University with aspira-
tions to work in the culture
sector.
“I don’t have to be a politician
to contribute to society,” said
22-year-old Bo, who received
the Big Ben Award for Top 10
Outstanding Chinese Young
Persons in the UK in May. “I
think culture and education
are particularly important for
today’s China and it is an area
I believe I can contribute to.”
Wan has a strong interest
in jewelry and feels fortunate
to combine her interest with
her work. Having studied
literature and photography
in the United States and
France, she started her own
Bombardier bags railway deal
China South Locomotive and Rolling Stock Corp
(CSR) said yesterday that CSR Bombardier Sifang
(Qingdao) Transportation Ltd and another of its
affiliates have won contracts valued at 72.4 billion
yuan from the Ministry of Railways. Bombardier’s
share of the contract is estimated at 13.5 billion yuan.
Bombardier will build 80 high-speed trains.
Bo Guagua
jewelry brand two years ago
and is often at Beijing’s most
fashionable parties.
Family influence is im-
portant in the “red third
generation”, which grew up
listening to revolutionary
stories from their parents
and grandparents.
“I believe in the ideal of
‘serving the people’, and this
in no way compromises my
own personal pursuits,” said
Bo. “Because the two are one
for me.”
Ye says she feels great
pride and love for China
and is delighted that her
grandfather played a crucial
role in ending the “cultural
revolution” (1966-76) and in
elevating Deng Xiaoping and
the reforms.
“This 60th anniversary is,
in part, a progress report on
Page 13
Wan Baobao
the plans and directions they
helped chart. Quite incredible
progress, far beyond their own
dreams, I think,” Ye wrote in
an e-mail to China Daily.
“Although some people
are mainly interested in
me because of my family
background, most fashion
magazines run articles that
focus on my career as a
designer.”
Bo also sees disadvantages
in being a member of the “red
third generation”.
“I’m honored to be a
member of my family and
I never try to hide it, but I
hope people won’t see me
with bias,” he said.
“Very often, I need to work
harder than others in order to
get recognition.”
• Full coverage, Page 18
RMB ¥1.5
New green
revolution
powers rise
to the top
By Yu Tianyu
Wang Chuanfu, the 43-year-
old founder and chairman of
Chinese electric car and battery
maker BYD Co, tops the annual
Hurun Rich List of the nation’s
wealthiest following an invest-
ment in his company by Warren
Buffett that caused a five-fold
surge in the share price.
With assets of $5.1 billion,
he jumped 102 places from last
year’s ranking.
“Paper Queen” Zhang Yin,
from Nine Dragons Paper, is in
the second slot. Her company
imports recyclable paper and
processes it into packaging
and paper materials, primar-
ily for export. She is worth
$4.9 billion.
Industry observers said the
two were at the vanguard of
China’s “green revolution”.
Wang was born to a poor
family in rural Anhui province
where he was raised by his broth-
ers and sisters after the death of
his parents.
He finished his master’s de-
gree at Beijing Non-Ferrous Re-
search Institute in 1990, where
he was an active student known
for his dancing.
After graduation, he became
an officer at a government-affili-
ated research institute in Beijing.
In 1995, he left his secure posi-
tion to strike out on his own,
founding BYD Co. Initially, the
company made rechargeable
batteries for mobile phones and
other electronic products. His
factory was located in Shen-
zhen, the booming economic
zone north of Hong Kong. Wang
used to joke that BYD stood for
“Bring Your Dollars”.
By 2000, Wang’s startup
company had become the
world’s largest supplier of cell
phone batteries. BYD was listed
on the Hong Kong stock market
in 2002.
The business has a
promising future
because BYD,
which employs
3,000 research
and development
engineers, has the
world’s best battery
technology and the
end of the gasoline
age is near.
WANG CHUANFU
Founder and chairman of BYD Co
The company acquired
Qinchuan Machinery Devel-
opment Co Ltd of Shaanxi, a
Chinese auto manufacturer in
2003. The takeover startled in-
vestors and BYD experienced
two years of deficits. Despite
the setback, Wang insisted
that the electric-auto business
would ensure the company’s
future growth.
He said the business has a
promising future because BYD,
which employs 3,000 research
and development engineers, has
the world’s best battery technol-
ogy and the end of the gasoline
age is near.
BYD, or “Build Your Dreams”,
put its first plug-in electric car
on the market in 2008.
Hybrid, Page 2
City installs
online spokesmen
Foshan city officials are urg-
ing relevant departments to
further improve the Internet
spokesperson system to help
handle complaints from the
growing number of netizens. A
new regulation requires every
government department to
establish an Internet spokesper-
son group. Page 5
    &1 ,661 
2 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 PAGE2 CHINA DAILY

Roads, subways closed for Oct 1 Drizzle will not

Locals, tourists Restricted Area in Central Beijing on Oct 1
dampen Parade
encouraged to Roads being blocked on
By Wang Qian
Tonight there will be
The Beijing Capital International
watch National Oct 1 due to National Day N Airport will shut down for three hours drizzle, which will
celebrations The weather forecast for to-
starting from 9:30 am Thursday
not let up before
Day parade, Zhonghai
morrow brings slim hopes for
a sunny parade on National 7am on Oct 1, just
evening gala on the Forbidden City Day festivities with possible
drizzle and mist, but that will before the National

2nd Ring
TV at home not stop the Beijing Meteorologi- Day Parade. The sky
cal Bureau. may clear Thursday
“If any unexpected situation

By Cui Jia, Xin Dingding
and Cui Xiaohuo
Wide-reaching traffic lock-
downs and a visible array of
security in central Beijing for
Oct 1 will likely drive those
interested in the National Day
Parade to the comfort of their
own homes to watch the festivi-
ties on TV.
The daytime parade and the
evening gala at Tian’anmen
Square, celebrating the 60th
anniversary of the founding
of the People’s Republic of
China, will impact traffic on
bus routes, subway lines and
on roads today and Thursday
in the capital. For most of
the public, getting close to
Tian’anmen Square will be a
mission impossible.
Traffic authorities will shut
down many roads, mostly
within the third ring road,
for nearly the entire day on
Thursday.
A total of 241 bus routes
will also be affected today
and Thursday. Some will cease
operating, and others will take
passengers on detours, the
municipal transport author-
ity said on its official website
yesterday.
Subways will also be heavily
affected, as Line 1 will stop
operating between 11pm today
and 3:30pm Thursday. Other
subway lines will skip certain
stations Thursday.
The Qianmen station on Line
2, the Xidan station on Line 4,
and the Dongdan station on
Line 5 will be closed all day on
Thursday.
Ot her st at ions w i l l be
closed from Thursday morn-
i n g to 3 : 30 pm, such as
Jianguomen, Chongwenmen,
Hepingmen, Xuanw umen,
Changchunjie and Fuxingmen
stations on Line 2; Chongwen-
men and Dengshikou stations
Road
Nanhai
Dongdan appears, we are prepared to ma- afternoon and gales
Chang’an Ave nipulate the weather as best as will hit the capital at
Tian’anmen Square Wangfujing we can,” said bureau head Guo
Service of subway Line 1 will
Great Hall
of the Monument to the Hu in a press release yesterday. night.
be suspended between 11 pm People People's Heroes The air force has prepared
today and 3:30pm Thursday Chairman Mao's 18 converted transport planes
Memorial Hall and 48 fog-clearing vehicles Meteorological Administration
with more than 260 soldiers (CMA) updates information on
Chongwenmen
to attend to weather-control the weather every 6 minutes in
measures, Xinhua reported the capital and every 5 minutes
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE OCT 1 CELEBRATION? last week. at Tian’anmen Square, the site
The daytime festivities will start at 10am at Tian’anmen Square and last about two hours. National day evening gala Guo said that tonight there of the National Day Parade.
will be drizzle, which will not Facing the ongoing compli-
1. Flag-raising ceremony 4. Military parade 5. Civilians’ parade A total of 100 minutes of let up before 7am on Oct 1, just cated weather in the fall, the
The ceremony will open Altogether, military review and Will last about an hour. non-stop performance, including
dancing, singing and other forms
before the National Day Parade. cooperation between meteoro-
with the salute of 56 military parade will last 66 minutes.
guns firing 60 shots.
A total of 36 formations and six
of art. The sky may clear Thursday logical departments and the
Involves about 5,000 military performing groups involving about
personnel. 100,000 citizens and 60 floats. Fireworks display of more than
afternoon and gales will hit the military is also crucial in the
2. Military review half an hour will use twice the capital at night, causing tempera- weather service on Oct 1, said
A total of 14 blocks, each Complemented by 80,000 school
Troops from the military parade will
comprising 352 soldiers, will march students in the Tian'anmen Square
amount of fireworks used during ture to drop a bit, he said. CMA spokesman Chen Zhenlin
be assembled along Chang’an the opening ceremony of the The mist won’t have any im- in a press release.
Avenue to be reviewed by past the country’s leaders. Then, 30 forming background patterns.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
President Hu Jintao. blocks of weapons, tanks,
More than 5,000 children have
mediate impact on the military The bureau records show that
missile-carrying vehicles will pass, been organized to fly and release air parade, but the gales should the average temperature on Oct
each comprising 18 vehicles.
3. Keynote speech colorful balloons and several tens be heeded. 1 will range from 16 C to 23 C
According to previous ceremonies, More than 150 aircraft carrying live of thousands of doves will also be In order to accurately predict and the average wind speed
a keynote speech will be delivered ammunition will fly over released in the Tian'anmen Square
Tian’anmen Square. area.
the capital’s weather during the is 2m per second, suitable for
by the state leader.
National Day Parade, China outdoor celebrations.
Graphic by Tian Chi
Weather - Cloud Seeding
on Line 5; and Guomao station representatives of residents Iconic venues including the who lives near Guomao in east
on Line 10. Subway trains will living close to the square, Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Beijing, a sealed-off area begin- Cloud seeding is a weather modification process whereby
skip these stations during op- said Ji Lin, vice -mayor of Rostrum, and the Great Hall ning early Thursday morning silver iodide boosts precipitation,
erations. Beijing. of the People were sealed off at through the afternoon. thereby causing rain
Meanwhile, t he Beijing The capita l’s uninv ited 3pm yesterday, and will reopen Armed vehicles will roll into
Capital International Airport and those in other parts of on Friday at the earliest, the the city from the Beijing East
w il l shut dow n for t h ree China and the world have Tian’anmen Square managing Railway Station and march 1 Pellets containing
hours sta r t ing to compr om ise authority said. onto Chang’an Avenue after a silver iodide (dry 2
f rom 9:30a m w it h watch i n g Beijing police expect tens brief stop before commercial ice) are shot
Thursday. the celebrations of thousands of tourists to facilities and residential areas Silver iodide particles
into the attract water vapour
Some 180 flights on TV. v isit t he sq ua re when it on Dawang Road. clouds within the cloud
will be affected. CCT V and reopens. Over 10,000 police “Everywhere it’s closed. If we to become larger 3
The airport han- CCT V.com will officers and security guards go out during the next two days, droplets Water droplet
dles at least 1,000 deliver live will monitor Beijing street we can only head south all the Rocket becomes too
flights per day, or high-defi nition corners and checkpoints for way to the suburbs of Beijing,” missiles heavy and fall
at least one fl ight coverage of the evidence of potential threats said Jiang Ning, a white-col- as rain
every minute. National Day cel- on Oct 1. As many as 800,000 lar employee who lives with
The shutdown ebrations includ- volunteers have also been a roommate near Chongwen- PURPOSES:
will probably cause ing the military enlisted to help maintain men, another closed area near Improve harvests for farmers
a delay in flights for the rest of parade in Chinese, English, safety. Qianmen. Stave off drought
the day, experts warned. French, Spanish, Arabic and Izumi Quan, a Beijing-based Jiang’s office in the capital’s
Clear air pollution and smog
Beside t he d if f icu lt ies Russian. writer from Japan, said she will central business district will be
of getting to the spot, only Police suggest that Beijing not dare leave her home until closed today to leave room for Replenish reservoirs and water
about 30,000 guests from residents try not to go out on Friday when road closures are parade preparations. Popular basins
the public are lucky enough to Oct 1 to avoid complications. lifted. shopping areas such as Xidan, Rocket Picture-perfect weather for
be invited to watch the parade The public is recommended “I have no choice. I have Wangfujing and Qianmen will launcher major events
or evening gala at Tian’anmen to watch the celebrations live tanks rumbling in front of be closed starting at noon
Source: Weather Modification Department Graphic by Kinyen Pong
Square. The guests include on TV. my apartment,” joked Quan, Thursday.

%WEATHER D-D%
Central
Meteorological
Observatory WEATHER
September 30-October 1
%WEATHER-MAP%
Hybrid cars promising
www.tq121.com.cn

>GREEN, From Page 1 cars using clean technology,”

TRAVELER’S FORECAST Hoogewerf said.
HIGH/LOW TEMPERATURES, IN DEGREES CELSIUS AND SUNNY DRIZZLE CLOUDY RAIN DUST SNOW OVERCAST STORM SHOWER THUNDER FOG The same year, its auto busi- Wu Changhua, Greater
DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, AND EXPECTED CONDITIONS. ness accounted for 32 percent China Director at The Climate
CHONGQING XI’AN QINGDAO DALIAN CHANGCHUN HARBIN of BYD’s annual turnover, com- Group, said: “China is in the
C.....................Cloudy Sh.................Shower Today 30/20 Today 27/18 Today 25/19 Today 23/17 Today 25/11 Today 25/9 pared with 23 percent in 2007. process of being the world’s
D.....................Drizzle S......................Sunny Thu 30/20 Thu 29/18 Thu 24/20 Thu 21/17 Thu 16/12 Thu 18/12
In 2008, the auto business leading supplier of low-carbon
Du......................Dust Sn.....................Snow generated about 8.7 billion technologies and services.”
F...........................Fog St.....................Storm URUMQI yuan in sales. She added that there were
O.................Overcast T.......Thunderstorms Today 23/13 Buffett’s company announced still plenty of green business
R.........................Rain Thu 24/14 in 2008 it would buy 225 opportunities in the country.
million new shares in BYD for Experts predict cars powered
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY CHENGDU HK$8 each. The shares surged by new forms of energy will
C F %26WCS%
CS
CS Today 27/18 BEIJING
387 percent this year. account to 10 percent of vehicles
Thu 28/18
Today 23/15
The company has a market in China by 2020.
Changsha 28/20 82/68 C 29/22 84/71 S Thu value of HK$140.7 billion. The Frost & Sullivan China
24/15
Dali 25/11 77/51 S 23/11 73/51 S Hurun Report says Wang owns estimates that total sales of
LHASA
28 percent. hybrids will be 11,000 units in
Today 20/6
Fuzhou 28/24 82/75 D 29/24 84/75 D “Wang Chuanfu has made 2010, growing to 30,000 units
Thu 20/5
Guiyang 24/13 75/55 C 25/14 77/57 C SHANGHAI
it to number one in China on in 2012 when public perception
Today 26/21 the back of the 30 percent of the technology expands
Hangzhou 26/22 78/71 Sh 26/21 78/69 C GUILIN Thu 25/22 growth of the Chinese car and costs decrease. The fi rm
Today 27/24 industry, the Warren Buffett estimates it will sell 95,000
Hohhot 20/12 68/53 Sh 22/8 71/46 C Thu 30/23
touch and the recovery of hybrid units, or 0.9 percent of
Hefei 28/19 82/66 S 29/19 84/66 O the Chinese economy,” said passenger cars, in 2015.
O KUNMING Rupert Hoogewerf, founder
Jinan 26/17 78/62 S 26/16 78/60
Today 24/13 and compiler of the Hurun
Kashi 27/14 80/57 Du 28/13 82/55 Du Thu 24/15 Rich List. To comment or alert us to a story,
C
“BYD is leading the foray email news@chinadaily.com.cn
Lanzhou 20/13 68/55 D 22/10 71/50
GUANGZHOU into the next generation of
Lijiang 23/8 73/46 S 23/9 73/48 S Today 30/24
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CHINA DAILY ADVERTISEMENT WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 3
4 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 NATION CHINA DAILY

Chinese becoming targets of terror, crime

Increase in incidents comes as
nation ups foreign cooperation
By Tan Yingzi
Chinese citizens have become
targets of foreign criminals
and terrorists as the country’s
profile on the world stage has
been increasing, said vice for-
eign minister Song Tao.
“We are facing a more and
more complicated overseas
security situation,” he was
quoted as saying by People’s
Daily yesterday.
“Deteriorating regional
conflicts and turbulence in
some countries have directly
affected the safety of our citi-
zens and companies abroad.”
As many countries are suf-
fering from the global financial
crisis, Chinese people and
Chinese companies are also
experiencing a hard time, he
added.
“In many non-traditional
security accidents, such as
terrorist activities, kidnap-
ping and pirate attacks, Chi-
nese citizens are now not only
innocent victims but direct
targets.
“More and more crimes and
accidents are causing casual-
ties and property losses for
overseas Chinese.”
Last year, more than 3,400
Chinese tourists were trapped
in Thailand due to domestic
turbulence in November and
Chinese cargo vessels were
attacked by Somali pirates in
the Gulf of Aden.
The Chinese government
rented 12 passenger flights to
rescue the trapped citizens in
Thailand and sent a convoy of
warships to Somalia.
The two actions are widely
seen as the best examples of
China strengthening overseas
protection in recent years.
But Chinese citizens are
still not the main target of the
terrorist attacks in the world,
Li Wei, director of the center
for counter-terrorism stud-
ies at the China Institutes of
Contemporary International
Relations, told China Daily
yesterday.
“Inadequate preparations
for the complicated overseas
security situation is one of the
main reasons for the increasing
number of accidents,” he said.
“Chinese visitors should
know the sources of danger
and find proper solutions be-
fore leaving.”
The annual number of over-
seas visits by Chinese reached
more than 45 million in 2008.
Between 1949 and 1979 was
only 280,000, the vice minis-
ter said.
To protect the safety and
rights of Chinese citizens
and organizations abroad,
the Foreign Ministry set up
a consular protection depart-
ment in 2006.
In recent years, the min-
istry has handled more than
30,000 consular protection
cases a year.
But the lack of local
knowledge and customs and
inadequate security measures
also cause losses and taints
the image of Chinese people,
he said.
In order to equip Chinese
citizens with more legal knowl-
edge of foreign cultures, 1 mil-
lion copies of overseas safety
and etiquette guidebooks have
been issued at all entrance
and exit ports and overseas
embassies. Free materials
can be downloaded from the
ministry’s website.

Undersea cable
to be fixed soon
By Wang Xing
The undersea cable that was
damaged by Typhoon Marakot
last month is expected to
be fully repaired by early
next month, according to an
executive of China Telecom.
Access to websites based in
the United States and some
Asian countries stopped or
slowed in the middle of August
for many Chinese Internet
users, after the typhoon hit
Taiwan on Aug 9, causing
undersea landslides in the fol-
lowing weeks.
That affected many Inter-
net services in China such
as Microsoft’s Windows Live
Messenger.
Han Yihu, managing director
of China Telecom’s international
business department, said
all of its disrupted undersea
cables are expected to be fully
repaired in early October.
According to Han, about 80
percent of the workload on the
undersea cables is for Internet-
related business. The rest is
used by other businesses such
as special telephone lines and
virtual private network busi-
nesses. Long-distance calls ac-
counted for only about 1 percent
of the cable’s capacity.
Han said most of the under-
sea cable networks automatical-
ly reroute to their own backup
network when the network goes
down. The process takes a few
minutes and users can hardly
notice the relocation.
“But if the whole cable net-
work has been heavily dam-
aged, telecom carriers then
rent other carrier’s networks
during the emergency, which
often takes a few days to a
week before a deal is reached,”
Han said.
He said the full repair of the
undersea cables usually takes
two to three weeks, depend-
ing on circumstances such as
weather conditions, location
of the disrupted lines and how
badly the cable was damaged.
Han said about 90 percent of
China Telecom’s International
network capacity comes from
undersea cables that connect
China to North America, Eu-
rope, South Africa and other
countries in Asia.
“After the network disruption
this time, we may consider re-
arranging our new cable lines
to avoid high-risk regions such
as the Bashi Channel where Narrow escape
natural disasters prevail,” Tourists enjoy a big wave at Haiyue Square in Sanya, Hainan province, yesterday. Typhoon Kestana headed westward to Vietnam after brushing by Hainan.
Han said. Yin Haiming
CHINA DAILY
Foshan officials
will establish
Net spokesmen
By Zheng Caixiong
GUANGZHOU: Foshan city
government officials are
urging relevant departments
to further improve the Internet
spokesperson system to
help handle complaints and
questions from the growing
number of netizens.
According to a new
regulation, every government
department will establish an
Internet spokesperson group
that will include at least five
employees.
“The Internet spokespersons
will be responsible for
analyzing, answering and
replying to all the questions
from netizens,” said Shang
Xuebing, deputy director of
the publicity department under
the Foshan Committee of the
Communist Party of China.
The reply rate and the
degree of satisfaction from
netizens will become two major
indicators evaluating the work
of the Internet spokespersons,
Shang said.
Setting up Internet
spokespersons will help bring
grassroots-level problems to the
city’s executive level, said Sun
Jugao, director of the Internet
management section under the
publicity department.
More than 100 government
departments, organizations
and enterprises in the city will
be required to set up Internet
spokespersons in the following
months.
Hotpot stock to
be standardized
By Wang Huazhong
and Ma Wei
CHONGQING: Good news is
coming for hotpot lovers, in
that a future national standard
for hotpot stock will help main-
tain food safety and allow home
cooks to select the level of spices
that fits their tastes.
Chongqing-based National
Quality Supervision and Test
Center for Flavorings con-
sulted 40 experts from stock
manufacturers, associations
and research centers of the
hotpot sector across China to
frame out the standard, which
is expecting approval from
Standard Administration of
China before 2010, said one of
the drafters yesterday.
The standard will not apply to
restaurants serving hotpots but
only to hotpot stocks sold in the
market, the drafter said.
Consumer confidence was
wrecked by scandals in previ-
ous years when many stocks
suppliers added “Sudan Red,” a
coloring ingredient that makes
spicy hotpot stock looks appeal-
ACROSSCHINA
BEIJING
Putin’s visit
Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin will visit
China from Oct 12-14 for the
14th bilateral prime ministers’
regular meeting with Premier
Wen Jiabao, Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Jiang Yu an-
nounced yesterday.
During his stay, Putin is also
scheduled to attend a grand
ceremony marking the 60th
anniversary of China-Russia
diplomatic ties and the closing
ceremony of the “Year of the
Russian Language”.
Prior to Putin’s trip, Chinese
Vice Premier Wang Qishan
is to hold the fifth meeting of
bilateral energy negotiations
with Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Igor Sechin, and the
13th conference of a joint com-
mission for the regular prime
ministers’ meetings with his
Russian counterpart Alexan-
der Zhukov, in Beijing from
Oct 11-12, respectively.
Ethnic models honored
The central government
honored role models who have
made major contributions to
And the Internet
spokesperson system also will
cover township government
and village committees in the
future, Sun added.
More than 20 government
departments so far have
established their Internet
spokesperson groups in the
Pearl River Delta city.
Guo Weiqing, a professor
from Guangzhou-based Sun
Yatsen University, said the move
is of “great significance.”
“It has demonstrated the more
open attitude of the government
departments toward the large
number of netizens,” Guo said.
In another development, a
netizen posted a note on the
Internet, complaining that a
sub-branch of the industry
and commerce administration
in Shaoguan in the northern
part of Guangdong had broken
rules in handling a local
advertisement violation case
last month.
After Hu Yanni, a staff
member from the Guangdong
provincial industry and
commerce administration
(GCIA), read the note, she
quickly reported the case to
relevant administration leaders.
They immediately launched an
investigation and ordered the
sub-branch to amend its ways.
Peng Haibin, deputy director
of GCIA, said the establishment
of Internet spokespeople will
help further raise GCIA’s
reputation and increase
contact between GCIA and the
netizens.
ing. Others added paraffin wax,
another poisonous addictive,
that fakes butter-like taste.
“Addictives, heavy metals
and the quality of oil will be
regulated, both for the soup
base and for the spices, to
uphold food safety,” said Wang
Yujing, general manager of
Chongqing Zhoujunji Hotpot
Food Co Ltd, one of the 40
drafters.
Requirements on quality
of stock ingredients will be
tightened when the national
standards becomes effective,
according to Wang.
About 80 firms manufacture
hotpot stock in the city.
“In addition, consumers
can select bases of hotpot soup
labeled with light, mild, spicy
or hot that suit their tastes as
the nationally unitary standard
will quantitatively define levels
of spicy,” Wang said.
In the past, levels of spices
were not uniform. Mild spicy
stocks manufactured in the
South, for example, sometimes
seem super hot for Northern-
ers.
According to Wang, more
ethnic harmony at a ceremony
yesterday, at which President
Hu Jintao urged the promotion
of harmony and prosperity
among all ethnic groups.
China will work hard to
promote equal and harmoni-
ous relations of mutual help
among all ethnic groups and
improve social security and
livelihoods in ethnic minority
areas, said Hu in his keynote
speech.
He urged authorities to learn
from their past experiences in
promoting ethnic unity and to
explore new ways to promote
harmony among all ethnic
groups in China.
The Communist Party of
China should improve its
leadership in promoting eth-
nic unity, and its capacity to
handle ethnic problems in the
“new environment,” Hu said.
JILIN
Robber hunted
A man robbed 170,000 yuan
($24,900) from a bank in
Changchun in Northeast
China’s Jilin province and fled
after shooting one person to
death and injuring another at
A snapshot of an Internet press conference room on the Sichuan provincial government website.
Public gets online press invitation
By Huang Zhiling
CHENGDU: Internet surfers
will be able to join government
press conferences like report-
ers, thanks to a virtual press
conference hall on the Sichuan
provincial government website
(www.sc.gov.cn).
The hall, opened on Tues-
day, has seats for the modera-
tor, the panel and reporters.
Behind the panel is a huge
screen with the Chinese
characters “Press Conference
Hall”, making it exactly like
the press conference hall of
the Sichuan provincial govern-
A tasty touch
A chef adjusts the ingredients of a hotpot during a competition
in Chongqing.
than half of the 40 advisors
were stock manufacturers
delegates from Chongqing
Municipality and Sichuan
Province, which represent spicy
hotpot. Others were from Inner
Mongolia autonomous and other
North provinces, which repre-
about 2:40 pm yesterday, local
police said.
Police were still hunting for
the suspect at press time.
SHANGHAI
Fake bag seller pays
A garment market that had
been selling fake Coach bags
for a long time was ordered
to compensate the leading
United States designer 60,000
yuan ($8,790), announced
Shanghai No 2 Intermedi-
ate People’s Court yesterday.
Coach found Shanghai
Xingwang International Gar-
ment and Accessory Market
selling fake Coach bags. From
January 2007 to March 2009,
on several occasions, Coach
warned the market to stop
the illegal practice but was ig-
nored. Coach sued the market
to demand a compensation of
50,000 yuan.
INNER MONGOLIA
Suspected food poisoning
More than 110 students and
teachers at a kindergarten in
North China’s Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region have
NATION
Action vowed on forced
confessions, including wider
interrogation taping
ment, said Yang Jie, a reporter
with the Sichuan branch of
China News Service.
The screen of the online
press conference hall shows
detailed information and
videos of recent press confer-
ences held by the provincial
government, the city and pre-
fecture governments, as well
as by provincial government
departments.
The information includes
the full text of each member
of the panel.
“It is a positive action from
the government, and I am
sure people will have another
channel to make suggestions
Zhong Guilin
sent light hotpot stock, featur-
ing instant boiling of thin cuts
of lamb and beef.
“Thanks to the national stan-
dard, many stock brands may
emerge stronger,” said Li Qian-
hui, secretary of the Chongqing
Hotpot Association.
fallen ill in a suspected food
poisoning case, local hospital
sources said Monday.
The victims in Elfin Kinder-
garten in Baotou City started
to show symptoms of fever and
vomiting on Sept. 24. Some
76 of them, who had been
hospitalized since then, were
diagnosed with contagious
dysenteric viruses.
Local health authorities are
still investigating and have
yet to confirm the cause of the
incident.
TAIWAN
New H1N1 death
A 34-year-old man in Taiwan
has died of H1N1 influenza,
bringing the island’s death toll
to 18, according to epidemic
control authorities yesterday.
The man was reported to be
the first victim sent to hospital
in critical condition on the
island. He had been in hos-
pital for more than 80 days,
undergoing treatment.
On Sept 20, a pregnant woman
on the island died of the flu
virus. Island officials had not
reported any new cases in the
hospital as of Tuesday.
about issues concerning their
lives and even complain to the
government,” said Xie Xiaoli,
a primary school teacher of
Chinese in Chengdu, capital
of Sichuan.
Through the online hall,
reporters can even join press
conferences at home. Invited
reporters will be given a
username and a password,
and they can raise questions
online just as in the real
world, said Xu Yun, chief of
the information technology
section of the general office
of the Sichuan prov incial
government.
Internet users will be able
Gilded in gold: Lavish
park sparks controversy
By Zheng Caixiong
GUANGZHOU: Construction
of a 250 million yuan ($36 mil-
lion) garden in the Panyu dis-
trict, including a toilet facility
inlaid with gold, is stirring up
controversy in this Guangdong
provincial capital.
Liang Weisu, general direc-
tor of the garden’s construction
project, said the garden, which
opened to tourists on Monday,
will become a tourist attrac-
tion in the southern province
that borders Hong Kong and
Macao special administrative
regions.
Some residents have said
the tourist attraction’s cost
is outrageous, and that the
money should have been spent
on schools or on programs to
help the poor.
The toilet, situated in the dis-
trict’s newly built royal Nanyue
Garden, is gilded with pure gold
leaf in its doors, windows, roof
and outer walls. Its cost was 8
million yuan.
The “six-star” luxury toilet
Special gifts
A turtle, known as Geochelone gigantean, arrives at the Pudong Airport, Shanghai yesterday.
The two turtles are gifts from the Republic of Seychelles for the Shanghai Expo to be held next
year.
Taiwan boy arrested
A 17-year-old Taiwanese boy
has been arrested for chop-
ping off his father’s hands,
allegedly to avenge years of
physical abuse, a police of-
ficial said Tuesday.
The boy cut through his
father’s wrists with a knife
while he was asleep at the
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
to see the questions and an-
swers.
“In the future, the public
will also be able to raise ques-
tions online,” Xu said.
To achieve that, however,
software should be designed
to identify netizens participat-
ing in the online press confer-
ence, he said.
Xu said departments and
bureaus under the provincial
government will actively so-
licit topics of public concern
and hold timely press confer-
ences online for those who are
interested.
Sichuan is believed to be the
fi rst Chinese province to set
has also been equipped with
expensive wooden furniture
and other advanced facilities
similar to those once used by
royal family members in an-
cient Chinese dynasties.
The toilet facility is called
the Shuxin Pavilion (meaning
happy in Chinese).
The project was built in the
ancient southern Chinese ar-
chitectural styles, with similar
garden features of that era.
“And we built the luxury toi-
let to help change the minds of
some foreign tourists who think
toilets are always dirty in the
mainland,” Liang said.
The Nanyue Garden follows
the line of luxury, too, he said.
The garden’s buildings were
gilded with more than 10 km of
pure golden leaf and mounted
with more than 200,000 pearls
and jewels in its doors, windows
and outer walls of the garden’s
pseudo-classic architectures.
In the garden, there are in-
tricately carved beams, painted
pillars and the glitter of gold
and jade on all sides.
Apart from small donations
family’s home in central
Miaoli on Monday, the official
said.
The 37-year-old father, a
divorced ironsmith, was in
stable condition after doctors
reattached his severed hands,
the official said.
The father and son were iden-
tified only by their surname,
5
up such a hall on its website.
Earlier, Guizhou, Yunnan
and Guangdong provinces set
up press conference halls on
local media websites, said Li
Jiang, an information officer
with the information office
of the Sichuan prov incial
government.
After the Guiyang munici-
pal government in Guizhou
became the fi rst government
to launch an online press
spokesman on Sept 1, the
Beijing-based China Youth
League conducted a survey
showing more than 80 per-
cent of respondents hope their
home provinces follow suit.
from home and abroad, most
of the construction funds
came from the Panyu district
government.
Many local residents ques-
tion why the district govern-
ment wasted so much money
to build the garden.
Chen Xianqi, a local white-
collar worker, yesterday said
the government should use
the money to build a school or
further improve the district’s
teaching facilities, instead of
constructing such a lavish
royal garden.
And Wang Hongying, a
deputy to the local people’s
congress, said relevant de-
partments should have sought
approval from the congress
before they started the con-
struction.
Located in the city’s Shawan
township, Nanyue Garden cov-
ers an area of more than 6.67
hectares.
A ticket to enter the garden
is 50 yuan for an adult while
children shorter than 1.2m and
senior citizens older than 70 are
admitted free of charge.
Gao Erqiang
Fan.
The police official said the
boy admitted to cutting off
his father’s hands and showed
no remorse, complaining that
he was beaten after refusing
to get a job while attending
school.
China Daily-Xinhua
6 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 ARTISTSPECIAL
Dongfang (The Oriental), 270x780cm, 1993. Four leaders of the PRC — Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.
Artistic currency
Among the works of Liu Wenxi is a portrait
of Mao Zedong on the nation’s paper money
By Xin Yi
L
iu Wenxi might not be a familiar
name to many people, but the 76-
year-old artist has a direct connec-
tion to everyone in China — he painted
the main illustration on all of today’s
Chinese currency from 1 to 100 yuan
notes, the portrait of the nation’s late
leader Mao Zedong.
Born in east China’s Zhejiang province,
Liu graduated from Zhejiang Arts College
in 1958, which was renamed the China
Academy of Art in 1993. Since gradua-
tion, he has worked for more than 50
years at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts,
a well-known art school in southwest
China’s Shaanxi province. He is now the
honorary president of the school.
Beginning in the mid-20th century,
Liu had already begun to attract at-
tention from critics and established a
reputation for the strong realism of his
paintings.
“For creative inspiration, go deeply
Join the Enjoyment, 100x120cm, 1962.
Victory Lies Ahead, 40x60cm, 1964.
Care for Children, 140x160cm, 1975. Millet Rice, 68x136cm, 1983.
into life. For creative passion, approach
people, who will tell you where to go,” the
widely acclaimed painter tells fledgling
artists.
He has made scores of visits around
counties and villages in the province,
painting portraits of thousands of farm-
ers and drawing tens of thousands of
quick sketches.
Depicting his subjects on the Loess
Plateau with its expanses of yellow earth,
Liu is considered a leader of the “yellow
earth painting school” that has a heavy
local Shaanxi flavor in its paintings.
Just a few of his subjects include an
old, wrinkled man with a pipe in his
mouth and a white towel on his head
— traditional dress in the region — or a
young girl wearing a delightful, colorful
scarf and a shy, faint smile, or farmers
with heavy loads of wheat on their backs,
their eyes reflecting hardships and hopes
of life, pictures that exude a strength that
can touch the hearts of viewers.
Another frequent topic presented in
his work is the nation’s first generation
Portrait of Mao Zedong on yuan currency notes,
28x42cm, 1997.
CHINA DAILY
of leaders, especially Mao.
Shaanxi province was a key revolution-
ary center, so stories and legends about
the leaders have long been told.
Liu’s pictures are a reflection of the
closeness between the leaders and the
people, critics say.
He has been to the places where Mao
and his soldiers fought their rivals, had
talks with old farmers and veteran
soldiers who witnessed or participated
in the fights, collected and researched
a wealth of historical documents, and
made thousands of quick sketches of the
local environment and people.
His diligence and seriousness has
paid off.
He has released more than 10 albums
of collected work and published more
than 1,000 paintings at home and abroad.
Twenty-five of his paintings are now in
the National Art Museum.
Though founded in the long tradition
of Chinese painting, Liu’s work also
embraces Western art to expand his
expressive techniques.
He has visited many countries includ-
ing Japan, the United States and Canada
to exchange artistic insight, and has
held exhibitions with his wife Chen
Guangjian, also a painter.
CHINA DAILY ARTISTSPECIAL WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 7

Great Victory, 200*300cm,1977

Mao Zedong in northern Shaanxi VII, 60*70cm, 1978

Dawn, 160*194cm, 2009

Mao Zedong in northern Shaanxi VI, 60*70cm, 1978

A native of Zheijiang province, Liu Wenxi has worked at the Xi’an

Academy of Fine Arts for 50 years. His published works include 10
volumes of artwork and more than 1,000 paintings. Twenty-five of
his orginal works are now a part of China’s National Art Museum.

Lifetime of achievement
Consultant to the Chinese Artists’ Association


Honorary president of the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts

Honorary president of the Shaanxi Chinese Painting
Academy
Member of the Seventh and Eighth National People’s
Congress
Member of the Sixth China Federation of Literary and
Art Circles
Delegate to the fourth, fi fth, sixth and seventh National
Conference of the Representatives of Literary and Art
Workers
Member of the Chinese-painting committee of the Chinese
Artists Association
Member of the Evaluation Committee of the National
Artworks Exhibition
Named ‘outstanding expert’ for contributions to the
State

In the Garden, 100*130cm, 1962

Mao Zedong in northern Shaanxi IV, 60*70cm, 1978

Mao Zedong with Han Qixiang, 120*150cm, 1992 At Mao Zedong’s Side, 120*160cm, 1959
8 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 COMMENT CHINA DAILY

T H E N A T I O N A L E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E N E W S P A P E R

Beijing Hong Kong New York, NY

15 Huixin Dongjie, Rm 1818, Hing Wai
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Cell: 917-822-4176
Tel: 1-877-CN-DAILY

Couples falling apart Newscartoon

H
ow high is the divorce also, primarily, to give. If neither

The low-carbon future economy

rate among young wants to give, it is impossible for
couples born in the a marriage to survive.
1980s? Though it is Investigations show that trivial
different in different matters, which people of an earlier
regions, there is a consensus generation would consider incon-
that they do not take marriage sequential, are usually cause for
as seriously as the older genera- divorce. One young woman want- By Lin Boqiang energy prices are CHINA developing world. money as funds for implementing
tions do. Behind this is the young ed divorce because her husband other factors that FORUM Governments in LCE. So the huge personal income
generation’s self-centeredness and snores at night. Having difficulty promote the global developed coun- gap also objectively contributes

A
lack of capability to get along with in getting along with their moth- low-carbon economy (LCE) low-carbon transition. tries could win votes as long as local to the common but differentiated
others. ers-in-law has become a major is a concept which was fi rst The LCE aims at minimizing GHG people’s present lifestyle and living responsibilities between developed
proposed in the UK Energy emissions from all anthropogenic conditions can be maintained. How- and developing countries.
The average divorce rate in cause behind many a young White Paper 2003, entitled Our energy activities, featuring higher efficiency ever, developing countries face much Developed countries are more to
urban areas is around 20 percent woman’s move for divorce. future: creating a low-carbon economy. in every process of energy production tougher challenges in improving blame for global warming rather
and it should be much higher Behind this high divorce rate is Thereafter, LCE became a buzzword and consumption. Specifically, as a their overall living standard toward than developing countries. The cur-
among couples in their 20s and the poor ability to solve problems arousing increasingly worldwide new economic pattern, LCE has sev- middle-income level. So imposing rent per capita emission of developing
early 30s. The popular phrases on their own. Divorce offers a pas- concern. The Energy White Paper, eral substantial differences with the limitation on GHGs of developing countries is significantly lower than
shanhun (meaning getting mar- sive and easy escape from marital however, presents no precise defini- traditional economic modes charac- countries is not only unfair to them, that of developed countries, irrespec-
ried immediately after knowing problems. This is primarily be- tion of LCE, nor the relevant methods terized by high energy consumption, but also somewhat wrong morally. tive of the latter’s mass emissions
each other) and shanli (to divorce cause their parents never tell them or standards for delimitating LCE. poor efficiency and high emission. For As a revolution in global economic in history. Besides, in developing
in less than two years after mar- that life is a process of constantly The LCE, thought as a worldwide example, LCE requires high efficiency development and human living pat- countries many emissions are trans-
riage) reflect their solving problems, hot topic, is still a vague concept up- in manufacturing energy utilization tern, LCE deserves corresponding ferred from developed countries.
attitude to mar- and they never let dating over time. In the mainstream and a pretty high proportion of re- actions from each country and indi- Ranking at the top of the industry
riage. them solve their view it refers to an economy having newable energy in energy structure; vidual. The requirement for developed chain, developed countries prefer to
In the southwest-
Tolerance and problems on their a minimal output of greenhouse gas it encourages more bicycling, walking and developing countries, however, move the manufacturing with heavy
ern municipality of considerateness are own. As a result, (GHG) emissions into the biosphere. and use of low carbon-emission and should not be the same, which is also energy consumption, high pollution
Chongqing alone, necessary qualities they immediately When the concept was first put public vehicles instead of private cars the basis of the principle of “common and emission to developing countries.
more than 1,400 for getting along with seek parents’ help forward, most scientific and public in transportation; office buildings and but differentiated responsibilities”. Therefore, developed countries should
couples, who di- when faced with opinion had come to the conclusion houses should be built with high ef- Theory and practice already con- take their due responsibilities in GHG
vorced in the first others. And, they are problems. When that the over-concentration of GHGs ficiency and energy-saving material firm that public opinion on the qual- mitigation and address the problems
in the atmosphere due to anthropo- and in an energy conserving manner. ity and value of the environment is they have caused.
six months this particularly important they become genic causes is the direct cause of the In the final analysis, through energy- highly related with their income and Besides reducing their own emis-
year, gave haste in for stability of a independent and ongoing global warming. Therefore, a saving technology innovation, appli- the payment capacity for emission sions, a promising LCE of developed
getting married as get married, they campaign to implement LCE globally cation of low carbon dioxide emission mitigation heavily depends on in- countries means they should shoul-
the reason. They marriage. can ask no one is believed to be imperative for avert- technology and improving energy uti- come level. Compared with China’s der more responsibility in helping
had no idea what for help for the ing catastrophic climate change. lization efficiency, LCE can gradually per capita income of $2000 in 2007, developing countries in this regard.
wedlock means. problems in their Nearly all countries have realized reduce per capita carbon emissions the US averaged at $46,000, which is Without caring about low-carbon
It is too late when they realize marriage, and then they choose to the necessity of transition toward LCE and establish low carbon living envi- 23 times that of China’s. In China, the economy in developing countries,
that it means responsibility for keep away from them. and have acted accordingly, which has ronment and lifestyle. average electricity cost per kilowatt- LCE of developed countries will lead
each other. There are now some classes become an important component of the Though various governments hour is 6.7 cents while it is 9.1 cents in to more GHG emissions.
Tolerance and considerateness being conducted by experts for long-term global warming mitigation appreciate a low-carbon economy, the US, only 1.4 times that of China’s.
are necessary qualities for getting prospective young couples. They strategy. In the meantime, the drain- the focus and concern are different So in the US it would be easier to The author is a professor with Center
along with others. And, they are are taught in these classes what ing of non-renewable energy resources, when it comes to the huge gap be- mobilize the public to support relief of China Energy Economics Research,
particularly important for stabil- marriage means and how they increasing energy demand and soaring tween developed countries and the from GHG emissions as well as raise Xiamen University.
ity of a marriage. Lack of these should get along with each other
qualities among young people is and how they should react to each
a serious problem. other when they have conflicts. L E T T E R S • A N D • B L O G S
Most being single children in It is more than necessary for
their families, they have been young couples to get well prepared
spoiled by parents and grandpar- for marriage. And it is even more
ents. They are used to getting the important for parents to be told Walking a everyone about the risk of picking
up other’s property. Though Liang
working in the justice system who
forced her to “walk a tightrope” by
a National Zoo — you have built
beautiful new skyscrapers, apart-
best things and the most atten- that they must know how to let tightrope is set free, her action should not be unjustly arresting her. ment buildings, retail centers by
tion from their elders who dote their children learn to solve their encouraged. Her case reminds us Long Cheng Fei Jiang the millions, and even an impres-
too much on them. own problems. The fate of a cleaner at Shenzhen that when you find property lost http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_ sive Olympics venue. But the Zoo
Most of them don’t know that The ability to solve problems airport has grabbed the attention by others, you should not pick up 554b1c950100ey7m.html is a dilapidated mess, including
loving a person means to love on their own is not only ben- of the public for nine months. Now it. On this count, of course, we all the panda enclosures.
his or her merits and at the same eficial to maintaining their people can feel relieved because agree with Qu. I would think the people of
time to tolerate his or her demerits. marriage but good for them in on Friday the prosecutors of Shen- Another argument of Qu made Disappointed in Beijing would have been embar-
Love does not mean only to get but their job, too. zhen dropped the larceny accusa-
tion against Liang Li, the cleaner
me confused, however. He said
that from a judicial perspective,
the Beijing Zoo rassed to have Olympic Games
visitors happen to want to visit
who found a bag with gold worth Liang’s behavior was like walking the pandas, and be astounded by

Major issue for minors 3 million yuan ($441,000) in the

airport last Dec.
Among the many views ex-
pressed on Liang’s case, a famous
a tightrope. I think the boundary
of law concerning theft should
be clear, and a distinction should
be made between criminals and
My husband and I just got back
from a magical tour of your beauti-
ful country, and we enjoyed our
the relatively poor conditions. We
hope to come back to China and its
capital city of Beijing for another
visit immensely. visit, and we sincerely hope that

T
here is little chance that
Hubei province will
recast its rules on the
implementation of the
Law on the Protection
of Minors — which is to take ef-
fect from tomorrow — to pacify
the uneasy feelings it has given
rise to.
Actually there is no case for it
at all. The whole thing is public
frenzy as a product of media sen-
sationalization, and very much off
the point. Citing “national condi-
tions,” many believe the rules are
unjustifiable.
The document raised eyebrows
The leeway here is broad enough one that gained wide popularity on the innocent. Since it is clear On the last full day, we went to the Zoo will be as jaw-dropping as
for custodians, more often than not the Internet was that of Profes- that Liang did not commit theft, the Beijing Zoo, and our opinion of are so many other sights in your
parents, to continue doing whatev- sor Qu Xuewu from the Chinese her status as an innocent person China was almost ruined. How can nation.
er they like about their children’s Academy of Social Sciences. Qu should be acknowledged. In fact, such an astoundingly dynamic Carol Ann Travis
privacy. After all, the law has not said the case should caution it is not she herself but a few people settle for a disgrace for via e-mail
outlawed it.
We are not surprised at all at
the sensation a topic like this
has stirred up. It is rather the
logic behind the explicit worries
on the part of the concerned par-
ents that worries us. In particu-
lar, the way parental surveillance
China’s magic to break those doom spells
is justified. By Tian Ye tration, explained that the reason Chi- would cause international chaos and enabled the country to embrace a
In the first place, “national na defied and survived the doomsayers bring havoc to the human race. market economy, would lead to a radi-
conditions” do not make a good was because during times of difficulty Again, China’s entry into the World cal change in its political system and
excuse for such intrusion. We

because of the impression that it
prohibits parents from checking
such private matters as letters,
diaries and cellphone messages
of minor children. Legitimacy
aside, if you are still worried
about it, forget it. The local rule
said nothing even close to that.
It would still be legally accept-
able for inquisitive parents and
custodians to monitor their chil-
dren’s very personal information.
Though we have difficulty in
appreciating parents spying on
their children.
Unconvinced? Take a look at
the original: “No institution or
individual should disclose the
privacy of minors. No institution
or individual should conceal or
destroy the letters, diaries, elec-
tronic mail messages, online chat
records, cell phone messages,
and other personal information
of minors. No institution or in-
dividual should open and check
(such information) without con-
sent by the minor or his or her
custodian. With the exception of
circumstances on which the law
stipulates otherwise.”
have a lot of undesirable “national
conditions”. This is one of them.
Chinese parents are known
for their meticulous interest in
their children’s futures. Yet they
often see their fine motivations
to guarantee the healthy growth
of their children backfi re. It is
so exactly because they are too
assured of patriarchal authority
to appreciate what is on their
children’s mind.
Many parents opposed the
alleged ban in the Hubei rules
because they feel the local rule
will deny them access to what
their children really think.
Which is in itself an indication of
their lamentable inability to enter
into constructive interaction with
those in their care.
It is indeed a time-tested “na-
tional condition.” Our culture is
so addicted to patriarchal author-
ity that there is little initiative to
make respect two-way between
parents and their children.
But is it not shameful if parents
have to rely on secretly prying
open their children’s diaries and
mailboxes to really know them?
I
f new terms such as “Chimerica”
and “G2” have any meaning, their
constant appearance in main-
stream Western media must naturally
lead people to consider China a rising
power that will soon be the equal of
the United States.
China may not be that powerful
yet, but 30 years’ of rapid economic
growth and its strong performance
during the current global economic
downturn may enable the world to re-
think about the secret of its vitality.
The road to the country’s present
position has witnessed more than a
few rocks strewn in the way. It has
been a bumpy, zigzag ride, taking
time to travel. In the past 60 years,
many people had constantly feared
that the most populous Communist
country in the world would some time
come to an end.
Following the founding of the
People’s Republic in 1949, there
were doubts whether the ruling
Communist Party, which described
itself as a party of the proletariat and
whose membership consisted mainly
of peasants, could rule a continent-
sized country.
But it did survive and miracles
took place.
Wang Yukai, a political scientist at
the China National School of Adminis-
and when the rest of the world was cast-
ing doubt on its vitality, China was a
relatively insular country, focused on
resolving its inner problems.
Others said that it was because
China built up its own strength de-
veloping nuclear weapons and long-
range ballistic missiles, in addition
to its basic industrial system in the
1950s and 1960s.
The year 1978 reshaped China’s
fate and path, and perhaps presaged
a shift in the world’s power balance.
China’s reformers, led by Deng Xiaop-
ing, decided to open the country to
the rest of the world and formulated
an economic model that attracted
universal attention, once again, to
the Middle Kingdom.
However, pressures continue as its
economy is rising to new heights.
The collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991 and the political turmoil in
China in the summer of 1989, led
Westerners to doubt the sustainabil-
ity of China persisting on “a socialist
road with Chinese characteristics”.
In 1994, Lester Brown, president
of the Earth Policy Institute of the
USA, painted in his report Who will
feed China a gloomy picture, saying
that the country with the largest
population in the world would inevi-
tably become famine-stricken which
Trade Organization in 2001 prompted
Western experts to question the sus-
tainability of its economic develop-
ment. Many believed that China’s
“stiff and fragile” State-run enter-
prises would break down and trigger
nationwide panic.
Gordon Chang, a lawyer who
worked for two decades in China and
later became a naturalized US citizen,
predicted in 2003 that the extreme dif-
ficulties the country faced would lead to
the “coming collapse of China”.
According to the scenario he
painted, China could not sustain it-
self for five years, and a total collapse
was forecast to occur before the torch
of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games
was lit. Years have passed since
Chang made his prediction, but the
strong performance of the Chinese
economy, most of all during the global
economic downturn, runs contrary to
the lawyer’s judgment.
These sorts of assumptions usu-
ally fall over by themselves as the
perspectives they take are mostly
one-sided and prejudiced, which bars
them from any balanced probe into
the mechanism of China’s develop-
ment, said Wang Yukai.
The Western world may also have
taken it for granted that China’s re-
form and opening-up policy, which
eventually bring China closer to the
Western model, but in fact quite the
opposite has happened, Wang said.
Pan Wei, director of the Center for
Chinese and Global Affairs of Peking
University, says it is time to summa-
rize “China’s mode of development”.
Its development should consist of its
social, political and economic develop-
ment modes, he said.
For Wang Yukai, China’s develop-
ment can be interpreted through
three aspects: economically, the
adoption of a market economy;
politically, a system of multi-party
cooperation and political consulta-
tion under the leadership of the
Communist Party of China; and the
country’s system of political power
— the people’ s congresses; and the
capacity for self-correction China has
while unswervingly on its own path
of development.
Zheng Yongnian, director of the
East Asian Institute of the National
University of Singapore, in a pub-
lished article says the outside world
has pinned great expectations on
China emerging as a great power
and has identified the Chinese mode
of development.
The author is a writer with Xinhua
News Agency.
CHINA DAILY OPINION WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 9
Games are what IOC wants people to play Never a
better time to
peril. If it is successful it will help
ensure the longevity and the
in Copenhagen seeking other ways
to put the Olympic values into be Chinese
relevance of what is probably action.
one of the most significant We will examine the gov-
global cultural activities ernance of our movement to
in which the vast majority improve transparency and
JACQUES ROGGE of humanity participates accountability; we will re-
in some form or another. It view the role of the Olympic

I
n a moment of tension and sus- will help ensure that future Games in promoting values;
pense, the International Olympic city choices will remain just we will work on keeping the ERIC NILSSON
Committee will convene in Co- as fiercely contested. cost and size of the events and

T
penhagen on Oct 2 to select the host The organization that came the relevance of the Games; we here would be so much to
city for the 2016 Olympic Games. to life 115 years ago to promote will discuss ways in which we celebrate tomorrow, the 60th
The choice of Chicago, Madrid, Rio Olympic values is stronger than can do more to support sport in anniversary of New China’s
de Janeiro or Tokyo will reverberate ever, with 205 National Olympic developing nations; and above founding.
around the world. The winner will Committees spread across every all we will consider our obligations That is because it has never been a
be entrusted to deliver one of only a continent. The 2008 Beijing Olympic to athletes. better time to be Chinese.
handful of truly global events that has Games set new records for global We have taken a series of steps in Six decades after its founding, the
the ability to bring together the vast participation and viewership, and recent years to help athletes make the People’s Republic has become a land
majority of humanity in a celebration the quality of competition. transition from competition to private of superlatives, where the suffi xes
not just of sporting success, but also But we also face some difficult and professional life, but we have to “ist” and “est” almost always apply.
of human achievement. challenges. Wang Xiaoying
do more. Athletes are the heart of our Consequently, descriptive language
It will be an important decision, The theme of this year’s congress is movement. Their dedication, self- that would sound like hyperbole in
and of course the “moment of truth” “The Olympic Movement in Society”. against doping. It is unfortunate that of the Olympic Movement from the discipline, fair play and respect for any other context often understates
will be beamed live into many It is a broad topic and captures the the vast majority of athletes who play very beginning. But though the goal competitors are a powerful example the incredible realities of human
millions of homes and delivered to reality that sport is an integral part by the rules have to undergo this remains the same, the challenges for all of us. history’s most rapidly developing
front pages of newspapers around of society, not something above and inconvenience. It is the price they sometimes are different. To be sure, They give us their best. We have a and most populous country.
the world. It will no doubt be just as beyond it. Indeed it was the founder pay to ensure fair competition. there are still many parts of the world responsibility to ensure that they have But this is not a day the Chinese
intense as London’s narrow victory of our modern movement, Pierre I have no illusions. This is not a where our attempt to bring sport and an opportunity to live full, productive should honor alone. Instead, the world
over Paris four years ago. But, as de Coubertin, who said: “Sporting battle that will end with a declaration sporting values to the population lives beyond the field of competition should venerate it with them. The
captivating and entertaining as this competition without values/culture of victory. Completely beating doping is still a fight against deprivation, and the cheering of spectators. mainstream of any society is proud
whole process is, it will be only part is simply a military parade.” Our and cheating in sport is as unlikely but it is clear that in the future we These debates will start the day of their homeland, which manifests
of a wider story. goal is to place sport at the service as being able to declare the end of all also face competition that has the after the city to host the 2016 Games itself as patriotism. And patriotism is
Indeed, the Olympic Movement of humanity and provide a positive crimes in society — it will be with us ability to turn young people away is chosen. I am as eager as anyone to exactly what today is all about.
will confront many other significant influence on society — and through as long as sport is with us. But like from the wonderful values that sport find out which city will prevail. It will Many foreigners consider
issues in Copenhagen once the four sport to harness that which is best in the fight against crime, it is a battle inspires and the physical benefits it be exciting, but it will not be the end mainstream China to be particularly
bidding cities have packed up and left our society and counter that which worth fighting and one in which I can bring. of the story in Copenhagen nor for the nationalistic. This is perhaps true, but
town, issues that could have a more is malign. believe we are gaining ground. But Elsewhere in the world we often Olympic family. it’s not nationalism in any negative
lasting impact on the Games and on Drug abuse and doping remains just as constant vigilance is the price find ourselves trying to make the The debates will help determine sense. That’s because Chinese
society. The host city vote is merely a serious threat to the integrity of of freedom, so too is the constant Olympic values relevant in the face whether the Olympic Movement can nationalism is not characterized
a part of a much larger gathering sport and to the health and safety of battle to outstrip the cunning of the of over abundance and a surfeit of remain relevant and viable through closed-mindedness, isolationalism
known as the Olympic Congress. athletes, as it is to wider society. We cheats. choice. To this end, next August, we’ll another century. The founders of the or intolerance of other countries or
An Olympic Congress is a rare and have made a lot of progress in our Youth inactivity is another threat try a new approach to engage young modern Olympic Movement in the cultures. It’s not a case of “us versus
special event, occurring only about efforts to deter and detect cheaters. It to sport and health. In today’s world, people with the launch of the first 19th century had to bring the Games them” but rather, is one of “us with
once a decade. The first Congress, is a never-ending battle, and we must sport faces strong competition for the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore. and its values up to date when they them”.
held in Paris in 1894, established the remain vigilant. Education will help attention and interest of young people, It’s not a mini-Olympic Games. It’s an re-founded the Games. Our task is no Anyone who has spent time in
modern Olympic Games. The 2009 young athletes avoid the dangers of especially in developed countries. We event that combines sport, education less important if we are to reap the China or has dealt with its people
Congress is the first in 15 years and doping. Enforcement will ensure we can see the results in the rising rates and cultural experiences to promote huge benefits that the Olympic Games in other countries knows well that
the first of this new millennium. Its catch and punish the cheats. of youth obesity. healthy lifestyles and the Olympic can bring to all humanity. Chinese people — arguably more
role is to help guide the Olympic Strict testing regimes, including Sharing the joy of sport with values of fair play, solidarity, respect so than the natives of many other
Movement through a future that holds tests outside the actual competition young people and encouraging them and friendship. Jacques Rogge is president of the countries — overwhelmingly greet
both great promise and significant period, are critical to our fight to participate has been a core mission We will spend considerable time International Olympic Committee. foreigners with open arms rather
than clenched fists. Their warmth
and hospitality is extraordinary
enough to make most people from
Turn scenic spots FROMTHE
has a growth rate of just 3 percent.
Despite its large-scale development
Ji Lin, standing deputy mayor of Beijing, has
reportedly said the government would ex-
overseas blush.
On scopes larger than interpersonal
into national parks CHINESEPRESS for more than 10 years, China’s cultural
industry still has its share of problems. Take
ercise thrift in the PRC’s 60th anniversary.
All projects will be approved only after strict
interactions, China has shown a
zealous eagerness to interact with the
budgetary item, and keep ticket prices low TV programs for example. assessment and expenses will be audited world. It wants to engage other peoples
In run up to the National Day holidays, the to stimulate the tourism industry. Chinese producers have rarely succeeded after the event. and governments economically,
country famous tourist attractions are raising In order to make tourist attractions in creating competitive programs that can National Day celebrations are important. culturally, gastronomically — really,
ticket prices in droves, going up some 70 percent affordable for Chinese citizens once and for gain with worldwide popularity. Many But it is necessary, too, that we always keep in about every way possible.
in extreme cases. In recent years, there have all, the government should declare all 187 of the programs remain monotonous and thrift in mind. However, that doesn’t mean the
been recurrent price hikes despite repeated State-level scenic spots as national parks, stereotyped. The government’s austerity drive has Chinese are eager to adopt verbatim
prohibitions. In order to address this problem and thus root out profit making based on Now the country has made it its new reduced the number of participants in everything they see from outside. They
once and for all, the government should replace business control of the country’s natural strategic industry. But we cannot expect the parade from 240,000 in the 50th have shown a great propensity for
all State-level scenic spots with national parks, resources. overnight success. On one hand, the cultural anniversary to 180,000 this time. Festooned modernizing without Westernizing.
says an article in the Beijing News. Excerpts: industry depends highly on the prosperity vehicles have also been cut, from 90 to 60. But that has not meant they will not
of a nation’s culture. We have to take steps What’s more, the authorities have decided to select certain things they encounter
Repeated attempts to keep down the
increasing ticket prices at scenic spots have
How best to improve to boost Chinese culture instead of merely
focusing on updating communication
audit the accounts of the celebration, letting
the public know where the funds have been
from abroad to make their own.

invariably ended in failure. In 2005, faced

with periodic nationwide spike in entry
fees, the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) prescribed that a price
adopted should prevail for, at least, three
years. Subsequently, a national rectification
of ticket prices managed to check soaring
prices in 2008. Now released from four years
of oppression, plus high expectation on prof-
its of the long National Day vacation, tourist
attractions can’t wait to raise their ticket
prices despite the NDRC’s ban.
As a result, law enforcement should
play a role in addressing this problem.
National parks, as a kind of common benefit
accessible to all, is prevalent in numerous
foreign countries. Instead of placing a ban
on increases in ticket price, authorities
of these nations take on the maintenance
and management of tourist attractions as a
culture industry
The State Council recently adopted a plan on
the development of cultural industries with an
eye to introducing market players, promoting
competitiveness and enhancing GDP growth. We
cannot expect overnight success. Much needs
to be done to create favorable environment
for further development, says an article in
Changjiang Daily. Excerpt:
In the post-Cold War era, the cultural indus-
try, increasing at an annual rate of 11.3 per-
cent, has become a component of the world
economy. Added value created by cultural
industries generally accounts for more than
10 percent of GDP in advanced countries
— 12 percent in the US and 17 percent in
Japan. In contrast, China’s cultural industry
technologies. On the other hand, we should
always keep in mind the industry’s primary
purpose of improving people’s living
standards.
Cultural products are in essence the
work of minds. As a result, we should foster
open-minded environment for further
development of the industry.
Celebrate but
do not waste
Governments should fight extravagance and
waste by auditing the accounts for the celebration
of the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic
of China (PRC), says an article in China Business
View. Excerpt:
used and why.
The media have exposed several scandals
of extravagance and waste related to recent
celebrations. Several highly costly books
and photo albums have been published
in the name of commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the PRC.
It has also become common to see local
governments compete with each other to
show off their prowess. Such extravagance
results in a colossal waste of taxpayers’
money and will lead to corruption. These
acts should be criticized and calls for
effective supervision.
Besides, China has expressed a
strong desire to create a harmonious
Local governments should follow the world, and peacefulness is the mantra
example of the central government and of its interactions with other countries.
audit the accounts for their National And this is a creed it truly acts upon.
Day celebrations. Strict audit and public When conflicts arise, as they
supervision is one way to fight extravagance inevitably do in all human
and waste. interactions, and especially
in intercultural ones, Chinese
overwhelmingly seek resolutions
through negotiations that — at least
on their end — are based on mutual

The government debt bomb in defusing crisis respect and harmoniousness.

cumulative 4.8 percent of GDP, and
China, at 4.4 percent, over 2008-10,
while it has been modest in Germany
and Canada, and smaller in the UK,
France, and India.
The automatic increase in the
MICHAEL J. BOSKIN deficit has also been largest in
the US, modest in the UK and
and debt as a horrific legacy for our
children and an insurmountable
burden on the economy. In the US
in the 1980’s, Democrats excoriated
President Ronald Reagan on deficits;
Republicans now excoriate President
Obama on his much larger deficits
and debt. Deficits are convenient for
with debt temporary large spending
needs such as military buildups
during war (or to prevent war),
while reversing the debt buildup
thereafter.
The US federal government’s
borrowing exceeded tax revenues
in every year since the end of World
balanced the budget.
Deficits are problematic if they
finance consumption, not productive
public investment on infrastructure.
The crisis funding of the modestly
delayed infrastructure component
of most stimulus programs suggests
that much of it would not pass a
What more could the outside world
want from such a rising power? And
how could foreigners with any inkling
of the globe beyond their borders not
be overjoyed that the quality of life is
improving for such a people?
If those who hail from afar only
think of their own situations — and
not those of the Chinese — while
watching the country’s rise, they must
understand that China’s ascension

A
s economies around the
world return to growth after
the deepest recession in a
generation, renewed attention is be-
ing paid to enormous fiscal deficits
and vast expansions of government
debt. This year’s projected deficits
(as a share of GDP) are estimated
to be a remarkable 13.5 percent for
the United States, twice the previ-
ous record at the depth of the hor-
rific early 1980’s recession. Among
other major economies: the United
Kingdom, 14.4 percent; France, 8.2
percent; India, 8.0 percent; Japan, 7.4
percent; Italy, 5.4 percent; Germany,
4.7 percent; China 4.2 percent; and
Canada, 2.4 percent.
In addition to the automatic
decline in tax revenues and increase
in social-welfare spending during a
recession, many nations added large
spending increases and/or tax cuts
to try to stimulate their economies.
The increase in the deficit is the sum
of these “automatic stabilizers” and
discretionary programs. The
discretionary policy response
has been largest in the US, at a
Germany, and smaller in Japan,
India, Canada, China, France, and
Italy. These automatic effects should
soon begin to reverse as economic
activity recovers, but there is
much debate, including at the G8
and G20 meetings, over whether
the discretionary stimulus should
be extended or ended, repeated or
reversed.
Since every dollar, euro, yen, rupee,
or yuan borrowed today requires
the same present value in future
interest payments — and therefore
future taxes — there are important
long-term costs to balance against
whatever benefits the deficits create
today; there is no fiscal free lunch.
Some politicians, for example
President Barack Obama in the US,
herald their fiscal stimulus programs
as effective responses to the economic
crisis. They pledge allegiance to long-
term fiscal responsibility, yet propose
budgets with large deficits for years
to come and big hikes in the debt-
GDP ratio.
Politicians from political parties
out of power denounce the deficits
politicians as they hide and delay the
true tax cost of spending. But when
are deficits desirable, and when are
they damaging?
The impact of the economy on the
budget balance is swifter, surer,
and larger than the impact of the
budget balance on the economy. All
economists agree that we should
allow the automatic stabilizers to
work. Discretionary fiscal policy
is often clumsy in responding to
recession. The current US stimulus
has been much slower to enter the
economy than promised. Indeed,
most of the stimulus money will be
spent after the recession “appears to
have ended,” and the evidence is that
so far it has had little effect.
It is appropriate to finance (some)
long-lived public-capital investment
by government borrowing, since
the benefits will accrue for many
years, and future taxpayers might
equitably bear part of the burden.
This is standard practice for US
state and local governments. It is
also more efficient to keep tax rates
stable over time, and thus to finance
War II. Such debt fi nance is both
equitable and efficient. But little in
the current stimulus programs is
justifiable on either of the grounds
mentioned above.
The level, composition, and
growth of spending and taxes are
the fundamental fiscal indicators.
Even with a balanced budget, there
is still the issue of the effectiveness
and efficiency of spending, as each
dollar of government revenue costs
the economy about $1.30, given
the distortions to private decisions
caused by taxes.
Large deficits shift the bill for
today’s consumption to future
generations and can crowd out
private investment, thereby slowing
the improvement of living standards.
Deficits are riskier if the level of the
national debt, the accumulation of all
previous deficits, is high or rapidly
rising relative to GDP.
The debt-GDP ratio varies a lot
by country. It will double in the US
unless President Obama reverses
course, as President Bill Clinton did
when he and a Republican Congress
rigorous cost-benefit test. Some US
federal agencies are trying to spend
10 times their previous budgets — not
a recipe for efficiency or speed. And
deficits can lead to inflation if central
banks monetize the government
debt, a serious concern in financial
markets, as China has warned
America.
These concerns require that
fiscal exit strategies be planned,
announced, and implemented soon,
before the stimulus programs become
permanently entrenched, develop
powerful dependent constituencies,
and greatly increase the risk of rising
interest rates, inflation, and taxation.
On this score, citizens everywhere,
from Boston to Berlin, Mumbai to
Moscow, are right to be appalled at
the explosion of government debt.
Michael J. Boskin, professor of
economics at Stanford Univer-
sity and senior fellow at the
Hoover Institution, was chairman
of president George H.W. Bush’s
Council of Economic Advisers.
Project Syndicate.
ultimately benefits them, too. It has
continued bringing greater peace
and prosperity to a world where both
things are too often in short supply.
Unfortunately, some people
misunderstand Chinese nationalism.
But as China increases its engagement
with the outside world — and, more
importantly, when the world tries
harder to engage China — more
foreigners will come to understand
the country’s true character. Then,
they will also understand why its
nationalism is not something to be
described pejoratively and why the
Chinese deserve to be so proud of
their country.
I, for one, plan to celebrate
tomorrow.
And I will do so with true joy in my
heart, because of what it means not
only for the Chinese and for the rest
of the world, but also for me.
erik_nilsson@chinadaily.com.cn
The opinions expressed on this
page do not necessarily reflect
those of China Daily.
10 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 INTERNATIONAL CHINA DAILY

Why Cuba loves

Russian wheels
Passion for sturdy, easy-to-repair Lada
unabated despite arrival of Chinese rival
HAVANA: After three decades as the Park on the outskirts of Havana to
favored car of Cuban ‘nomenklatura’, talk about and show off their cars.
the austere, Russian-built Lada has The Soviet Union took Cuba under
spotted a Chinese rival in its rear- its wing in 1961, two years after
view mirror. Fidel Castro rose to power in a 1959
Ministers, officials and police are revolution, and until its implosion
switching their Ladas, with its stiff in 1991 showered the island with
manual steering, for the smooth billions of dollars in subsidies and
hydraulics of the Chinese-made Geely goods, including the Lada.
CK, a modern sedan that symbolizes From the time it arrived in the
the island’s new alliance with Beijing. 1970s, the car, so spartan it does not
China, now Cuba’s second-largest even have hubcaps, was a good fit for
trading partner behind Venezuela, economically challenged Cuba.
has shown an ability to quickly It was inexpensive, and earned
penetrate and dominate markets a reputation as a durable car that,
around the world with many of its when repairs were needed, was easy
products. to repair.
But Cubans say their love for “Anyone can fix it with just a piece
Ladas, which are of wire,” said
probably the most Carlos, a veteran
visible legacy of mechanic in Ha-
the country’s Cold vana. “If you ask
War alliance with a Cuban he will
the Soviet Union, tell you he does
will keep the cars not want to ex- A security guard keeps watch while the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft is transported to the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday. Canadian bil-
on Cuban roads. change his Lada lionaire Guy Laliberte and astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Maxim Surayev are due to blast off to the International Space Station today. Reuters
“I do not think for anything in
it will be easy the world.”
to displace the
Lada,” said David
Pena, a 39-year
old mechanic who
Not easy to get
Cars tend to
be cherished in
Space crew in for red noses, tickles
recently founded countries where BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan: The man characters like the sun, the moon Williams will be crammed into the
Cuba’s Russian they are not easy who hopes to be the first clown in and a drop of water,” he said. “Those Soyuz capsule with Laliberte for the
Automobile Club. to get, which is space, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy characters will then engage in a launch.
“For us this car The Chinese-made Geely (top) and the case in Cuba. Laliberte, yesterday said he would discussion, which will take the form Laliberte’s stay on the space station
is like a family the Russian-built Lada (above) A government tickle fellow astronauts as they of a little poetic story that we will read is scheduled to last nine days. Surayev
member.” patrol cars in Havana. Reuters minister must sleep aboard the International Space to the population of earth.” and Williams are due to remain until
Cuba is well- give approval for Station. Laliberte told reporters he had March, and Williams will take over
known for the vintage American someone to buy a car legally, and in But the impish billionaire says been tickling his fellow astronauts as commander of the orbiting lab in
cars that prowl its streets, relics of most cases even when it is purchased, his $35 million excursion into orbit during training, and planned to November.
pre-revolutionary Cuba and rolling it still belongs to the state. will have a more serious purpose: tickle them in their sleep aboard the The coming months will be busy,
tributes to the islanders’ mechanical Only people who bought a car promoting awareness of the world’s space station. Surayev said, with the planned
inventiveness. before the revolution or those who growing shortage of clean water. He has promised to bring each crew arrival of three delivery craft and
But the truth is they are greatly afterward were granted the right Laliberte and two astronauts spoke member of the Station a clown nose two US shuttles, as well as around
outnumbered by Ladas, of which to purchase one for personal or with reporters as they prepared for to wear, but plans to take two along 50 experiments planned.
there are an estimated 100,000 political achievements actually own today’s launch in Kazakhstan aboard for himself: one red, one yellow — “the Recent missions have expanded
in Cuba, compared to somewhere their vehicles. a Russian Soyuz rocket, appearing yellow one I will wear when I am a the space station’s capacity, allowing
around 60,000 of the old US cars. For those who get permission, behind a glass barrier to limit Canadian space tourist Guy Lalib- little grumpy, and the red one I will for a permanent population of six.
The Geelys, based on a Daewoo a new, basic Lada can be bought exposure to disease. erte jokes with his wife Claudia wear when I am happy and joyful”. Departure of the current occupants
design and powered by a 1.5-liter engine for the equivalent of about $5,000 The trip from the Baikonur launch Barilla at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur “I’m going there with my sense over the next few months, however,
licensed from Toyota Motor Corp, have A black market exists, where the facility to the orbiting laboratory is to cosmodrome yesterday. AFP of humor and my belief that even if will leave Surayev and Williams as
begun showing up with increasing purchaser buys the car for about take two days. sometimes in life we have to do hard the only crew for around three weeks
frequency on Havana streets. three times the normal price, but it The 50-year-old Canadian tycoon The performance — a poem — will work, there is always room to keep at the end of this year.
They have a sleek and stylish look remains registered in the name of the plans a global broadcast from the be read to the population on Earth humor present,” he said. “It’s a huge station, we’re probably
and come with air conditioning, original owner. space station on October 9 to promote in 14 different cities, across five going to be losing each other all the
electric windows and CD players. Cubans show their love for Ladas his One Drop Foundation, which continents, Laliberte said. Not all fun and games time,” Williams joked.
The Chinese cars are so far by making them a showcase for seeks to raise awareness of the threat “I’ll start with the simple idea of Astronauts Maxim Surayev
showing up in very limited numbers, creativity. to global water supplies. reading a poem, which will involve of Russia and American Jeffrey AP
as government vehicles and rental Some have covered their
cars, but their ranks are expected to dashboards with precious woods,
increase. Geely shipped more than installed powerful engines with Other tourists who the South African software millionaire ANOUSHEH ANSARI: The Iranian-born RICHARD GARRIOTT: The sixth space
1,500 cars to Cuba this year through souped-up carburetors or even spent 11 days aboard the space station, US telecoms millionaire became the tourist, a video game designer,
June, the Miami Herald reported on reinvented the original Soviet design made it to space where he had a radio conversation first Muslim woman in space and used reportedly paid $30 million for his
its website. by welding together two cars to build DENNIS TITO: This California with Nelson Mandela and rejected a her flight to inspire young women in October 2008 flight, during which
an improbable Lada limo. multimillionaire blasted off for space marriage proposal from a terminally-ill the Middle East and Islamic world. he shot the first feature film in space,
Cult object “Our wives often complain because from the Baikonur cosmodrome in 14-year old South African girl. Apogee of Fear. Garriott used his 5
But the no-frills Lada, based on the we dedicate so much time and money April 2001, becoming the first person CHARLES SIMONYI: The Hungarian- crew mates as principal actors for
Fiat 124 from the 1960s, has become a to our Ladas,” said Manuel Ares, to pay for the ride. He reportedly paid GREGORY OLSEN: The developer of born former Microsoft executive first the film, which has not yet been
cult object in Cuba for both its utility who is vice president of the Russian $20 million for the eight-day trip. optoelectronic devices used ham left for the ISS in April 2007 and made released.
and its enduring presence. Automobile Club. radio to talk to astronomy students a second trip in March 2009.
Pena and dozens of other Lada die- MARK SHUTTLEWORTH: In 2002, during his October 2005 flight. AP
hards gather every month in Lenin Reuters

WORLDSCENE
FRANCE
Bits of Paris up for grabs
Stairs from the Eiffel Tower, street
lamps from the Champs Elysees and
a telephone cabin from the 1950s are
among emblematic pieces of Paris up
for auction on December 14.
“To celebrate the Eiffel Tower’s
120 years” and “pay homage to
Paris”, some 350 items will be up
for grabs at the “Paris Mon Amour”
(Paris My Love) sale, auctioneer
Christophe Lucien said. Also going
under the hammer are old rubbish
bins, street benches and even a
Paris metro ticket-puncher from the
days when an inspector manually
punched tickets for travelers on the
underground system.
SWEDEN
Bergman chess pieces auctioned
The chess pieces used in Swedish
director Ingmar Bergman’s 1957
movie The Seventh Seal were sold
at auction for 1 million Swedish
crowns or $143,300 on Monday, said
auction house Bukowski’s.
It said 337 items belonging to
Bergman, who died in 2007 at
the age of 89, were auctioned in
Stockholm. The items included
film prizes and awards, a bedside
table with notes in Bergman’s
handwriting and a desk at which he
wrote many of his scripts.
In The Seventh Seal, a crusader
played by Max von Sydow delayed
his demise by challenging Death,
played by Bengt Ekerot, to a game
of chess. The chess pieces were sold
for more than 50 times the estimate
despite lacking the white king,
which was damaged when the film
was made.
AFP - Reuters
Thought to be Hitler’s, skull
belongs to woman, say scientists
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: A skull
fragment thought to have come
from Adolf Hitler is in fact that of
an unidentified woman, according
to a US study that has resurrected
questions about the Nazi leader’s
death.
The bone, bearing a bullet hole, has
been held up to support the theory
that Hitler shot himself and took
cyanide in his Berlin bunker as Soviet
troops approached in April 1945.
Doubts about the chain of events
— and even speculation that Hitler got
away — have persisted for decades.
The debates made the symbolic
importance of the skull piece, which
went on display for the first time at
Moscow’s Federal Archive in 2000,
all the greater — a unique war trophy
which gave the Russians enormous
pride. In addition to the skull, Soviet
troops said they exhumed Hitler’s
jawbone and that the bone’s identity
was confi rmed through his dental
assistants.
Now, professors at the University of
Connecticut say they have debunked
the story of the skull, arguing that
examinations show it belonged to a
woman, probably between the age of
20 and 40.
Archaeologist and bone specialist
Nick Bellantoni says he immediately
suspected the bone belonged to a
woman because of its structure.
His partner on the project,
Professor Linda Strausbaugh, director
of the university’s applied genetics
A giant leap? center, agreed to test for DNA if a
A member of the special warfare command poses for photographs as he good sample could be found.
parachutes from a helicopter during a practice for tomorrow’s 61st anni- So Bellantoni made the trip to
versary of the Armed Forces Day, in the sky above the Gyeryong military Moscow, where he was allowed to
headquarters, about 140 km south of Seoul, yesterday. Reuters obtain the DNA sample, and at the
end of May the team got to work in
the university’s laboratory in Storrs,
Connecticut.
It took them three days, working
with two forensic scientists from
the office of the New York City chief
medical examiner, to complete their
tests. Initially they feared the state of
the skull would make it impossible to
obtain results. “All we had exposure
to was photographs. What was
exposed to us was the side that
was charred. Fire is one of the real
enemies of getting DNA evidence out,”
Strausbaugh said.
The skull had been stored at room
temperature, which had also damaged
the DNA. However, the inside of the
fragment was not burned and “the
amounts we had were well within
the range that you would expect to
get DNA samples from,” she said.
The result was stunning.
“What the DNA told us is that it was
female,” Strausbaugh said.
The revelation is featured in a new
documentary airing on the History
Channel called Hitler’s Escape, which
revisits the idea that Hitler may have
escaped from Berlin.
But Strausbaugh says her testing
proves nothing about Hitler’s fate
— only that the skull purported to be
his belonged to someone else.
No dispute about death
Holocaust historian Christopher
Browning, a professor at the
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, said that the results of
tests on the skull would not change
the consensus that Hitler died in the
bunker.
Historians do not rely solely on
accounts by Soviet troops, he said.
They also have investigations from
the period, including one by British
intelligence officers who collected
corroborating evidence from
witnesses about the corpses of Hitler
and Eva Braun.
“None of it is depending on the
alleged validity of a body or skull in
Russian possession,” Browning said.
“When the History Channel says this
throws in doubt everything we’ve
known since 1945, that’s false.”
The Soviets reported digging up
and moving several times remains
thought to be those of Hitler, Braun
or propaganda minister Joseph
Goebbels and his wife and children,
Brown said.
“From the point of view of archival
integrity, (the skull) has no standing
whatsoever,” he said.
Sloppy procedures
In fact, some Russian officials and
scientists have also expressed doubts
about the skull fragment.
Strausbaugh said the historical
value of the bone and other pieces
of physical evidence collected by the
Soviets was undermined by sloppy
procedures. “The problem with many
of these samples is they haven’t been
archived, they haven’t been stored
properly,” she said.
If additional DNA samples from
family members of those who died
in the bunker could be obtained, the
relics might tell their story. But for
now, the identity of the skull in the
Moscow archives is set to remain an
enigma, Strausbaugh said.
AFP
CHINA DAILY CHENGDUSPECIAL WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 11

Chengdu hosts
celebration of
famed cuisine
and tourism

The September 26 opening ceremony for the 6th China International Food and Tour Festival.

Food festival sizzling in Sichuan

Residents of Pixian county
celebrate the opening of the
6th China International Food
and Tour Festival.
By Mao Mizhang
The Sixth China International Food and Tour
Festival will turn Chengdu, capital of Sichuan
province, into a gourmet paradise for nearly a
month.
Held for the first time in 2003, the annual
event has evolved into a nationally popular fes-
tival due to Sichuan’s distinctive food and the
compelling sites of Chengdu.
This year’s theme for the gala is “gourmet
city and colorful life.” Sponsored by the National
Tourism Administration, China Council for the
Promotion of International Trade, China Council
for the Promotion of National Trade and Chengdu
municipal government, it runs from September
26 to October 20.
Mao Zhixiong, secretary general and spokes-
man for the Chengdu municipal government, said
the festival is a hit in large part due to the city’s
rich array of restaurants. Chengdu has more than
60,000 dining establishments employing more
than 250,000 people, of whom some 2,000 are
top-notch chefs and nearly 300 are nationally
ranked master chefs.
More than 800 famous restaurants in the city
have chain outlets in other parts of the country
and overseas.
The city’s famous food quarters and streets
include Taste all the Delicious on the western
extension line of the Yangshi Street, Popular Food
Street in the Funan New Area, the Food Quarter
near the Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum, the
Temple of the Marquis of Wu Street, the Tradi-
tional Food Quarter in the Shuangnan residential
quarter and the consulate food quarter.
Renowned eateries are also scattered along
Qintai Road, Wenshufang, Jinli, the Wide and
Narrow Alleys, Wangping Street and Tongzilin
European Street.
Bustling restaurants create an entire city of
gourmet food that casts a spell for visitors, said
Deng Gongli, chief of the city’s tourism admin-
istration.
UNESCO application
In fact Chengdu has had a food festival since
far back in China’s history.
In the 6th century, a Chengdu food fest was
held to celebrate the founding of Taoism, the only
religion indigenous to China. It combined fetes
featuring flowers, temples and food.
The rich cultural connotations of the ancient
Chengdu feast strongly underpin the city’s bid for
the title “City of Food” from the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), Deng said.
The Chengdu government started applica-
tion preparations last year for inclusion in
the Creative Cities Network, a UNESCO ini- Contestants prepare to compete for the title "King of Chili" at the Happy Valley Theme Park in
tiative that celebrates and maintains cultural Chengdu, a main site of the festival. Whoever eats the most chilies is crowned king.
diversity.
The bidding documents for inclusion in the falls on October 3 are major holidays for leisure Kingdoms written during the Ming Dynasty
Creative Cities Network and for the title “City and travel, the festival’s organizing committee (1368-1644).
of Food” have been submitted to the Ministry of has designed a range of activities to cater to the Considered one of the top-four classic Chinese
Commerce, which gave its stamp of approval. different needs of visitors, Mao said. novels, it tells the story of three warring states.
Experts from China’s National Commission At the Happy Valley Theme Park of the Over- One of its best-known figures is Zhuge Liang,
for UNESCO have also reviewed and improved seas Chinese Town, the main site for the gala, then premier of the Shu State, now considered the
the reports. visitors can also enjoy German, Spanish, Turkish, personification of wisdom and loyalty in China.
The applications are a new beginning for Japanese and South Korean food accompanied by The famous Temple of the Marquis of Wu in
Chengdu to develop sectors that showcase and performances by magicians. downtown Chengdu is dedicated to Zhuge Liang
spread the city’s culture globally and promote Sixteen sub-venues in 16 districts, cities and and it’s the site of a famous food street.
Sichuan cuisine worldwide. counties under Chengdu’s administration offer a In Wenjiang county, visitors can see how chefs
Sichuan food is one of the four best-known cui- smorgasbord of activities such as boxing matches cook dishes on the spot and the best chefs are
sines in China, along with Huaiyang, Guangdong in Shuangliu county that hearken back to the chosen soon after the competition.
and Shandong foods. Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). In Jintang county, which is known for its many
As the National Day Holiday, which starts on Tales of the period are known to almost every river scenes, people can watch the cracking of
October 1, and the Mid-Autumn Festival that Chinese thanks to the novel Romance of Three fireworks on water in an evening gala.

An innovation for the Sixth China
International Food and Tour Fes-
tival will be its first online expo
since the event was founded in
2003, said Mao Zhixiong, secre-
tary general and spokesman for
the Chengdu municipal govern-
ment.
In addition to displaying all
activities at the food fair, the
Inter net w ill enable users to
choose the best Sichuan dishes
a nd ba nq uets i n t he 60 -yea r
history of the People’s Republic
of China as well as order for wed-
ding banquets, share stories on
Sichuan cuisine and participate
in a photo competition.
T he cl ick- t h roug h rate for
the Online Food and Tour Expo
website — http://www.ccmsj.com
— is expected to be more than 10
million, Mao said.
The festival that began Sept
28 at the Chengdu Century City
New Inter national Ex hibition
and Convention Center is one of
the largest of its kind in China,
covering 12,000 sq m and hosting
300 star-rated hotels as well as
restaurants serving Sichuan and
other Chinese cuisines.
Other displays include those
for hot pot, Western food, Sich-
uan seasoning, wedding arrange-
An expo held in conjunction with the event offers visitors international
foods in addition to Sichuan’s famed cuisine.
ments and hotel equipment.
Tens of thousands of visitors
will receive free coupons worth
10 million yuan on the spot, Mao
said.
In addition to receiving gifts,
visitors can also learn cooking
skills.
On the festival’s first three days
visitors can attend classrooms
where a dozen master chefs are
teaching how to make domestic
and foreign delicacies, he added.
bid to win the UNESCO title “City
of Food”, visitors can sign a 60-m-
long wall, Mao said.
As well, scholars and experts
in the food industry will
compa re notes on t he
internationalization of
the Sichuan cuisine,
he said.
The organizing
committee also
invited 30 for-
eign diplomats
from 16 coun-
tries includ-
ing Kuwait,
Jordan, Spain,
Portugal and
Bulgaria to
visit Chengdu
from Septem-
ber 25 to 27
To celebrate the 60th anniversa- who attended
ry of the founding of the People’s the opening
Republic of China, famous restau- ceremony on Sep-
rants in Chengdu and the cities of tember 26 and par-
Deyang, Ya’an, Meishan, Suining ticipated in a cooking
and Zigong will display tables full competition.
of classic Sichuan dishes and new Toget her w it h t heir
creations. w ives, t he d iplomats
All the famed hot pot restau- learned how to cook household
rants in Sichuan will also dis- Sichuan dishes such as double-
play their spicy dishes unique cooked pork, Grandma Ma’s bean
to Sichuan. curd and Long’s dumpling before
To show support for Chengdu’s the competition was held.
12
AROUNDTHE
WORLD
AFGHANISTAN
Bomb kills 30 civilians
A bus packed with Afghan
civilians hit a roadside
bomb near the southern
city of Kandahar yesterday,
killing 30 people and
wounding 39, underscoring
the dangers civilians face
as the eight-year war turns
increasingly violent. Nine
women and seven children
were among the dead, said
provincial police chief, Sardar
Mohammad Zazai.
RUSSIA
State to limit economy role
Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin told investors
yesterday that the government
will reduce its role in the
economy and ownership of
companies over the coming
years to allow for better
growth. Speaking at a forum
aimed at promoting Russia’s
business climate, Putin and
other government officials
also tried to persuade
investors that the worst of
the crisis that has pounded
Russia’s economy was over.
Still, the weak state of the
economy was highlighted
yesterday by the Russian
Central Bank, which cut to
its key interest rate by half a
percentage point to 10 percent
— the seventh such cut since
this spring.
PHILIPPINES
US, Filipino troops killed
Two US sailors and a Filipino
marine were killed yesterday
in a roadside bomb believed
planted by Al-Qaida linked
militants, the first US troops
to die in an attack in the
Philippines in seven years.
The Philippine military
suspected Abu Sayyaf
militants were behind the
attack against the US Navy
troops on the southern island
of Jolo. The same group killed
a US Green Beret with a
motorcycle bomb in nearby
Zamboanga city in October
2002. US counterterrorism
troops were deployed to the
region earlier that year.
UNITED KINGDOM
Vaccine death probed
Health authorities launched
an investigation yesterday
into the death of a 14-year-old
girl who had just received a
vaccine for cervical cancer.
Natalie Morton died in a
hospital on Monday, a few
hours after being given the
Cervarix vaccine, which
protects against two strains
of the human papilloma virus
that causes cervical cancer.
Morton appeared to be healthy
before being given the jab.
Health officials said they
had quarantined the batch of
vaccine given at the school.
SWITZERLAND
Polanski files appeal
Lawyers for Oscar-winning
film director Roman Polanski
lodged an appeal with a Swiss
court yesterday against his
arrest on a US extradition
warrant to face sentence over
having sex with a 13-year-old
girl in 1977. Polanski, 76, who
has dual French and Polish
citizenship, was arrested
on Saturday in Switzerland,
where the Chinatown director
was to receive a lifetime
achievement award at the
Zurich Film Festival.
INDIA
Swamped boats kill 27
Two boats capsized in flooded
rivers in eastern India’s Bihar
state during a major Hindu
festival, killing at least 27
people and leaving around 24
missing, police said yesterday.
Those on board were
returning to their village after
immersing an idol of a Hindu
goddess in the midstream as
part of the religious festivities.
Boat accidents are common
in India, where many vessels
are unsafe and overloaded.
Monsoon rains flood rivers
in India between June and
September every year.
AP-Reuters-Xinhua
INTERNATIONAL
Dozens dead as typhoon slams Vietnam
Struggling
Philippines now
bracing for a
second storm
HANOI, Vietnam: Typhoon
Ketsana roared into central
Vietnam yesterday, killing at
least 32 people as it brought
flooding and winds of up to
144 kph, disaster officials said.
Some 170,000 were evacuated
from its path.
Ketsana left more than
280 dead across the northern
Philippines as a weaker tropical
storm.
After gathering strength
over the South China Sea, the
typhoon made landfall in mid-
afternoon, about 60 km south
of Danang, according to the
National Weather Center.
Two people in Quang Nam
province were killed by falling
trees, and another died when
struck by a power line, said
Nguyen Minh Tuan, a provincial
disaster official.
“The rivers are rising and
many homes are f looded,
and several mountainous
districts have been isolated by
mudslides,” Tuan said.
Quang Nam is the home of
the ancient city of Hoi An, a
UNESCO World Heritage site.
Authorities evacuated
170,000 people from six central
provinces as the typhoon
approached and heavy winds
began lashing Vietnam’s
central coast in the morning,
officials said.
“There’s a blackout across our
entire province,” said Truong
Ngoc Nhi, vice governor of
Quang Ngai province, south
Divided Koreas start second round of family reunions
SEOUL: Hundreds of Republic
of Korea (ROK) residents traveled
yesterday to the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea
(DPRK) for the latest round of
reunions of family members
separated during wartime
decades ago, while one man
reportedly committed suicide
because he was not chosen for
the trip.
The six days of highly
emotional reunions — the first
in nearly two years — began
Saturday at the DPRK’s Mount
Kumgang, in a sign of easing
tensions on the Korean
Peninsula.
The first group of more than
120 ROK citizens returned to
Seoul on Monday after three
days, while a second group of
about 430 went up yesterday.
The DPRK agreed last month
to allow the meetings and other
reconciliation ties with Seoul as
part of efforts to reach out to the
wartime rival following more
than a year of tensions.
Many applicants are elderly
and are eager to see their loved
ones before they die.
A 75-year-old who had tried
unsuccessfully for years to
take part committed suicide
Monday by throwing himself
before an oncoming subway
train near Seoul, YTN television
reported.
Local police told YTN the
man had fled south during the
1950-53 Korean War, leaving his
family behind. He was crushed
by news that he wasn’t chosen
for this round of reunions, the
report said.
AP-Reuters
China urges all sides to ease tensions over Iran nuke program
China urged all sides yesterday
to try to ease mounting tensions
over Iran’s nuclear plans and fo-
cus on negotiations, as Western
powers ramp up pressure on
Teheran to reveal the scope of
its program.
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu said
China wanted positive results
from talks between Iran and
the five permanent members
of the United Nations Security
Council as well as Germany, to
be held in Geneva tomorrow. The
permanent Council members
W E D N E S DAY S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 9
Residents wade with their pig in floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana, locally known as Ondoy, in Binan Laguna south of
Manila yesterday.
of Danang. “Many streets are
strewn with fallen trees and
utility poles. It looks like a
battlefield.”
Vietnam Airlines canceled
all f lights to the tourist
destinations of Danang and
Hue.
Second storm
Meanwhile, Philippine
authorities braced yesterday
for another storm as the toll
from rain and floods from a
weekend typhoon rose to 246
dead and damages climbed to
nearly $100 million.
Weather forecasters said
a new storm forming in the
A DPRK citizen, son
of the ROK’s Yoon
Ki-dal (top), 88,
carries his father on
his back at their last
meeting during the
reunion.
Reuters / Yonhap
are the United States, Russia,
Britain, France and China.
An Iranian MP said yesterday
that parliament may advocate
Iran’s withdrawal from the
nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) if talks with
major powers fail and the US
keeps putting pressure on
Teheran.
Western powers angered over
Iran’s belated disclosure of a
second uranium enrichment
plant say they will redouble
efforts to slap harsher sanctions
on Teheran if nuclear talks set
Pacific Ocean is likely to enter
Philippine waters tomorrow
and make landfall later in the
week on the northern island
of Luzon, just like Saturday’s
Typhoon Ketsana.
Ketsana dumped more than
a month’s worth of average
rainfall on Manila and
surrounding areas in one 24-
hour period. About 80 percent
of the city of 15 million was
flooded.
The Philippine government
has come in for scathing
criticism for its response to the
disaster, with many calling it
inadequate and delayed.
More than 1.9 million people
for tomorrow in Geneva prove
fruitless.
But the six-power unity key
to mustering truly tough UN
sanctions envisaged by the US,
Britain, France and Germany
remains elusive with Russia
taking a wait-and-see stance
and China again insisting on
negotiations.
Jiang would not go into
details of China’s expectations
of the Geneva meeting except to
say Beijing hoped for “positive
results.” Jiang said the Chinese
delegation will be headed by
supplies, the government
said.
US soldiers deployed in the
south of the country have been
brought to Manila to help in
relief, while the United Nations
has announced it will give
food aid and cash for medical
supplies.
President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo has called the typhoon
“an extreme event that
has strained our response
capabilities to the limit.”
“But it is not breaking us,” she
said in a statement on Monday,
after opening the presidential
palace for relief efforts.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime
typhoon.”
Schools in the capital region
and nearby provinces will
remain closed for the third
day today because about 170
campuses are being used as
shelter areas for more than
10,000 families. About 60
schools were also damaged by
the floods.
Reuters 3,000 people, 1 toilet
In Cainta, about 3,000 angry
were affected and 375,000 had a unilateral ceasefire with Philippine f lood survivors
abandoned their homes and government forces and ordered queued for tinned fish and
taken refuge in evacuation cadres to help in flood-relief noodles while another line
centres. operations. built for a single toilet at a
More than 3,000 houses were gymnasium that was turned
either damaged or destroyed. Aid pours in into an evacuation center.
The death toll could rise Private citizens and On the concrete f loor of
further once reports come in volunteer groups were the covered basketball court,
from remote areas. The storm collecting relief goods — mostly bedraggled children wearing
hit metropolitan Manila and clothes, drinking water and dirty clothes or barely anything
12 provinces. Dozens remained medicines — and distributing at all lay on flattened cardboard
missing and feared dead, them to victims. Many people cartons, sleeping side-by-side
disaster officials said. have thrown open their homes with dogs.
Authorities released water to those who were forced to Their parents attempted
from two dams north of Manila, abandon theirs. to build fires with charcoal
but stressed it was being done Several foreign governments to cook their meager food
carefully to prevent any and United Nations agencies rations.
recurrence of floods. have already pledged nearly
Leftist rebels announced $2 million in rice and relief Reuters - AFP
Woman reunited with 100-year-old mother
Ree Hye-kyung (right), 75, wipes away tears from the face of her mother Kim Yoo-jung,
100, at their first meeting during a three-day temporary family reunion at Kumgangsan
hotel at the DPRK resort of Mount Kumgang yesterday. Reuters/Yonhap
SEOUL: A woman from the DPRK wept as she are now 100 years old, and I thought I would
embraced her 100-year-old mother for the first never see you again.”
time since 1951 yesterday, during the latest The DPRK agreed last month to allow the
round of reunions of divided families on the meetings and other reconciliation ties as part
Korean Peninsula. of efforts to reach out to its wartime rival
The Republic of Korea’s (ROK) YTN television following more than a year of tensions, largely
showed footage of 75-year-old Ree Hye-kyung, over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
of the DPRK, hugging her centenarian mother About 900 Koreans will be reunited during
from the ROK, Kim Yoo-jung. The daughter, just the two sessions, according to the organizer, the
16 when she disappeared during the 1950-53 ROK’s Red Cross.
Korean War, used a handkerchief to wipe away The ROK selects reunion candidates by
her mother’s tears. computerized lottery; it is not certain how
“It’s been 60 years, and I’ve been missing you candidates are chosen by the DPRK.
even in my dreams,” Ree told her mother and two
sisters, the Yonhap news agency reported. “You AP
Cheng Jingye, director of the with “sanctions that bite”. Iran’s nuclear chief said
arms control department of China has also voiced yesterday his country built
the Foreign Ministry. concern about the enrichment its newly revealed uranium
On Monday, Iran test-fired plant, which has not yet come enrichment facility inside a
missiles, which a commander online, but has urged nations mountain and next to a military
said could hit any regional to solve the latest flare-up in site to ensure continuity of its
target, adding to alarm tensions with Iran through nuclear activities in case of an
in Western nations over negotiations. attack. Vice President Ali Akbar
revelations last week that the US officials say Iran has Salehi, who also heads the
country was building a second notified the Swiss government Atomic Energy Organization of
uranium enrichment facility. that it can have access to three Iran, said the site near the holy
The US and European powers Americans who have been city of Qom is controlled by the
have called for greater force detained in Iran since being elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s
behind demands that Iran be arrested for illegal entry in most powerful military force.
transparent about its nuclear late July, perhaps a concilatory
plans, and threatened Iran move by Teheran. Reuters - AP - China Daily
 Utilities,
funds scoop
up assets in
North Sea
Page 16
INBRIEF
Jianghuai, Navistar in JV
A unit of Navistar Internation-
al Corp and China’s Jianghuai
Automobile plan to set up a
50-50 truck venture with an
investment of at least 2 billion
yuan, Jianghuai said yester-
day. Jianghuai and NC2 Global
LLC will set up a joint venture
to produce and sell heavy
trucks and accessories.
CNPC natural gas pipeline
China National Petroleum Corp
said yesterday it has started
construction of a natural gas
pipeline in Shandong province.
The 1,067-kilometre line, with
a capacity of 11 billion cubic
meters per year, would enable
the company to ship gas from
central Shandong to cities
including coastal Qingdao and
Weihai in the east.
Commodities exchange
Bohai Commodity Exchange,
China’s first joint-stock
commodity exchange, was
launched in Tianjin yesterday.
The exchange will provide
trading services for crude oil,
petrochemical products, coal,
nonferrous metals, agricul-
tural and forestry products.
CIC to invest in US funds
China Investment Corp (CIC)
will pour a total of $2 billion
into three US distressed asset-
focused funds, including one
managed by Goldman Sachs,
Reuters reported. CIC plans
to invest around $600-$700
million each in the funds, an-
other of which is managed by
US investment firm Oaktree
Capital. The name of the third
fund was not disclosed.
Harman opens China HQ
Harman International yester-
day opened its Greater China
headquarters in Shanghai. It
also plans to launch an R&D
center in the city.
China Daily-Agencies
China market commitment
strong, Citi local head says
By Wang Bo
Though Citigroup was in the
process of disposing of its non-
core assets globally, the bank’s
commitment to growing in
China has never wavered, An-
drew Au, chief executive of Citi
China, said in an interview with
China Daily.
“Within the bank’s global
landscape, China is a recog-
nized top priority market,
which we were extremely
focused on throughout the dif-
ficult times,” he said.
The New York-based bank-
ing giant, which is under
pressure to lead its way out of
the financial troubles that has
left it one-third owned by the
US government, created the
Citicorp division to concentrate
on its core strength of global
institutional and consumer
banking businesses, after
divesting its non-core busi-
ness and risky assets into Citi
Holdings.
“This would not interrupt our
business operation in China, be-
cause our business here already
falls within Citicorp,” the CEO
told China Daily at Citi China’s
headquarters in Shanghai.
Au’s remarks echoed group
chief executive Vikram
Andrew Au
Bombardier
bags major
railway deal
CSR arm set to benefit from
contracts for high-speed trains
By Li Xiang
China South Locomotive and
Rolling Stock Corp (CSR) said
yesterday that two of its affili-
ates have won contracts valued
at 72.4 billion yuan from the
Ministry of Railways.
Subsidiary CSR Bombardier
Sifang (Qingdao) Transporta-
tion Ltd, a joint venture of Ca-
nadian train maker Bombardier
and CSR Sifang Locomotive and
Rolling Stock Ltd, signed a 27.4
billion yuan contract with the
Shanghai Railway Bureau,
under which the company will
build 80 high-speed trains.
The order for Bombardier
Sifang’s trains, which has a
maximum operating speed of
CNOOC may acquire ‘large’ stakes in Nigerian oil
China National Offshore Oil
Corp (CNOOC), the nation’s
third largest oil and gas pro-
ducer, is in talks with Nigeria
to acquire large stakes in some
of the world’s richest oil blocks,
the Financial Times reported.
CNOOC, the nation’s largest
offshore crude producer, is bid-
ding for 6 billion barrels of oil,
Pandit’s declaration earlier
this month that he hoped to
continue expanding the bank’s
business in China, one of the
biggest engines of growth in
Asia.
As Citi’s business in its
home soil remained weak,
Asia has increasingly become
an important source of income
for the bank. In the second
quarter of this year, the Asia-
Pacific region contributed
about 38 percent to Citicorp’s
net income.
Au claimed that Citi China
had performed very well dur-
ing the financial crisis and
was extremely “well-capital-
ized” and “liquid” at present,
refuting suggestions that the
bank might not be faring well
as its parent company was
still grappling with financial
troubles.
Citi China has seen its busi-
ness expanding rapidly in the
country ever since it set up
the locally incorporated unit
in 2007. Last year, the bank’s
operating income jumped 46
percent year-on-year, while
net income surged 95 percent
from a year ago to touch 1.3
billion yuan.
The bank is now operating in
eight cities through its 27 con-
sumer banking outlets and a
US turnaround
BUSINESS AD
firm sees
riches in Dubai
downturn
Page 17
W E D N E S DAY S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 9 13
380 kilometers per hour, con-
sists of 1,120 cars. The first train
is scheduled for delivery in 2012
with final deliveries expected in
2014, the company said.
Bombardier’s share of the
contract is estimated at 13.5
billion yuan. The deal includes
20 eight-car trainsets and 60
sixteen-car trainsets based
on Bombardier’s next-genera- Bombardier’s share of the contract is estimated at 13.5 billion yuan. Yin Nan
tion ZEFIRO high-speed rail
technology. The trains will “The 72.4-billion yuan deal is for Bombardier as it increases passenger rail cars into China be delivering leading-edge
be manufactured in Qingdao, consistent with market expecta- the company’s share in the since its inception, including a very high speed rail technol-
Shandong province. tions,” said Yu Aibin, an analyst high-speed rail market seg- range of high-speed trains and ogy through Chinese expertise
Similarly, subsidiary CSR at Guosen Securities. “The vol- ment,” Cameron Doerksen, a high-grade passenger coaches. and resources. This illustrates
Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and ume is actually a bit smaller Montreal-based analyst with In 2007, the company won the strategic importance of
Rolling Stock Ltd also secured a than we expected so we’ll see Versant Partners, was quoted a $1.5-billion contract from delivering the most advanced
45-billion yuan deal yesterday more deals signed in the future by Bloomberg as saying. the Ministry of Railways, the rail technology for China from
from the Wuhan Railway Bu- but they are not going to be as Established in 1998, the Bom- largest single order for rail within China,” said Pierre Beau-
reau to build high-speed trains big as this one.” bardier Sifang joint venture passenger cars in China. doin, Bombardier’s CEO in the
for the country. “This is an important win has delivered more than 1,000 “We are very pleased to company’s statement.
equivalent to one in six barrels in Nigeria, among which 16 declined to comment. CNOOC’s Tanimu Yakubu, the Nigerian producers are pledging (for
of proven reserves in Nigeria, licenses are set to expire. spokesman Xiao Zongwei said president’s economic advisor, licenses). We love to see this
the second largest oil producer The overall value of the Chi- he had never heard of the de- said China might not secure kind of competition.”
in Africa. nese offer has not been dis- velopment. “anything close” to 6 billion The largest investment
CNOOC’s potential bid came closed, although some details Nigeria is also in talks with barrels from the negotiations, CNOOC has made by far in
after Nigeria’s oil licenses were suggest a figure of about $30 other “stakeholders” and no adding, “We want to retain our Nigeria was a $2.69-billion
set for renewal. Global oil giants billion, the FT said. decision had been made on the traditional friends”. stake purchased in 2006 in
including Shell, Chevron, Total Yang Hua, president of licenses, the newspaper quoted He, however, noted that the deep sea oil block OML-130.
and Exxon Mobil control or CNOOC Ltd, the listed arm for a spokesman of the Nigerian Chinese “are really offering
partially control 23 oil blocks the firm’s overseas investments, president as saying. multiples of what existing China Daily-Agencies
new branch is expected to open
in western China’s Chongqing
before the end of this year. Au
said that the bank would con-
tinue to open more branches
within the country.
“We are now focusing on
serving our customers well
through our international
network in over 100 countries
and markets, and bring in more
innovative products so that our
customers can see real value in
our services,” he said.
Citi China, together with oth-
er foreign lenders, have largely
sat out the lending binge in the
first half of this year, which is
partly due to the difference in
customer base between foreign
banks and their Chinese peers,
according to Au.
As the export and import
markets shrank at the end
of last year and toward the
beginning of this year, credit
demand by customers in this
sector, which tend to use foreign
banks, was impacted, he said.
However, Au noted that the
bank was not overly reliant on
lending as it was well balanced
across different product lines.
“We have a balanced mix of
business in China. If one busi-
ness goes down, it is generally
offset by growth in other seg-
ments,” he said.
14 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 BUSINESSCHINA CHINA DAILY

Jiang Toon animated by

possible listing on GEB
By Zhou Lihua
and Chen Limin
Jiang Toon Animation, like
many other companies, has
expressed animated interest in
listing on the fast-approaching
NASDAQ-like Chinese growth
enterprise Board (GEB).
Founded in 2000 with a start-
up fund of 15 million yuan, it
has grown from an obscure
company to one with consider-
able market clout.
In 2008, its sales reached 130
million yuan, with total assets
of 200 million yuan.
Zhu Youlan, founder and
chairman, started the business
with her friends out of a keen
enthusiasm for animation. In-
spired by the popularity of Pig
Guy, a main character in the
Chinese classic “Journey to the
West”, Zhu set out developing
Ninety-six percent of survey respondents said Unicom’s prices on iPhones were unreasonably high. Vivian Yang a Pig Guy cartoon series im-
mediately after founding the
company.
foreign cartoons dominated
the Chinese cartoon market.
By selling cartoon series to
TV stations at very low prices
or even charging nothing,
foreign companies occupied
most of the market share and
then made profits from selling
spin-offs.
“We couldn’t die before re-
alizing our dream,” said Zhu,
who then decided to save the
enterprise by providing out-
sourcing services for foreign
companies.
“We visited all kinds of
animation festivals to find
business partners,” Zhu added.
The company even took a losing
proposition at the very begin-
ning with the hope of winning
a partner.
In shifting its focus to out-
sourcing activities Jiang Toon
Animation set up offices in
France and the United States
and bought a Chinese anima-
tion company with overseas
resources.
In 2004, the government
drew up policies to encourage
the development of the anima-
tion industry. Jiang Toon, as
the largest animation base
in Hubei province, got much
support from the provincial
government. It was then that
Zhu’s long-dreamed-of Pig Guy
cartoon began to take off. In the
next year, “Happy Lucky Piggy”
came out and was soon a hit.
Now the company’s annual
production capacity is around
5,000 to 10,000 minutes, mak-
ing it one of the biggest cartoon
makers in China.
Zhu hopes a GEB listing will
help her to further develop her
company. “We would use two
thirds of the funds raised to
make original cartoons and
the rest to do product research
and development and enlarge
our production capacity,” said
Zhu, without disclosing how
much she would like to raise
from the possible listing.
“We will gradually focus

Unicom to sell iPhones

Prices might be an obstacle to
success of Apple’s smart phones
By Xiao Wang
China Unicom, the No 2 mo-
bile phone service operator
in the country by number of
subscribers, said on Monday
that it would start selling the
iPhone in China from next
month.
Experts said the high pack-
age fees that China Unicom re-
quires may thwart the success
of Apple Inc’s popular smart
phone in the world’s largest
mobile population.
A retail price of about 5,000
yuan is expected to be levied,
higher than the earlier esti-
mates of about 2,000 yuan.
The company, which signed
a three-year deal with Apple to
sell iPhones in China, will offer
a choice of eight different ser-
vice packages with the phone,
ranging from 126 yuan to 886
yuan per month.
China Unicom hopes Apple’s
flagship handset could help
it attract high-end users in a
market where China Mobile, the
biggest mobile service operator
in the country, dominates.
The price does seem to be
an obstacle for some potential
users.
Qiu Xueying, a 28-year-
old woman from a domestic
publishing company, said she
was very interested in buying
an iPhone because she likes its
design and appearance. But she
said China Unicom’s price was
too high and she would continue
to use her current Nokia hand-
set instead.
According to a survey by
China’s largest news portal, 96
percent of respondents think
China Unicom’s pricing of
iPhone is “unreasonable”. About
86 percent of the respondents
said they would not buy an
iPhone for cost reasons.
The iPhone will be sold in
Apple retail outlets, through
China Unicom’s own net-
work of stores and through
major independent retailers,
Unicom said. The company
is also developing an online
application store based on
Apple’s model.
Apple had been in talks
with China Mobile over the in-
troduction of iPhones in China
since 2007. The company later
turned to China Unicom, which
Her initial enthusiasm, Now Jiang Toon’s outsourcing more on copyright granting,
however, ended in great disap- business is worth $10 million spin-off selling, and anima-
pointment. every year, making up a large tion-related investment in the
“It cost 20,000 yuan to pro- proportion of the company’s following five years,” said Zhu.
duce just one minute of the overall revenues. The company has a branch in
cartoon series, but TV stations “By taking outsourcing Guangzhou, which is respon-
adopted the 3G standard that
Apple’s iPhone3G and iPhone
offered us only 1,000 yuan per
minute as their broadcast fee,”
orders, we survive and, more
importantly, we’ve learnt from
sible for spin-off development.
“The Chinese animation
3GS support.
China Mobile said earlier
said Zhu, recalling the unex-
pected setback.
others how to develop original
cartoons and how to run the
industry has entered its golden
age and we will make the most
that it was still in talks to sell That was in 2000 when business,” said Zhu. out of it,” said Zhu.
iPhones in China, as China
Unicom’s deal with Apple is
not exclusive.
Wang Yuquan, senior con-
sultant at Frost & Sullivan, said
China Unicom was unlikely to
give large subsidies to handset
makers because it adopted the
WCDMA standard, which is
believed to be the most mature
3G technology which gets wide
support from mobile manufac-
turers across the world.
He said China Mobile and
China Telecom have to invest
greatly in handset subsidies as
there are fewer mobile phone
vendors that support the TD-
SCDMA and CDMA2000 stan-
dard that they respectively
deployed. Public float will give Jiang Toon Animation a shot in the arm for its growth. Yang Hongbin

Sales of 60th anniversary coins heat up

By Hu Yuanyuan
The biggest wish for Eric Smith,
an English teacher working in
Beijing, this year is to snag a set
of gold and silver commemora-
tive coins themed on the 60th
anniversary of the founding of
the People’s Republic of China.
As an ardent fan of different
types of commemorative coins,
Smith has tried every means
to purchase this special set
immediately after the central
Guzhen, in Guangdong, attracts a number of merchants from abroad to do business. bank announced its plan to
issue them on Sept 16.
total of 106,000 silver coins will ordinary people. 3,580 yuan, could now be sold
be issued with the face values “We only sell those com- for more than 8,000 yuan.
of 300 and 10 yuan. The coins memorative coins to our VIP Veteran collector Xu Tinggui,
will be distributed by China customers whose annual pur- said the coins have collecting
Gold Coin Incorporation. chase is higher than 100,000 value because of the impor-
“I am really interested in yuan,” said Cai. “Even then tance and special nature of
the gold coins, but almost we can’t satisfy everyone the issue.
every salesperson I contacted because the demand “But investors and
told me it was an impossible far exceeds the commemorative coin
mission,” Smith said. supply.” lovers should be
He also visited the stamp A small aware of the
and coins market in Madian in set, with risks of pay-
northern Beijing, but still failed a quarter ing too much,”
to get a gold coin. ounce said Xu.
Smith is not alone in his gold coin Because of
quest. Wang Hao, a collector carrying a its scarcity,
of commemorative coins, was face value the market

Fair illuminates great According to the People’s

Bank of China, the set com-
prises three gold coins and two
also depressed after several
attempts failed.
According to Cai Yanan, a
of 100 yuan
and a silver
coin carrying
price for the
one-kilogram
gold coin has

opportunities in lighting
silver ones. All together, 60,700 manager at Beijing Caibai Gold a face value exceeded 600,000
gold coins will be issued with and Jewelry Co, one of the larg- of 10 yuan, yuan. The 5-ounce
face values of 10,000 yuan, est of its kind in the country, originally gold coin sells for more
2,000 yuan, and 100 yuan. A the coins are not available to priced at than 100,000 yuan.

By Qiu Quanlin
ZHONGSHAN, Guangdong:
A record number of lighting
manufacturers and buyers have
confirmed their participation in
China (Guzhen) International
Lighting Fair that will run from
October 18 to 23, the fair’s orga-
nizing committee said.
The annual professional
fair in Guzhen township of
Zhongshan has now received
participation confirmation by
nearly 600 lighting businesses,
it said.
Exhibits range from resi-
dential and outdoor lighting to
LED products, commercial ap-
plications, material processing
and source products.
A large percentage of exhibi-
tors are from Guzhen, known
as China’s lighting capital for
its nearly 60 percent share of
lighting products in the domes-
tic market, said Su Enming from
the Guzhen town government.
Among the confirmed ex-
hibitors, more than 140 light-
ing businesses will participate
for the first time this year, ac-
cording to the fair’s organizing
committee.
“Under the current economic
situation, a rising number of
lighting manufacturers have
turned their focus to the do-
mestic market,” Su said.
Some Taiwan-invested facto-
ries in the manufacturing city
of Dongguan, which have been
hard hit by the global financial
crisis, will also set up exhibi-
tion booths in the fair, Su said.
The Dongguan Taiwanese
Business Association will organ-
ize more than 10 companies to
attend the fair, according to Su.
“After a sluggish perform-
ance in the overseas market,
foreign-invested companies are
expected to shift business to the
domestic market,” Su said.
The fair’s organizing com-
mittee has signed a strategic
partnership with Guangdong’s
Xingbang Group to jointly set
up a purchasing and promotion
center in the fair.
A large number of small
and medium-sized lighting
providers will be integrated
at the center, using B2B mode
to attract international and
domestic buyers.
So far, more than 100 light-
ing producers have joined the
center, providing almost all
lighting categories.
“The new business platform
will help better promote light-
ing trade,” Su said.
The purchasing and promo-
tion center, which is located in
the 3D, 3G and 3H areas of the
fair’s exhibition convention
hall, will open on Oct 18.
The special purchasing and
promotion center has also at-
tracted a large number of inter-
national lighting buyers such as
Ikea, Wal-Mart and B&Q.
“Some IT solution providers
will team up with small and me-
dium-sized enterprises to hold a
series of forums during the fair,
discussing new business ways
that help lighting providers bet-
ter cope with the financial crisis
and develop the huge domestic
market,” Su said.
Guzhen’s lighting-related
industrial output is expected to
reach 22 billion yuan this year,
Gu said.
The industry generated 16.5
billion yuan in the town last
year, with exports accounting
for $662 million, according to
figures from the local govern-
ment.
Its lighting products are being
imported by some 130 countries
and regions and are now making
inroads in the domestic market.
Xu Xiaohong, general manager
of Zhongshan Hongpai Lighting
Factory, said the company has
benefited a lot from the fair by
displaying new products at each
session.
“Self-innovated products
made of new materials have
become very popular, helping
promote our reputation in both
the international and domestic
market,” Xu said.
GUZHEN
SPECIAL
Invitation for Bids China International Tendering Company
Bid No.: 0733-095000383128 Country: China
Date: September 30, 2009
Project Name: Railway Construction Project for Inner Mongolia Sanbeiyangchang-
Xinshanghaimiao North Railway Project Utilizing Promotional Loan of KfW (German
Invitation for Bids
Development Bank).
1. The P. R. China has received a loan (Loan No.: 2491-PRC)
CITIC International Tendering Co., Ltd., as the agent and on behalf of the Inner
from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards the cost
Mongolia Sanxin Railway Co., Ltd., the End-user, hereby invites sealed bids from
eligible bidders from home or abroad for the supply of the following goods and/or of Guangxi Wuzhou Urban Development Project. Part of this
services by way of International Competitive Bidding. The Project will be financed by loan will be used for payments under Contracts Construction
a Promotional Loan of KfW Entwicklungsbank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
of Road No. 1 in Hongling (Bid No.: 0701-092000020022).
1. Name of Products/Equipment, Quantity and Main Technical Data
Package 01: Telecommunication, signal, electric power and electrification within 2. China International Tendering Company (ITC), authorized by
the scope of 97.7 km); Dongtai State Asset Operations Corporation Limited (Employer),
Package 02: External power supply (110 KV power transmission and transformation now invites sealed bids from interested eligible bidders for
line with a length of 148.8 km);
Package 03: Housing construction (12 buildings in Sanbeiyangchang railway station construction and completion of the contract mentioned above
with an area of 6064 m2); through ICB procedure as defined in the ADB Procurement
Package 04: Auxiliary civil Works for station yards (330 m walls for passenger Guidelines.
platform, 642 m walls for freight platform, 28527 m2 platform floor, 3089 m
enclosing walls, and 99267 m2 roads.); The domestic bidders who associate with foreign bidders as
Package 05: Bid section I for afforestation protection of embankment and cutting Joint Ventures should have a Valid First-class or above
(859945 m2 protection area for embankment and cutting); municipal construction qualification certificate. Detailed
Package 06: Bid section II for afforestation protection of embankment and cutting
(806571 m2 protection area for embankment and cutting); eligibility/qualification and specifications will be provided in the
Package 07: Vegetative protection in sands at both sides of subgrade (3540000 m2 Bidding Document.
in total for salix mongolica barriers and grass grids)
2. Price of Bidding Document: RMB3,000 or equivalent in EUR for each package;
3. To purchase the complete set of bidding document in English,
for mail order, an extra RMB100 or equivalent in EUR express mail postage shall bidders should pay a nonrefundable fee of RMB1,800 or
be added. All the above fees are non-refundable and VAT has been included. US$250 in cash, by check or directly deposit to ITC at the
3. Selling period for Bidding Document: 9:00-11:30 a.m. / 3:00-5:00 p.m. (Beijing working time from September 30, 2009. The ITC address is as
time) on working days from September 30, 2009 until the deadline for submission
of bids (see below). follows:
4. Place of Sale of Bidding Document: Inner Mongolia Sanxin Railway Co., Ltd., Add: Room 1002, Genertec Plaza, 90 Xisanhuan Zhonglu,
Qipanjing Town, Etuoke Banner, Erdos City, Inner Mongolia.
Beijing, China
5. The Deadline for Submission of Bids / Bid Opening Date (Beijing time): 9 am,
November 16, 2009. Attention: Mr. Chai Xiaopeng
6. Place of Bid opening: Meeting Room, Tianjiao Hotel, Qipanjing Town, Etuoke
Tel: 86-10 63348572/63348961 Fax: 86-10 63348691
Banner, Erdos, Inner Mongolia.
Employer: Inner Mongolia Sanxin Railway Co., Ltd. 4. Bids must be delivered together with a Bid Security of RMB1.00
Add: Qipanjing Town, Etuoke Banner, Erdos City, Inner Mongolia 017000, China million or an equivalent amount in a freely convertible currency
Tel: 86 477-6481110; Fax: 86 477-6481110; Contact: Cai Liwei
at or before 10 am on November 18, 2009 to the address below:
Tendering agent: CITIC International Tendering Co., Ltd.
Add: 2/F, No. 17 Unit, Su Yuan, Beijing Friendship Hotel, 1 South Zhongguancun Wuzhou Construction Project Trade Center
Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100873, China Address: 2/F, No. 2, Xixiang Shangdili, Factory First Road,
Email: wus@biddingcitic.com, yangm@biddingcitic.com;
Dieshan District, Wuzhou City
Tel: 86 10-68946980/68732116; Fax: 86 10-68940233; Contact: Mr. Yang Ming, Ms. Wu Si
Bank (RMB): China CITIC Bank, Beijing Capital Mansion Sub-branch Tel: +86 774-3827499 Fax: +86 774-3847770
(Account Name: CITIC International Tendering Co., Ltd.),
Account No. (RMB): 7110210182600030709
Attention: Mr. Tong
CHINA DAILY BUSINESSCHINA WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 15
ASIA INDEXES GEB set
10100.2
NIKKEI 1690.05
KOSPI to become
+0.91% 225 +0.87%
hotbed for
10105

10085
1689 billionaires
1686
10065 1683
By Ning Jing
9:00 13:00 15:00 9:00 13:00 15:00
The fi rst 10 companies to be
STRAITS BSE listed on China’s NASDAQ-style
2663.31 16833.98
growth enterprise board (GEB)
+1.3%
TIMES +0.84%
SENSEX could turn at least 32 sharehold-
ers into billionaires.
16880
2670 Beijing Ultrapower Software
2664
Co tops the list with 12 poten-
16840
tial billionaires. Currently, they
2658
16800
each hold stocks valued at 100
million yuan but the listing
9:00 13:00 17:00 10:00 13:00 15:30
is expected to multiply that
enormously.
CHINA INDEXES The richest shareholder
could be Pu Zhongjie, manag-
ing director of Lepu Medical
Technology (Beijing) Co, who
2754.54 Shanghai 192.57
Shanghai holds about 60 million of the
-0.33% Composite -1.27% B shares company’s shares. Pu’s worth
is put at about 1.75 billion yuan
2765
194.4 after the company’s issue price
was set at 29 yuan.
2715
192.8 Once the companies get
2725 listed, senior executives could
191.2
become paper billionaires over-
9:30 13:00 15:00 9:30 13:00 15:00 night. Some industry experts
Rules regarding the IPOs of overseas firms on the Shanghai bourse are likely to be released soon. Sha Lang have warned that the high valu-
Shenzhen Shenzhen ation might not be beneficial for
11069.28 497.03
the firms’ future and called for

Shanghai beckons biggies

-0.16% Component -0.12% B shares cautious investment.
“The GEB now has alarming-
11100 498 ly high price-to-earnings (PE)
495.5
ratios. I am very worried that it
11020
would be just a way of raising
10940 493 money for money’s sake,” said
9:30 13:00 15:00 9:30 13:00 15:00
Global firms keen to float shares the stage for other global com-
panies to list in Shanghai. This
instead of the whole group,”
Tse added.
Cao Fengqi, head of the finance
and securities research center
on proposed international board is vital for the success of the
international board,” Tse said.
The relevant regulations
in connection with the IPOs
at Peking University.
Initial public offerings (IPOs)
2972.29 CSI 21013.17
Hang
Fang Xinghai, director-gen- are likely to be released after for the GEB sold at higher valu-
-0.01% 300 +2.06% Seng By Bi Xiaoning International Capital Corp eral of the Shanghai Financial the National Day celebrations. ations than stocks listed on the
2985
(CICC) and CITIC Securities Services Office, said at the Sum- However, a recent report from small- and medium-sized enter-
21000 Investment banks, securities Co have been confirmed as mer Davos forum in Dalian that Caijing online said the regula- prise (SME) in Shenzhen.
2960 20880
brokerages and law firms are its fi nancial advisors for the one or two foreign companies tions would not be in place until The PE ratio for the first 10
actively preparing to assist process. might get listed on the interna- the end of this year. companies on the GEB was
2935 20760 multinational companies to list Media in Hong Kong reported tional board in Shanghai at the “Some details still need to about 52.73 times on average,
on the proposed Shanghai in- that CNOOC had hired CICC, beginning of 2010. be addressed. To simplify the while it was 37.68 times for the
9:30 13:00 15:00 9:30 13:00 15:00
ternational board although the CITIC Securities and Goldman “There will be many complex listing procedures, the finan- companies listed on the SME
timing of the bourse’s launch Sachs as underwriters. regulatory issues for companies cial reporting might be based board this year.
has yet to be announced. China Mobile Ltd, the which already have multiple on International Financial The Shenzhen bourse said it

Index hits 4-week “In the past few months,

some foreign companies have
sought our advice regarding
world’s biggest phone com-
pany by market value, has
begun working on listing its
listings in overseas markets
to go public in Shanghai as a
whole group. So it is most likely
Reporting Standards (IFRS)
with an additional reconcili-
ation report based on China’s
plans to curb first-day specula-
tive trading on the GEB board
by suspending stocks that rise

low as trading dips listing on China’s A-share

China’s benchmark stock index
fell to a four-week low, led by
brokerages and airlines, as
trading waned before a week-
long national holiday and oil
prices jumped.
Citic Securities Co and Hai-
tong Securities Co, the nation’s
two biggest brokerages by mar-
ket value, dropped more than
1 percent after data showed
investors traded on Monday the
fewest shares this year. China
Southern Airlines Co and China
Eastern Airlines Corp retreated
more than 1 percent after crude
oil advanced for a third day.
Industrial Bank Co gained
3.7 percent after the National
Business Daily reported loans
in September for buying homes
and cars may reach a record.
The Shanghai Composite
Index fell 8.9, or 0.3 percent,
to 2,754.54 at close, the lowest
since Sept 2. More than four
stocks fell for each that rose on
the gauge. The CSI 300 Index,
which tracks stocks on both
the Shanghai and Shenzhen
exchanges, was little changed
at 2,972.29. Both exchanges
will be shut from Oct 1 to Oct
8 as part of National Day cel-
ebrations.
“Many investors are reduc-
ing their risk exposure ahead
of the week-long holiday,” said
Larry Wan, Shanghai-based
deputy chief investment officer
at KBC-Goldstate Fund Manage-
ment Co, which oversees about
$583 million. “A lot of things
can happen during the long
break.”
The Shanghai index fell 4.2
percent last week, the most in
six weeks, as commodity prices
slumped and investors specu-
lated rising stock supply would
divert funds from existing eq-
uities. The gauge is down 6.9
percent this quarter, the worst
performance by a major global
benchmark index, on concern
a slump in new lending will
derail the economic rebound.
Citic Securities dropped 1.1
percent to 24.41 yuan, its lowest
level since April 30. Haitong Se-
curities slid 1.5 percent to 12.72
yuan. Hong Yuan Securities Co,
based in Beijing, declined 4.8
percent to 17.83 yuan.
A total of 10.1 billion shares
were traded on the two bourses
in Shanghai and Shenzhen on
Monday, the lowest since De-
cember 31.
China Eastern Airlines, based
in Shanghai, fell 1.3 percent to
5.28 yuan. China Southern
Airlines, based in the southern
Guangdong province, fell 1.6
percent to 4.96 yuan, capping
a sixth day of declines.
Crude oil for November deliv-
ery traded at $66.93 a barrel,
up 9 cents, in electronic trad-
ing on the New York Mercantile
Exchange at 1:31 pm Singapore
time. On Monday, the contract
rose 82 cents, or 1.2 percent,
to settle at $66.84 a barrel.
Prices have gained 50 percent
this year.
Industrial Bank, based in
Fuzhou, gained 3.7 percent to
33.15 yuan. Shanghai Pudong
Development Bank Co gained
3 percent to 19.67 yuan. China
Minsheng Banking Corp, the
nation’s first privately owned
bank, added 2.3 percent to 6.65
yuan. Poly Real Estate Group
Co, the nation’s second-biggest
property developer, advanced
3.7 percent to 23.37 yuan.
Bloomberg News
market,” said David Li, chair-
man and national head of UBS
AG China. “There have been
discussions of the process
since as early as 2006 and we
have recently noticed an accel-
eration in the process.”
According to Li, foreign
companies that are keen to
list on the international board
are usually those that have a
strong presence in China and
which think the renminbi will
become a key global currency
going forward.
“The regulators are endeav-
oring to make China’s A-share
market internationally competi-
tive. Inviting foreign companies
to list on it is an important step
toward achieving that goal,” Li
added.
According to a recent report
by UBS, potential candidates for
an A-share initial public offer-
ing (IPO) include HSBC, Bank
of East Asia, Coca-Cola, Wal-
Mart Stores, General Electric
(GE), Unilever and Carrefour,
as well as domestic red chips
and H-share companies such
as China Mobile, CNOOC and
Lenovo.
Brokerage house CLSA’s
Chairman Jonathan Slone
said at a recent forum that its
clients, such as GE and Brazil-
based iron ore producer Vale
SA, have expressed interest
in listing on the international
board in Shanghai.
HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s
biggest bank, has hired advi-
sors for a possible listing in
Shanghai, spokesman David
Hall said last month. China
shares in the domestic market,
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Wang Jianzhou said at
and probably makes more sense
for the China arms of these
companies to list in Shanghai
the World Economic Forum
meeting in Dalian earlier in
September.
“Obviously, Shanghai IPOs
of foreign companies and red
chips/H shares (if approved)
will provide law, accounting
and securities firms with
ample business opportunities
and new revenue streams in
the future,” said Hubert Tse,
managing director and head
of the international business
group at Shanghai-based Yuan
Tai PRC Attorneys.
Industry experts said law
fi rms and, in particular, se-
curities fi rms, including joint
venture securities companies
such as UBS-Beijing Securi-
ties, Goldman Gaohua, CLSA
and others that seek closer
relationships with the US
and European fi rms looking
to list in China, will compete
vigorously for the listing of
these global companies on
the Shanghai international
board.
“I am working with a number
of clients right now on this list-
ing plan. We might see compa-
nies such as China Mobile and
Lenovo coming back earlier
than the foreign companies,”
Tse said.
In his opinion, foreign
companies, which are lead-
ers in their industry such as
HSBC, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart,
would lead the listings chart in
Shanghai.
“This would attract the
world’s attention and will set
accounting standards,” Caijing
online reported, citing an un-
named source.
or fall by 80 percent until 2:57
pm local time. China’s stock
markets close at 3 pm.
With the global warming, energy shortage
and environmental pollution problems causing
growing concern worldwide, the world energy
industry has reached a global consensus on
the issues: develop renewable energy
resources, speed up the application of new
and clean energies and actively promote an
energy revolution.
At the end of this year, the UN Climate
Change Summit will be held in Copenhagen,
Denmark. At the summit, an agreement is
expected to be reached between participating
countries on how to cope with climate change
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions after
the year of 2012.
Representatives from more than 150 countries
and about one hundred of heads of state
will participate in the summit. When the time
comes, Copenhagen will become the focus of
media attention.
During the event, China Daily will launch a
Green Solutions Special to cover China’s
positive measures to protect the environment,
conserve energy, reduce emissions and cope
with climate change.
Chinese and foreign enterprises committed to
doing their part in climate change are welcome
to join us for inserting advertisements in the
Green Solutions Special and sharing their
success stories with our readers.
For further details, please contact:
zhangyuan@chinadaily.com.cn
huangmengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

Market digest Top 10 by volume in SH

SH SZ HK Change Vol
Name Last
% (m)
China
Gainers 160 127 566 Metallurgical
5.68 1.43 236

Losers 715 643 291 Minsheng Bank 6.65 2.31 147

China State
Unchanged 8 18 264 4.66 -1.48 136
Construction

United Network 6.45 -4.44 135

Subindex
ICBC 4.74 0.42 112
Change
Name Last
% Pudong Dev 2.98 90
Hang Seng
2099.93 1.29
A+H Merchants Bank 0.83 82
SME
4382.07 -2.04 South
Composite Locomotive
4.51 -2.8 77

SSE Fund 3928.42 0.14 Wuhan Steel 6.91 -2.12 75

SZSE Fund 3817.51 -0.02 Zijin Mining 8.29 -0.48 74

16 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Utilities,
funds scoop
up assets in
North Sea
New investors see oil, gas fields
as long-term hedge against inflation
LONDON: A new breed of
investor is moving into the
North Sea, taking over from
many of the oil majors that
have dominated the region
since large-scale commercial
oil and gas production began
in the 1960s.
European utilities and com-
panies backed by sovereign
wealth funds — all with good
cash flow and the need to secure
energy reserves — have begun
scooping up oil and gas assets.
These new investors see
upstream North Sea oil and
gas fields as a long-term hedge
against inflation and escalating
energy prices, and as a strate-
gic investment that gives them
more control over one of the
world’s key raw materials.
They are now responsible
for about 10 percent of the oil
and gas coming out of the UK
North Sea — almost double
their output 18 months ago
— and their investments are
growing quickly.
“Pretty well the whole range
of utilities is now present in the
UK Continental Shelf trying to
find oil and gas,” said Mike
Tholen, economics director at
industry group Oil & Gas UK.
“There is also increasing
involvement of companies
Survey: Optimism on European recovery prospects stays fragile
BRUSSELS: A monthly survey
of EU and eurozone business
and consumer confidence in
September rose at the smallest
pace since April, the European
Commission said yesterday,
showing that European op-
timism about the economic
recovery is still fragile.
The European Commission
said its economic sentiment
indicator climbed to 82.8
in the 16-country eurozone
Japanese finance
minister may take
action on yen
TOKYO: Japan’s finance min-
ister raised the prospect of
currency market intervention
for the first time yesterday in
a scramble to limit the damage
from a yen rally fuelled by ear-
lier comments that he favored a
strong currency.
The yen hit an eight-month
high of 88.22 to the dollar on
Monday after Hirohisa Fujii,
who has been on the job for two
weeks, repeatedly said that he
wanted to avoid intervention
and that a strong yen would
eventually support domestic
demand.
It has since pulled back to
around 90.00, giving up all
of the previous day’s gains,
as Fujii backpedaled on his
remarks.
Domestic demand is col-
lapsing in the world’s second-
largest economy, pushing
the country into its deepest
deflation on record in August.
Governments fighting defla-
tion typically devalue their
currencies.
“Perhaps Fujii didn’t realize
how much the market would
move on his comments after he
became finance minister. But
now he realizes that this isn’t
such a good thing,” said Tokichi
Ito, deputy general manager of
the foreign exchange team at
Trust & Custody Services Bank
in Tokyo.
“I doubt Fujii has abandoned
his view that a strong yen is
good for domestic demand
and this view is shared by
the government. But the yen
buying in reaction to the
investing sovereign wealth in
upstream activities. Together,
their share of the sector is
increasing steadily and they
have a lot of assets that offer a
basis for a rapid expansion in
the future.”
‘Too small’
Tholen says the new gen-
eration of investors are now
handling around one in 10 of
the approximately 2.5 million
barrels of oil equivalent per day
(boepd) pumped in the UK North
Sea with plans for a much higher
proportion of output in future.
Their stakes in the Norwegian
North Sea are also rising.
These companies are buy-
ing at an opportune moment
as many of the oil majors that
pioneered the sector are scaling
down their operations and as
independent oil firms struggle
with finance. UK oil and gas
output peaked in 1999 at 4.5
million boepd and is in long-
term decline. Although up to 25
billion barrels of oil equivalent
are thought to remain in the UK
sector, many of the new fields are
small and expensive to develop.
According to UK Oil & Gas,
discoveries in the UK sector now
average only 26 million barrels
of oil equivalent, with two-thirds
from 80.8 in August. In the
27-country EU, it rose to 82.6
in September from 81 last
month.
The EU executive warned
that the green shoots of a
recover y are not pushing
through evenly across Europe
— and that both businesses
and workers in the EU and
eurozone have “leveled off”
expectations that employment
will rebound.
government’s stance has likely
run its course.”
A strong yen puts downward
pressure on import prices in a
country where deflation is al-
ready at record levels, although
policymakers and businesses
tend to worry more about the
impact it has on exports, the key
driver of the country’s growth.
Fujii reiterated yesterday that
global competition to devalue
currencies was wrong, but that
this didn’t mean Tokyo would
leave excessive yen rises unat-
tended.
“If moves are irregular, there
is a possibility we might take
whatever action deemed neces-
sary for the sake of the country,”
Fujii told a news conference af-
ter a cabinet meeting.
He said that his message
had been consistent but that
it was being misinterpreted by
markets.
“I never said a word about
leaving a strong yen as it
is. I’m saying it’s wrong, as
history shows, for countries
to continuously take policies
aimed at lowering the value of
their currencies,” Fujii said.
This month, the yen has
neared January’s 13-year high
of 87.10 per dollar as the US
currency has fallen to its lowest
in a year against the likes of the
euro and Australian dollar.
While the dollar has been
pressured in part by ultra-low
interest rates and lost about 3
percent on the yen in Septem-
ber, the Japanese currency has
only gained about 1 percent on
the euro and none at all against
BUSINESSINTERNATIONAL
UK oil and gas output peaked in 1999 at 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and is in long-term decline.
of discoveries less than 15 mil-
lion barrels — well below the
size the oil majors need for good
economies of scale.
“Some of the developments in
the North Sea are too small for
the majors and in their own way
the majors are also capital con-
strained. As they look globally,
there are better opportunities
elsewhere and they don’t have
the capital to be into every-
thing,” said Derek Henderson,
senior partner at business ad-
visory group and accountants
Deloitte.
So, increasingly, these new
Companies and shoppers
in Spain and Italy said they
were less confident about the
economy than they were a
month ago. In Britain and Po-
land, they reported no major
change. This dampens a mod-
erate increase in confidence
in Germany, Europe’s largest
economy, and a stronger surge
in optimism in France and the
Netherlands.
Consumer confidence
Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii refused to rule out measures to rein in excessive rises in
the nation’s currency.
the Australian dollar as inves-
tors have resumed buying of
higher-yielding assets, includ-
ing currencies.
Persistent strength in its cur-
rency has prompted the Bank of
Canada to warn about the pos-
sible effects a strong Canadian
dollar could have on returning
inflation to its target range.
Doubts on credibility?
Analysts were unconvinced,
however, saying market forces
had led Fujii to beat a retreat
from his previous comments.
“Fujii appears to have been
jolted by the yen’s rapid ap-
preciation and is worried that
the strong yen would throw
cold water on the economic
recovery led by exports,” said
Takumi Tsunoda, an econo-
mist at Shinkin Central Bank
Research Institute.
discoveries, as well as maturing
oil and gas fields, are being of-
fered for sale.
“There are now more than
double the number of assets on
the market than there were 12
months ago,” said Geoff Gillies, a
lead analyst at consultants Wood
Mackenzie in Edinburgh.
Access to capital
But the timing of these sales is
difficult for many firms, particu-
larly those small independent oil
and gas operators that have been
active in the North Sea over the
last few years, who usually need
improved markedly in both
areas, it said, while industry,
retailers, and builders were
also more upbeat than a month
ago. Financial services confi -
dence also ``bounced back
strongly,’’ it said, as the busi-
ness situation improved.
A separate survey of euro-
zone industry managers also
climbed but is still “very low”,
the EU said, “suggesting that
year-on-year growth in in-
08Nov 09Jan
Source: Bloomberg
“But it is unlikely the govern-
ment actually will intervene in
the market.”
The yen has strengthened
steadily from about 93.00 to
the dollar at the start of Sep-
tember as Fujii said he did
not see a need to weaken the
Japanese unit for the sake of
the country’s exporters and
that a strong currency also
had benefits.
It hit 88.22 to the dollar on
Monday according to Reuters
data, the highest since January,
before easing towards 90.00.
The dollar climbed back
above 90.00 yen briefly yester-
day, reflecting Fujii’s repeated
warnings that currency moves
were getting too one-sided to-
wards yen rises.
“Until yesterday, he seemed
to cheer the strong yen, but now
he can’t stand it,” said Dariusz
to raise capital from debt or equi-
ty markets hit hard by the credit
crunch and banking crisis.
“The type of assets available
now often need capital invest-
ment, so companies competing
for them need to have access to
capital,” Gillies said.
Henderson said a number
of the packages of UK North
Sea assets coming on to the
market were from long-serv-
ing majors.
“But many of the smaller
companies have been finding
difficulty getting access to capi-
tal to invest in those assets,” Hen-
dustrial production was still
strongly negative in August”.
The business climate indi-
cator rose from minus 2.18
in August to minus 2.07 in
September as managers were
slightly more optimistic on
production expectations and
recent output.
Signs are mounting that
the worst of the downturn are
over: the euro countries likely
exited recession in the third
Yen
Apr Aug
Graphic by Shen Wei
Bloomberg News
Kowalczyk, chief investment
strategist at SJS Markets Ltd in
Hong Kong.
“It puts a question mark on
the stability of his policies and
how well they are thought out
for the long term. It might be
better to support exports in
the short term and allow the
currency to strengthen later
once domestic demand picks
up more.”
In the past, Japan intervened
to weaken the yen to help its ex-
porters stay competitive.
But Tokyo has not intervened
in the currency market since
March 2004, after a 15-month-
long, 35 trillion yen ($390.4
billion) selling spree aimed at
preventing the yen’s strength
from snuffing out an economic
recovery.
Reuters
derson said. “Access to capital is
a major issue for the traditional
smaller players.”
“The utilities and sovereign
wealth companies have much
easier access to capital,” he said.
With strong cash flow and a
desire to hedge their long-term
exposure to oil and gas prices,
utilities have moved heavily into
the UK and Norwegian North Sea
over the last few years.
Many of Europe’s biggest utili-
ties have entered the fray and
sovereign wealth companies,
also with access to large amounts
of capital, appear to be following
quarter, the EU executive has
said. This follows a return to
growth in the second quarter
in Germany and France as
companies picked up orders
from customers ending a long
spending freeze.
This is not the end of wor-
ries for the region’s economy.
The unemployment rate is
currently running at a 10-
year high and economists say
it will continue to rise as com-
UK’s Daily Mail
confident on
full-year profit
LONDON: British media group
Daily Mail & General Trust said
it was confident of at least meet-
ing market expectations for
full-year profit thanks to cost
cuts, and said it saw signs of
recovery in consumer media.
Daily Mail — which has
business-to-business publica-
tions, conferences and radio
operations as well as newspa-
pers — said trading conditions
in consumer media were dif-
ficult but advertising revenue
at regional papers continued
to stabilize.
“We are confident that we
will at least meet market ex-
pectations for adjusted profits
for the full year due to decisive
actions taken on costs, with 150
million pounds ($238 million)
of savings delivered,” it said
yesterday.
Daily Mail said analysts
were expecting profit before
tax of 182 million pounds and
earnings per share of 35.7
pence, excluding amortization
and impairment of intangible
assets and exceptional items,
according to its own surveys.
Shares in Daily Mail, which
have more than doubled in
value since a trough in March,
rose 1.7 percent to 447.8 pence
by 0722 GMT, the top gainer in
the European media index.
The shares now trade at
about 12 times 2010 earn-
ings, closer to multiples of
professional publishers than
consumer media.
Numis analysts said in a
note: “We continue to believe
the market undervalues the
CHINA DAILY
Bloomberg News
suit. The Abu Dhabi National En-
ergy Co now has over $2 billion
of North Sea assets.
The new entrants have copied
the smaller companies, keeping
administration costs low and
often using contractors.
Tholen at Oil & Gas UK sees
“sustained growth” of utilities
and sovereign wealth companies’
involvement in the North Sea:
“They recognize the need to
have access to energy within
their portfolios — it is a great
hedge.”
Reuters
panies cut costs to survive.
At the same time, govern-
ments have little room to
maneuver on reducing taxes
to stoke growth because they
face growing debt and deficits
from the costs of rescuing
banks, economy stimulus
packages and growing wel-
fare payments to more and
more people without work.
AP
company’s B2B assets and
we view the B2C businesses
as well-invested and best in
class.” The brokerage raised its
target price to 485 pence from
463 pence.
In the 11 months to end-
August, Daily Mail’s sales
fell 9 percent. Underlying
business-to-business revenue
fell 7 percent and underlying
consumer media revenue fell
13 percent.
National newspaper adver-
tising revenue fell 16 percent
in the 11-month period and
trading remained volatile,
Daily Mail said in a statement.
Regional advertising revenue
fell 31 percent but the trend
was improving, especially in
property ads.
Signs of recovery
Chief executive Martin Mor-
gan told reporters on a confer-
ence call: “We do see the signs
of a beginning of a recovery on
the consumer side.” He said the
company’s consumer business
was more geared than B2B for
an upturn going into 2010.
Morgan said the vast major-
ity of cost cuts were over, after
the company saved 150 million
pounds this year.
Some consumer publishers
have cautiously begun to esti-
mate the worst is over, although
advertising is still in decline.
Lagardere, the world’s biggest
consumer magazine publisher,
said last month trends were
improving.
Reuters
CHINA DAILY
Hard times may be tonic for Perrigo
Generic medicine firm expects to
cash in as consumers seek savings
NEW YORK: Hard economic
times may spell good times
at Perrigo Co, the largest US
maker of store-brand generic
medicines, as consumers hunt
for savings.
“The economy is certainly
an important influence for
making the case for store
brand,” Perrigo Chief Execu-
tive Officer Joseph Papa said in
an interview.
“(Consumers) still have a
headache,” Papa said. “They’re
trying to figure out how they
can save a dollar, and they’re
moving more and more to store
brands.”
With a 70 percent market
share, Perrigo dominates
store-brand or private-label
medications which are sold
with generic names under the
labels of drug chains and other
stores. For example, a Perrigo-
made product might be sold as
acetaminophen instead of the
brand name Tylenol.
BUSINESSINTERNATIONAL
The store-brand market in
the United States has been
thriving, said Papa. While
total over-the-counter and
nutritional sales have climbed
2.8 percent in 52 weeks through
June, store brand sales jumped
13 percent, he said.
The weak economy, he said, is
one of the favorable factors sup-
porting Perrigo’s forecast of 7
percent to 13 percent earnings
per share growth for its 2010
fiscal year, which runs through
June. The CEO said the company
feels “very good” about the fore-
cast, which calls for earnings of
$2-$2.12 per share.
The Allegan, Michigan, com-
pany, whose revenue rose 16
percent to $2 billion in its most
recent fiscal year, is also count-
ing on new product launches to
drive growth this year.
Among the launches is a
store-brand version of Schering-
Plough Corp’s Miralax laxative,
which has annual sales of more
than $200 million. The com-
pany is awaiting US approval
for its version, but Papa said he
expects the company to be able
to launch it “sometime in the
next several months.”
It may launch a version of
Mucinex, a decongestant sold
by Reckitt Benckiser, and ex-
pects to start selling a version
of Johnson & Johnson’s Monistat
vaginal infection product in the
next six to 12 months.
Papa said investors may be
underestimating the fiscal
2010 opportunity in other new
store brand launches, includ-
ing pain relievers, cough and
cold medicines and nicotine
products.
“That, I think, is probably
what people are most misun-
derstanding ... is the magnitude
of the number of new product
launches that we will have in
fiscal year 2010,” Papa said, al-
though he declined to specify
how many of these launches
there will be.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Perrigo’s US store-brand ver-
sion of the omeprazole acid re-
flux drug, known by the brand
name Prilosec, has been a key
drug for the company but it may
soon see competition from a ver-
sion sold by India’s Dr Reddy’s
Laboratories.
Still, Papa said, omeprazole
“will be a very large important
product for us several years
into the future,” noting Per-
rigo has held on to more than
80 percent of the market share
for the store brand version of
the allergy drug Zyrtec despite
facing competitors.
Reuters
17
INBRIEF
Walgreen profit falls
Walgreen Co, the largest US
drugstore chain, posted a
slightly smaller quarterly profit
yesterday, weighed down by
weak sales of summer mer-
chandise and costs behind its
strategy to makeover its stores
and streamline its overall
operations.
Profit fell to $436 million, or
44 cents per share, in the fiscal
fourth quarter ended on August
31, from $443 million, or 45
cents per share, a year earlier.
The latest quarter included 3
cents in costs and 7 cents in
savings from Walgreen’s trans-
formation plans. Sales rose 7.6
percent to $15.7 billion, while
sales at stores open at least a
year rose 2.4 percent.

Airbus cuts target

European planemaker Airbus

Moss Bros posts confirmed yesterday it had

cut its 2009 delivery target for

US turnaround firm sees A380s by one aircraft to 13

planes and said it was main-

wider H1 loss, riches in Dubai downturn

taining its delivery forecast
for 2010.
“In agreement with a cus-

sales improving
tomer we have moved the
14th aircraft (for 2009) by a
few weeks from December to
early 2010,” spokesman Stefan
Schaffrath said. Shares in par-
LONDON: British menswear re- Shares in Moss Bros have in- ent EADS fell 0.5 percent in
tailer Moss Bros Group posted a creased in value by 50 percent early trading, slightly lagging
wider first-half loss but said sales over the last three months on other leading stocks.
were on an improving trend and recovery hopes, outperforming
it expected a return to profit general retailers by 21 percent. Paulson mulls merger
“sooner rather than later”. The stock was up 2.6 percent Hedge fund manager John
“There are opportunities at 29.25 pence at 0927 GMT, Paulson is considering merging
inside the business that mean valuing the business at about troubled US finance company
that we can get back to profit 29 million pounds. CIT Group with failed mortgage
probably a lot sooner than a lot of Many UK retailers have lender IndyMac Federal Bank,
commentators would otherwise struggled over the last year the New York Post said, citing
think,” finance amid recession, people familiar with the matter.
director Michael rising unem- According to the paper, the
Hitchcock said. Shares in Moss Bros ployment and an merger, a plan floated by a
The 160-store have increased anemic property number of CIT’s creditors
company, which market. including Paulson, is not part
runs the Moss, in value by 50 Late on of any formal discussions
Cecil Gee and percent over the Monday British between CIT and IndyMac. The
Savoy Taylors photographic The Burj Al Arab Hotel in New York Post also said the
Guild chains last three months retailer Jessops Dubai, United Arab Emirates. merger plan was one of several
and owns the on recovery hopes, announced a sol- Bloomberg News being discussed.
British license outperforming vent restructur-
for brands such ing that will keep Crude dips below $66
as Hugo Boss, general retailers by it in business but DUBAI: Alvarez & Marsal, Dubai World, a vast govern- downturn. A debt implosion and a $1 billion Dubai Global Oil fell below $66 a barrel
made a pretax 21 percent. provide virtually t he US t u r na rou nd f i r m ment holding company with at a pair of Saudi firms has sukuk on November 4. yesterday as a weak demand
loss of 3.0 mil- no return for eq- overseei ng t he L eh ma n $59 billion in liabilities, hired added to corporate woes and Last week, Fitch Ratings outlook was expected to be re-
lion pounds uity investors. Brothers bankruptcy, is in AlixPartners — the same fi rm rising debt levels have boost- said the rise in debt, as well inforced by weekly inventory
($4.8 million) for the six months Moss Bros’ underlying sales ta l ks to help rest r uct ure advising on General Motors ed the risk of defaults. as diminished financial re- data from the United States.
to Aug 1, on revenue down 0.6 fell 2.6 percent in the first-half, firms humbled by the global bankruptcy — in June to help “Non-performing debt is sources, will make it harder US crude futures fell $1.01
percent to 52.1 million pounds. but gross margin was main- financial crisis in Dubai, the restructure the group. a big issue in the region, for authorities in the United to $65.83 a barrel by 1305
That compared with a loss of tained at 56 percent. Gulf’s trade and tourism hub, A lva rez sa id t he f i r m, involving investment funds, Arab Emirates to provide sup- GMT, after rising 82 cents
2.2 million pounds in the corre- “The first six months ended a top executive said. which earlier t his mont h investment banks, hospital- port for UAE banks. on Monday. North Sea Brent
sponding period last year. with a noticeable improving Managing director Antonio signed on to advise cloth- ity and real estate,” Alvarez The UAE government and crude futures fell 65 cents to
As was the case last year no sales trend which has continued Alvarez declined to identify ing and accessories maker said. central bank have already $64.89. After last week’s drop
dividend is being paid. at the start of the second-half ... the companies his firm was Liz Claiborne Inc, had been Dubai’s government and taken a number of steps to of about $8 on concerns over
House broker Altium Secu- However, management are mov- dealing with. awarded “three mandates companies linked to it have help t he count r y’s ban ks high oil inventories and weak
rities is forecasting a year to ing forward cautiously in case “The types of mandates we in the (Middle East) region refinanced about $9 billion weather the financial crisis, demand, prices have remained
end-Jan 2010 pretax loss of 6.8 the UK economy should move are seeking and discussing and we are negotiating some of debt this year and have including pouring $6.8 bil- at the bottom end of a $65-$75
million pounds and losses of 5.7 into a ‘double-dip’ scenario,” said are the (likes) of Dubai World,” restructuring deals”. two major Islamic bonds ma- lion into bank deposits last trading range in place since
million pounds and 2.7 million chief executive Brian Brick. he said on the sidelines of a Dubai has taken a hit in the turing in the fourth quarter October. around July.
pounds respectively in the fol- restructuring and refi nance wake of the global financial — developer Nakheel’s $3.52
lowing two years. Reuters conference in Dubai. crisis and a severe property billion sukuk on December 14 Reuters Reuters

French
lender to
pay back
bailout
PARIS: BNP Paribas, France’s
biggest bank by market capi-
talization, yesterday joined a
recent European rush to pay
back the government for its
financial support during the
credit crisis.
T he ba n k lau nched a
capital increase for 4.3 bil-
lion euros ($6.30 billion)
and said it was reimbursing
the French state early on its
capital advance made during
the financial crisis.
BN P Pa r ibas sa id t he
capital increase would be an
underwritten rights issue
with preferential subscrip-
t ion r ig hts for ord i na r y
shareholders. BNP Paribas launched a capital increase for 4.3 billion euros and said it was reimbursing the
It added it would, as of French state early on its capital advance made during the financial crisis. Bloomberg News
October, reimburse the 5.1
billion euros in non-voting take advantage of healthy over the last 12 months,” he percent on a pro forma basis
shares subscribed to by the capital markets. added. as at June 30.
French state on March 31 and Britain’s Lloyds Banking BNP said the capital in-
will make a payment of 226 Group and Royal Bank of crease, combined with new Financial flexibility
million euros, calculated over Scotland are also considering shareholders’ equity result- BNP Paribas said its earn-
the seven-month period. raising billions from equity ing from the scrip dividend ings capacity and the organic
The move, making the most raising or asset sales to limit (0.75 billion euros) and a generation of equity ensures
of low rates and recovering the state’s stake. capital increase reser ved that the group maintains fi-
share valuations — with the for employees (0.26 billion nancial flexibility to continue
CAC - 40 blue - ch ip i ndex Cut Swiss govt ties eu ros), w i l l f i na nce t he to grow in an environment
breaking the 3,800 points Sw iss ba n k U BS ch ief reimbursement of all t he where capital requirements
index for the first time since executive Oswald Gruebel non-voting shares issued on are more stringent.
October 2008 — will also free told the Financial Times the March 31, 2009, to the Societe “T ha n ks to t he st ate’s
BNP Paribas from the state’s bank also wanted to cut ties de Prise de Participation de intervention, French banks
conditions for its financial with the Swiss government l’Etat (SPPE) pursuant to the have played an important
help, includ ing limits on by buying its way out of a French state’s plan to support role in helping the economy
bonus payments. bad bank deal and aimed the economy. and their customers during
Among European banks, to return to health within Fol low i ng t he t ra nsac - the crisis,” chief executive
Italy’s Unicredit and Intesa a year. tion, BNP Paribas will have Baudoi n P rot sa id i n t he
Sanpaolo are set to raise “BN P Pa r ibas has i n - 59.4 billion euros Tier one statement.
funds in an effort to keep creased its loan advances in shareholders’ equity and its
politicians at a distance and France by 5.5 billion euros Tier one ratio will be over 9 Reuters
18 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 LIFE CHINA DAILY

Red scions
They are the grandsons and granddaughters of China’s top political families. But
despite their privileged births, they’re carving out their own lives. Gan Tian reports

‘I have the With shining eyes, tanned skin and

a slim frame that seems to exude
power, she has been compared to
and helping people realize their
dreams.”
Even at the tender age of 5,

confidence to the protagonist in the Disney ani-

mation Chinese story, Mulan.
She even gave the role a thought,
says Wan Baobao, a post-80s gen-
Wan was adept at table manners,
attended dinners with high of-
ficials from foreign countries,
had bodyguards and could take

chase my dreams’ eration member who declines to

reveal her age, when auditions
for Hua Mulan were being held
last year.
Wan’s grandfather Wan Li was
Ye Mingzi, granddaughter of vet- former vice-premier and former
eran Chinese Communist general Ye chairman of the National People’s
Jianying, chairman of the Standing Congress. Her childhood was spent
Committee of the National People’s in Zhongnanhai with her grand-
Congress from 1978 to 1983, just got parents and parents. But Wan
married — on Sept 9. had little interest in politics; she
“In China we call this ‘999’, and was more attracted to fashion.
it’s a special and auspicious date,” she She is a familiar face at fashion
writes in an e-mail to China Daily. parties, showing off her bracelets,
her grandfather’s special plane
if she wanted to travel. However,
she was never arrogant. She went
to the United States alone to study
French literature and photography
at the age of 16. Four years later,
she went to Paris to sharpen her
French-language skills.
While exposure to two different
cultures gave Wan a broader
perspective, it also created Grandson of great Chinese revolutionary Bo Yibo, Oxford student Bo
difficulties. “It took a long time to Guagua was a winner of the Big Ben Award for Top 10 Outstanding Chi-
get used to Western society, and nese Young Persons in the UK this May. Chantal Andrea
when I came back to China, it was

Bridging the gap,

Ye was born in Beijing in 1979. rings and necklaces from her own equally hard to adjust here.”
She went to grade school and col- brand — Hong Kong-based Bao Bao But there was one thing upon
lege in Hong Kong and later, Britain. Wan Fine Jewelry. which she never compromised.
However, she and her family spent “I’m in charge of everything “For so many years, no matter

serving the people

most of their holidays in Beijing and connected to the brand — from whether I was at home or abroad,
Guangzhou. design to sales,” she says, holding people could look down on me or
While she remembers the beauty a white-gold bracelet in her hand. laugh at me, but I never compro-
of her childhood well, modern Beijing Wan even tries to source each of mised when they spoke badly of my
and China still astonish her. “Today, the diamonds and precious stones country. This is the only thing that
I can look and see the same China used in her designs all by herself. can irritate me. Twenty-two-year-old Bo Guagua Bo hopes to serve as a bridge con-
of my childhood ... But also woven Pointing to the pattern of fall- “I have always been proud of my certainly has his own fashion sense. necting China and the West, and is
into that picture is the new China, ing leaves carved in the bracelet, country. When I was 8 or 9 years His slim-cut white shirt and brown determined to work on education
which is striking and impressive,” every inch of which is detailed in old (I was) in the US, and I strongly pants give him an energetic appear- and culture, because he believes
she writes. diamonds, she says: “It is more like felt that this pride did not match ance, while his red cuffl inks and these two fields can eliminate mis-
It’s not just the modern buildings a symbol of my brand. the situation at that time. However, crimson-striped socks add a hip understandings between the two
and transport that impress her, but “I respect all religions, and today I can balance them, because vibe to his semi-formal look. societies.
also the vitality in China. “There is borrow ideas from all,” adds my country is strong and powerful. Holding a philosophy book Bo does feel those that are born af-
so much energy and enthusiasm. Wan, holding another white-gold I feel, finally, this day has come,” on ethics, Bo sits in a Beijing ter the reform and opening up are the
There is the feeling that anything is necklace, featuring a cross. she says. courtyard, sipping pu’er tea. He says “most blessed people in the world”,
possible,” she writes. Wan, who is planning to open Contrary to media portrayals, he is preparing for his university because “nowhere else is as exciting
As a child of a political family, Ye the first Bao Bao Wan Fine Jewelry thanks to her job, Wan says “mate- examinations for next May and is as China at this time. For the first
says she has gained a sense of mis- stores in Beijing, says most of her rial things are not important”. She working on his master’s degree time in centuries Chinese people are
sion and duty, and an inner strength designs are inspired by her child- never chooses friends according to application. free from the fear of starvation, but
to carry it out regardless of obstacles. hood memories. Her creations have their backgrounds and economic Bo Guagua is the grandson of great because we are not yet a fully devel-
Her family moved to Hong Kong when not just flowers and leaves, but also status. Her best friends include Chinese revolutionary Bo Yibo, one oped country, there is a magnificent
she was 7, and at the age of 13, she images of the Forbidden City. Chen Man, China’s top fashion of the core members of New China’s scope for us to grow peacefully. We
went to Britain to study. “My road “You may see them as typical photographer, and people from founding fathers’ generation. His ma- can all be the building blocks of our
through British-led Hong Kong and Chinese jewelry, but to me, they are all walks of life, such as doctors, ternal grandfather, Gu Jingsheng, is country. The Chinese dream is very
then Britain was filled with chal- just memories of my childhood. I lawyers and writers. also a Communist revolutionary gen- much alive.”
lenges,” she recalls. grew up in Zhongnanhai. The Bo Guagua and Ye Mingzi (also eral and leader of the 12.9 Movement Bo’s first English-language book,
Ye was seen as the little immigrant (falling) leaves reflect (my) feelings from political families, see the that propelled China to unite against Uncommonwealth, was published
girl from China when she moved to for Beijing’s autumn. I missed them other stories on the page) are Japanese invasion in 1935. when he was aged 17. It features
Hong Kong in the late 1980s. The Fashion designer Ye Mingzi is the so much when I was abroad. Every also her friends. “If we didn’t have The student at Oxford University, the illustration of an adolescent
other children looked down on her as granddaughter of renowned Com- time Beijing’s leaves turned red, I these backgrounds, we would still where he majors in modern greats with covered ears and a covered
undereducated and unsophisticated. munist general Ye Jianying. became more mature. be friends, because we understand (philosophy, politics and economics), mouth, and a waterspout pouring
“At the time I only spoke Mandarin, Courtesy of Ye Mingzi “My life, my interests and my each other,” she says. says he is interested in education into his brain. The caption reading
while everyone else spoke Cantonese work perfectly match one another. “Family background is a halo and culture, which he believes will “education” alludes to his discontent
and English. Kids can be cruel to Chinese fashion designers and style I put all my life experiences into my for me, but I would like people be crucial to China’s future and with pedantic education that
other kids, and it really hurt. leaders. We already see this hap- designs. I use my designs to move to know me more, the inner me, mutual understanding between the inculcates ideas in the students.
“Some of the same treatment pening in painting and sculpture,” those who love my jewelry. I don’t when they want to make friends East and West. “By learning from both China and
occurred in Britain when I was a she says. have to do what I don’t like.” with me. When I was young, At age 12, he left home to study the West, I try to create my own way
teenager. But like any young fighter, Ye does not think her famous Wan did not always want to be people around me would tolerate at a preparatory school in UK. Later, of thinking,” he says.
I turned it into motivation. family has had much influence on a jewelry designer. As a kid, she my mistakes because of my special after taking the national Common “I need to be argumentative and
“I have no ill will toward the her work. But she does admit that it quite liked the idea of becoming a background. But now, I am trying Entrance exams he was accepted logical for school essays, but I prefer
past but am happy to see that old has a greatly positive impact on her. bus conductor, because they have hard to let them know who I really into the prestigious boarding school to be more emotive and spontaneous
prejudices against mainland Chinese Her family never said no to Ye when “extremely beautiful bags”. Later, am, which can make them trust Harrow in Britain, becoming the first in my own writings.”
have changed. These days people eve- she decided to work as a fashion her dream job was becoming a law- me more.” Chinese mainland student on the He hopes that an authentic Chinese
rywhere are so interested in China designer. yer because they “help people”. Wan belongs to the post-80s gen- campus. The school’s alumni include aesthetics can emerge alongside Chi-
and our people.” “For example, I never think about Her interest in jewelry was eration. “Impatience is the general former British prime minister Winston na’s economic rise — one that defines
Talking about her grandfather Ye how I can make the most money. sparked when she entered the weakness of the post-80s genera- Churchill and the first prime minister modern Chinese elegance.
Jianying, she says there was a strong Rather, I think about how I can con- world of fashion. “Jewelry tion, including me. They want suc- of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. Bo’s ultimate aspiration is to “serve
connection between them. She can re- tribute and how I can improve design is a cross cess to come easily. I hope I can “I enjoyed the challenges of a the people”, he says.
call every detail of the times she spent myself,” she says. between busi- overcome it through my parents’ completely different environment,” “Although this phrase has
with her grandfather. “In my design and paint- ness and art. teachings, my hard work and my Bo says. become a platitude, it does concisely
“(The story) of his battles, along ing, I don’t think about What I am life experiences,” she says. “While I was inevitably homesick summarize the ideal that my family
with that of the other generals, is whether something will doing now However, she maintains that at times, I was excited by the new has taught me. So for me, it is
fi lled with risk and sacrifice. Few sell or not. I think about is both this generation is part of the main- opportunities.” something very close to my heart.
Westerners realize the challenge creating the best beauty providing stream power of China. “We have Before setting off for Britain, Bo “No matter where I end up, working
and tough odds these revolutionaries I can, and only that,” she beauty contributed a lot to efforts such as lived with his grandparents because for my country and for the people tops
faced. Out-manned and out-gunned says. the Sichuan earthquake relief and his parents were not in Beijing. His my to-do list.”
and out-financed, their story of vic- “I try to please my own the Olympic Games. We can be father is Bo Xilai, former commerce For all his endeavors, he received
tory is one of the greatest stories eye. I have the confidence to proud of ourselves.” minister and now, secretary of the Big Ben Award for Top 10 Out-
never told in the West.” chase my dreams and follow One of Wan’s family teachings the CPC Chongqing Municipal standing Chinese Young Persons in
The photos of General Ye on the my intuition. I get all that from is “you have to sacrifice some of Committee. the UK in May.
team that welcomed US President my family. It is an inner training, your personal interests when there “Of course, (my grandparents) Like other members of the post-
Richard Nixon in 1972 give her the most important kind.” is a conflict between you and the pampered me, but only emotionally,” 80s generation, the young man has
great pride. community”. he says. “They always made it very many hobbies, such as equestrian
“For me, my grandfather is both a “Maybe other people cannot see clear that I had to be independent, sports and fencing. His physique
real man and a legend. I am just so it, but we have to. As a child in a so I never felt spoiled.” also shows that he goes to the gym
honored to be his granddaughter and ‘red family’, I have to consider my Bo faced critical comments about frequently.
to have grown up in his house, with grandparents and parents. If China while living abroad. He loves a diversity of music and
him and my parents,” Ye says. I were a kid without this “Most of my classmates’ knowledge is learning how to play guqin — a
“I was lucky to be the small child background, I would be about China comes from Western seven-stringed Chinese zither. He
in the house and he showered me braver,” says Wan. But media or is limited to the theoretical, plans to bring the instrument to
with attention. He passed on to the she knows her family’s academic realm,” he says. Oxford so people there know more
next world as a very happy and con- background is a boon. “I don’t mean to imply Western about traditional Chinese music.
tented man on my 7th birthday, Oct Jewelry “For anyone in a fam- media are deliberately biased in “Guqin is more like a language
22, 1986.” designer Wan ily like mine, all the their reports about China, but the and an instrument for personal
Chasing her dreams, Ye is now a Baobao is the burdens are nothing cultural background from which they meditation, rather than a musical
fashion designer of couture evening granddaugh- compared with the bliss. report is so strikingly different and instrument to perform for audiences,”
gowns and wedding dresses. She ter of former We benefit so much, not unavoidably blemished by historical he says.
studied at Saint Martins College of vice-premier necessarily materially sentiments that I don’t think they can He also loves photography, and
Art and Design in London, and her and National but mentally. It’s price- paint an objective picture of China.” shows some pictures he snapped
graduate creations were regarded People’s Con- less,” she says. He says he is not inclined to while visiting the poor in Chongqing.
as one of the best collections of the gress chairman “As a designer, I know propagandize for China in these He recently became infatuated with
college. She worked at the famous Wan Li. how lucky I am. In China, discussions. Polariod cameras. And he’s also
Japanese fashion company Isse Mi- Feng Yongbin if someone wants to go into “I simply hope to provide more spending his spare time writing more
yake. Now, she has started a high- the high-end jewelry design firsthand information, so they books, which he’s now authoring for
end Studio Regal in Beijing, dealing industry, he or she needs so can have a more enlightened and his mother.
in exclusive fashion wear. many years of experience. informed view of China, which I have Though the Bo family never
She also travels to the United States But because of my family faith will be more positive.” holds bi r t hday pa r t ies, t hey
and Europe frequently, which puts her background, I have come to be He points out that Chinese always celebrate National Days.
in touch with international trends and noticed in such a short time. I sometimes also misunderstand This year is also Bo’s father’s
familiarizes her with world-famous feel so grateful. the West, citing himself as an 60th birthday.
designers and style icons. “I do not know if I can earn example. A photo of him posing “In 1999, when we celebrated the
“The fashion industry is also grow- an honor for my country by with two Western women at a fancy 50th anniversary of the country’s
ing in China,’’ she says. “But it has becoming one of the top Oxford dress party that was posted founding, I got over-excited and
not yet reached top international designers in the world, online caused some debate but only tripped on the ground, breaking one
standards for design and style. but this is one of my because some Chinese people don’t of my teeth,” he recalls.
“I look forward to a time when dreams, and I am understand the culture of student “I hope I won’t break another one
there will be many well-known working on it.” parties, Bo says. this year.”
CHINA DAILY LIFEENTERTAINMENT WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 19

The Warrior and the Wolf, directed

by Tian Zhuangzhuang, will hit
theaters on Friday. File photo

Tian’s new
flick is no
wolf in
sheep’s
clothing
By Liu Wei

Director Zhang Yimou will present a trendy version of classical opera Turandot at Beijing’s new landmark — the Bird’s Nest, on Oct 6 and 7. Wang Wen The Warrior and the Wolf (Lang Zai Ji)
has everything that makes a commer-

A princess returns
Celebrated director Forbidden City, bringing the Chinese princess
back home for the first time. Since then, he has
Zhang Yimou is set to also directed arena editions of the opera to tour
Paris, Seoul and Munich. Zhang has won much
create another stir at praise from the West for giving the princess a
warm interpretation.
the Bird’s Nest with Now, a year after directing the Opening Cer-
emony of the Beijing Olympics, the celebrated
his latest version of a director will once again draw attention to the
Bird’s Nest when two shows of his latest edition
Puccini classic. Chen Jie of the opera run on Oct 6 and 7.
With an investment of 120 million yuan ($17.6
reports million), an international cast and the same pro-
duction team that put on the Opening Ceremony
of last year’s Olympic Games, this Bird’s Nest
cial blockbuster — a plot, war, sex and
two international stars. But it is still
an auteur film with the strong per-
sonal imprint of Tian Zhuangzhuang,
a flagman of the “fifth-generation di-
rectors”, such as Zhang Yimou and
Chen Kaige.
“However commercial a story, I can
make it non-commercial,” Tian jokes.
“An obvious flaw we (the fifth-genera-
backdrop. The 1,000 sq m scroll will display
an animated movie purporting to tell the story
tion) have is that we carry too much
baggage when making films.”
throughout the two-hour, three-act show. For the
first time, the film director gives full play to his
Wolf, based on Japanese writer
Inoue Yasushi’s short story, is not
expertise in visual art.
“In traditional theater works, the settings tell
a complex tale. An ancient Chinese
soldier Lu Shenkang encounters a
the time and place of the story. This time, we use
abstract visual images and moving pictures to
cursed tribal woman in war, and
the two become wolves after seven
portray the essence of the roles,” says Professor
Yang Qingsheng of Beijing Academy of Film,
nights together. One could see it
as an Indiana Jones set in ancient
and the man behind the animation.
Yang is the new blood in Zhang’s 13-year-old
China or a Mummy IV, but Tian says
he would rather focus on the role
Turandot crew, which includes associate direc-
tor Chen Weiya, set designer Gao Guangjiang,
of fate.
Tian believes in fate, maybe be-
costume designer Zeng Li and lighting designer cause many times in his life it has

I
n 1996, to mark the 70th anniversary of
the premiere of Puccini’s opera Turandot,
Teatro Comunale di Firenze, the presti-
gious opera house in Florence, Italy, sent
a fax to Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
It invited him to direct a new production of
the classic opera.
Zhang, who then knew nothing about this
Western masterpiece, read the fax and put it
away.
The opera house kept contacting Zhang but
did not get a “yes” until a few months later,
when Zhang mentioned it to composer Zhao
Jiping, who has written the scores for many of
Zhang’s films.
“The Italians want me to direct an opera called
Turandot. What can I do? I know nothing about
opera. Who is Puccini? What is Turandot about?”
the director asked of the composer.
“What?” Zhao exclaimed. “Did you say Turan-
dot? If they invite you to direct Turandot, you
should do it. It’s one of the greatest operas in
the world.’’
So began the film director’s explorations in
theater and his bond with Turandot. He staged
it in Florence in 1997 with Zubin Mehta taking
the baton, and the next year, presented it at the
Turandot, says Zhang, is “the most unique” of
all his versions.
“In the past 80 years, Turandot has been per-
formed again and again in every opera house
throughout the world. The arias remain the
same and the story never changes. What people
want to see is a different presentation, and that’s
what the director can do,” says Zhang.
In 1998, the Forbidden City provided a live
setting and created a very real sense of the story
unfolding at the royal palace, Zhang explains.
“This time, I had to do a very modern version.
The Bird’s Nest is Beijing’s new landmark, the
iconic image of modern China. It’s interesting
to present a classical opera in a trendy way at
such a modern venue,” he says.
When Zhang says “trendy” he is referring to
the use of multimedia effects, which his team
used well at last year’s Opening Ceremony.
“The use of multimedia techniques can be
seen often in today’s shows. Every director
uses it. It is like everybody can write, however,
the stories they write read very differently. I
believe this multimedia Turandot is unique,”
says Zhang.
Remember last year’s Chinese ink painting
scroll? This time, Zhang lets it stand as the
Sha Xiaolan.
Yang says the animated movie does not tell
the full story and just features some abstract
images.
Zhang has also invited artist Song Xiaoming
to paint five Chinese ink paintings to be used
in the animated movie. The paintings portray
five scenes of the opera: Turandot’s ancestor,
who is kidnapped and tortured by the invader,
which is why Turandot hates the foreign princes;
the Prince of Persia’s execution when he fails
to answer Turandot’s three riddles; Calaf strik-
ing the gong that hangs in front of the palace
three times, declaring himself the suitor; how
no-one sleeps in the night when Turandot tries
to find out Calaf’s name; and the grand wedding
in the end.
Zhang’s Turandot tells a warm story of love.
“In most Western productions, Turandot is as
cold as ice and the opera is dark and depress-
ing. We Chinese cannot understand such a cruel
princess. In our show, we trace the reason she
wants to kill all the suitors. We want to highlight
love in her heart instead of hate,” says associate
director Chen Weiya.
The opera’s international cast and Italian
conductor Janos Acs are now in Beijing for
Xi’an native Li Ruoning, the spokesperson of
Chinese Princess, a label originated from the
opera Turandot, displays a costume.
the final rehearsals.
The Italian soprano Raffaella Angeletti will
sing Turandot with Chinese tenor Dai Yuqiang
as Calaf on Oct 6. The second night’s Turandot
will be American Susan Foster with Hong Kong
tenor Warren Mok as Calaf. Both nights will fea-
ture Chinese soprano Yao Hong as Liu.
“I conducted Zhang’s Turandot in Paris and
Munich. I am fully confident that the Bird’s
Nest production will be a great success,” says
conductor Acs.
been more powerful than his personal
will.
His father Tian Fang was the
deputy director of the State Film Bu-
reau, and his mother Yu Lan was a
renowned actress. As a boy Tian went
to top schools in Beijing and lived in
neighborhoods that were home to
some of the most famous Chinese
filmmakers.
But during the “cultural revolution”
(1966-76), he was sent to the rural
areas and then joined the army. He
never gave filmmaking a thought un-
til he met an amateur photographer in
the army. In 1978, he was admitted
to Beijing Film Academy’s directing
department.
His first two well-known films,
On the Hunting Ground (Liechang
Zhasha) and The Horse Thief (Dao
Ma Zei) shocked movie-goers in the
1980s, with its wild narrative and
cinematography.
When he was making The Horse
Thief, he met Italian director Ber-
nardo Bertolucci, who asked him to
submit it to the Venice Film Festival.
He never did. Later, he came to know
that Bertolucci was leading the festi-

Music theory’s mad scientist val’s jury that year.

In 1993, he made The Blue Kite (Lan
Fengzheng), a film reflecting on the
15 years before the “cultural revolu-

staging new experiments tion” from a child’s point of view.

By Chen Nan
As an influential figure in Beijing’s music scene, Dou Wei dabbles
in a cornucopia of genres — rock, pop, electronica and reggae — but
has no intention of performing mainstream music on stage.
“I’m interested in, and can play, any instrument with strings.
But conventional music — I mean songs with lyrics over melodies
— doesn’t want anything to do with me,” he says, smiling.
“But music generously accepts me in other ways. If you listen
to it with your heart, you can make something interesting.”
That’s why the 40-year-old Beijing native has gravitated toward
experimental sounds.
Dou, the lead vocalist of pop-rock band Black Panther, or Hei
Bao, in early 1990s — one of China’s most famous rock bands
— has immersed himself in music since his teens.
“I listened to all types of music,” he says. “As I listened to more,
I realized I am not only touched by typical music with lyrics but
also by the sounds of nature and even odder noises made by
instruments.”
So he began exploring the sounds made by various traditional
instruments, such as drums, dizi (bamboo flute), ruan (moon-
shaped lute) and guqin (seven-stringed zither).
He has been recording these ancient instruments’ sounds
and digitally manipulating them to create hypnotic, moody or
jumping soundscapes.
Since leaving behind mainstream rock a decade ago, Dou has
been presenting experimental works with his band Not Sure.
And on Saturday, he’ll take to the Starlive stage with his new
group Di San Xian.
The group brings together veteran experimental musician
Wang Fan, and keyboardist and guitarist Xu You, who recently
returned from Germany. The upcoming show will be Dou’s fist
of the year and the debut of his newest creations.
“I have never stopped making music and releasing albums, so
The film brought him much praise
internationally but a ban at home.
He did not direct any film until eight
years later.
this performance is not a return or a restart,” he says. His last film was a biopic on the
“Those descriptions were media creations and have nothing to go, or weiqi, master Wu Qingyuan,
do with me. I’m still me.” made in 2004. But the film will only
The band was formed just half a month ago. Dou says it hasn’t be seen in the near future because the
prepared any specific songs for the show. investor went bust before its original
“Anything that comes from the band will be improvised and screening date.
natural,” he says. During the years he spent teaching
“I’m getting old and am tired of singing songs with lyrics. What at the Beijing Film Academy, his fel-
I like now is pure music with originality.” low-alumni Zhang Yimou and Chen
Dou made his name as early as Cui Jian, the “Godfather of Kaige were making great strides with
Chinese rock”. He joined Black Panther in 1991 and later released such box office triumphs as Hero (Ying
several sold-out solo albums, including Sunny Days (1995), Moun- Xiong) and The Promise (Wu Ji).
tain River (1998) and Dark Dreams (1994). When Wolf got underway last year
But his sentimental and self-indulgent nature propelled the in Xinjiang, many assumed that the
talented artist into his own musical world. He has never run out film, starring Joe Odagiri and Maggie
of inspiration but disappeared from the public view for years. Q, two beloved stars in Asia, would be
In 2001, he released improvisational jazz-lounge recording One Tian’s homage to blockbusters. They
Stone, Two Birds with Not Sure. Every instrument, as well as Dou’s got it wrong.
voice, found a space for self-expression on the track. While sales “I am not transforming into some-
weren’t great, Dou had discovered a new way to make music. thing else,” Tian says. “Your educa-
“It’s not that important to me that audiences accept my music,” tion, environment and experience
he says. determine what kind of work you will
“I don’t like to explain it much, because it’s too abstract and produce. A director has to learn a lot
personal.” of new things, but what he produces
He says showbiz is an unhealthy venue for developing original will still be who he is.”
music, and commercial albums from Hong Kong and Taiwan have For the same reason, sex has never
had negative influences in this realm. Dou Wei says his upcoming show in Beijing is not a return or been a focus in Tian’s films and will
“I don’t have any contact with record companies now, because a restart, but a debut of his newest creations. Wang Guan not be in this one either.
their way of promoting music is too commercialized and unsuit- The action scenes, although en-
able for me,” Dou says. “Also, I know nothing about showbiz. But still never forgot his pivotal role in Chinese rock’s development. hanced by computer graphics, are
one thing’s for sure: I don’t like it.” “I’m grateful for those who’ve followed my music for years,” also brief. “The story touches me most
Source believe that Dou’s hatred of the entertainment industry he says. with its characters, not with sex and
came from his marriage to, and divorce of, Asian pop diva Faye “Money’s not a concern for me … I now lead a simple life like violence,” he says.
Wong. anyone else, riding my bike and chatting with like-minded The film will premiere on Friday,
He had withdrawn for years from the view of the public, who friends. I’m ordinary and comfortable.” with English subtitles.
20 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 LIFEPULSE CHINA DAILY

On losing a
bicycle and
finding a city
HOT POT

ERIK NILSSON
Beijing has been getting smaller
while the neighborhood has been
growing bigger since my wife and
I switched gears and swapped four
wheels for two.
I hadn’t expected how different
— and more interesting — the city
looks from the bike lane.
All sorts of places of interest that
once seemed far away now take
mere minutes to reach. And many
new spots unlikely to be discovered
on foot or from the seats of buses,
cabs or subway cars are emerging
from new corners and folds of the
area surrounding our apartment.
Just minutes by bike from home
— a quiet community between the
Third and Fourth ring roads in
the capital’s northeast — are vast
stretches of amazing techni-colored
graffiti, cheap dumpling shops and
a pricey traditional restaurant. For
three years, we had no idea these
were just around the corner.
Last weekend, we discovered
Yonghegong’s elusive “deep hutong”

Live-saving lessons
tucked behind the commercial
frontage of cafés, restaurants and
tourism shops. We’d staged sev-
eral on-foot hunting expeditions
over the years but always gave up
when we couldn’t find them within
half an hour — not enough time to
cover much ground by walking but
enough for us to lose interest.

A new training center’s director.

“Providing first aid education in
educational schools can facilitate the promotion
of community-based health and first
campaign seeks to aid,” Liu says.
“Students are quick to learn and
combat a woeful can effectively pass the knowledge on
to their parents and friends.”
ignorance of first Educators have welcomed such
training.
aid techniques, Xiaode Middle School’s Wang
Chunrong says she was grateful to
Xiong Lei reports learn from Ma how to handle such
emergencies as cuts and nosebleeds.
“More than half of the students are Liu Yanfeng

M
a Guilin takes special
pride in her involve-
ment with Red Cross
societies.
The retired army
doctor and Beijing resident has a
strong belief in the global humani-
tarian movement and takes great joy
in doing her part for it.
“It makes my life busy but mean-
ingful,” she says.
The former surgeon has been in-
volved in Red Cross activities since
the late 1990s, focusing her efforts
on first aid training and disaster
response.
She says providing first aid train-
ing is particularly rewarding, even
though it pays little or nothing, be-
cause it enables others to save lives.
An instance of this was when
a group of amateur mountaineers
whom she’d taught saved an 18-year-
old worker who had fractured his spine
after falling into a valley on Shandong
province’s Taishan Mountain.
“My students found him … and put
him on the type of stretcher desig-
nated for that type of injury — just like
I’d taught them,” Ma says.
“The young man didn’t suffer any
secondary injuries, because of the
timely and appropriate administra-
tion of first aid.”
Ma says too few Chinese receive
Above: The newly built Xiaode Middle School, Mianzhu, Sichuan. Only months ago, the students were still in
the make-shift classrooms. Top: Dr Ma Guilin leads the students of Xiaode Middle School in first aid training.
such training, so there is a lack of
people qualified to help in emergen-
cies.
Thanks to the preparations to host
the 2008 Olympics, Beijing has the
country’s most active and effective
Red Cross branch. About 29,000
residents of the capital are certified to
administer basic first aid, the Beijing
Municipal Red Cross Society says.
This roughly meets the minimum
international standard, which re-
quires one first aid worker for every
50 citizens, Ma says.
But the figure only deals with the
provision of the most basic first aid
for permanent residents. If the city’s
3 million migrant workers are con-
sidered, the capital comes up short of
the standard.
Ma says ignorance about first aid
is also prevalent among the profes-
sional class.
She recalls watching as a reporter
interviewed a man buried beneath ce-
ment slabs after last year’s Sichuan
earthquake. The reporter believed
getting the trapped man to speak was
the best way to keep him alive.
But he died almost immediately
after rescue workers pulled him
from the rubble.
“What a pity!” Ma sighs.
“He could have been saved if the
TV reporter understood that the man
shouldn’t have been allowed to talk
so much. He should have instead been
told to save his energy.
“And the rescue workers should
have known to give him some saline
solution and carry him out instead of
letting him walk on his own.”
It’s because of tragedies such as
this that Liu Ping, a senior official
of the Red Cross Society of China’s
training center, believes the need for
first aid education is urgent.
“Many people rely on ambulances
to come to the rescue if there’s an
emergency,” she says.
“But the few minutes before the
ambulance arrives can be vital to
saving lives. Those who know at
least basic first aid techniques could
determine the difference between life
and death.”
That’s why the training center is
cooperating with the East Asia Re-
gion Delegation of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red
Photos by Xiong Lei
Crescent Societies (IFRC) to promote
community-based health and first aid.
The campaign features an integrated
approach to training and mobilizing
community volunteers to assist
with disease prevention and health
promotion.
Liu says the programs will focus on
the western areas, such as Sichuan,
Shaanxi and Guizhou.
In mid-September, Liu and Ma
conducted a rescue-oriented train-
ing workshop at a township school
in Sichuan’s Mianzhu, a county-level
city severely devastated by the 2008
earthquake. “We were just testing the
waters,” Liu says.
More than 200 eighth graders of
Xiaode Middle School in Mianzhu
listened attentively to Ma’s three-
hour lecture. Li Zilin, 13, found the
information “intriguing and useful”.
She says the event strengthened her
determination to become a doctor
when she grows up.
The lecture’s success convinced
the training center to hold similar
courses in at least 40 middle schools
in Mianzhu in the coming months,
says Liu, who is the assistant to the
boarding here, and we are responsi-
ble for their health and security,”
she says.
“For us, such training is absolutely
necessary.”
The school’s principal Jiang Xian-
quan expects even more from the
program.
“First aid training not only benefits
the students … by teaching them life-
saving techniques, but also conveys
to them messages about humanity,
fraternity and helping others,” he
says.
“That’s very constructive to their
growth.”
Liu says the program’s vitality
comes from the ethos of the 150-
year-old Red Cross.
“Many people have come to under-
stand the organization’s charitable na-
ture through its rescue work during
the Sichuan earthquake,” she says.
“But few people realize that a driv-
ing force for Henry Dunant to launch
this humanitarian movement in 1859
was the provision of first aid without
discrimination.”
Liu says she is encouraged that
many people have been receptive to
the new program.
“If first aid education becomes a
compulsory component of schooling
… it will also add to the humanitarian
movement’s momentum.”
We zipped through the zigzag-
ging alleys lined by ivy-draped resi-
dences, trying to peak into windows
that were too high to see into.
Outside these homes we saw
birds flitting about in dangling
cages, residents hanging laundry
to dry and elderly women hauling
bulging sacks of fresh vegetables
— all glimpses of authentic hutong
life hidden behind the commercial
facade of renovated siheyuan (tradi-
tional courtyard homes).
As cycling enthusiasts in the US,
we were excited upon our arrival
to hop back in the saddle in Beijing
— a city in which the bike is an icon,
and our hobby is a way of life and
major means of getting around.
But the 150-yuan model I pur-
chased in my first few weeks in the
city quickly fell apart.
The kickstand didn’t stand being
kicked and flew off the first day. The
chain started coming off repeatedly
on the second, and I blew a pedal
on the third. It seemed like the bike
was preprogrammed for a day-by-
day countdown to self-destruction.
Before I could get the confounded
contraption to a repair shop, it was
stolen. So we decided to buy a nicer
electric bike.
But we became nervous about the
idea after getting into a motorcycle
accident in Thailand.
While I made it out of the crash

WHAT’SNEW with a few scrapes and some sore

joints, my wife sprained her ankle.
Her foot became so swollen and
painful that she had to cut the top of
Chinese films in New York 29-episode drama follows the young people’s situation as the
two parties fight for their allegiance.
her socks so they fit.
Airport security on both the
Chinese and Thai sides asked why
A total of 20 fi lms made between 1949 and 1966, the 17
years from the founding of the People’s Republic of China
Calligraphy book series she was going through the lines
wearing only one shoe and guf-
and the “cultural revolution” (1966-76), will be screened fawed with us when we recounted
at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York Edited by the Chinese Academy of Arts, the book series Cal- the story.
untill Oct 6. ligraphy of the People’s Republic of China has been released by But my wife recently decided we
Initiated by China Film Archive, which screens Chinese the Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House. should get over our hang-ups about
films abroad every year, the current feast of films is also a Containing 1.8 million characters and some 1,000 pictures, possible bang-ups, and I agreed.
response to a suggestion by the Lincoln Center. For a long time, the six-volume Calligraphy of the People’s Republic of China is So we walked to Wu Mei and rode
films made in this period were rarely screened in international a comprehensive study of the development of Chinese calligra- back home on a flash red model that
venues, as the world was unfamiliar with Chinese cinema until phy after the founding of New China in 1949. It features works, was on sale.
Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige produced their signature works research, education, dissemination and exchange related to Since then, we’ve discovered
in the late 1980s. calligraphy. perks beyond a better seat for dis-
In Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium, 12 classic Chinese films covering Beijing’s best-kept secrets.

Mountain tourism festival

will be screened from Oct 2 to the end of November. Dream documentary Perhaps the greatest change
is that vehicular congestion has

The 2009 Daxishan Tourism and Mountain Climbing Festival

was held on Saturday at Daxishan (the Great West Mountain)
in Beijing’s Haidian district.
Sponsored by Haidian’s government and the Beijing Tourism
Administration, the festival aims to attract people during the
eight-day National Day holiday and promote LOHAS (lifestyles
of health and sustainability).
The organizing committee invited 60 people who are 60
years old — the same age as the People’s Republic of China — to
form a special team to climb the Great West Mountain. They
wrote their hopes for China’s future on a “wall of wishes”.
With a forest-coverage rate of more than 85 percent, the
Great West Mountain area is one of the most popular places for
mountaineers in Beijing.
A real talent competition
Wars are not only waged over land or wealth but also over
talent.
A War for Talent (Teshu Zhengduo), a TV drama on the Com-
munists and Nationalists’ fight to win over a young talented
group, is being shown on CCTV-8.
Shortly before the end of the War of Resistance Against
Japanese Aggression (1934-45), many college graduates and
talented young people who came back to the country after
studying abroad faced a choice between Yan’an and Chongqing
— then the headquarters of the Communists and the National-
ists, respectively.
Featuring suspense, love stories and a ply-on-ply plot, the
My Dream, a show by the China Disabled People’s Performing
become virtually irrelevant to us.
Zooming down the bike lanes, we
Art Troupe that has amazed audiences all over the world, has often blast past the transportation
been adapted into a documentary film with the same title. doldrums created by traffic jams
My Dream features 84 artists with hearing, visual and physi- choking the main roads until they
cal disabilities, singing solos, playing the piano or traditional resemble parking lots.
Chinese instruments and performing folk dances, dance dra- As we discover new inroads to un-
mas, and Peking Opera, including the signature Avalokitesvara derstanding the capital by biking its
Bodhisattva. back roads, we’re realizing why the
The film took more than one year to complete and was ready Beijing bicycle ranks among Chinese
in May 2007. Its China release comes after screenings at 14 icons — and does so deservedly.
international film festivals to wide acclaim from experts and
the general public. To comment or contribute,
e-mail hotpot@chinadaily.com.cn
China Daily
CHINA DAILY LIFEFUN WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 21
L A N G U A G E • T I P S HOROSCOPE
By Bernice Bede Osol

Better Chinese
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19)
Across Chinese menu 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ϟ⃵‫ݡ‬гϡ‫خ‬䖭⾡㷶џњ IOnly after you
1 Formal club: 38 Hinged pair of have thor-
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6 Places to press 41 ___-Foy, Que. 16 17
FKQVKnOH things out and
are prepared to
the flesh? 42 Kind of blocker
18 19 20 21
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10 Spirited cries 44 Start of a
13 Some arts and Chinese game
again. convictions can
22 23 24 25 26 you reach your
crafts 45 Either of two བᵰԴⶹ䘧њ㞾Ꮕ᠔⢃ⱘ䫭䇃ˈᛳࠄৢᙨᑊֱ䆕ҹৢϡ‫ݡ‬䞡⢃ˈ goal without interference. Don’t let
27 28 29 30
16 Red remover, emcees ህৃҹ䇈˖Āϟ⃵‫ݡ‬гϡ‫خ‬䖭⾡㷶џњDŽā onlookers deter you.
maybe 47 Where “wikiwiki” If you acknowledge your mistake, feel regretful and promise you
31 32 33 34 35 36
17 Bonuses means “to hurry” won’t repeat it, you can say, “I won’t do anything that stupid again”. Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 19)
37 38 39 40 41 A:਀䇈Դজ㹿䙷ϸϾ偫ᄤ㒭偫њDŽ The secret to
18 It’s just a formal- 49 “The Shelters of
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ity Stone” author 42 43 44 45 46 I heard that you were cheated by those two swindlers again. joint endeavor
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22 Diminutive Fairbanks dir. 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
I gave them 50 yuan. you will align
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Didn’t I warn you about it? You’ve turned a deaf ear to what I ambitions, objectives and abilities
companion? 57 Result of an 62 63 64 65 told you? complement your own.
25 States emergency call, B:ϟ⃵‫ݡ‬гϡ‫خ‬䖭⾡㷶џњ
27 Sp. title maybe 66 67 [LiFn]iL\xEs]Xp]Kk]K€QJFKQVKnOH Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20)
29 Psychos 58 Get too big for I won’t do anything that stupid again. If the one you
68 69
31 Leave in the 61 Prefix with -logy love receives
dust, say 62 Philemon, e.g. China Daily with contributions from Fluent Chinese, published by an abundance
˗˼̆̇̅˼˵̈̇˸˷ʳ˵̌ʳ˧˻˸ʳˡ˸̊ʳˬ̂̅˾ʳ˧˼̀˸̆ʳ˦̌́˷˼˶˴̇˸ New World Press of compliments
33 Long introduc- 64 Like the Trojan and attention,
tion? horse pat yourself
69 Garden hose race 40 ЧWork period Better English
34 English town 66 Oil source on the back
problems 14 20-vol. work 43 Like some
near Windsor 67 Starting instruc-
Down 15 Wee hour baseball teams
Reader’s question: for your good
Bridge tion choice. It’ll make you proud.
1 Craggy crest 20 ЧOne starting a 46 Tee follower Could you explain, “all hands on deck”?
37 General on a 68 What circles lack
2 “Tell me!” career, perhaps 48 Penned Chantal Anderson: The phrase “all hands on deck” is commonly used Aries (Mar 21-Apr 19)
Yesterday’s solution 3 ЧPlastered 23 Drop the ball 50 Archaeological in pop culture as slang and can be found in movies, music and throughout Press forward
S T H A L T A B A O K 4 JFK : New York :: 26 Migration forma- find everyday speech. People use it when it is necessary to get everyone to and you should
A I I R E R O H N O N R A ___ : Chicago tion? 51 Cabbie’s line work together as a team to finish something. The idiom derives from ship be able to wrap
crews who used it to get everyone together on the deck of a boat in a up to your
D R G U D I C T I O N J A R 5 ЧGambling 28 Inner self 53 Parts of a joule moment of urgency or during an emergency. This phrase is commonly satisfaction a
R O H T P A T E E B O L A game 30 Record label of 55 Call that may
S H O W O F A D O U B T
used when something needs to be finished in a timely matter. tempestuous
6 RR building Bill Haley and His result in an Examples: matter. Just stay
L O V E I S P R Y
7 ЧSherlock Comets abrupt hang-up 1. Daniela was eating a giant ice cream sundae when she became calm, and use your head.
R I O A C T I V I T Y T P K
Holmes novel, 31 Gambling site: 56 Math figures too full and said to her friends at the table, “all hands on deck”, meaning
O S I S L A Z P R I E
with “The” Abbr. 59 Diminutive everyone grab a spoon and dig in. Taurus (Apr 20-May 20)
N E D R O L L E R B L I N G
2. Captain Don saw a storm in the distance as his crew was fishing Although you
C O W H O A X E S 8 Heat 32 Milk ending
and yelled, “all hands on deck” to get everyone working hard to finish might give bor-
M A I L I N G D R E S S 9 Methods: Abbr. 35 What buzzer 60 Crumb the job before the storm hit. ing tasks a lick
A C R E S E Y E S M O D I 11 Part of a sob beaters may lead 63 Snake’s and a promise
B A A T A K E O U T A N A D
12 Rarely read to, briefly warning To ask a question about learning English, please go to in order to
E S Q E L K S S H T E T L
letters 36 What you keep 65 Cost-of-living http://translate.chinadaily.com.cn pursue more
L E I R A O U V R A Y
13 Race before a 39 ___ Desert meas. pleasurable ac-
tivities, it won’t
hamper you in the large scheme of
things. Enjoy the day.
Peanuts Fminus
Gemini (May 21-Jun 20)
If you put your
mind to it, you
can devise
creative ways to
generate extra
funds – as long
as you’re will-
ing to use both
your brains and brawn.

Dilbert Drabble Cancer (Jun 21-Jul 22)

Put your
present inter-
ests into high
gear, and you’ll
make more
headway than
you ever would
have suspected.
Don’t wait on others to open doors
or blaze trails. Do things yourself.

Leo (Jul 23-Aug 22)

Business oppor-
tunities won’t
simply fall into
BRIDGE By Phillip Alder your lap; you’ll
be on your toes,
ready to pounce
Anna Lappe, who is on Time Maga- ing that his partner had a major-suit ace. at the first
zine’s Eco-Guide Who’s Who list, said, South initially thought he would lose opening. You
“Hope doesn’t come from calculating only one heart trick. However, after tak- will make serious headway simply
whether the good news is winning out ing the first trick and drawing trumps, because of hard work.
over the bad. It’s simply a choice to he cashed the second top heart, getting
take action.” the bad news. Now it looked as though Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22)
There are many jokes and sayings with two heart losers were unavoidable. But What makes you
the “good news, bad news” pairing in perhaps there was good news in dia- so successful is
them. In a bridge contract, if there is monds. the realization
bad news in one suit that seems fatal, Declarer took dummy’s two top clubs, that people don’t
try to find good news in another suit. ruffed the last club in his hand, cashed always make
In the bidding, North’s four-diamond the diamond ace, and continued with things happen;
response was a splinter bid, showing the diamond jack. When West covered sometimes Lady
four-plus spades, game-forcing values with the queen, South discarded a Luck comes into
and a singleton (or void) in diamonds. heart from the dummy. play, which is likely to be the case at
South control-bid (cue-bid) four hearts, Good news: East could not overtake this time.
North control-bid five clubs, and South with the diamond king and cash the
jumped to six spades. heart queen. Instead, West was end- Libra (Sept 23-Oct 23)
West, knowing from North’s initial played. Whichever minor suit he led Your perfect tim-
response that a diamond lead would serve now, declarer could discard dummy’s ing, so essential
no purpose, led his singleton heart, hop- remaining heart and ruff in his hand. to your suc-
cess, will come
through once
again. When you
KAKURO 14
11 15
7
8 27
spot a window
of opportunity,
A Kakuro consists 19
9 13
25
16 14
you’ll give it everything you have.
of a playing area 2 9 9
6 22 13
of filled and empty 10 19 Scorpio (Oct 24-Nov 22)
cells similar to a 10 14 Express your
12
crossword puzzle. 4 12 points of view
Some black cells 25
29 10
10
22 and opinions
contain a diagonal 8 11 11 openly, because
slash from top left 7
7
8
6
13
they are likely to
to bottom right with 20 17 have more mean-
8 7
numbers in them, 10 11
ing to your peers
called “the clues”. A than you realize.
( ) PZZL
number in the top Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate Don’t discount what you have to offer.
right corner relates
to an “across” clue Sagittarius (Nov 23-Dec 21)
Yesterday’s solution
and one in the bot- Don’t be afraid
tom left a “down” to use bold
clue. 6 9 5 4 8 5 measures if
The object of a 1 5 6 2 3 6 1 that’s what it
Kakuro is to insert 4 6 7 3 8 6 takes to get
digits from 1-9 into 5 3 1 2 7 9 things done.
the white cells to 3 7 1 6 4 9 Success is likely
total the clue associ- 7 9 8 3 1 2 to be denied
ated with it. However 2 6 9 6 1 7 – unless you are willing to go the
no digit can be dupli- 5 4 6 1 3 9 4 extra mile both physically and
cated in an entry. 8 4 4 5 6 3 mentally.
22 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
BASKETBALL
INBRIEF
Van Gundy to stay with Magic
ORLANDO,
Florida: Orlando
Magic coach
Stan Van
Gundy has
reached a
deal on a con-
tract extension
with the National
Basketball Asscociation team.
The Magic also decided to extend
the contract of general manager Otis
Smith, the Orlando Sentinel newspa-
per reported on Monday.
Smith became general manager in
2006 and hired Van Gundy a year
later.
Van Gundy has a 111-53 record in
two seasons coaching the Magic.
He led Orlando to a 59-23 mark and
a trip to the NBA finals last season
for the first time since 1995 before
they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers
in five games.
SOCCER
PSG coach threatens rival
PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain coach
Antoine Kombouare said Christian
Gourcuff “deserves a smack in the
mouth”, after the Lorient manager
claimed PSG midfielder Claude
Makelele was “past it”.
The Parisians were held to a 1-1
draw at Lorient on Saturday, dur-
ing which former Real Madrid
and Chelsea man Makelele was
fortunate to avoid a red card for a
foul on Sigamary Diarra in the first
half.
Gourcuff, the father of Bordeaux
star Yoann, declared afterwards
that Makelele was “past it and has
no place on a football pitch”, prompt-
ing an extraordinary outburst from
Kombouare.
Hertha part company with coach
BERLIN: German struggler Hertha
Berlin on Monday announced the
departure of their Swiss coach
Lucien Favre.
Hoffenheim thrashed the Bundes-
liga team 5-1 on Sunday to seal
the fate of Favre, while assistant
Harald Gaemperle was also ejected,
with Hertha saying under 23 coach
Karsten Heine would take charge,
for now.
The capital club, which fi nished
fourth last season, has garnered
just three points from seven
games this term since Favre,
who lifted the Swiss title with FC
Zurich in 2006 and 2007, allowed
three key players to move on in
the summer.
They included skipper and Croatian
star Josip Simunic, who joined Hof-
fenheim, while another key loss was
Ukrainian forward Andrei Voronin,
who returned to Liverpool following
a loan spell.
CRICKET
Pakistan in semifinals
CENTURION, South Africa:
Pakistan qualified for the Cham-
pions Trophy semifinals after
the India-Australia match was
abandoned due to rain here on
Monday.
Pakistan have already secured four
points after winning both of their
matches in the four-team Group A,
while Australia have three points
and India one after two games. The
West Indies have lost both of their
games.
The top two sides advance to the
semifinals.
Defending champions Australia
were on course for a big total before
play was called off due to heavy rain
in the day-night match.
They posted 234-4 in 42.3 overs
after winning the toss on a good
batting track, with Michael
Hussey (67), skipper Ricky Pon-
ting (65) and Tim Paine (56) all
making the most of a mediocre
Indian attack.
RUGBY
Bastareaud gets ban
PARIS: France
center Mathieu
Bastareaud
on Monday
received a
three-month
suspension,
commuted to
community
service, for having lied about an
assault on himself while on tour in
New Zealand.
The French Rugby Federation’s
(FFR) disciplinary committee
ruled that Bastareaud’s actions had
harmed the wider interests of the
sport.
The federation said the Stade Fran-
cais back would have to complete
18 activities related to amateur
rugby between Oct 1 and June 30,
2010, or face having the suspension
enforced.
Bastareaud, 21, admitted making
up a story about being attacked
in Wellington following France’s
14-10 defeat by the All Blacks on
June 20.
SPORTS CHINA DAILY
Olympic movement set for 2016 climax
Tight vote expected on Friday between This (the margin
The vote with regard to the sports
should also prove to be of interest Previous hosts of
the four cities bidding for the Games between different with rugby seven almost certain to
win the approval of the members but
Summer Olympics
cities) could probably with golf seen as still having some 1896 - Athens
PARIS: One of the tightest and most For the bid teams involved it has be down to two to four work to do. 1900 - Paris
hard-fought battles to win the right to been an incessant 18 months of lob- “They are both regarded as 1904 - St Louis
host an Olympic Games will come to bying and presentations since they votes. middle class and well-off sports 1908 - London
its eagerly-anticipated climax in Co- were shortlisted and with only days and that is not altogether the im- 1912 - Stockholm
penhagen this week when the 2016 to go it remains to be seen how they JACQUES ROGGE age that some IOC members want to 1920 - Antwerp
IOC president
Summer Games are allocated. can make any difference with more see the Olympics become,” a source 1924 - Paris
It is not the only difficult choice of the same in a vote that Rogge told AFP. 1928 - Amsterdam
the 100-plus International Olympic — who does not have a vote except “They would rather that the 1932 - Los Angeles
Committee (IOC) members face as in the event of a tie — believes will president Joao Havelange comment- Games retain an image of high- 1936 - Berlin
they must decide by majority vote be close. ing publicly he had already garnered lighting other sports that only 1948 - London
whether rugby sevens and golf de- “Beijing won by a wide margin in 20 votes for it and worse named the get an opportunity once every 1952 - Helsinki
serve to be included in the Games Moscow in 2001 (for the 2008 Games) members who had pledged them- four years to show themselves to 1956 - Melbourne/Stockholm
that year. but then London edged Paris in 2005 selves to the cause of bringing the the world and reap the financial (Because of Australian quar-
They will be relieved that they will (for the 2012 Games) and it only Games for the first time to a South rewards to keep them going in antine laws equestrian events
not face a tough decision as to who came down to a couple of members,” American city. between times.” were held in Stockholm)
is their president for the next four said the Belgian, who was elected Chicago, having been originally The only point of interest regard- 1960 - Rome
years as Jacques Rogge is to stand in 2001 to succeed Juan Antonio the rather uncomfortable frontrun- ing Rogge’s re-election will be if 1964 - Tokyo
unopposed. Samaranch. ners, has fought back in style since there are a significant amount of 1968 - Mexico
However, it is the choice between “This could probably be down to Rio replaced it in that role. But they abstentions, but the Belgian for- 1972 - Munich
Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and two to four votes.” still have to fight against the hang- mer Olympic yachtsman, boxing 1976 - Montreal
Tokyo that will be first on the menu Many believe the first-round vote over of bitterness against the Ameri- doctor and orthopaedic surgeon 1980 - Moscow
on Friday. in Copenhagen could prove crucial as cans since the Salt Lake City bribes has earned his extension of four 1984 - Los Angeles
What is at stake is the prize of host- to how the eventual winner emerges for votes scandal exposed how rotten yea rs a nd i n h is humble way 1988 - Seoul
ing the most treasured and high-pro- with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio the then IOC membership was. insists there will be no trying to
file event in the global sporting world Lula da Silva pledging that should Both Tokyo and Madrid may have change the system so he can seek
— although with it comes all the stress Rio go out in the fi rst round their to just hope that they are seen as the another term. 2000 - Sydney
and financial burdens it can bring votes should go to Madrid and vice compromise candidates or to put “Better to be regretted than to be 2004 - Athens
over the seven years in between the versa. it another way the safe and secure regrettable,” he said. 2008 - Beijing
euphoria of winning and the opening Rio’s bid may well not have been pair of hands that would guarantee
of the Games themselves. done any favors by former FIFA a sound Games. AFP
Madrid: no damn beach but plenty more to offer
MADRID: To paraphrase 1980s shoreline might put some visitors off but the Span- sites as El Escorial, with its stunning royal palace, half century but most of the main tourist sites are
Spanish pop group Los Refrescos, ish capital still has plenty to offer. Alcala de Henares, the birthplace of Cervantes, within a walkable central area that is also served
you can have a thousand cinemas, Refuge from the blazing sunshine can be and Segovia, with its ancient Roman aqueduct by a clean, safe and efficient metro.
theatres and museums but when sought in a world-class art museum or leafy and gothic cathedral. Eating and drinking is one of city’s greatest
August comes there is still no park and tourists can sample tapas on a cool Madrid itself is known as the city of a thou- pleasures and dinners can stretch into the early
damn beach. terrace as the evening temperature dips and sand faces due to the diversity of its architectural hours of the morning.
The oppressive summer heat then party through the night to burn off the styles, from the imposing 16th century buildings Madrid has preserved many of its traditional
of Madrid and its lack of a sandy calories. around Plaza Mayor, through 18th century Ba- taverns with their carved wooden and zinc-topped
Madrid is home to just more than 3 million roque to art deco, modernist and fascist. bars, marble tables and colourful ceramic tiles.
people and attracts millions more each year with During the 1980s, the enlightened cultural Botin, near Plaza Mayor, claims to be the
its rich cultural heritage, diverse architecture, policies and imaginative urban planning of Social- world’s oldest restaurant, dating back to 1725,
hundreds of restaurants and bars and deserved ist mayor Enrique Tierno Galvan helped transform and was a favorite of writer and adventurer
reputation as Europe’s party central. the city from the grey and depressing power cen- Ernest Hemingway.
The sprawling city stands in the center of ter of the Franco dictatorship. Typical dishes include cocido madrileno (a
Spain on the Manzanares river atop a plateau The process has continued apace under stew with different kinds of meat, vegetables and
about 650 meters above sea level and the successive mayors and popular neighborhoods chickpeas) and cochinillo (suckling pig cooked so
landscape rises steeply to the northwest into include La Latina, grungy Malasana, trendy Chue- tender that the meat can be stripped from the
the spectacular Sierra de Guadarrama mountain ca with its large gay community, cosmopolitan bone with the edge of a plate).
People walk by a giant poster promoting range. Lavapies and upscale Salamanca.
the Madrid 2016 bid. AP The surrounding region boasts such landmark The city has quadrupled in size in the past Reuters
Rental pets and robots in ‘Blade Runner’ Tokyo
TOKYO: Only in Tokyo 1964 Olympics, such as the elliptical national umbrellas to underwear. Japan boasts the highest A sizeable sushi lunch can cost as little as $10,
could you hire a cat out gymnasium, are still in use and as stunning in number of machines per capita in the world and fast-food hamburgers a little more than a dollar
for an hour and stroke appearance as they were 45 years ago. even has them at the top of Mt Fuji. and a takeaway kebab from the vans dotting
it while you have a Modern Tokyo, with its “Blade Runner”- However, Tokyo’s credentials as a tourist Tokyo’s nightspots $5.
cappuccino — or better style crackling neon lights and crowded trains destination will come under the spotlight should Where Tokyo’s cleanliness and safety also
still, while a robot cooks and shops, has turned convenience into an art the city beat Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro impress many visitors, the morning commuter
your noodles for you. with its automated wizardry. in the race to host the 2016 Games. crush can fill some with terror and trigger a last-
Japan has made staggering progress since its Vending machines dispense everything from Visitors should expect the unexpected ing fear of train travel.
capital last hosted the Olympic Games in 1964 — earthquakes and typhoons included. Tokyo’s Crammed into rush-hour carriages by railway
and the government unveiled the “Bullet Train” to waterside Olympic stadium would be built workers in dainty white gloves, Tokyoites rattle
mark its emergence as an economic power. on giant shock-absorbers to withstand major along the city’s 19 subway lines to work, faces
The bustling metropolis of 13 million has be- tremors. pressed against steamy windows, or worse.
come a showcase for technological breakthrough, Many stereotypes about Japan are shattered Many overseas visitors avoid the early morn-
cutting-edge architecture and the world’s finest long before travelers have figured out the sensor ing mayhem in a city offering round-the-clock
cuisine. light switches and bath taps in their hotel room attractions. Fashionistas can club until 10 in the
The world’s second largest economy, Japan on their first night in Tokyo. morning while many conventional tourists wake
retains a great deal of its traditional charm, shrines First-timers may be surprised at how cheaply up before dawn to visit Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market,
and quaint old shops often to be found tucked People crowd to see 18m (60-foot) tall you can dine out compared with European cities, the biggest in the world.
beside gleaming new skyscrapers. Gundam at a park in the man-made Odaiba while ordering in English takes only a fraction
Many of the iconic structures built for the island in Tokyo. AP longer and works nine times out of 10. Reuters
Rio: Brazil’s beachside city of extremes
RIO DE JANEIRO: est and beaches that can take even a seasoned “asphalt” — the slum dwellers’ term for the paved Many of the more than 1 million slum dwell-
Thousands of carefree traveler’s breath away. roads of middle-class areas. ers are caught in the middle of a brutal war be-
sun-worshippers packed The 6 million Cariocas, as Rio residents are Copacabana beach, Sugarloaf mountain and the tween drug traffickers who rule the “favela” with
Rio’s Ipanema beach on a known, have a warmth and passion that explodes iconic Christ the Redeemer statue are all squeezed impunity and a police force that tends to shoot
hot September day, some in their fierce football rivalries and during Carnival into the wealthy, narrow strip of Rio’s South Zone. first and ask questions later.
just soaking up the rays, — the raucous annual festival that unites rich and Beyond that, much of the Rio tourists rarely see is The police, whose tactics are regularly con-
others playing volleyball poor in a blur of samba and bacchanalia. a sprawling jumble of lower middle-class areas and demned by human rights groups, shoot dead an
and soccer — a postcard scene framed by lush Increasingly overshadowed as an eco- slums with little or no state presence. average of about three people a day, often young,
mountains. nomic and cultural hub by the southeastern black youths from favelas, who are uniformly clas-
A short drive away, about 100 police city of Sao Paulo in recent years — Brazil’s sified as “resisting arrest”.
troops were storming the city’s biggest slum, largest and most populous — Rio is showing Visitors can go for weeks in Rio oblivious to
trading gunfire with drug traffickers in an op- signs of a revival. the drug war but the signs of problems are there to
eration that left 2,000 schoolchildren without Its finances are in the black for the first time see in the desperate street kids who roam tourist
classes. in years thanks to a competent state government areas such as Copacabana, begging and sniffing
More so than any of its three other competi- and the discovery of one of the world’s biggest oil glue from plastic bags. Still, Rio is making efforts
tors bidding to host the 2016 Olympics, Rio de reserves off its coast promises a flow of invest- to become more inclusive and has benefited from
Janeiro is a city of extremes with a daily capacity ments and jobs in the coming years. Brazil’s economic progress under the presidency of
to delight and disturb. Yet Brazil’s former capital remains sharply charismatic leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The “Marvellous City”, as its residents never divided between the world of about 1,000 People relax at Copacabana beach in Rio de
tire of calling it, was blessed with mountains, for- slums spread throughout the city and that of the Janeiro on Sunday. AP Reuters
Chicago’s superlatives blossom in summer
CHICAGO: Visitors to Chicago A reputation for corrupt politicians and mob- The shopping mecca is Michigan Avenue, includes an outdoor concert stage sculpted by
— the unofficial capital of sters, like Al Capone, who ordered the Valentine’s a few blocks north and across the Chicago Frank Gehry.
the Midwest — can savor Day Massacre, is a source of shame and pride. River from the downtown “Loop” elevated Nature is on display indoors at the Field Museum
a graceful lakefront, gritty Mob hangouts can be visited on a bus tour. tracks along which its usually reliable “El” of Natural History and the adjacent Shedd Aquarium,
ethnic enclaves and rich The city’s culinary delights range from meaty trains rumble. one of the world’s oldest and largest aquariums.
cuisine. hot dogs and deep-dish pizza to a breadth of Nicknamed “The City of Big Shoulders”,
The city of 3 million, ethnic cuisines and reigning chefs Grant Achatz Chicago is home to the world’s earliest sky- Reuters
which has another 4 million in of Alinea and Homaro Cantu of Moto. scrapers, one of the tallest (110-story Willis
its far-flung suburbs, is a region of rich farmland, An incubator for jazz, blues and House music, Tower) and one of the largest (the Merchan-
heavy industry and a history of architectural in- Chicago clubs serving those genres include the dise Mart).
novation. Jazz Showcase and austere venue the Double The city’s venerable and modern architecture
Residents of the city tend to be plain spoken, Door. can be seen on foot or by boat. Cruises on fickle
which might hark back to the city’s role as the Chicago is bordered on one side by Lake Lake Michigan depart frequently from touristy
rabble-rousing birthplace for workers’ rights. Michigan, an inland freshwater sea whose shores Navy Pier.
It is also home to US President Barack have been kept mostly “free and clear” under a The city’s mayor, Richard Daley, will soon
Obama. century-old master plan. pass his father in longevity in office at more
Long ago, scribes labeled Chicago “The Windy Strung along 20 miles (32 km) of lakefront than two decades.
City” for its boastful reputation and slighted the are soccer and softball fields, beaches and bird- He has adopted a “green” policy in a city Traffic on the Chicago River is reflected
place by referring to it as “The Second City” (now watching havens and a bicycle trail shared by once known as “hog butcher to the world” against the 2016 Olympic logo in down-
third-largest). roller-bladers and strollers. and built expensive Millennium Park, which town Chicago. AP
CHINA DAILY
Unbeaten Real
host Marseille
in key clash
Spanish giants keen to stay perfect as
Champions League campaign warms up
MADRID: Spanish league leaders
Real Madrid welcome Marseille to the
Bernabeu on Wednesday (Thursday
morning, Beijing time) for their first
home Champions League game of the
campaign, as their quest for a tenth
European Cup continues.
Real have won all five of their
league matches to date as well as their
European opener at FC Zurich and go
into the Marseille game looking for a
seventh successive win.
“If we beat Marseille it would help
to put some distance between us and
our rivals in the group, although it
is still going to be complicated,” said
midfielder Xabi Alonso, a summer
signing from Liverpool.
“We have Marseille and then
Sevilla (on Sunday), which are two
important games for us to continue
progressing.”
Marseille lost their first group
match 2-1 at home to AC Milan and
crashed 3-2 at Valenciennes on
Saturday to further dent confidence
ahead of the testing trip to the Span-
ish capital.
“Of course, it’s not ideal to lose at
Valenciennes before having to go to
Madrid,” said Marseille coach Didier
Deschamps, who won the inaugural
Champions League trophy in 1993 as
captain of the French side.
“Real have talent in every position
and they have so many players that
can make a difference.”
Real coach Manuel Pellegrini had
more 110 millon euros ($160.5 mil-
lion) worth of talent on the bench
against Tenerife on Saturday, with
Brazil’s 2007 Ballon d’Or winner
Kaka joined by Mali
midfielder Maha-
madou Diarra as
well as Argentine
internationals
Gonzalo
Higuain and
Ezequiel
Garay.
Cristiano
Ronaldo, the
world’s most
expensive
player, was
angry at
being sub-
stituted in
the 77th
minute of the 3-0 victory over Tener-
ife but Pellegrini played down the
significance of the incident with the
Portuguese star.
“I don’t see it as a big thing,” said
the Chilean boss. “No player likes be-
ing substituted but I do the best for the
team and the game was over. I don’t
think there is a problem.”
Competition is certainly fierce at
Real after the rekindling of their
Galacticos recruitment policy but
one player who has thrived is French
striker Karim Benzema.
The 35 million-euro close-season re-
cruit scored a coolly-taken brace against
Tenerife and as a former Lyon player, he
will be familiar to Marseille.
Pepe, back playing after serving a
10-match suspension for an assault
on Getafe’s Javier Casquero in April,
warned of the threat posed by Mar-
seille and singled out his old Porto
teammate Lucho Gonzalez as the
main danger.
“I know several of their players and
they are all very good,” said Pepe.
“Many of them played for Porto and I
also know Lucho Gonzalez. They are a
dangerous team but Real Madrid must
always seek the three points.”
Marseille recently snapped up Real
old boy Fernando Morientes on a free
transfer and the 33-year-old forward
can expect a warm reception from the
Bernabeu crowd, having won three
Champions League titles with the
club in six trophy-laden seasons.
Argentine Gabriel Heinze, 31, is
another former Real player return-
ing to Madrid, having been deemed
surplus to requirements by Pellegrini
in the summer.
Marseille, fourth in the French
league, were poor travelers in the
Champions League last season and
lost all their away group matches to
Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and
Liverpool.
CCTV5
Oct 1, Thursday
00:30 am (Beijing time)
Champions League group match
CSKA Moskva vs Besiktas
02:45 am: Bayern vs Juventus
CCTV Soccer Channel
02:45 am:
Real Madrid vs Marseille
SPORTS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 23
Victorious Li
Li Na of China, the No 15 seed, hits a forehand against Russian Vera Dushevina during their second-round match at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo yester-
day. Li won 7-5, 6-0. AFP
Gomez adds to Bayern worries Wolfsburg out to upset Man U APOEL want to give Chelsea blues
MUNICH: Bayern Munich have told MANCHESTER, England: VfL Wolfsburg striker Grafite NICOSIA: Cypriot minnows APOEL Nicosia are
restless striker Mario Gomez to keep is optimistic the German side have the team spirit preparing for a Champions League upset when
quiet as they prepare for Wednesday’s to end Manchester United’s impressive Champions they take on Chelsea in their first home fixture in
Champions League match against Ju- League home record when the sides meet in Group Group D.
ventus. B on Wednesday. APOEL are only the second Cypriot team to reach
Gomez complained last week United, aiming to reach a third consecutive the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition
that he was being substituted Champions League final, have not lost at home — after Anorthosis made it last season — and have
too often — and was promptly in the competition since a 1-0 defeat by AC already earned a credible 0-0 draw away to Atletico
left out of the starting line-up Milan in February 2005. Madrid.
altogether for Saturday’s match But Brazilian Grafite and Edin Dzeko of Bos- But their league form has suffered in the process
with Bundesliga leaders Ham- nia-Herzegovina scored 54 goals between them — failing to notch a win in the opening three league
burg SV. last season to help Wolfsburg win the Bundesliga fixtures, a feat not matched since 1971. But the title
“I spoke with his agent a few for the first time. holders were back to their winning ways at the week-
days ago and told him that I advise “We are looking forward to going there,” end with a 3-0 drubbing of Doxa.
Mario urgently to stop complaining,” Grafite told reporters. “We want to have a good Nevertheless, APOEL go into Wednesday’s game
Bayern’s general director, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, told match and bring back one or three points. That is our with their fair share of injury doubts and missing key
the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. objective. players.
“When you play for Bayern Munich, you must work “This is a team that has grown together, has Influential defenders Paulo Jorge and Joost Broerse
hard and give everything.” had difficulties together but is going through a will miss the game through injury as will Polish striker
Bayern made an impressive start to their cam- marvelous period together. There is a brother- Marcin Zewlakow.
paign in Group A, winning 3-0 at Maccabi Haifa two hood together on the pitch and in the dressing There are also injury doubts over fellow Poles Kamil
weeks ago. room,” said the striker, who grabbed a hattrick Kosowski and forward Adrian Sikora.
But their domestic form has been indifferent and in Wolfsburg’s opening group victory over CSKA However, frontman Nenad Mirosavljevic is ex-
Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Hamburg SV left them a modest Moscow. pected to be in the starting line-up after missing the
seventh in the Bundesliga with 11 points from seven United have won their last Madrid game through injury.
games. seven games in all competitions. “On Wednesday, we have a difficult game against
Juventus, who drew 1-1 at home to Girondins Their last Premier League match at Chelsea. We have quite a few problems but we will
AFP Bordeaux in their Champions League opener, again Old Trafford was against local rivals try to make a good show of it like we did in our last
lacked a killer instinct in Sunday’s 1-1 Serie A draw Manchester City which ended in a Champions League game,” APOEL’s manager, Ivan
with Bologna where the visitors equalized in stop- 4-3 victory although goal- Jovanovic, said.
SPORTS
page time. keeper Ben Foster was at Jovanovic will also be hoping for a
WATCH With centerback Fabio Cannavaro injured, the de- fault for City’s opening repeat man-of-the-match performance
fense has looked shaky and Gianluigi Buffon has often goal. from in-form Greek keeper Dionisios
had to show why he is regarded as one the world’s Foster is likely to start Chiotis to shut out Chelsea as he did
best goalkeepers. the Wolfsburg match. with Atletico.
Reuter Reuters AFP

44; Fielder, Milwaukee, 43; Howard, Philadelphia, 43; 16. (16) Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 4.36 Dallas 2 1 0 86 61 .667

SCOREBOARD
TENNIS
AdGonzalez, San Diego, 40; ADunn, Washington, 38; DLee, 17. (17) Lucas Glover 4.33 Washington 1 2 0 40 49 .333
Chicago, 35. 18. (18) Zach Johnson 4.21 ATP world rankings
NFC North
STOLEN BASES: Bourn, Houston, 60; Morgan, Washing- 19. (19) Retief Goosen (South Africa) 4.07 PARIS: The ATP world technical rankings released on
Minnesota 3 0 0 88 57 1.000
ton, 42; Kemp, Los Angeles, 34; Rollins, Philadelphia, 31; 20. (20) Ian Poulter (Britain) 4.05 Monday:
Green Bay 2 1 0 81 63 .667
Fowler, Colorado, 27; Pierre, Los Angeles, 27; HaRamirez, 1. Roger Federer (SUI) 11,255 pts
2009 PGA Tour money list Chicago 2 1 0 57 54 .667
BASEBALL Arizona at San Francisco Florida, 26; DWright, New York, 26. 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8845
NEW YORK: Leading money winners on the 2009 PGA Detroit 1 2 0 59 86 .333
NEW YORK: Major League Baseball results on Monday Wednesday’s games PITCHING: Wainwright, St. Louis, 19-8; CCarpenter, St. 3. Andy Murray (GBR) 8390
Tour on Monday, Sept 28 (US unless stated): NFC South
(home team in CAPS): Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubsst game Louis, 16-4; De La Rosa, Colorado, 16-9; JoJohnson, Florida, 4. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7330
1. Tiger Woods $10,508,163 New Orleans 3 0 0 120 56 1.000
Toronto 11 BOSTON 5 (7 innings) NY Mets at Washington 15-5; DLowe, Atlanta, 15-9; JVazquez, Atlanta, 15-9; Pineiro, 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 6825
2. Steve Stricker $6,332,636 Atlanta 2 1 0 57 53 .667
TAMPA BAY 7 Baltimore 6 Houston at Philadelphia St. Louis, 15-11. 6. Andy Roddick (USA) 5050
3. Phil Mickelson $5,332,755 Tampa Bay 0 3 0 41 91 .000
WASHINGTON 2 NY Mets 1 Florida at Atlanta STRIKEOUTS: Lincecum, San Francisco, 254; JVazquez, 7. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 3655
4. Zach Johnson $4,583,213 Carolina 0 3 0 37 87 .000
Houston 8 PHILADELPHIA 2 St. Louis at Cincinnati Atlanta, 229; Haren, Arizona, 216; Gallardo, Milwaukee, 8. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 3535
5. Kenny Perry $4,445,562 NFC West
Chicago White Sox 6 CLEVELAND 1 Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubsnd game 204; Wainwright, St. Louis, 204; WRodriguez, Houston, 9. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 3430
6. Sean O’Hair $4,316,493 San Francisco 2 1 0 67 53 .667
ATLANTA 4 Florida 0 Milwaukee at Colorado 190; De La Rosa, Colorado, 189. 10. Gilles Simon (FRA) 3090
7. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) $3,866,270 Arizona 1 2 0 57 68 .333
PITTSBURGH 11 LA Dodgers 1 LA Dodgers at San Diego SAVES: HBell, San Diego, 40; Cordero, Cincinnati, 39; 11. Robin Soderling (SWE) 3020
8. Jim Furyk $3,761,715 Seattle 1 2 0 57 48 .333
NY YANKEES 8 Kansas City 2 Arizona at San Francisco Franklin, St. Louis, 38; BrWilson, San Francisco, 37; 12. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 2805
9. Lucas Glover $3,692,580 St Louis 0 3 0 24 73 .000
LA ANGELS 11 Texas 0 Major League Baseball leaders as of Monday, Sept 28 Broxton, Los Angeles, 36; Hoffman, Milwaukee, 36; Street, 13. Gael Monfils (FRA) 2455
10. Yang Yong-eun (South Korea) $3,489,516 Sunday, Oct 4
Minnesota at Detroit, postponed AMERICAN LEAGUE Colorado, 34; FrRodriguez, New York, 34. 14. David Nalbandian (ARG) 2225
11. Retief Goosen (South Africa) $3,232,650 Detroit at Chicago
Standings BATTING: Mauer, Minnesota, .371; ISuzuki, Seattle, .351; 15. Marin Cilic (CRO) 2195
12. Nick Watney $3,221,421 Oakland at Houston
American League Jeter, New York, .333; MiCabrera, Detroit, .329; MYoung, CRICKET 16. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 2095
13. Brian Gay $3,152,445 Tampa Bay at Washington
East Division Texas, .324; Cano, New York, .322; Bartlett, Tampa Bay, 17. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 2055
Australia v India - Champions Trophy scoreboard 14. David Toms $3,009,053 Seattle at Indianapolis
W L Pct GB .320. 18. Tommy Robredo (ESP) 2045
Scoreboard from the abandoned Champions Trophy Group 15. Dustin Johnson $2,939,751 NY Giants at Kansas City
y-New York 101 56 .643 -- RUNS: Figgins, Los Angeles, 112; Pedroia, Boston, 110; 19. David Ferrer (ESP) 1800
A match between Australia and India at Centurion, South 16. Hunter Mahan $2,869,949 Baltimore at New England
Boston 91 65 .583 9 1/2 Damon, New York, 106; Jeter, New York, 106; BRoberts, Bal- 20. Tommy Haas (GER) 1780
Africa on Monday. 17. Stewart Cink $2,821,030 Cincinnati at Cleveland
Tampa Bay 80 76 .513 20 1/2 timore, 106; Cano, New York, 102; Teixeira, New York, 101. Tennessee at Jacksonville WTA world rankings
No result due to heavy rain 18. Kevin Na $2,724,825
Toronto 73 84 .465 28 RBI: Teixeira, New York, 120; Bay, Boston, 115; Lind, Toron- Buffalo at Miami PARIS: The WTA world rankings released on Monday:-
Australia innings 19. Padraig Harrington (Ireland) $2,628,377
Baltimore 60 96 .385 40 1/2 to, 110; Longoria, Tampa Bay, 110; KMorales, Los Angeles, NY Jets at New Orleans 1. Dinara Safina (RUS) 8340 pts
S. Watson c Harbhajan b Nehra 0 20. Angel Cabrera (Argentina) $2,625,472
Central Division 105; AHill, Toronto, 104; BAbreu, Los Angeles, 101. Dallas at Denver 2. Serena Williams (USA) 7807
T. Paine c Harbhajan b Mishra 56 European Tour Race to Dubai money list
Detroit 83 72 .535 -- HITS: ISuzuki, Seattle, 216; Jeter, New York, 207; Cano, St. Louis at San Francisco 3. Venus Williams (USA) 6645
R. Ponting run out 65 LONDON: Leading money winners on the 2009 European
Minnesota 81 74 .523 2 New York, 202; MiCabrera, Detroit, 191; AHill, Toronto, San Diego at Pittsburgh 4. Elena Dementieva (RUS) 6015
M. Hussey c Tendulkar b Sharma 67 Tour Race to Dubai on Monday, Sept 28 (British unless
Chicago 76 81 .484 8 188; Mauer, Minnesota, 183; Crawford, Tampa Bay, 182. Open: Arizona, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Carolina 5. Carolina Wozniacki (DEN) 5850
C. White not out 35 stated):
Cleveland 64 92 .410 19 1/2 DOUBLES: BRoberts, Baltimore, 55; BButler, Kansas City, Monday, Oct 5 6. Svetlana Kuznetzova (RUS) 5202
C. Ferguson not out 2 1. Martin Kaymer (Germany) 1,982,055 euros
Kansas City 64 93 .408 20 51; Cano, New York, 48; Pedroia, Boston, 47; Lind, Toronto, Green Bay at Minnesota 7. Vera Zvonavera (RUS) 5200
Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-7) 9 2. Paul Casey 1,965,150
West Division 46; Longoria, Tampa Bay, 44; MByrd, Texas, 43; Markakis, 8. Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 4870
Total (four wickets, 42.3 overs) 234 3. Rory McIlroy 1,726,927
y-Los Angeles 92 64 .590 -- Baltimore, 43; Teixeira, New York, 43. SOCCER 9. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 4592
Fall of wickets: 1-3 2-87 3-175 4-227 4. Lee Westwood 1,684,452
Texas 85 71 .545 7 TRIPLES: Ellsbury, Boston, 10; Span, Minnesota, 10; 10. Flavia Pannetta (ITA) 3490
Seattle 80 76 .513 12 Bowling: Nehra 8-1-38-1, Kumar 8-0-34-0 (w-3), Sharma 5. Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 1,606,805 Belgian first division
EAybar, Los Angeles, 9; DeJesus, Kansas City, 9; Andrus, 11. Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 3075
Oakland 75 81 .481 17 7.3-0-53-1 (w-1), Mishra 9-0-45-1 (w-1), Harbhajan 9-0-54-0 6. Ross Fisher 1,524,347 BRUSSELS: Belgian first division football result on Monday:
Texas, 8; Bloomquist, Kansas City, 8; Crawford, Tampa Bay, 12. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 2900
Tuesday’s games (w-1), Raina 1-0-8-0. 7. Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 1,385,499 Cercle Bruges 1 Mechelen 0
8; Granderson, Detroit, 8. 13. Nadia Petrova (RUS) 2810 (+1)
Minnesota at Detroit, doubleheader India: G. Gambhir, S. Tendulkar, R. Dravid, S. Raina, MS 8. Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 1,232,109
HOME RUNS: CPena, Tampa Bay, 39; Teixeira, New York, English Premier League 14. Marion Bartoli (FRA) 2785 (+1)
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Dhoni, V. Kohli, A. Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, P. Kumar, 9. Oliver Wilson 1,217,865
38; Bay, Boston, 36; AHill, Toronto, 35; NCruz, Texas, 33; LONDON: English Premier League result on Monday: 15. Samantha Stosur (AUS) 2702 (-2)
Kansas City at NY Yankees Ishant Sharma, A. Nehra. 10. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 1,130,735
KMorales, Los Angeles, 33; MiCabrera, Detroit, 32; Lind, Manchester City 3 (Tevez 5, 61, Petrov 32) West Ham 1 16. Li Na (CHN) 2352
Baltimore at Tampa Bay Standings 11. Sergio Garcia (Spain) 1,095,031
Toronto, 32; Longoria, Tampa Bay, 32. (Cole 24) 17. Kim Clijsters (BEL) 2310
Toronto at Boston W L D N/R Pts NRR 12. Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 1,040,991
STOLEN BASES: Ellsbury, Boston, 66; Crawford, Tampa Standings 18. Virginie Razzano (FRA) 2301
Texas at LA Angels Pakistan* 2 0 0 0 4 +1.606 13. Soren Hansen (Denmark) 997,494
Bay, 59; Figgins, Los Angeles, 42; RDavis, Oakland, 40; W D L Gf Ga Pts
Oakland at Seattle Australia 1 0 0 1 3 +1.000 14. Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand) 954,013 19. Amélie Mauresmo (FRA) 2279 (+1)
BUpton, Tampa Bay, 39; Andrus, Texas, 32; Jeter, New York, Man Utd 6 0 1 17 6 18
Wednesday’s games India 0 1 0 1 1 -1.080 15. Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 935,451 20. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 2148 (-1)
30; Kinsler, Texas, 30. Chelsea 6 0 1 16 6 18
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland West Indies 0 2 0 0 0 -1.501 16. Peter Hanson (Sweden) 911,175 Liverpool 5 0 2 22 10 15 Thailand Open
PITCHING: Sabathia, New York, 19-7; FHernandez, N/R= no result, NRR=Net run rate
Kansas City at NY Yankees 17. Anders Hansen (Denmark) 891,342 Tottenham 5 0 2 17 10 15 BANGKOK: Results from the first day of the $609,000
Seattle, 17-5; Feldman, Texas, 17-6; Verlander, Detroit, 17-9; * Qualified for semifinals
Minnesota at Detroit 18. Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 872,832 Man City 5 0 1 14 7 15 Thailand Open on Monday.
Beckett, Boston, 16-6; Greinke, Kansas City, 16-8; Halladay, Previous results:
Baltimore at Tampa Bay 19. Ernie Els (South Africa) 847,963 Arsenal 4 0 2 18 8 12 First round:
Toronto, 16-10. Played on Saturday
Toronto at Boston 20. Simon Dyson 847,077 Aston Villa 4 0 2 9 5 12 Tomaz Bellucci (BRA) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
STRIKEOUTS: Verlander, Detroit, 256; Greinke, Kansas Pakistan beat India by 54 runs
Texas at LA Angels City, 237; Lester, Boston, 218; FHernandez, Seattle, 207; Sunderland 4 0 3 14 11 12 (ESP) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7); John Isner (USA x8) bt Kittiphong
Oakland at Seattle Australia beat West Indies by 50 runs NFL Everton 3 0 3 8 10 9 Wachiramanowong (THA) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Halladay, Toronto, 202; Sabathia, New York, 194; Beckett,
National League Played on Wednesday. NEW YORK: Result of the NFL game on Monday (home Wigan 3 0 4 7 13 9 Yesterday’s first round:
Boston, 194.
East Division Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets team in CAPS): Burnley 3 0 4 5 15 9 Jurgen Melzer (AUT x6) bt Marcos Daniel (BRA) 6-3, 6-2;
SAVES: Fuentes, Los Angeles, 45; Nathan, Minnesota, 44;
Philadelphia 90 66 .577 -- Next fixtures (all times GMT): DALLAS 21 Carolina 7 Stoke 2 2 3 5 9 8 Evgeny Korolev (RUS) bt Fabrice Santoro (FRA x7) 4-6, 7-6
MaRivera, New York, 44; Papelbon, Boston, 37; Aardsma,
Atlanta 86 70 .551 4 Sept. 30 Standings Bolton 2 1 3 8 9 7 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7); Andreas Beck (GER) bt Edouard Roger-
Seattle, 36; Rodney, Detroit, 35; Jenks, Chicago, 29; Soria,
Florida 83 74 .529 7 1/2 Australia v Pakistan, Centurion (0730) American Conference Birmingham 2 1 4 4 6 7 Vasselin (FRA) 7-5, 7-6 (7/1); Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) bt
Kansas City, 29.
New York 67 90 .427 23 1/2 India v West Indies, Johannesburg (1230) AFC East Blackburn 2 1 3 6 9 7 Florent Mayer (GER) 6-3, 6-3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington 53 103 .340 37 Oct. 2&3 W L T PF PA PCT Wolverhampton 2 1 4 7 13 7
BATTING: HaRamirez, Florida, .346; Pujols, St. Louis, Malaysian Open
Central Division Semi-finals NY Jets 3 0 0 64 33 1.000 Fulham 2 0 4 4 8 6
.328; Sandoval, San Francisco, .325; Helton, Colorado, .322; KUALA LUMPUR: Results from the first day of the
y-St. Louis 90 66 .577 -- Oct. 5 New England 2 1 0 60 50 .667 West Ham 1 1 4 6 9 4
Votto, Cincinnati, .318; Braun, Milwaukee, .316; Coghlan,
Final, Johannesburg (1230) Buffalo 1 2 0 64 72 .333 Hull 1 1 5 6 19 4 $947,750 Malaysian Open on Monday:
Chicago 81 74 .523 8 1/2 Florida, .315.
Miami 0 3 0 43 69 .000 Portsmouth 0 0 7 3 13 0 First round:
Milwaukee 77 79 .494 13 RUNS: Pujols, St. Louis, 121; Utley, Philadelphia, 111; GOLF AFC North English Premier League top scorers Brendan Evans (USA) bt Michael Yani (USA) 6-3, 6-4;
Cincinnati 74 82 .474 16 Braun, Milwaukee, 108; Zimmerman, Washington, 105;
Houston 73 83 .468 17 World rankings Baltimore 3 0 0 103 53 1.000 English Premier League top scorers on Monday Taylor Dent (USA) bt Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
HaRamirez, Florida, 100; Fielder, Milwaukee, 99; Howard,
Pittsburgh 59 96 .381 30 1/2 NEW YORK: World rankings on Monday (US unless stated, Cincinnati 2 1 0 61 56 .667 8 -- Fernando Torres (Liverpool) (7/4); Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 4-6,
Philadelphia, 99; Victorino, Philadelphia, 99.
West Division last week’s positions in brackets): Pittsburgh 1 2 0 47 50 .333 6 -- Wayne Rooney (Manchester United); Didier Drogba 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
RBI: Fielder, Milwaukee, 137; Howard, Philadelphia, 137;
x-Los Angeles 93 64 .592 -- Pujols, St. Louis, 132; DLee, Chicago, 109; Braun, Milwau- 1. (1) Tiger Woods 16.54 average points Cleveland 0 3 0 29 95 .000 (Chelsea); Darren Bent (Sunderland) Pan Pacific Open
Colorado 88 68 .564 4 1/2 kee, 107; HaRamirez, Florida, 105; Ethier, Los Angeles, 104. 2. (3) Phil Mickelson 8.33 AFC South 5 -- Louis Saha (Everton); Robbie Keane (Tottenham Hot- TOKYO: Pan Pacific Open second round singles results
San Francisco 83 73 .532 9 1/2 HITS: HaRamirez, Florida, 196; Braun, Milwaukee, 192; 3. (2) Steve Stricker 7.87 Indianapolis 3 0 0 72 45 1.000 spur); Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) on Tuesday:
San Diego 72 85 .459 21 Tejada, Houston, 191; FLopez, Milwaukee, 181; Pujols, 4. (4) Paul Casey (Britain) 6.28 Jacksonville 1 2 0 60 69 .333 4 -- Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland); Gabriel Agbonlahor Elena Vesnina (RUS) bt Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-1, 7-6
Arizona 68 88 .436 24 1/2 St. Louis, 179; Sandoval, San Francisco, 179; Kemp, Los 5. (6) Kenny Perry 5.91 Houston 1 2 0 65 86 .333 (Aston Villa); Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City) (8/6); Li Na (CHN x15) bt Vera Dushevina (RUS) 7-5 6-0;
x-clinched playoff berth Angeles, 178. 6. (5) Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 5.85 Tennessee 0 3 0 58 71 .000 3 Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal); Michael Ballack (Chelsea); Marion Bartoli (FRA x14) bt Aravane Rezai (FRA) 6-4, 6-2;
y-clinched division DOUBLES: Tejada, Houston, 45; Pujols, St. Louis, 43; 7. (8) Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 5.73 AFC West Tamir Cohen (Bolton Wanderers); Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) beat Nadia Petrova (RUS x13)
Tuesday’s games Sandoval, San Francisco, 43; Cantu, Florida, 41; Ethier, 8. (7) Sergio Garcia (Spain) 5.63 Denver 3 0 0 62 16 1.000 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool); Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool); Yossi 6-2, 6-2; Iveta Benesova (CZE) bt Gisela Dulko (ARG) 6-3,
Houston at Philadelphia Los Angeles, 41; HaRamirez, Florida, 41; Rollins, Phila- 9. (9) Jim Furyk 5.57 San Diego 2 1 0 73 64 .667 Benayoun (Liverpool); Hugo Rodallega (Wigan Athletic); 3-6, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (BLR x8) bt Zheng Jie (CHN) 6-
NY Mets at Washington delphia, 41. 10. (10) Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 5.33 Oakland 1 2 0 36 57 .333 Carlton Cole (West Ham United); Craig Bellamy (Man- 1, 6-1; Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) bt Vera Zvonareva (RUS x6)
Florida at Atlanta TRIPLES: SDrew, Arizona, 12; Victorino, Philadelphia, 12; 11. (11) Lee Westwood (Britain) 5.14 Kansas City 0 3 0 48 85 .000 chester City)
3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Lucie Safarova (CZE) bt Peng Shuai (CHN) 6-3,
St. Louis at Cincinnati Bourn, Houston, 11; Pagan, New York, 10; Fowler, Colorado, 12. (12) Stewart Cink 4.96 National Conference Portuguese league 4-6, 6-4; Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Elena Dementieva
Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs 9; Tulowitzki, Colorado, 9; Counsell, Milwaukee, 8; AMc- 13. (13) Martin Kaymer (Germany) 4.92 NFC East LISBON: Portuguese league result on Monday: (RUS x3) 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1;Maria Sharapova (RUS) bt
Milwaukee at Colorado Cutchen, Pittsburgh, 8; GParra, Arizona, 8. 14. (15) Sean O’Hair 4.72 NY Giants 3 0 0 80 48 1.000 Vitoria Guimaraes 2 (Nuno Assis 33, Roberto 79) Uniao Samantha Stosur (AUS x12) 6-0, 6-1; Aleksandra Wozniak
LA Dodgers at San Diego HOME RUNS: Pujols, St. Louis, 47; Reynolds, Arizona, 15. (14) Vijay Singh (Fiji) 4.41 Philadelphia 2 1 0 94 72 .667 Leiria 2 (Carlao 42, Paulo Vinicius 53) (CAN) bt Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x4) 5-0, retired.
24
SPORTS W E D N E S DAY S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 9

City back on track

Manchester City’s Joleon Lescott (right)
China determined to dig
challenges West Ham United’s Carlton Cole
during their English Premier League match in
Manchester on Monday. City won 3-1. Reuters up its own Tiger Woods
Golf boss wants to follow Asian
neighbors and unearth a local star
By Chen Xiangfeng
South Korea has produced PGA
Championship winner Yang
Yong-eun and Japan boasts ris-
ing star Ryo Ishikawa.
Faced with the eye-
catching achievements of
these neighbors of China,
the country’s golf chief is
determined to develop a local
hero in a bid to give the sport
a shot in the arm here.
“I call it the ‘power of a golf
icon’,” said Zhang Xiaoning,
vice-president of the China Golf
Association (CGA), during the
launch of China Amateur Golf
Futures Tour (GFT) on Monday.
“When a player achieves
glittering results in golf’s
biggest tournaments, it
automatically sparks passion
for the sport in his or her home
country,” Zhang said.
Yang held off Tiger Woods to
win the 91st PGA Championship
last month while, at about the
same time, Ishikawa, 18, became
the youngest golfer to reach the
top 50 of the world rankings.
“Korea, Japan and even
Chinese Taipei have produced
a number of the world’s top
golf players who have inspired
a great number of youngsters
to follow. It’s a good cycle of
development for the sport.”
Zhang said one of the major
reasons behind establishing
the GFT tour was to embed it
further at the sport’s grassroots
level and discover a local hero
as soon as possible.
Zhang Xiaoning Yang Shizhong
“A great player emerges
from tournaments for teens
and amateurs. Tiger Woods is
the best example,” he said.
Tiger, the world No 1, had a
sterling career as an amateur.
He won three US Junior Amateur
Championship titles in a row and
remains the event’s youngest
and only multiple winner.
“The US has well-organized
tournaments for various age
groups. Every potentially good
player has the chance to progress,
step by step, before making it to
the PGA or LPGA tours.
“That’s why we established
the GFT. China already has
an amateur tour and a pro tour
but no real events for juniors or
enthusiasts who are not eligible
to compete in an amateur or pro
event.
“If we want to have a Chinese
Tiger Woods we have to do harder
work at the grassroots level. The
GFT is a very good start.”
So far, the best result on the
international stage by a Chinese
golfer was Liang Wengchong’s
2007 Singapore Masters
victory. The tournament was
co-sanctioned by the Asian
and European tours.
Liang was the second golfer
from China to win on the
European Tour, after veteran
Zhang Lianwei.
In 2007, Liang won the Order
of Merit on the Asian Tour,
becoming the first player from
the Chinese mainland to do so.
In July 2008, he also became
the first Chinese to make the cut
at a major — the British Open at
Royal Birkdale in England.
Despite his feats, chief official
Zhang is aware that Liang is
far from enough to stir up ‘golf
mania’ among the younger
generation and states the GFT
is just the latest effort by the
CGA to unearth future stars.
Chief upbeat about Olympic return
By Chen Xiangfeng
China’s golf chief is optimistic
that the sport will be played at
the 2016 Olympic Games.
“It is very likely golf will be
admitted to the 2016 Games,”
said Zhang Xiaoning, vice-president
of the China Golf Association
(CGA). “As far as I know, lots of
International Olympic Committee
(IOC) members play golf.
“And the game also boasts
great value in marketing and
commercial development.”
The IOC executive board
recommended last month that
golf and rugby sevens be included
among the sports at the 2016
Olympics. A final decision by the
IOC will be made on Oct 9 in
Copenhagen.
Golf was played at the 1900
Paris Olympics and 1904 St. Louis
Games. The sport’s backers say
“Apart from the new GFT, we
opened a similar developmental
program three years ago,
thanks to co-operation with
HSBC,” Zhang said.
The HSBC China Junior
Golf Program was designed to
build a sustainable long-term
structure and framework for
golf in China.
“The program is in more than
200 high schools and about 600
to 700 juniors have benefited
from it,” Zhang said.
“We are glad to see this
generation shows potential
we have never seen before.
That boosted my confidence
to develop the GFT nationwide.
returning the game to the Olympic
fold would help it develop world-
wide, noting many governments
only fund Olympic sports.
China is one country which
has traditionally made huge
investments in Olympic sports.
“If golf is included, it will have a
totally different future in China. The
government will make bigger invest-
ments, the sport will have more pub-
lic support and far more people will
get involved,” said Zhang.
Zhang said golf’s Olympic return
would also benefit other areas as it is
closely linked to the real estate and
tourism industries.
“It will help push the de-
velopment of related industries
— especially the setting up of golf
courses. There are about 24,000
golf courses in the US and China
has about 500.
“I am confident that number
will increase markedly once the
sport is in the Olympics.”

Bolt says no to NFL; sees his

feats dimming doping doubts
ATHLETICS
BRISTOL,
Connecti-
cut: Triple
Olympic and
world sprint
champion
Usain Bolt of
Jamaica said
on Monday he expects years
of fast feats to ease doping
doubts in athletics and has
no plans to play American
football.
Appearing on ESPN pro-
grams and in light-hearted
races outside the television
sport network’s studios, Bolt
said he feels he must prove
himself to a skeptical sports
world in the wake of past dop-
ing scandals.
“I have to prove myself to
the world that you can run fast
without it,” Bolt said.
Bolt cited the speeds he and
countryman Asafa Powell and
American Tyson Gay have
achieved without positive dop-
ing tests.
“We just (have to) continue
to run fast,” Bolt said. “In a
couple of years everyone will
continue to watch again and
have less doubts.”
Bolt won gold in the 100m,
200 and 4x100 relay in world
record times at last year’s Bei-
jing Olympics and last month in
Berlin set world records of 9.58
secs in the 100 and 19.19 in the
200 and helped a relay title in a
World Championships treble.
“I want to be a legend in the
sport. For me it’s all a focus on
winning championships after
championships,” Bolt said.
“I don’t consider myself a leg-
end. When I defend my titles I
will consider myself a legend.”
Bolt’s defending of World
and Olympic gold should be the
feature attraction of the 2011
IAAF World Championships
in Daegu, South Korea, and the
2012 London Olympics.
Introduced for a live appear-
ance on a news recap show
filled with National Football
League highlights, Bolt made
it clear the gridiron is not in
his future, in part because his
size would preclude him from
his favored position.
“I wouldn’t want to play in
the NFL,” Bolt said. “If I did, I’d
want to play running back but
they say I’m too tall. They would
want me to play wide receiver.
They get hit too much. I’m not in
the mood to be hit that much.”
Bolt, 23, would not rule out
giving “real” football a try.
“It could be good. I would
definitely give soccer more
consideration,” Bolt said.
Bolt is looking at adding the
long jump and 400m to his
event list at some stage, saying he
“probably” will someday attempt
the 400 but “I don’t want to train
for it” while looking at the long
jump as a late-career move.
“I want to do that before I
retire,” Bolt said. “It’s not any-
thing I want to do now. When
young guys start coming up
and beating me I will probably
do the long jump.”
The Jamaican superstar cred-
ited becoming the “world’s fastest
man” to dedication and work but
stopped short of calling himself
a “larger than life” figure.
“Definitely you have to have
the talent but you’ve got to work
hard,” Bolt said. “I feel very
good because I train so hard.
I’m not larger than life. But I’m
working on it.”
Bolt says he does not worry
about verbal intimidation from
rivals.
“You can say whatever you
want to say but what goes on is
when you show up in the race,”
Bolt said.
Bolt wore the world medals he
captured last month at Berlin for
his ESPN appearance, the metal
clinking on his yellow shirt as he
made his signature “Lightning
Bolt” pose and said he saw no
ultimate 100 time goal. I really
don’t think about that,” Bolt
said. “For me I aim for winning.
The time will come.”
AFP

Green Bay versus pink Favre

NFL
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota:
Brett Favre, whose touchdown
toss with two seconds remain-
ing on Sunday kept the Minne-
sota Vikings unbeaten, will be
wearing pink when he faces his
former Green Bay teammates
next Monday.
And it won’t be just a feel-
ing. Favre will be among four
Minnesota players wearing
pink-colored accessory equip-
ment in the game as part of
the National Football League’s
tribute to breast cancer aware-
ness in October.
Chester Taylor, Antoine Win-
field and Chad Greenway will
also wear purple jerseys with
pink cleats, gloves, wristbands,
wristbands and sideline caps as
part of the program for the show-
down at the Metrodome.
Favre threw a 32-yard touch-
down pass to Greg Lewis in the
dying moments to give the Vi-
kings a 27-24 victory on Sunday
over San Francisco, moving Min-
nesota to 3-0 on the season.
Favre was 24-for-46 for 301
yards and two touchdowns in his
first regular-season home game
as a Viking. He had not thrown
so many passes in a game since
leading Green Bay to victory
over Minnesota in 2007.
Certain players will wear
pink items in games throughout
the month to raise awareness
of breast cancer. The condition
has hit home in sport as US pro
golfer Phil Mickelson’s wife and
mother began breast cancer
treatments in July.
AFP
Escape from Preparing for take-off

METRO
Beijing Russian chases dream job as
10 last-minute flight attendant
National Day M4
holiday breaks
M2-M3

W E D N E S D A Y, S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 0 9

B E I J I N G ࣫ Ҁ ⠜ M1

Airport
expressway
halves toll
By Qin Zhongwei
Motorists driving between
Beijing Capital International
Airport and downtown will
only need to pay toll in one
direction from Oct 1.
Tianzhu station, the
main toll gate on the airport
expressway, will only charge
vehicles traveling in the direc-
tion of the airport, said Bei-
jing Enterprise Group, which
indirectly holds a 96 percent
share of the airport express-
way. If a vehicle makes the re-
turn journey more than once
a day, they will be charged in
both directions.
Yanglin station, about
1km west of Tianzhu on the
airport expressway, will still
charge cars in both direc-
tions but has cut fares by
50 percent. Drivers usually
pay 10 yuan ($1.4) in each
direction.
The other toll stations on
the expressway will continue
to charge motorists as usual,
the company said.
The Beijing Capital Inter-
national Airport used to be a
remote outpost far beyond
the reach of third and fourth
Ring roads. The 18.735
km expressway opened in
1993, and connected the
third, fourth and fifth Ring
roads with the airport.
But there have been
complaints in recent years
because the expressway
still charges toll to motorists
even though it has repaid its
1.17-billion-yuan ($172 mil-
lion) debt. Figures from the
Beijing municipal committee
of communications show
about 150,000 vehicles use
the expressway everyday.
Tong Lihua, a lawyer and
a member of Beijing munici-
pal people’s congress who
proposed in 2008 that the air-
port expressway should stop
charging tolls once it makes a
profit, said he is happy to see
the “partly free” policy.
“It is a good news,
though it is still an initial
achievement.” Tong said.
Yang Zemin, a Beijing taxi
driver for six years, said he al-
ways feels very reluctant to
hand in the 10 yuan toll after
returning from the airport.
“Sometimes I only earn
50 or 60 yuan by taking a
passenger from downtown to
the very distant airport, which
is also very time-consuming,”
Yang said.
Gao Zhanyi, another
Beijing taxi driver who often
does the airport run, said he
was afraid that the new policy
would not last long.
Drivers are advised to
keep the receipts from their
inbound trip so they will be
exempted from paying tolls
for the return journey.
Reinterpreting Chinese tradition
Beijing troupe
advances China’s
modern dance
choreography
By Christine Laskowski
“If you have too much of a culture, then
you have a pressure,” said Willy Tsao,
choreographer and founder of Beijing
Dance/LDTX, an acronym for “Lei Dong
Tian Xia,” meaning “Thunder Rumbles
Under Heaven” in Chinese.
Tsao was one of three choregraphers
who created the innovative One Table N
Chairs, a modern dance deconstruction
of traditional Chinese operas, that was
recently performed in Beijing’s Haidian
Theater. It was the second time the piece
had been performed in Beijing since
2000, when the audience reception was
particularly horrible, Tsao said.
“People were not understanding why
we would do this to our 5,000-year-old
culture,” Tsao said of the piece he cho-
reographed with Li Hanzhong and Ma
Bo nearly a decade ago. “In China, all
the works carry a strong, noble mes-
sage. People are used to this kind of
storytelling. They expected it, but did
not get it.”
“It’s like Swan Lake,” Tsao said. “They
hear the music and because they recog-
nize it immediately, they want to see the
steps and the swan.”
While Tsao admits audiences today Beijing Dance/LDTX reinterprets traditional Chinese operas in One Table N Chairs Jonah Kessel
are much more open to reinterpreta-
tions of its venerable operas, it is still Willy Tsao is unarguably the father dance was sparked as a youth. “I saw The table becomes the home, the think of as ‘Chineseness.’ In Chinese
hard for Chinese audiences to disassoci- of modern dance in China. In 1992, my first modern dance performance in marriage bed, the grave; the chairs, opera, the table and chairs are wooden,
ate these iconic songs and images with Tsao moved to Guangzhou from Hong Hong Kong. It was by the Louis Falco of unequal heights, convey power the costumes and the makeup really
the original, and furthermore to accept Kong to found the Guangdong Modern Company. I saw that and I really felt struggles and in a subsequent piece, ornate.”
the abstract. Dance Company, the mainland’s very something. I felt alive ... And when I a heavenly throne. While the incorpo- “With the movement we said ‘Okay,
But Tsao feels that abstraction is first professional modern dance com- came back to Hong Kong for my MBA, I ration of furniture into choreography take a traditional movement and then
nothing new to Chinese art forms. “In pany. He then went on to found Beijing decided to make it into my career.” is nothing new to modern dance, it is leave it.’ Music for me, is very jazzy, sexy,
my interpretation,” said Tsao, “Chinese Dance/LDTX in Beijing in 2005. In June In One Table N Chairs, Tsao and his highly unconventional for Chinese opera traditional follows certain rules and rou-
culture is deeply abstract: the calligra- 2009, founded LDTX II and most, if not collaborators use a single table and two and in the case of One Table N Chairs, tines. The body is very reserved. My idea
phy, even the operas. In the past 50 years all modern dancers and choreographers chairs in their piece as a direct refer- marvelously rendered. was to have the dancers actually do what
this has really changed. These days they in China today have either studied un- ence to the only furniture seen onstage Their austere and metallic colors, the music and the lyrics suggest.”
want it all in the first three minutes. der him, or studied under someone during a Chinese opera. It is through both of the furniture and the costumes, Beijing Dance/LDTX will next month
They don’t have the patience to think, who has. these three pieces of furniture that the are intentional. According to Tsao, “We perform Walk of Life, choreographed by
to feel, to get into the atmosphere.” As Tsao tells it, his passion for modern dancers convey fragments of narrative. did it to remove everything for what we Ma Shouze.
PATRIOTIC TATTOO
Postgraduates lose free tuition
By Wang Wei ties funded by the Beijing municipal Beihang University, Beijing Jiaotong
government such as Beijing University University (BJTU) and North China
of Technology can continue to enjoy free Electric Power University.
Most Chinese postgraduate students tuition policy for the time being. Wang Yushen, a graduate student at
will be forced to pay their own tuition Students have been exempt from the China Foreign Affairs University,
fees at Beijing’s top universities from tuition fees since 1978, when China said he would go to university regard-
next year. resumed college education after the less of whether or not the government
The Ministry of Education will cancel Cultural Revolution (1966-76). was funding his place.
government-funded postgraduate pro- In 1994, the policy was abolished for “With or without government subsi-
grams at all 36 universities affiliated to undergraduates as part of the market- dies, I will still go for the exam. We have
the ministries in the capital. oriented reform of the higher education been used to the scholarship system for
It said the move is designed to system. many years,” he said.
enhance the quality of postgraduate However, the policy remained for Ji Chen, 23, a first year postgraduate
education and encourage competition postgraduate students because it was student at Peking University, said she
among students. believed they are talented and deserved was a beneficiary of the scholarship
The ministry said it had trialed can- the support of the government. system.
celed tuition fees since 2006, and that Students studying masters pro- She gets annual 18,000 yuan ($2,639)
it would now be expanded to include all grams usually get a regular allow- scholarship, and after deducting 12,000
universities supported by the central ance of about 300 yuan ($45) from yuan in tuition, she receives 6,000 yuan
government across the country. the government. as an allowance.
Students with an excellent academic In 2007, Peking University was Xiao Yan, a teacher of admission de-
record can receive scholarships that among a number of Beijing universities partment with the graduate school of BJ-
Tattoo artist Ren Liang (left) works on a tattoo which marks the 60th will cover tuition fees and also some re- to abolish government-funded places TU, told METRO there are approximately
anniversary of the founding of New China, on Chen Huang in central search, the ministry said in a circular for all students, and introduce selective 80 percent of postgraduate students in


Beijing on Monday. Reuters published on its website. government-funded scholarships. BJTU receiving scholarships. Even the
Some graduate students at universi- Other universities followed, including lowest level can cover tuition.

BEIJINGBRIEFING
Holiday trading at banks
Major Chinese banks promised that more
than a half of their outlets will be in operation
during the National Day holiday. The Indus-
trial and Commercial Bank of China and the
China Construction Bank, two banks with the
most outlets in Beijing, will fully resume op-
erations on Oct 5. Bank of China, China Mer-
chants Bank, and Bank of Communications
will resume all operations on Oct 9. ATMs,
telephone banking and online banking will
be in operation during the holiday. Outlets in
traffic restriction areas will be affected, the
Legal Evening News reported yesterday.
Salty diet leads to poor health
Addiction to strong flavors and salty foods has
given almost one quarter of Beijing residents
high blood pressure, the local health authori-
ties said yesterday. The capital also tops the
nation in the percentage of people suffering
from the illness, said Beijing’s health bureau
in a report published yesterday. Medical
experts said high doses of salt are partly
responsible for the high blood pressure.
Official statistics show Beijing residents take
in as much as 54.6 g of salt each day, nearly
10 times of the daily consumption amount
recommended by the WHO.
Taxi driver sues passenger
A taxi driver sued a passenger, who lost his
phone in the taxi and promised to give the
driver 3000 yuan as a reward for retriev-
ing the phone, at the Shunyi district court
on Monday. The driver surnamed Liu said
the passenger surnamed Xue promised to
give 2,000 yuan to thank him for returning
the phone. But Xue did not show up. Later
Xue asked to meet again and increased the
amount to 3,000 yuan. But when they met,
Xue and a friend just took away the phone
and did not pay the money, so Liu called the
police. The court has yet to deliver a verdict.
The gate to Changchun Garden at the Old
Summer Palace opens yesterday, after
years of refurbishment. Cheng Gong
Family gets compensation
The family of a man that committed suicide
at a police station has received compensation
from police and finally cremated the body 20
months after the incident, the Beijing News
reported yesterday. The man, surnamed Ding,
had been summoned to a local police station
for interrogation. He jumped from the second
floor on Jan 15, 2008. The family sued the po-
lice station and asked for more than 900,000
yuan ($132,000) at Chongwen district court.
Mediated by the court, the two parties finally
reached an agreement this year with the po-
lice offering some compensation to the family.

CAR PLATES WEATHER AIRFARES EXCHANGE CONTACT

Motor vehicles with these last BEIJING The round trip price, excluding taxes, 1 US dollar=6.828 yuan If you want to share your Beijing
Today 23/15
numbers are not allowed on roads: Thurs 24/15 from Beijing to Fuzhou is 1 euro=9.97 yuan experience, write to metrobeijing
Today: 1 and 6 1,870 yuan 100 Japanese yen=7.5914 yuan @chinadaily.com.cn or call hotline
Thurs : 2 and 7 on Hainan Airlines. 1 Hong Kong dollar=0.881 yuan (86)10-6499 5555.
M2 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 METRO CHINA DAILY M3

Bargaining with a local fisherman, Balazovic and company hired a fishing boat to cross the Guanting Reservoir just in time to catch the last train home to Beijing. Jonah Kessel Cradled at the foot of the Qipan Mountains, the Tianmo Desert is the closest desert to Beijing. Jonah Kessel

Desert adventure
A short getaway
leads four friends
which took a total of 10 minutes. Not
in the mood to take advantage of the
horseback rides offered by the locals
pansion is not limited to the hustle and
bustle of metropolitan areas, I thought
to myself. Approaching the men in an
occupying the desert, we decided to attempt to practice on my Chinese, I
on an unexpected hoof it, hiking along the outskirts of
the desert. As the sun pushed higher
unsuccessfully made an attempt at
finding out as much as I could about
journey in Hebei into the blue skies above, the heat began
to get to us and we decided to make our
the surrounding area.
With my limited vocabulary stretched
way towards the cool blue of Guanting to its limits I made an attempt to com-
By Todd Balazovic Reservoir in search of a place to quell municate in the universal language
our rumbling stomachs. of music. Reaching into my backpack
Heading towards the water, we I pulled out my harmonica. Laying The group sat atop the largest dune in Tianmo. Jonah Kessel

I
awoke from a light sleep sprawled
across five seats in the Shacheng
railway station, unwashed, still
tired, and slightly grumpy.
We arrived in Shacheng late the pre-
vious evening and after several hours
of unsuccessfully locating a hotel we
could afford or accepted foreigners
without the need for a passport (I had
forgotten mine) we were forced to sleep
in the railway station.
In an effort to escape the concrete
confines of Beijing and desperate for a
change of scenery, a group of colleagues
and I decided last minute to make a run
for the Tianmo Desert, located roughly
90 km north of Beijing in Hebei prov-
ince.
Undiscouraged by the previous
night’s folly, we awoke and exited the
rail station into the city of Shacheng to
hail a cab, determined to make it out to
the Tianmo Desert.
As we exited the city, we caught site
of a fist erupting from the ground, grip-
After unsuccessfully finding a place to stay, the group spent the night in Shacheng railway station.
ping a giant bottle of Great Wall wine,
a steel monument to the city’s biggest
benefactor. Built in 1983, the Great Wall
Winery is one of Shacheng’s most popu-
lar attractions, producing more than
50,000 tons of China’s internationally
recognized wine annually.
We slept for most of the hour and a
half journey to the desert, though occa-
sionally I cracked open an eye to catch
glimpses of the mountainous landscape
zooming by.
We arrived to the Tianmo at around
8 am, before the sun had risen high
enough to bring its full heat, resulting
in a cool breeze that made the massive
mounds of sand that lay before us
seem less like a desert and more like
a beach.
And as the taxi departed, we realized
that we had no real means of making it
back to the rail station to catch our 6 pm
train back to Beijing.
The Tianmo Desert is cradled at the
foot of the Qipan Mountains and is the
closest desert to Beijing and consists of
Jonah Kessel
two colossal sand dunes that span more
than 83 acres.
A solitary spot of sand in an otherwise
lush area, the origins of Tianmo still re-
main somewhat of a mystery.
With the Qipan Mountains at our
back, we sat gazing across the sur-
rounding landscape, marveling at the
miles of farmland surrounding the
Guanting Reservoir, Beijing’s primary
source of freshwater.
We shook off our exhaustion and
climbed to the top of the tallest dune,
marveled at the miles of farmland
containing primarily sunflowers, corn
and wheat. Occasionally, the farmland
parted giving way to the colossal wind
generators, part of the Guanting wind
power field, which were scattered as far
as the eye could see.
Surrounding the reservoir, the Guant-
ing wind power field is Beijing’s first ma-
jor wind power field. The recently com-
pleted first phase saw the construction
of over 33 new wind power generators,
which are expected to help ease Beijing’s
coal consumption by 50,000 tons.
After stopping at a farmer’s house for
a mid-afternoon meal of fish, fried rice,
eggs and noodles, we traveled along the
banks of the reservoir, making our way
towards a highway bridge crossing the
reservoir.
Soon we came upon a group of men,
garbed in camouflage, constructing
some new structure that had yet to
take a distinguishable shape.
It seemed to me as though China’s ex-
down a few measures of the classic 12-
bar blues I smiled as looks of amusement
swept the faces of the workers as they
gathered around.
As we neared the highway we spotted
a small collection of fisherman’s houses
on the banks of the reservoir and de-
cided to ask one of the fisherman to take
us across the river, putting us closer to
the town we spotted from atop the dunes
and closer to our train home.
The fisherman, spotting the look
of desperation in our eyes and a good
business opportunity, charged us a good
sum of money to take us across and after
a bit of reluctant bargaining, we were on
his boat making our way home.
We made it to the village, found a
taxi and arrived at the train station
just in time to catch the last train back
to Beijing.
Though the morning started out
rough, our time spent wandering the
countryside of the Tianmo Desert was
the adventure we had been looking for. Venturing into a village on the outskirts of the Tianmo Desert area, the group witnessed a taste of everyday village life. Jonah Kessel The group took a two-hour standing ride. Jonah Kessel

TEN
Great Wall less walked 3,000 years of beauty Waterfalls of wonder Emperor’s hunting hub Lotus Mountain Highest peak in Beijing Where to get smart Drive up the mountain Bird’s eye view The artist village
Located on the Yanshan Mountain range Yuxian is in northwest of Hebei province Located in Mentougou district, 80 km Saihanba National Forest Park is on the Lianhua Mountain, or Lotus Mountain, About 122 km away from the city, Ling- Lingshui village has 1,000 years of his- Baicaopan Scenic Area is located in Fang- As Beijing’s largest wetland, the Wild Located in Tongzhou district, in Beijing’s
in the northeast of Miyun county, about 100 and its history can be traced back to the southwest from downtown Beijing, the Inner Mongolian plateau grassland border, gets its name from its graceful lotus shape. shan Mountain is the highest peak in the Bei- tory and is 78 km west of Beijing. Currently, shan district, 120 km from downtown Beijing. Duck Lake (Yeya Hu) is an ideal place to eastern outskirts, Songzhuang is the capital’s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
km from downtown Beijing, the Gubeikou
section of the Great Wall occupied a strategi-
cally important location during the Ming and
Qing dynasties.
Shang Dynasty (c.16th-11th century BC), beautiful scenery in Shuanglongxia is often 400 km from Beijing. Saihanba means It is 70 km from the downtown Beijing and jing area. It offers an interesting mix between Lingshui has less than 100 villagers, mostly With an altitude of more than 2,160 m, it is watch birds. most famous and biggest artist community,
which ruled more than 3,000 years ago. compared to Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan province. “beautiful highland” in Mongolian. This was 40 km from Yanqing county. vegetation from the warm temperate zones elderly people. It is also known as the village known as the first peak in the southwestern Located near Guanting Reservior of where you can meet over 400 artists and
Some 780 historical relics and sites can Main attractions in Shuanglongxia include the hunting field of the Qing emperors and it It has beautiful rivers and the largest ski and Siberia cold zones. of “successful candidates for the imperial ex- part of Beijing. Beijing’s northwestern Yanqing county, the visit the interesting galleries that are scat-
be found throughout the county. The scen- waterfalls, plantations, sand and grass slides boasts stunning scenery in autumn. area in Beijing, making it an attractive location Lingshan Mountain is a famous Buddhist aminations at provincial level.” Some believed It is also the only Beijing tourist mountain 1.5-million sq m lake attracts an estimated tered around the town. .

WAYS
The Gubeikou Great Wall section
stretches for more than 40 km. There are
14 beacon towers, 143 watch towers, and
16 strategic passes. Gubeikou Great Wall is
not as famous as Badaling Great Wall but
ery in Yuxian is simply wonderful. Mountains,
grasslands, rivers and forests weave together
to create a slice of heaven.
The forest boasts more than 1,320 types
of plants and 137 species of animals. Visitors
and boating is also popular. There are two
big waterfalls, the largest measuring 29 m
and numerous smaller waterfalls surround
the area.
The well-kept villages nearby are also
The park has boundless grasslands while
the immense forests and lake-filled plateau
are very inviting. The original eco-system is
well preserved. The area lays claim to over
700 species of animals and plants.
all year round.
In winter, the ski resort possesses ex-
pert slopes, intermediate trails and begin-
ner slopes. In addition there is a chair lift,
surface lifts and snowboarding park. There
scenic spot with its charming hills, jagged
rocks, and waterfalls.
The alpine meadow at an elevation of
over 1,900 m is the only farm in Beijing for
yak, Xinjiang fine wool sheep, and Yili horse,
its favorable natural environment was condu-
cive to raising distinguished students.
Many people from this village were
scholars, businessmen and officials.
There are many ancient trees and plants,
site accessible by car.
Baicaopan has a variety of flora, including
forests, alpine meadows, widespread decidu-
ous cover, and extensive areas of shrubs and
rocky slopes.
150 species of wild birds each year. A lucky
visitor may even spot white swans enjoying
their time on the water.
The lake is an ideal habitat for migrant
birds. Because of a fishing ban on the nearby
Visitors can see artwork produced by
Beijing’s young and upcoming contemporary
artists and enjoy the autumn scenery.
During the upcoming National Holiday,
visitors can also experience the 5th Song-

OUTOF
retains a wild and beautiful character.
This section saw plenty of military action
from northern invaders. But a word of warn-
ing: Visitors should be extra careful when
climbing this section because many bricks on
can see wild flowers spread out far beyond
the horizon, and the Sky Grassland is 2,158
m above the sea level. The county features
the biggest apricot production base in China
covering more than 290 million sq m.
worth a visit and there is even a small train
that runs through the forest. During Oct 1-8,
people whose name is Guoqing (meaning Na-
tional Day celebration), or who were born on
Oct 1, can enter free of charge with ID card.
Autumn is the best season for colour
photography with flaming maple leaves,
golden birch leaves and the dark green pine
leaves on the mountain.
It is an ideal place for touring, hunting and
are pistes for tabogans, and also ski runs for
snow mobiles.
The ski runs measure a total distance of
4,000 m. Snow entertainment is also colorful
and creative such as snow land football, horse
a kind of sturdy horse.
It was the favorite of emperors, ministers
and famous poets. Visitors can experience
the country lifestyle first-hand, and live in
a local farmer’s house dining on roast rabbit
and a bubbling spring runs through this an-
cient village.
Lingshui Temple was the oldest temple in
Lingshui village. It is also arguably considered
as the first temple in Beijing.
There are more than 1,100 plant variet-
ies and 170 animal species, including brown-
eared pheasants.
A roadway was established in 2003
allowing tour buses to reach the top of the
Guanting Reservoir since March, the number
of migrant birds flying to the lake for rest has
increased dramatically.
It has a wetland museum with more than
200 plants and animal specimens.
zhuang Art & Culture Festival and see the
contrast between the many traditional and
contemporary artworks on display.
Drama and music performances are also
available.

BEIJING
the wall are loose. Watch your step!
Transportation: By car — start from
Siyuanqiao Bridge, take Jingshun Rd until
Kuliushu roundabout, head to Miyun, and
at the Niulanshan roundabout turn on to
the national highway 101, pass Miyun
county and Taishitun, and you will arrive at
Gubeikou town.
Admission fee: 20 yuan
Tel: 58678431/32
Transportation: Bus — take bus from Li-
uliqiao Bridge or Qijiahuozi bus station. By car
— start from Madianqiao Bridge or Jianxiangq-
iao, take Jingchang, Badaling, Jingzhang and
Xuanda expressways to Huashaoying, then
the 112 national highway to Xiheying, then
Yuxian. Train — take train from Changping to
Shacheng, then take bus to Yuxian.
Tel: 0313-7011055
Transportation: By car — drive along the
Fushi highway from Shijingshan or Mentou-
gou to Sanjiadian and continue driving along
highway 109 to the exit to Huocun village. By
bus — take the No 929 bus from the station
200 m west of the Pingguoyuan subway sta-
tion and get off at Huocun village, where you
can take the free bus or walk 2 km.
Admission fee: 60 yuan
Tel: 69819310
taking a well-earned break from work.
Transportation: By bus — take direct
bus from Liuliqiao to Saihanba. Train — take
No 2559 at Beijing South railway station to
Siheyong, then hire a car to Saihanba. By car
— drive from Beijing to Chengde on the 101
national highway;
Admission fee: 75 yuan
Tel: 0314-7802631
www.saihanba.com.cn
riding and much more.
There are farmlands, mountains, rivers
and valleys and it attracts people from all
over the world.
Transportation: By car — take Badaling
expressway to Changping Rd and drive along
the national highway 108 north.
Admission fee: 20 yuan
Tel: 60189824 / 69171052
and lamb. There is no tourism administration office
Transportation: Drive on Lianshixilu Rd, in the village but visitors can call the number
exit at Mentougou, and drive along national for more information.
highway 109. Transportation: By car — take 109 na-
Admission fee: 45 yuan tional highway, drive along to the direction of
Tel: 61827994 /61827028 Mentougou for about 50 minutes.
Admission fee: free
Tel: 61817002
mountain. With abundant natural resources,
Baicaopan scenic spot has a marvelous view
of the Kunpeng Valley.
Transportation: By car — take the Jingshi
expressway, exit at Yancun. Head to Fang-
shan district, turn right at No 60 road, and
keep driving for about 1 hour.
Admission fee: 30 yuan
Tel: 80392939
www.baicaopan.com
Transportation: By bus — take No 919
bus at Deshengmen station and then switch
to No 921 at Yanqing station. By car — drive
along the Badaling expressway and take
the Kangzhuang exit and drive for about
10 minutes.
Admission fee: 50 yuan
Tel: 69131226
www.yeyahu.com
Transportation: By bus — take No 938-
9 or No 938-9 Special from under Guomao
overpass, get off at Songzhuang station. By
car — take the Beijing-Tongzhou expressway,
then Beijing-Harbin expressway towards
Moon River, exit at Gengzhuang and turn
left towards Songzhuang.
Admission fee: free
Tel: 69598282
M4 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Preparing
for takeoff
Russian woman chases
dream job as flight attendant
By Wang Ru
Vladivostok, Russia’s larg-
est port city on the Pacific
Ocean bordering north China,
translates to “rule the East” in
Russian. But for most Chinese,
the city that was controlled
by China 140 years ago has
another name: Haishenwai,
which literally means “sea
cucumber cliff.”
For 24-year-old Pritula Anna,
who hails from the port city, her
only desire last Friday was to
be as cool as a cucumber to
conquer a panel of tough inter-
viewers. She was not aiming to
be a Russian-Chinese translator
and she wasn’t trying to work as
a tourist guide, a job she had in
Dalian, Liaoning province.
Anna was interviewing for
the job of a fl ight attendant
with Hainan Airlines, Chi-
na’s largest privately owned
air transport company that
was established in 1989 and
based in Haikou, capital city
 CONFUCIUSSAYS
Situations are transforming con-
stantly, and people have to learn
new things to keep their mind open
to new situations.
– Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s
Republic of China
of Hainan. A quickly expand-
ing airline with both domestic
and international fl ights – a
rarity among Chinese airlines
– it has operated nearly 500
routes in and out of China
since 1993, including to ma-
jor cities in Russia. It is one
of the few Chinese airlines
that is currently hiring for-
eign fl ight attendants, which
is vital to the company as it
deals with both Chinese and
foreign passengers.
Anna knew this coming into
the interview, having read an
advertisement two weeks ago.
She had studied the Chinese
language for five years, an at-
tractive aspect on her resume.
Before coming to Beijing,
Anna studied Chinese in Har-
bin for two years and worked
in a hotel and a travel agency
in Dalian.
“I am so familiar with the
Chinese people and their
culture,” Anna said. “There
are many Chinese people in
Vladivostok doing business.
Transform
Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into
a door.
- Coco Channel, French fashion designer
Transform is the axiom of the world.
Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physi-
cal reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come
true.
Many Russian merchants have
also been coming through my
city to do business in China
for a long time. My next dream
is to get a master’s degree in
business in China. But I need
to fi nd a job in Beijing to fund
myself.”
Sitting in the interview in
the Grand Building, Anna was
staring at the four interview-
ers from the airline, including
a woman surnamed Haiqing,
manager of human resources
and a Chinese attendant who
spoke fluent Russian.
“Imagine that you are work-
ing in a hotel,” the manager
asked Anna in Chinese. “And a
client was complaining that he
didn’t have the sea-view room,
but all of such rooms had been
booked. In this situation, what
would you do?”
Anna didn’t understand the
question initially. But she was
clever and soon answered, “I
would introduce our hotel’s
best room for him and offer
him a good discount. But if
he insisted, I would recom-
mend him to other hotels with
available sea-view rooms and
welcome him the next time he
came to the hotel.”
– Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar
- Napoleon Hill, US author
Classifieds
Take the special tourist bus from Xuanwumen or
Qianmen in Beijing (operating on weekends and
public holidays only).
Hotline for special bus: 8610-83531111
Take No. 980 or 970 city bus at Dongzhimen in
Beijing to Miyun County and then get on the bus
to the Simatai Great Wall.
Admission: 40 yuan/person
Hotline in scenic spot: 8610-69031051
METRO CHINA DAILY
Pritula Anna from Russia looks confident during a job interview for a position as flight attendant with Hainan Airlines.
Jiang Dong
The answer seemed to satisfy and determination for this job. three male interviewees, from contract is for three years, with
the manager before she fired She has a good chance to be over 150 applicants. Hainan a monthly salary about 9,000
away with another question. with us,” said an interviewer Airlines, which officials said yuan ($1,320) plus bonus and
“What kind of people you surnamed Hai. “Foreign at- has eight attendants from Rus- an accommodation subsidy of
dislike?” tendants can provide a feeling sia, the Republic of Korea and 2,500 yuan. The next contract
“I am easy-going,” Anna an- of home for the foreign passen- Japan, plans to recruit at least will raise the number to 20,000
swered. “But I don’t like those gers and also good services for 40 attendants this time. The yuan a month.
who are late. Therefore, I am our Chinese passengers.” successful interviewees will Anna most likely would be on
always punctual.” By last Friday, the panel of be sent to Hainan for a three- her way to Haikou, a seaside re-
“Anna’s Chinese is good and interviewers had decided to re- month training. sort like her hometown, where
she has shown her enthusiasm cruit 20 attendants, including Hai said the attendant’s first her dream will take off.
 SWEETANDSOUR
Sweet ☺ Sour 
The food culture in Beijing never ceases to amaze Why is the formation of an orderly queue
the visitor. And not only is it good food, but it is so difficult in China? It seems most people
also cheap. Beijing restaurants serve up many want simply to be the first on the bus or on
flavors, including spicy Sichuan food, sweet the train, or at the ticket office, and for no
Cantonese, and Mongolian hotpot and it seems real reason at all. It’s all about having the
the eateries never close. While back in Sweden strongest elbows and being the biggest, pity
The strongest is never strong or England you have to pay a small fortune the smaller commuters trying to also get a
enough always to be master, un- for lamb, seafood or duck. Here, you can have seat.
less he transforms strength into delicious dishes cooked for you on a daily basis
right, and obedience into duty.” for next to nothing. It makes you want to eat out
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French everyday.
philosopher
Simatai Great Wall Zoonyart Gift Items
Steepness Ingenuity Uniqueness
As it has not undergone extensive renovation like
other sections near Beijing, the 600-year-old Simatai Zoonyart Gift Items Co Ltd
Great Wall is largely in its original state and gives it
an air of authenticity that has earned it the reputation offers various gift items
as a fabulous section of the Great Wall. that are designed in the
style of traditional Chinese
calligraphy and paintings.
Products include scroll
paintings, folding fans
and books incorporating
Drive along Jingcheng (Beijing-Chengde)
sheets of paintings and
Highway to Miyun (65 km) and then along calligraphy.
the No. 101 State Road for about 45 km until
you see a big sign on the right that notes 10
more km to Simatai.
Sales hotline: 86 10-8591 3678
Dining and accommodation: 8610-69035159
http: //www.simatai-greatwall.com Website: www.zoonyart.com
 OCTOBER 1, 2009

60 PEOPLE
60 STORIES
60 YEARS OF NEW CHINA
2 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
FOREWORD
CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF NEW CHINA
It is impossible to capture 60 years of achievement —
or 1.3 billion faces — in the manageable framework of
an anniversary special publication. Yet, unabashed and
undaunted, it was a task we took upon ourselves. The
result is 60 faces intended as representative samples
of the Chinese people — and a few foreigners — as we
stand today in the glow of our multifaceted triumph.
The People’s Republic of China is 60 years old.
For a person, 60 is near the retirement age; but for a
republic it is just entering adolescence. Youthful vital-
ity and even the occasional recklessness are in order.
We may have stumbled in our baby steps, but we are
now firm and gallant in our march, brisk and confident
in our sprint.
China is on the right path and generations have
worked to make this possible. The vision of the pioneers,
the courage of stewards when we were perilously close
to a wrong turn, the drive and stamina necessary to get
things started, the perseverance to go on when things
were not in our favor, all this contributed to the majesty
of the colossal mansion that is today’s China.
Our 5,000 years of civilization has enriched us, pro-
viding the soil and nutrients for our growth. Our republic
may be young, but our culture is deeply rooted, bonding
us together through thick and thin.
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY
This is a celebration of today as well as yesterday.
What we have today would not be possible without the
hard work and wisdom of our forefathers. It is also a
celebration of our tomorrow, which beckons with more
allure than ever before. We are standing at the junction
in history where everything comes together and takes
us to a future filled with hope.
We deliberately eschewed the best-known achievers
when we made selections for the profiles. Instead, we
opted for those individuals who in a sense symbolize
the dynamics of that field or industry. History is made
by both celebrated figures and unsung heroes, pillars
of society and the foundation of the masses. When we
celebrate our achievement, we are celebrating the con-
tribution of everyone in our great country.
What we miss in our capsule vignettes and profiles,
we are constantly chronicling in the daily reportage
of our newspaper. The happy, the frustrated, the
mundane, the extraordinary are all duly recorded,
forming a rich mosaic of the modern Chinese. But
nobody can present China in its completeness. You
have to experience it to appreciate its vastness and
diversity. All we have done is provide a glimpse.
Zhu Ling
Editor-in-Chief
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 3

CONTENTS
4 Car industry / HOT WHEELS 27 Drugs / ONGOING BATTLE 56 Expats / HOME ABROAD
5 Stock market / JOY RIDE 28 International marriages / MIX & MATCH 57 Film / RIGHT DIRECTION
6 Real estate / HOME IMPROVEMENT 29 Sexual attitudes / CHANGING MORES 58 Television / ENTERTAINMENT EXPRESS
8 Aviation / NEW HEIGHTS 30 AIDS / SILENT TREATMENT 59 Theater / STAGING LOVE
9 Space / STELLAR PIONEER 31 Disaster relief / LIFE LINE 60 Literature / BETWEEN LINES
10 Exports / NEW CHALLENGES 32 NGOs / BOTTOM UP 61 Volunteers / HELPING HAND
11 E-commerce / ONLINE HELP 33 Red army / BLOOD LINES 62 Conservation / LIFE’S WORK
12 Logistics / TAKING STOCK 34 PLA / PEOPLE’S DEFENDER 63 Archaeology / DIGGING IN
13 Roads / WAY FORWARD 35 – 46 MILESTONES 65 Fashion / BY DESIGN
14 Agriculture / GROUND WORK 66 Music / SOUNDING OUT
15 R&D / IDEA FACTORY 68 Art / CHALLENGING CANVAS
16 Innovation / SOWING SEEDS 69 Food / CUISINE CENTRAL
17 Wealth management / GETTING GLORIOUS 70 Tea / TEA-ING UP
18 Branding / NAME GAME 71 Education / CLASS ACT
19 Retail / BUYING IN 48 “Cultural revolution” / RED REDUX 72 Travel / GOING PLACES
20 Model worker / SUCCESS MODEL 49 Social networking sites / HEARTY FUN 73 Bloggers / OWN SPACE
21 Laid-off SOE worker / TAKING FLIGHT 50 Corporate social responsibility / GIVING BACK 74 Shanghai Expo / URBAN ANSWER

22 Aging families / SEEING GRAY 51 Charity / FULFILLING HOPE 75 Olympics / PEERLESS PLAY

23 Me generation / MY WAY 52 Taiwan / COMING TOGETHER 76 NBA / POWER BALL

24 Family planning / SINGULAR SOLUTION 53 Hong Kong / CLOSE SYNERGY 77 Table tennis / PING-PONG LEGACY

25 Women’s rights / FULL PROTECTION 54 Tibet / CHANGING LIVES 78 Golf / COURSE MANAGEMENT

26 Homosexuality / OUT THERE 55 “Sea turtles” / HOMING IN 79 Fitness / PUMPING IT

4 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1956
First Automobile
Works (FAW) builds
China’s first modern
automobile factory.
1960s
China focuses on
truck production.
1980s
Chinese companies
form joint ventures
with international
manufacturers such
as FAW with Volkswa-
gen and Dongfeng
Motor Corporation
with Citroen.
1990s
Emergence of domes-
tic car brands include
Geely, Chery and
BYD Auto.
2000s
China becomes
the world’s second
biggest car manu-
facturing center after
Japan, and the top
global market for cars.
Pioneer Chinese motorist Zhong Shi has seen the auto industry blossom since his first car, a Xiali, in 1997.
Z
hong Shi is one of an army
of private motorists who
began to take to the roads
in the late-1990s.
Car ownership until then was
the preserve of the more affluent,
but over the last decade there
has been an explosion in those
owning their own vehicles.
In Beijing alone, it is estimated
that half of the 3.8 million ve-
hicles on the road are owned by
private motorists — compared to
just 1 million vehicles a decade
ago.
Zhong, then 37, paid 75,000
yuan in 1997 for his first car, a
Xiali, made by the Tianjin First
Automobile Works (FAW) Xiali
Automobile Co.
“It was a time when few people
had cars. Most people who did
were either entrepreneurs or
people with money,” he says.
Although a large expense,
Zhong, who had passed his
driving test in his second attempt,
had built up enough savings to
afford his own vehicle.
“I bought one because of the
convenience. My wife and I had
had a son two years before and
we needed a vehicle to take him
to school and trips to grandpar-
ents. It was really a practical
move,” he says.
Zhong says it was a relative
luxury driving in Beijing at the
time, since the city only had four
ring roads, compared to today’s
six, and there were many fewer
vehicles on the road.
“There were certainly fewer
jams. The car itself wasn’t very
sophisticated. It had air condi-
tioning and a radio but only a
1-liter engine. It was basically a
tool to get around,” he says.
Car manufacturing in China
60
Snapshot
Top 10 selling vehicles in China, Jan-Aug 2009
Shanghai Volkswagen
FAW Volkswagen
Shanghai GM
Beijing Hyundai
Dongfeng Nissan
BYD
Chery
Guangzhou Honda
FAW Toyota
Chang’an Ford
Source: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers
began in the 1950s when the
FAW began production.
Much of China’s early automo-
bile manufacturing was devoted
to truckmaking.
It was in the 1980s when there
were a number of major joint
ventures with major internation-
al carmakers such FAW’s tieup
with Volkswagen.
It was a 1.6-liter FAW VW Bora
that was Zhong’s second car, for
which he paid 162,000 yuan in
2003.
Zhong, who was then a sales
manager for South Korean firm
Daewoo, is now a self-employed
automotive analyst. He says his
was a great car for his wife Feng
Kejia, now 47, and his daughter
Xin, 14.
“It is much better for going
on longer journeys. As a family,
if we go anywhere less than
400km we tend to use the car,
rather than fly, and it is good for
touring,” he says.
1949-2009 CHINA DAILY
Chinese motorists are ready to
roll, Andrew Moody finds
HOTWHEELS
Courtesy of Zhong Shi
The car remains his main
family car but in his professional
capacity, he gets to drive top-
range cars such as BMWs and
430,705 Mercedes-Benz in the United
States and Europe.
420,332
“These type of cars remain
375,107 prohibitively expensive in China.
They are much more expensive
321,458 relative to what they cost in
283,442 Europe or America,” he says.
China now has its homegrown
246,881 manufacturers such as Chery,
Geely and BYD Auto, the hybrid
240,275
carmaker.
209,169 In 2008, 9.3 million cars were
made in China, second only to
204,733 Japan.
193,002 China’s car market is now
also the largest in the world and
Graphic by Tian Chi
international consultancy McK-
insey & Co forecasts it will grow
tenfold by 2030.
The car itself wasn’t Because of the congestion,
Zhong actually finds driving in
very sophisticated. big cities increasingly a chore.
It had air conditioning “When I go to Shanghai, a
and a radio but only a friend offers me his car but I
1-liter engine. It was prefer to take the bus. The traffic
basically a tool to get there is bad.”
around. He says motorists tend to be
very inconsiderate of each other
ZHONG SHI and he had one shunt three
Pioneer motorist and years ago, apart from numerous
auto analyst other incidents.
“I think learning to drive in a
more civilized manner should be
part of the driving test,” he says.
He says the Beijing munici-
pality’s decision to impose road
restrictions based on plates has
had some effect on easing con-
gestion.
“The main problem with the
policy for the motorist is that it
makes it quite expensive, since
when you can’t use your car, you
have to take a taxi.”
Additional reporting by Chen Limin
CHINA DAILY
TIMELINE
1949–1950
Most stock exchanges
shut down following
JOYRIDE
the civil war.
There have been bumps along the way but the stock market is
1952
Both the Tianjin and
here to stay, Zhou Yan hears
Beijing stock ex-
changes are closed
A
s one of the earliest stock-
over the decline in
business and bad
brokers in Shanghai, Ren
Chengde has seen it all.
debt.
Since the first share was traded
in 1988 in Shenzhen, the Chinese
1966
mainland’s other stock exchange,
The government
there has never been a day of
stops paying private
calm, says Ren, 46.
stock interests over
Despite the rollercoaster ride,
buyouts of corporate
the Chinese stock market has
capital to form public-
grown to become one of the world’s
private partnerships
largest in terms of capitalization.
in 1956. The stock
“I’m amazed at how far the stock
market is halted.
market has developed despite the
various scandals in the past that
1981
rocked its very foundation,” Ren
China starts issuing
says.
treasury bonds.
By sucking in trillions of yuan of
investment funds from hundreds
1990
of millions of corporate and per-
Shanghai Stock
sonal investors nationwide, the
Exchange, the first
flood of liquidity has fueled the
and largest domestic
stock market to fulfill its primary
bourse, restarts op-
function of helping to fund the
erations for the first
growth of many cash-starved,
time since 1949.
State-owned and private sector
enterprises across industries.
1992
A total of 1,628 enterprises have
The China Securities
reportedly raised an aggregate
Regulatory Commis-
23.6 trillion yuan on the two stock
sion (CSRC) under
exchanges in the past two decades.
the State Council is
Some of these companies, includ-
established.
ing the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China, PetroChina and
1999
Haitong Securities, have grown ex-
The Securities Law
ponentially in size and scope since
takes effect.
they were listed.
Because margin trading is
2002
outlawed, wide price swings,
Temporary regula-
sometimes manipulated by sharp
tions for Qualified
traders, have remained as the
Foreign Institutional
high-risk, high-profit game that
Investors are publi-
appeals to the gambling instinct of
cized.
many investors.
Indeed, many investors seem to
2007
have become addicted to the sharp
The Shanghai Com-
price swings that have provided
posite Index hits
ample opportunities for quick
an all-time high of
gains.
6,124.04 points.
“During the first 15 years, the
mainland stock market had been
March 2009
operating in a vacuum cut off
The CSRC releases
from the macro-economic environ-
rules for initial public
ment,” Ren says.
offerings on the
“It was driven solely by specula-
growth enterprise
board, marking the
launch of the NAS-
DAQ-style board in
Shenzhen. Ren Chengde started as a
stock broker in 1993 and
now serves as a senior
stock analyst at China Gal-
axy Securities in Shanghai.
Gao Erqiang
tion and irregular trading in those
days.”
From 1990 to 2001, during
which the benchmark Shang-
hai Composite Index surged 23
times and peaked at 2,245.42
points, from 95 points, the market
was also tainted by a series of
scandals. These included the
Yinguangxia case, in which its
shares rose more than fourfold
in 2000 before a profit overstate-
ment of $93 million from 1998 to
2001 was exposed and four of the
firms’ senior officials were jailed
for forging documents.
The situation pushed the State
Council, the country’s Cabinet,
to establish the China Securities
Regulatory Commission (CSRC)
to regulate the market on Oct
12, 1992. The move ended local
government autonomy of the two
exchanges.
The CSRC’s role as a securities
watchdog was consolidated in July
1999, when China’s Securities
Law helped it put in place a cen-
tralized and unified regulation of
the domestic securities market.
The stock market took another
major step when the securities
watchdog in April 2005 resumed
nontradable share reform, which
was called off in 2002 to resolve
conflicts between nontradable and
tradable shareholders, by allowing
more than $200 billion of mostly
State-owned equity to be convert-
KEYFIGURES
Wei Wenyuan
Created and led
the Shanghai Stock
Exchange, which
reopened in 1990.
Zhu Rongji
Former premier who
propelled nontrad-
able share reform in
State-owned firms
in 2001.
Liu Shuwei
Financial researcher
held up as heroine
who revealed major
equities scandal
involving senior
officials in 2001.
ed to tradable shares.
The move lifted the cloud of un-
certainty over the market at that
time. Ren and many other stock
analysts believed that the share-
holding reform was the turning
point that quickened the pace
toward the maturity of the market.
After a short correction to
bottom at a new six-year-low of
998 points in June 2005, the
leading indicator picked up steam
and reached its all-time high of
6,124.04 points on Oct 16, 2007.
The outbreak of the global finan-
cial crisis in late 2007 precipitated
the crash of 2008 that took the
index to its nadir of 1,664 points
on Oct 28, 2008.
The leading indicator has since
more than doubled to 3,471 points
on Aug 4 this year.
“Fluctuation is the nature of the
stock market and there are always
bumps along the way,” Ren says.
“The market trend so far
remains in accordance with gov-
ernment policies, but we will
finally let the market speak
for itself.”
OCTOBER 1, 2009 5
LOOKINGGLASS
The long path
to success
China’s stock markets have come
a long way. This is not only illus-
trated by the Shanghai Composite
Index’s rise to more than 6,000
points in 2007, but mainly by the
interest level of the international
investment community in recent
years.
I started looking at Chinese
companies in early 2001 when
there may have only been 15 or so
analysts attending company brief-
ings. There are now more than
50 in most cases and more than
100 in many. Even Warren Buffett
bought into China.
Obviously, international interest
has risen as China has grown. In
many ways, the Shanghai market
reflects the developments in Chi-
na. These changes are broad. In
the past eight years, the Olympics
were hosted, subways no longer
use paper tickets and Sinopec
and CNOOC have moved into
new office buildings. Where there
was a shipyard in my first visit to
Shanghai’s Pudong area more
than 10 years ago, now stands of-
fice buildings.
Growth has been far more rapid
than I anticipated. I remember
being impressed with Huaneng
Power in 2000, when the compa-
ny’s installed capacity was just
under 8,900 MW. At that time, I
knew that China was building up
future multinational corporations
and Huaneng would one day rival
International Power plc in asset
size. To see Huaneng now larger
than International Power in eight
years has far exceeded my expec-
tations.
While domestic growth has
driven China’s companies in the
past, the future holds more chal-
lenges as China looks beyond
its shores. Ups and downs in the
market are unavoidable.
The measure of success in
the next decade of China’s stock
markets and its companies will be
to integrate the greater sophistica-
tion and cultural ambiguities of
the international markets as China
opens and international investor
scrutiny intensifies.
Lorraine Tan is vice-president and head of
Asia research at Standard & Poor’s equity
research. The views expressed here are
her own.
6 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949
HOMEIMPROVEMENT
Authorities across
China begin to build There are not many better investments than housing, Si Tingting hears
workers’ dormitories
to deal with challeng-
I
ing living conditions. n 2005, Zhao Jiayan, a 29-
Meanwhile, real year-old sales manager in
estate as a business Beijing, had squirreled away
disappears. 100,000 yuan ($14,600) for the
down payment of a two-bedroom
1962 apartment in an up-and-coming
The public housing area west of the capital.
distribution system is But he held back on his planned
officially set up. purchase, to see if the claimed
housing bubble then would burst.
1980 He waited until housing prices
Deng Xiaoping pro- almost doubled. He waited, until
poses commercializa- the deposit he saved could fetch
tion of housing him only a bathroom in the com-
munity he was eyeing.
1983 “Beijing’s property prices have
National Bureau of surged at an astonishing speed, far
Statistics includes more than my pay,” Zhao says.
figures of housing The Beijinger is one of those
construction for the “who fell for many economists’ as-
first time in its annual sertion that the housing bubble
report. Real estate as would burst … and kept on
a business is officially watching the market hoping that
recognized. prices would fall”, says Li Wenjie,
the general manager of property
1998 agency Centaline China (North
Authorities abandon China region).
welfare housing Li, 39, is one of many veteran
system and initiate property agents and developers
commercialization of who believe that housing prices
the sector. in China, such as those in first-
tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai
2002 and Shenzhen, will continue to
All land for business grow for a long time as a result of
purposes after July 1 continued urbanization.
to be transferred pub- Li himself is considered a
licly, through auction witness of the evolution of the
or public bidding. country’s commercial real estate
market, being in the business long
2006 before apartments were considered
Overseas speculation tradable commodity in China.
sends China’s prop- In 1994, when he joined Centa-
erty prices soaring. line, he could only sell commercial
Government takes apartments to non-Chinese.
fiscal and taxation When New China emerged from
measures to rein in wars, it was a poverty-stricken
home prices. country, with 70 percent of
city residents sharing a room
2007 with three to five other family
New Property Law members.
takes effect on Oct In nearly three decades after
1, providing equal 1949, the drives for industrial-
guarantee to private ization and political campaigns
property and public took precendence over matters
assets. of individual comforts, such as
housing.
In the early 1980s, urban
housing remained scarce, with
residents sharing 8 sq m of floor
space per capita. The country
KEYPLAYERS
China Vanke Co Ltd
Largest
Greenland Group
Owned by
residential the Shanghai
real estate municipal
developer in government;
China that sold 5.57 million has invested in
sq m of space worth 47.87 projects across 30 cities in 19
billion yuan in 2008. provinces.
R&F Proper-
ties Co Ltd
China Overseas Land & One of the larg-
Investment Ltd est-scale real
Subsidiary of China State estate compa-
Construction Engineering nies in Guang-
Corporation, the largest zhou, Guangdong province. Its
construction conglomerate sales exceeded 16.02 billion
yuan in 2008.
in China.
60 1949-2009
Li Wenjie, general manager at property agency Centaline China, saw
business riding on soaring home prices and sales.
began to speed up construction of
urban housing.
But until the mid-1990s,
housing was welfare that govern-
ment agencies and State-owned
enterprises provided for their
employees, almost free of charge
and based on tenure. Many newly-
weds had to live in dormitories and
share a kitchen and restrooms
with other young couples.
For decades, very few expected
to own their own apartments.
Housing reforms started in
1998, which is a milestone in the
history of China’s property devel-
opment, Li says.
“Before that, China did not have
commercial housing,” he says.
Welfare housing gradually
phased out and people started to
dream of owning their own apart-
ment flats and even houses.
Real estate development pros-
pered. Entering the 21st century,
new housing constructed in one
year surpasses the total of new
houses built between 1949 and
1979 in terms of floor space.
Li’s business roared after 1998
along with China’s soaring home
LOOKINGGLASS
Positioned to expand
As a witness and advisor to one of
Beijing’s and China’s most dramatic
urban development periods this past
decade, it is reasonable to say that both
city and country are ranked as better,
more desirable and more international to
live and work now than previously. Com-
mercial properties have, broadly speak-
lenges remain,
Zhang Wei
China’s housing prices
have been growing and
will continue to do so for
a long time. As long as
you’ve bought a house,
you will not have any
regrets.
LI WENJIE
Property agent
prices and sales volumes, along
with a boom of get-rich-quick
stories.
These include young couples
who bought two-bedroom condos
in the Beijing suburbs before
2004 and sold these in the past
two years for a 1 million yuan
profit each, promptly moving
into 300-sq-m dream homes
downtown. Some have become
billionaires in recent years.
He has heard more complaints
from first-time home-buyers, who
have increasingly been squeezed
however, especially in dealing with rural
poverty and environmental issues. While
such challenges will not be resolved
overnight, the various levels of govern-
ment required to address these issues
are aware of them and are making posi-
tive attempts at dealing with them.
Urbanization, modernization and
commercialization would be the three
key themes that dominate China’s urban
development in the medium term. The
massive rural to urban shift is likely to
continue resulting in impressive city
development for both new and old cit-
ies alike. Modern, higher-quality and
better specification properties will be
demanded by both users and investors
CHINA DAILY
by the escalation of home prices.
Few members of this unlucky
group have been able to put down
the standard 20 percent as a down
payment on their first homes.
Still, Li says all these people
stop complaining as soon as they
buy their houses.
Per capita share of urban
housing in China reached 28 sq
m last year.
“China’s housing prices have
been growing and will continue to
do so for a long time. As long as
you’ve bought a house, you will
not have any regrets,” he says.
Li also believes that standard
economic theories, including
those that portend the bursting
of a housing bubble, may not be
applicable to China’s property
market.
“A recent report showed that
China’s urbanization rate has
reached 45 percent and is pro-
jected to reach 70 percent,” he
says.
“Take Beijing as an example, it
plans to house another 4 million
people or 1 million families. These
new residents will fuel the price
increase for a relatively long time,”
Li says.
He says there are basically two
reasons behind the continued rise
in demand for properties in China:
First, buying an apartment before
marriage is crucial and almost
compulsory for most middle-
class people. Second, the lack of
high-return, low-risk investment
options in the country.
“If investors take up 20 percent
of China’s real estate market,
demand will be strong,” Li says.
While the authorities also
considering introducing property
tax to reduce the number of idle
properties and rein in the soaring
home prices, Li says those would
take time.
“The government is more com-
mitted to providing medium- or
lower-income people with more
affordable apartments, as well as
low-rental housing to those with
the lowest income,” he says.
“As such, 40 percent of the pop-
ulation will be covered by public
housing.”
in property. Soft skills such as property
and asset management will become key
differentiators once building quality is
raised across the board.
Property markets across China will
become far more sophisticated in terms
of their utilization of capital, investment
techniques, vehicles and strategies.
China will also increasingly become
an exporter of capital and expertise to
the rest of the world. This process is un-
der way and hence the country’s prop-
erty markets will become more entwined
with global property markets.
David Hand is an international director of property
consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle.
CHINA DAILY OCTOBER 1, 2009 7

Tech conglomerate riding ‘green’ wave

By Xiao Song

Jim Gradoville first came to

China on a winter day in 1983.
His first impression was that
“ever y t h i ng was blue a nd
grey”.
“But there have been dramatic
changes in the country,” said Gra-
doville, president of United Tech-
nologies Corp (UTC) International
Operations for China.
Gradoville took the position as
head of UTC’s China branch four
years ago.
“I dare say that China is now
our most important market out-
side our home market the US,”
he said.
With headquarters in Hartford,
Connecticut, UTC is now one of
the largest international inves-
tors in China. The company’s
Otis elevators and Carrier air
conditioners are market leaders
in the country.
All of UTC’s subsidiaries have
now entered China, including
Carrier air conditioning systems,
Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace,
Otis elevators, Pratt & Whitney
aircraft engines, Sikorsky heli-
copters, UTC Fire & Security, UTC United Technologies Corp CEO and President Louis Chênevert (center) at the inauguration ceremony for new aircraft engine maintenance
Power and United Technologies joint venture in Shanghai in which the company has a 49 percent stake.
Research Center. The company
has more than 40 joint ventures annually. The two sectors will and built to meet the US Green operations and products, and we
in China employing over 16,000 offer UTC huge opportunities in Building Council’s Leadership don’t see any end in sight.”
people. the future, he said. in Energy and Environmental The company’s latest environ-
Although sales revenue from Design (LEED) “platinum stan- mental goals released in 2007
China still accounts for less than Green business dards”. The LEED rating system include a 12 percent reduction
10 percent of the company’s global On September 24, UTC compa- is a widely accepted benchmark in greenhouse gas emissions
total, the market has “the fastest ny Pratt & Whitney and its joint for design, construction and op- by the end of 2010, or 3 percent
growth rate and biggest potential venture partner China Eastern eration of high performance green annually.
in the future”, said Gradoville. Airlines opened an engine over- buildings. Water consumption is targeted
UTC’s revenue in China was haul facility in Shanghai. As an environmentally for a 2.5 percent annual reduc-
12.2 billion yuan in 2004, which The Shanghai engine center friendly plant, at least 3 percent tion
increased to 19.3 billion yuan last has an annual overhaul capacity of the facility’s energy will be “We’ve had fast starts on both
year, he added. up to 300 engines, with nearly produced from on-site renewable since 2007, reducing greenhouse
UTC is “in a good position” 100 engines expected to be over- sources including solar thermal, gas emissions and water by 11
in China’s building and aviation hauled next year. Within three solar electric and wind power. percent,” said Gradoville.
industries, Gradoville said. years, the center will service Energy-efficient windows provide In July 2009 UTC signed an
Construction has boomed, CFM56-3, 5B and 7 engines and daylight to the facility and reduce Jim Gradoville agreement with the Chinese So-
while the country’s aviation in- employ 800 people. electrical lighting requirements ciety for Urban Studies under the
dustry is growing by 15 percent The building was designed as well as the need for additional UTC’s green products have Ministry of Housing and Urban
cooling. been used in big projects in China, Rural Development under which
“UTC not only provides green including three of the Shanghai both parties will guide and mea-
Milestones products and green solutions, 2010 World Expo’s five permanent sure China’s eco-city planning
every single facility under us venues — Expo Boulevard, World and development and publish
has a mandate to be designed Expo Center and Theme Pavilions best practices.
In 1888, first Otis elevator installed in Hong Kong with energy efficiency and envi- have Carrier building solutions. Today, China’s eco-city model is
In 1900, first Otis Elevator installed in Shanghai ronmental sustainability mind,” Otis has won contracts to supply still under development, so a gap
In 1911, first Carrier dehumidifier installed in Shanghai said Gradoville. and install 151 elevators including exists between theoretical study
In 1937, first Carrier air conditioning system in Shanghai One example is the Otis Eleva- its energy efficient GEN-2 eleva- and practical application.
In 1973, first Boeing 707 powered by Pratt & Whitney engines tor Co TEDA Center office and tors for the event. The study of eco-cities in China
and equipped by HS systems delivered to China plant in Tianjin that have been Carrier’s innovations include is now mainly focused on discus-
In1982, Carrier is the first foreign heating ventilation and air awarded “gold” LEED certification river source heat exchange sion of connotation, planning, de-
conditioning company to invest in China due to technologies incorporated systems, ice storage technology, sign principles and methodology,
In 1984, Tianjin Otis is the first UTC joint venture in China in the building that reduce energy chilled water storage technology, with attention also given to an
In 1995, PW Chengdu AeroTech is the first aviation joint ven- use at least 25 percent. efficient variable frequency cen- eco-city index system to compare
ture in China The office building has an trifugal chillers and air-cooled different approaches and results,
In 1997, UTRC China in Shanghai is the first wholly foreign- extensively insulated and reflec- screw heat pumps. They address said Gradoville.
owned R&D enterprise tive roof to reduce heat island ef- demands for non-ozone depleting, Such a scientific index system
In 2006, Carrier R&D center opens in Shanghai fects, high-performance lighting energy efficient and cost-effective to evaluate relative eco-city devel-
In 2007, UTC and Tsinghua University establish research insti- equipment, radiant heating and operations in Expo venues. opment is needed by both central
tute on high-performance buildings a demand-controlled ventilation “There has been growing con- and local decision makers and the
system with CO2 sensors to sensus that green technology will public to better understand and
ensure a quality indoor envi- bring us a great future, and it is monitor the latest urban models,
UTC in China today ronment. the thing UTC has been doing for he said.
As the first UTC facility to a long time,” said Gradoville. Healthy urbanization and
earn LEED “gold” recognition, sustainable development will
„ Investment: $1 billion (2007) the building has an Otis energy- Eco-city become priorities in economic
„ Revenue: $2.7 billion (2008) — nearly triple 2001 efficient GEN-2 elevator system Gradoville told China Daily and social development that need
„ Employment: 16,100 staff (2008) with heating, ventilating, air that since 1997 UTC has reduced urgent study by governments at
„ 290 offices in 72 cities (2008) conditioning and building au- its base energy consumption all levels, he added.
„ tomation systems from UTC’s by 22 percent while doubling
INDUSTRIAL
19 manufacturing facilities (2008)
„ UTRC and Carrier research centers and Pratt & Whitney training Carrier business unit, as well as revenues.
center. security and access systems from
UTC Fire & Security.
“Green means continually
increased efficiencies in both SPECIAL
8 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
Dec 2, 1949
The Civil Aviation
Bureau is formed
and subject to the
supervision of the
air force. By the next
year, it owned some
30 small planes and
transported 10,000
passengers a year.

1980
The Civil Aviation Bu-
NEWHEIGHTS Commercial pilot Li Jun
reau is split from the
air force in March as
The country’s aviation industry is soaring, says the sector has seen
an organization under Xin Dingding learns a great deal of progress in
management.
the State Council to
become a govern- Jiang Dong
ment department
managing air trans-
port operations.

1987
Reform to separate
airlines from the civil
aviation administra-
tion rolled out, with six
State-owned airlines
and six airport com-
panies set up.
2002
Some 90 airports are
transferred to local
governments for man-
agement, except for
the Beijing Capital In-
ternational Airport and
airports in the Tibet
autonomous region.
2008
China maintains a
fleet of 1,191 pas-
senger planes and
68 cargo planes.
Some 406 million
passengers traveled
by air, with 4.08 mil-
lion tons of cargo and
mail flown. China’s
civil aviation industry
has experienced an
annual growth rate of
nearly 20 percent in
the past 30 years.
P
ilot Li Jun once flew a plane
that lost the use of its on-
board navigation system 10
minutes after takeoff.
“We had no directions on how
to fly from Beijing to Haikou in
Hainan province,” he says.
“More than 100 passengers
were on board. The plane could
have got lost and ended up
hundreds of miles away from the
preset destination.”
The crew then turned to
“the most primitive method”
— bending heads over a printed
map to chart the right route.
“We had to make some small
adjustments from time to time,
according to the positions of other
planes passing by,” Li says.
The plane finally made its
way to its destination. That was
during Li’s fourth year at Air
China, in 1992.
“Though the trip took much
longer than the scheduled three
and a half hours, no passenger
complained about the delay,
though most of them were of the
social elite or wealthy,” he says.
At that time, traveling by air
was considered something ex-
travagant. Only those with social
status or money traveled by air.
Before that, even money could not
STARCAST
captain had over these important
Li Jiaxiang guests on the plane at that time.
Former head of Air “When they were on board, they
China who led the all had to listen to the captain.
national carrier out The captain was the one in charge
of debt into a profit- of safety and therefore, the boss
making company. of the plane,” he says.
“China was turning from a
Liu Shaoyong planned economy to a market-
Former head of oriented one then. In a planned
China Southern economy, demand exceeds
Airlines who made supply. People had never enjoyed
it profitable in two services and had no idea what it
years. was.”
“Passengers then already felt
Zhang Zhizhong very satisfied, and even flattered,
The man behind when the air hostesses provided
Beijing’s capital them food and beverages with a
airport that helped smile,” he says.
host the 2008 Olym- “They weren’t as tough to serve
pics. as passengers now. Nor did they
care much about punctuality.”
Chen Feng Of course, the underdevelop-
Chairman of Hainan ment of civil aviation, symbolized
Airlines who made by a small fleet and a few flights,
the regional carrier meant planes did not have to line
the country’s fourth- up at airports for takeoff orders as
largest airline group. they do now, he says.
Air China, the national flag
carrier and the largest domestic
secure an air ticket, because pas- airline, then owned only seven
sengers had to have permission Boeing 737 passenger planes and
from their employers to buy air a few Boeing 747 cargo planes.
tickets, he says. “When we got to an airport, it
Li recalls the “absolute power” a was always empty and only one
or two planes shared berth,” he
says.
Air China now imports more
than 20 planes a year.
Air travel has become a major
travel means for Chinese people,
along with railway and bus trips.
“The holidays, such as Spring
Festival, used to be our holidays
too. But now, holidays are always
the busiest time of year,” he says.
Looking at the dense web of air
routes nowadays, many might
think pilots are becoming more
tired. Li disagrees.
China’s civil aviation industry
has been making progress not
only in fleet size, but also in its
management.
Two decades ago, no regula-
tions stipulated the time for
pilots’ rest.
One of his colleagues even
worked 17 days consecutively
without taking a rest. Such inten-
sity of work can make the pilot too
tired and endanger flight safety,
he says.
Laws and regulations were
adopted a few years ago to ban
the practice of assigning pilots to
work more than eight hours a day
and over 100 hours a month.
“It’s a big step forward,” Li
says.

LOOKINGGLASS
In for the long haul
I have had the privilege of being the
president of Airbus China for almost
six years. In those years I have
witnessed first hand the rapid and
constant development of China’s civil
aviation and it has been very impres-
sive.
The first indication is, of course,
the growth of the number of aircraft
in service. In 1985, Airbus delivered
its first aircraft, an A310, to China. In
1995, the first year after we estab-
lished Airbus China and opened an
office in Beijing, there were only 29
Airbus aircraft in operation. When
I came to China to live in Beijing in
early 2004, the Airbus fleet in the
mainland, Hong Kong and Macao had
grown to 200.
Today, some 520 Airbus aircraft
are in service with airlines on the
Chinese mainland — more than 2.5
times the number when I came to
China. Now, Airbus aircraft make up
41 percent of the total in-service fleet
of aircraft over 100 seats in China.
China now has the world’s second
largest Airbus fleet, after the United
States. When I came to China for
the first time in 2003, nobody even
dreamed that we would one day
deliver Airbus aircraft assembled in
China to Chinese airlines.
bly line outside Europe in
We are confident that China’s civil
aviation has a bright future. Our belief
is based on several facts: The strong
will of the Chinese government and
the Chinese people to develop the
economy of the country and be more
and the growing need of the civil avia-
tion industry for more advanced and
cost-effective aircraft.
Airbus is in China for the long term.
We are happy and proud to be part of
this success story.
On the occasion of New China’s
60th anniversary, we at Airbus China
wish this amazing country and its fast
developing aviation industry an even
more prosperous future.
Laurence Barron is president, Airbus China.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1956
China’s first rocket
research institution is
STELLARPIONEER
founded. A Chinese pilot relives his decades-old dream of the heavens
1964 to Li Xiaokun and Peng Kuang
The first biological
rocket is launched,
I
carrying white mice n the autumn of 1969, Fang
into space. Guojun was a 33-year-old air
force officer training pilots in
1968 Zhanjiang, Guangdong prov-
The Institute of Space ince.
Medico-Engineering One day, his superiors sud-
is established, initiat- denly told him to pack up and
ing the selection and head for Beijing. Nobody told
training of astronauts him why he was going.
and the manned In the next few months, Fang
space flight medical underwent strict physical ex-
engineering research. aminations in a military hotel.
He was one of the 1,919 pilots
1969-1971 from the air force who met a
China picks 19 astro- “preliminary standard”. Of these,
nauts from its air force only 19, including Fang, were
for the Shuguang-I selected for the last phase.
project, the country’s Fang finally realized he was
first manned space among the first batch of as-
mission. tronauts China was secretly
training as part of the national
1970 space program. Fang was the
China launches its No 1 candidate among the
first artificial Earth group.
satellite, the Dong- “The conditions then were very
fanghong-I satellite. poor, but we had good teach-
ers,” says Fang, singling out
1971 Qian Xuesen, the father of the
The Shuguang-I Chinese missile.
project is called off “Our preparations were
due to budget con- heading in the right direction.”
straints and the Lin But in late 1971, his group
Biao incident. The air was hit with bad news.
force, until then ruled Lin Biao, then China’s No 2
by the Lin Biao clique, leader with the air force under
is reshuffled following his wings, fled after a failed
Lin’s death after a coup on Sept 13, 1971. The
failed coup d’etat. plane he took crashed in Mon-
golia, killing everyone on board,
1992 including his son Lin Liguo.
The manned space “Our airship ‘Shuguang’ was
program is revived. completed. I had tried on my
space shuttle uniforms. But
1998 Chairman Mao Zedong ordered
China picks 14 astro- us to halt our program. He
nauts. wanted to deal with ‘things on
Earth’ first,” Fang says.
1999-2002 “The pause lasted
China launches four decades.”
unmanned space- When the group was dis-
ships, laying solid missed later, Mao demanded
foundations for future that its members not release
manned spacecraft. a single word of the secret
program, not even to their
2003 family.
The launch of China’s “We were very sad, but we also
first manned aircraft knew we had to accept and deal
sends astronaut Yang with the overall situation of the
Liwei into space. country,” Fang says.
In the following years, Fang
2005 kept his promise. Duan Naiju,
The Shenzhou VI Fang’s wife and a former engi-
manned aircraft neer at the air force, says she
sends two astronauts and their three sons never imag-
into space. ined Fang was ever involved in
such a mission.
2008 But Fang’s dream of space
Zhai Zhigang con- was always alive. He even main-
ducts China’s first tained his 78-kg weight in the
spacewalk as part following three decades.
of the Shenzhou VII “Somebody told us we would
space mission. be called back one day for the
mission,” he says.
2009 That dream arrived in 2000,
45 aviators, 15 of when he read in the newspa-
them female, are pers that China’s first batch
short-listed for training of astronauts were on their
as China’s next batch way into space. Later, news of
of astronauts. China Fang’s mission decades ago also
announces plans for broke. The military told Fang he
manned space station was no longer required to keep
in 10 years. the secret.
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 9
Somebody told us we
would be called back
one day for the mis-
sion.
FANG GUOJUN
Retired pilot
“I realized then I was old. Ex-
ploring the heavens should be
left to younger people,” Fang
says.
China sent its first astronaut
Yang Liwei into space in 2003
on the self-developed spacecraft
Shenzhou V. His mission was
followed by a two-man trip that
carried Fei Junlong and Nie
Haisheng in 2005.
Last year, Shenzhou VII
taikonauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu
Boming and Jing Haipeng
orbited Earth for three days.
Zhai became the first Chinese
to “set foot” in outer space on
Sept 27, 2008. His spacewalk
lasted about 20 minutes and
paved the way for the country's
next space mission — the
launch of a space station in 10
years.
Fang later wrote a letter to
Yang Liwei to congratulate him.
“I called him an unprecedent-
ed hero of the Chinese people,”
Fang says.
Yang quickly wrote a reply to
Fang.
His letter went: “We’ll never
forget you.”
for
STARCAST
Qian Xuesen
(Tsien Hsue-
Shen)
First director of
China’s first insti-
tute for missile and
rocket research.
Qi Faren
Top designer for
the Dongfang-
hong-I satellite and
Shenzhou space-
ships.
Yang Liwei
China’s first
astronaut, now
deputy head of
the manned space
program.
Zhai Zhigang
Seized the moment
last year and be-
came China’s first
spacewalker. Fang Guojun, who was very close to becoming China’s first astronaut in
1971, kept the secret of his possible selection to himself and the dream
alive for 30 years after the manned space program was aborted.
Peng Kuang
10 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949-1978
Decades of Western
blockade following
the establishment of
NEWCHALLENGES
the PRC limits China’s Exporters, facing a decline after boom years,
exports to mostly ag-
ricultural produce to
are looking for fresh vistas, Zhou Yan hears
Third World countries
and countries of the
I
t seemed a flight of fancy at
Soviet bloc.
first, but when Zheng Hao
was dispatched to Shanghai
1987
in September 2002 by a Ukrainian
China’s foreign trade
telecom equipment maker as a
sector witnesses a
buyer, the notion of setting
loosening from the
up his own export trading firm
previous planned
proved irresistible.
management system,
“After seeing a flood of Euro-
with foreign trade
pean firms rushing to the country
ports launched and
for made-in-China products that
exports encouraged.
year in Shanghai, I reckoned
China’s export boom was probably
1988-1990
set to start,” says the 37-year-old
A number of national
Zheng, who took the plunge in
special foreign trade
December 2003 to establish his
corporations are
own firm, Tuolima, specializing in
launched and the
exporting equipment for fiber optic
nation starts to place
networks.
macro controls on
China’s export boom was largely
foreign trade through
based on China’s entry to the
pricing, tax rebate
World Trade Organization (WTO)
and export credit
in 2001, a move that accelerated
systems.
the nation’s economic restructur-
ing and triggered rapid foreign
1991-2001
trade growth given Chinese
The foreign trade re-
products’ competitiveness in the
form further deepens,
international market.
with subsidies being
“Most firms in Europe traded
scrapped and export-
products within the region when
ing companies being
I went to Ukraine in 1995,”
asked to be solely
Zheng recalls, adding that then,
responsible for their
China mainly sold textile goods to
profits and losses.
Eastern Europe.
Customs figures showed that
2001
the average growth of China’s
China enters the
foreign trade between 1978 and
World Trade Organi-
2001 was 15.9 percent, with tex-
zation to become its
tiles the top export category.
143rd member. All
With an average increase of
foreign trade compa-
more than 20 percent from 2002
nies enjoy public and
to 2008, China notched up $2.56
transparent competi-
trillion in foreign trade last year
tion with a relaxed
and is now the second-largest
foreign trade market
exporter after Germany.
condition.
However, the rush to export
products overseas also gener-
2009
ated quality concerns that fueled
By August, the num-
international concerns involving
ber of foreign trade
products from toys to food.
enterprises in the
“It’s not surprising the gov-
country hits 755,000.
ernment has focused on the
Foreign-invested
development of high-technology
companies and pri-
industries like the mechanical and
vate exporters com-
electrical (M&E) sector.”
bine to account for 76
The central government, as
percent of the nation’s
early as 1999, launched a strat-
overall trade volume.
egy to invigorate trade through
Private exporters are
science and technology, which
increasingly becom-
directly spurred the rapid export
ing the mainstream of
growth of products with cutting-
China’s foreign trade.
edge technologies.
China is currently the
The export volume of M&E prod-
world’s second-larg-
ucts, for instance, hit $822.93
est exporter, second
billion in 2008 to become one of
only to Germany.
the top export industries, com-
pared with 1978’s $659 million.
Riding on the thriving trade, in
particular in M&E, Zheng’s start-
ups saw double-digit sales growth
ever since establishment until the
global economic upheaval hit in
late 2008.
Just before the financial crisis,
Tuolima had more than 50 staff,
compared to only one in 2003.
But Zheng says that like for
most Chinese exporters, devel-
oping regions such as eastern
Europe were still their products’
major destinations given the
higher entry barriers in western
60 1949-2009
Businessman Zheng Hao says the number of his clients has risen.
Courtesy of Zheng Hao
STARCAST
technologies.
Wu Yi “Things have been changing
Known as China’s these years; we’ve tapped into
western Europe and America,
Iron Lady for her
but their revenue contribution to
toughness in trade
Tuolima’s total is still very small,”
talks.
Zheng says.
Before the reform and opening-
up policy was adopted in 1978,
Long Yongtu
China’s 40-plus trade partners
China’s chief negotia-
were mainly concentrated in the
tor on World Trade
then Soviet Union and eastern
Organization acces-
European countries.
sion.
But the number of trade part-
ners had expanded to more than
220 by 2008, when the country’s
Jack Ma trade volume with the United
Ex-English teacher States andthe European Union
who started gi- topped $300 billion.
ant B2B platform Even though China’s foreign
Alibaba.com. trade has faced unprecedented
difficulties since last November,
posting negative export growth for
Huang Fajing 10 consecutive months, Zheng is
China’s “Lighter King” still confident, saying that “reces-
who faced lawsuits sion is good news. At least I saw
against foreign lighter the number of our new clients
manufacturers. rise”.
Despite a 70 percent decline in
sales volume, Zheng’s firm also
saw a 30 percent growth in clients’
amount from last year.
Europe and North America. “We’re planning to tie up with
One of Zheng’s suppliers, a some promising manufacturers
maker of welding machines, said and explore the Chinese market
it is hard to match Japanese peers for sustainable growth, as the
in high-end markets because of space for a pure exportfirm is
China’s immature industry chain tending to become smaller,” Zheng
and the absence of cutting-edge says.
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Success comes
with a caveat
Since joining the World Trade Orga-
nization in 2001, China’s international
trade has risen trillions of dollars in
just eight years.
These figures ably demonstrate
the astounding growth that China
has gone through during this period
— just the nation’s ability to keep up
with that pace has been a massive
challenge of infrastructure, forward
planning and sound governance.
While it is hardly surprising then
that occasional disputes have arisen,
most political pundits agree that
China has in principle stuck to its ne-
gotiated position and has not used the
WTO as a sounding board for bullying
other nations to take its products.
That is now in stark contrast to the
United States, whose recent placing
of tariffs on tires is as provocative as
it is unnecessary. China will now need
to potentially deal with the specter
of protectionism as part of the fallout
from the global economic crisis. How
it handles this — by perhaps taking
the moral high ground rather than the
standard tit-for-tat measures — will
demonstrate just how far the nations
diplomatic efforts coincide with a ma-
turing approach to trade.
A China globally perceived as
being fairer than the US will gain far
more friends in the new modern post
9-11 era than it may dared to have
previously thought possible.
However, China's future problems
with trade do not purely revolve
around other nations leaning toward
protectionist measures. In overstating
the economic reliance upon exports
over the past 10 years, the country’s
economic balance and fiscal model-
ing have gotten out of synch.
With an economy dependent to
the tune of 40 percent of annual
GDP based upon exports, China has
been particularly badly hit during the
downturn, a situation that the nation’s
planners and senior banking execu-
tives did not anticipate. In order to
lessen the pain, China must shift its
fiscal economic model partially away
from such export dependency and
strive to develop its internal markets
for consumption.
While today’s India, with export
dependency of some 20 percent of
GDP, appears buoyant, China is in
danger of shrinking. A figure of 25-30
percent export dependency, balanced
by opening up internal markets, would
be the solution.
However, such shifts do not hap-
pen overnight, and China will need
to restrain itself — even if provoked
— from trade wars with other nations
before it can reach this desired goal.
Chris Devonshire-Ellis is the founding partner
of business consultants Dezan Shira & Associ-
ates and lived in China for 21 years. He is now
based in Mumbai.
CHINA DAILY
The financial crisis changed how foreign trade is conducted
... Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are going to
play a bigger role with the help of e-commerce.
ONLINEHELP
Online small-and medium-sized firms here
stand to prosper, Hao Yan and Liu Baijia
A
fter Diane Wang sold her
online store to Internet giant
Amazon.com for $75 million
in 2004, an investor offered her $50
million to “build another Joyo”.
But Wang said “no”.
“It wouldn’t have been exciting for me
to do something I had already accom-
plished,” says the 41-year-old Wang,
who left Joyo.com in a management
reshuffle.
She now heads online trade website
DHGate.com, which connects small-
and medium sized cross-border traders.
Founded in 2004, her business has
grown by more than 25 times in the
past few years.
While China’s foreign trade has been
hit hard by the financial crisis, Wang
believes these are the most exciting
times for Chinese online businesses.
“The financial crisis changed how
foreign trade is conducted,” Wang says.
“Small-and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) are going to play a bigger role
with the help of e-commerce.”
Snapshot
China’s B2B e-commerce market
in trillion yuan
4.0
105%
3.5
97%
3.0
2.5
Transactions
63%
Growth rate
2.0
* Estimates
1.5
42%
1.0
0.5
0.65 1.28 2.12 2.97 3.75*
0 0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
PERCENTAGE OF ALL TRADE
2005 2006 2007 2008
3.5% 6.2% 8.7% 10.9% 12.5%
Source: iResearch, July 2009 Graphic by Tian Chi
LOOKINGGLASS
Springboard for tapping potential
Despite the global financial crisis and the eco-
nomic downturn, China’s e-commerce market
continues to grow. Out of 1 billion Internet
users worldwide, about 180 million — over one
in six of the world’s online population — live in
China. China has outpaced the United States,
where Internet usage has almost reached its
saturation point. In 2010, China is expected to
have more than 250 million Internet users.
E-commerce is also gaining from this boom
in China. According to an International Data
Corp report from the beginning of 2009, online
trade volume reached 1.95 trillion yuan in 2008
and grew in spite of the economic crisis. By
People’s Republic of China
60
DIANE WANG
Online entrepreneur
Affected by the financial crisis and
economic downturn, China’s foreign
trade dropped to $946 billion in the first
half of the year, 23.5 percent lower than
the same period last year. In Dongguan,
the center of the world’s workshop,
thousands of export companies closed
last year amid the slowdown.
But for small-and medium-sized
trade companies, e-commerce has
become a helping hand in surviving the
crisis — and beyond.
David Wei, CEO of online giant
Alibaba.com, which has Yahoo as its
largest stakeholder and is listed on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange, quotes
third-party figures as saying that SMEs
trading online are five times more likely
to survive the crisis than those that do
not.
Statistics from the Internet research
company iResearch Consulting Group
show China’s e-commerce transactions
reached 2.97 trillion yuan in 2008, 42
percent higher year-on-year.
SMEs accounted for 38 percent of
all transaction volume in 2008, but the
ratio is forecast to reach 46 percent in
2012.
Sun Chonghui, an analyst with
Shanghai-based iResearch, says SME’s
% desperate needs to reduce costs and the
120
emergence of second-generation online
105 trading platforms contributed to the
growth amid the difficulties.
90
While the first e-commerce platforms
like Alibaba are mainly information
75
platforms to connect buyers and
60 sellers, second-generation websites like
DHGate focus on transactions.
45
On DHGate, users can finish all
processes from displaying products,
30
quoting, signing contracts, securing
26%
15 letters of credit and finding a delivery
company, aside from production and
transportation. When the transac-
tions are done, DHGate then charges
buyers commissions of between 3 to
2009
10 percent.
“Our model is ‘pay for performance’,”
DHGate’s Wang says.
Despite the financial crisis, she says
transactions on DHGate hit 1 billion
2010, it is expected to reach 2.11 trillion yuan in
total trade.
The Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce
giant, has been one of the greatest beneficia-
ries of this development during the financial
crisis. In July 2009, registered users
surpassed 200 million and 500,000
paying users. Alibaba has about 70
percent market share and serves cor-
porations, mainly small-and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs).
Still, SMEs in China do not
play a significant enough role
in e-commerce. In 1998,
1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 11
Online entrepreneur Diane Wang believes these are the most exciting times for
the industry’s Chinese players, with SMEs poised for big roles. Zhang Wei
yuan in the first half. STARCAST
The transactions on the website in Jack Ma
2008 were $200 million. Founder and chairman of
With these one-stop services, SMEs Alibaba.com, the largest
can start their online shops without e-commerce website in
even knowing English, because there
China.
are three translation companies,
more than 20 logistics firms and a
dozen means of payment including Merle A. Hinrichs
Head of Global Sources,
PayPal.
Li Meng, a 25-year-old Beijinger who Asia’s leading B2B media
lost his job in the summer of 2007 company focused on
global trade.
only one year after graduating from
college, now runs a fishing lure shop
on DHGate. Guo Fansheng
“I was really scared around August last Man behind HC360, the
year. There was not a single new buyer partner of Global Sources,
for several months; I knew the financial forming the biggest B2B
crisis had really come,” says Li, who now services provider in China.
makes more than $5,000 a month.
At that time, he just had one US-
Sun Deliang
based customer, whose continuous
Founder and chairman
purchases kept Li’s business alive.
of NetSun, which runs
“I think it was because my timely
Chemnet and six other
delivery and reputation in the online
major e-commerce web-
community,” Li says.
sites.
“Those factors made him trust me.”
they produced about 95 percent of GDP, in must continue to innovate to meet the needs of
2008 only 60 percent, and the amount is shrink- the international market.
ing due to the fact that large corporations are The next challenge for international e-com-
expanding rapidly and are the largest beneficia- merce is the availability of Chinese who are
ries of the government’s stimulus package. familiar with the conditions and regulations of
The existing online trading platforms are the target countries and also speak the local
currently helping SMEs in their efforts to sell language.
overseas. They can present their products The best direction Chinese SMEs can take
and use the established trust of Alibaba to is to recruit new personnel who already have
their advantage. The biggest challenge international experience and train them to meet
is unique product offering. When of- the challenges of the future.
fering products from China,
it is not enough to offer the Waldemar Pfoertsch is associate professor of marketing at
the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.
expected lower price. China
12 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949-1978
Government depart-
ments are responsible
TAKINGSTOCK
for logistics. The growing
1980s logistics sector
DHL signs joint ven-
ture with Chinese
has some ground
shipper Sinotrans as to cover, Andrew
foreign companies
enter the market for Moody and Chen
the first time. Limin hear
1990s
Chinese private-
sector companies
emerge in numbers.

I
t is a 42.9-trillion-yuan in-
1999
dustry where about 100,000
Government desig-
companies battle with major
nates logistics as a
multinationals like DHL, TNT
new industry.
and FedEx, making it one of the
world’s most competitive.
2006
But industry player Chen Ping
FedEx acquires Tian-
says China’s modern logistics
jin Datian W. Group
sector, which involves the effi-
for $400 m as foreign
cient management of resources,
companies set out on
was not even a concept in the
the acquisitions trail.
years following the founding of
New China in 1949.
2009
“You had a situation where it
China recognizes
was mostly different government
logistics as one of 10
departments responsible for sea,
key industries.
aviation and road transport.
Within each of these transport
areas there was one or two
State-owned enterprises that ran
things,” says the 50-year-old,
who heads Stars Express.
His Beijing company, which
employs 6,000 and services In-
ternet shopping operators, was
launched this March and is seen
as one of the leading private-
sector operators in the market.
He started his first express
delivery company, ZJS Express,
in 1994, which by the time he left
last year had sales of 1.3 billion
yuan and a 21,000 workforce.
Chen’s career reflects the expo-
nential growth of China’s logistics
industry in recent decades.
“The competition in the logis-
tics industry is more intensive
than other industries because
there are such a large number of
players in the market,” he says.
It was not always like this.
Foreign firms, most notably
German giant DHL, which started
a joint venture with Chinese
State-owned shipping company
Sinotrans in 1986, only started to
enter the market after reform and
opening up in the late-1970s.
It was the early-1990s before
private sector logistics firms
began appearing on any signifi-
cant scale.
Chen says that even then it
took a long time before China had
a recognizably modern logistics
industry.
“What you really had was spe-
cific government departments
responsible for specific functions,
such as warehousing or trans-
port. It was not a chain,” he says.
Chen Ping, who runs logistics firm Stars Express, says the sector is still fragmented.
There are still too many
companies taking advan-
tage of the fact that China
has a huge cheap labor
force, and many enter the
industry without any form
of large investment.
CHEN PING
Head of logistics company
“Modern logistics is about in-
tegrating distribution, transport,
insurance, after-sales service and
even helping firms place orders.”
Chen says a key turning point
was in 1999, when the Chinese
government designated logistics
as a new industry. By 2003, 180
universities across China were of-
fering courses in logistics.
“This designation has estab-
lished a base for the development
of the industry in China and the
fact that the subject is studied
at universities will ensure that
much-needed, more qualified
people will enter the industry,”
he says.
Throughout the past decade
foreign companies have exerted
more control over the industry.
US logistics multinational
FedEx bought Chinese ship-
ping packager Tianjin Datian W.
Group for $400 million in 2006
and there have been other high-
profile acquisitions.
The industry is still heavily
fragmented with 98 percent of the
market dominated by very small
firms. This fragmentation comes
at a heavy price to the economy
with logistics costing the China
20 percent of GDP, compared to 6
to 8 percent in the West.
“The high cost of logistics
impacts the profitability of other
companies in China,” Chen says.
“Companies cannot alter what
they pay for raw materials or
their labor because these costs
are relatively fixed. But if they
bring down the cost of what they
pay for logistics, they have scope
for lowering their cost base.”
Chen says there are still too
many firms that fail to automate,
have poorly trained workforces
and use old vehicle fleets that un-
dermine more professional firms
by undercutting them on price.
“The industry still needs to
become more professional. There
are still too many companies
taking advantage of the fact that
China has a huge cheap labor
force, and many enter the in-
dustry without any form of large
investment,” he says.
Chen welcomes this year’s
initiative by the government to
signal logistics as one of China’s
10 key industries in the wake of
the economic crisis.
This will result in logistics firms
receiving favorable tax breaks
and other help like acquiring land
on advantageous terms.
“There also needs to be more
acquisitions and more consolida-
tion,” Chen says.
“The industry has made prog-
ress but there is further to go.”
Jonah M. Kessel
LOOKINGGLASS
Customers
always right
China’s logistics industry has pro-
gressed greatly since 1949.
The big changes have been the
large foreign multinationals coming
into the market in the 1980s, the de-
velopment of State-owned enterprises
and the emergence of many home-
grown private sector enterprises.
The industry is still inefficient
compared with its counterparts in the
West. There are far too many small
operators who employ cheap labor
and who flout regulations.
The Chinese government’s deci-
sion to designate logistics as one of
the country’s 10 key industries earlier
this year has to be welcomed.
The package of measures, includ-
ing tax breaks and help with funding,
will provide incentives for companies
to modernize and will bring confi-
dence to the market.
The more successful privately-
owned enterprises will hail these gov-
ernment incentives as a godsend.
The government’s previous mea-
sures to encourage university courses
in logistics will be critical in elevating
the industry over the longer term.
Increasing regulation of the indus-
try by the government will leave little
wiggle room for small players who
currently operate in the “gray” areas.
What will ultimately drive moves
toward greater efficiency will be the
ever increasing sophistication of cus-
tomers who will want not only attrac-
tive prices but also a more predictable
and hassle-free service.
There is an increasing awareness

Snapshot
cordingly.
Cosco China Shipping Group SinoTrans CMST
Founded in 1961, this This Shanghai-based Specializes in liner Set up in the
is one of the largest State-owned enterprise was operations within 1960s, it has Mui-Fong Goh
liner shipping formed in 1997 and has a Asia, particularly 50 logistics
companies in the major fleet of oil tankers, between China, centers
world with more than passenger ships and South Korea and countrywide.
300 subsidiaries. container vessels. Japan.
Sources: China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing/ A.T. Kearney Graphic by Tian Chi
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 13

TIMELINE
LOOKINGGLASS
1949
Only 80,700 km of
road had opened to What lies ahead
traffic. All roads are
under the level-2 Previously, China’s per capita access
standard, with about to transportation was among the low-
only 30,000 km of est in the world.
them surfaced. The government realized that this
was a constraint to progress. Expan-
1950-1954 sion of the road network enabled the
Construction and economy to grow and allowed people
completion of the all over the country to benefit from
Sichuan-Tibet Road. growth and gain access to better ser-
Similar construction vices. As people in China recognize,
of roads begins na- roads have therefore been a major
tionwide. driver of poverty reduction.
Over such a long period, there
1957 were many challenges — too many
Roadways in China for me to list. Perhaps the greatest
triple to 254,00 km. underlying challenge was for China
121,000 km of which to become familiar and comfortable
is surfaced. with the approaches to road planning,
organization and technology that had
1965 been successfully used to expand
Roads reach 514,000 road networks in other countries.
km, with 305,000 km China pursued this challenge cau-
surfaced. tiously and prudently, seeking out
information about outside approaches
1978 and then testing these on a limited
Roads open to traffic scale to see what could work in the
hit 890,000 km after Chinese context, before proliferat-
Engineer Yang Shengfu’s life is closely tied to the development of the country’s roads. Wang Jingqiong ing the best approaches on a wider
decades of infrastruc-
ture construction. But scale. Today's road network, with its
there are No level-1 advanced structures and pavements,
roads or highways are automated toll booths and GPS
in place. systems, demonstrates the results of

WAYFORWARD
this excellent approach to technology
1980s transfer and adaptation.
The need for more In a country as large as China,
advanced roads, and there are always going to be great
challenges. In the road sector, a key
more roads in gen-
eral, becomes urgent
A road engineer tells Wang Jingqiong his path to success overall challenge will be to decide
as market reforms when sufficient resources have been
speed up. put into expressway construction and

Y
ang Shengfu’s philoso-
phy of life is simple: Do
1987
your best on the road
The completion of
you have chosen.
JingJinTang highway
His maxim becomes obvious
(from Beijing to Tianjin
once he recalls his lifelong
and Tianjin to Tangu),
journey as an engineer who later
the first highway in
helmed the roads department of
China that uses loans
the Ministry of Transportation.
from World Bank is
“Roads … that’s what it has all
completed. A new
been about,” says the 73-year-old
management system
retiree.
and bidding system
“All my personal experiences
for road construction
have been tied closely with the
is introduced.
development of roads in the
country.
1996-2005
“Young people today cannot
More than 38,000 km
imagine what public roads were
of highway construct-
like in the 1950s and 1960s,
ed, with an average
when most people were living in
building speed of al-
the countryside and almost have
most 10,000 km every
traveled long distances at all,” he
year since 2002.
says.
From 1949 to 1957, about
2008
25,000 km of roads were added to
Density of roads hits
the original 75,000 km, with the
9.1 km per 100 sq
Chuan Zhang public road from
km, about four times
Sichuan province to Tibet being
more than in the early
one of the most famous.
1980s.
“During that period, road
construction was done for the
emancipation of the people, as
it opened up those areas,” Yang
says.
“Building roads had little to do
with the economy per se.”
The roads then were also not
the tarred ones or highways that
people saw today but were mostly
walking paths made up of mud
and soil.
Changes became more ap-
parent after 1978, when the
economy began to develop and
transportation became necessary
for business.
For instance, with the devel-
Transportation is about
the people and improv-
ing their quality of life.
YANG SHENGFU
Engineer
opment of industry, large cities’
increased need for coal from areas
like Shanxi province translated
into demand for better transpor-
tation.
In the countryside, farmers
also began to realize they could
sell their products to other areas
to make money instead of letting
them rot.
“Yet most villages, especially
those in the mountains, didn’t
have roads at all,” Yang says.
While the need for new and
improved roads became obvious,
Yang says many people were still
not aware of the complications
and technology involved in build-
ing them.
“We had been following the
model of the Soviet Union till the
early 1980s, and most people
thought railway construction
should be the only priority of
transportation,” Yang says.
“Some of them, when we pro-
posed that China should have
highways, even argued that
highways were ‘capitalistic’ …
they even thought China wouldn’t
have as many cars even after 100
years.”
The real change came after
people realized the benefits that
fast transportation, especially
those from highways, brought to
their lives. to assign more resources to com-
Another milestone was the pleting the lower levels of the road
construction of the JingJinTang network.
highway, of Beijing to Tianjin and A key challenge is ensuring the
Tianjin to Tanggu in 1987. It was
new road network will be properly
completed in 1993. maintained. This depends on estab-
It was the first road in China lishing sound policies and systems for
the World Bank offered loans for the financing, planning and execution
and the first to practise a bidding of maintenance.
system. Road safety is another big chal-
“Some people couldn’t believe lenge. Accident fatality and injury lev-
that they only needed two hours els remain many times higher than in
to go to Beijing from Tianjin, a trip western countries — so there is con-
that used to take them five hours siderable scope for China to improve.
or even a whole day when roads Road safety is a complex challenge
were in bad condition.” because it depends not only on build-
Since then, more importance ing safer roads and safer vehicles, but
had been attached to public road also on changing driver behavior and
construction and until 1998, supporting law enforcement.
when the Asian economic crisis The multi-sectoral nature of road
broke out, many more road proj- safety improvement means that it
ects were planned to alleviate the depends on coordination among gov-
influence of the crisis on China. ernment agencies and cooperation
By the end of 2008, China had between government and members
more than 60,000 km of highway, of society.
second in length only to the
Untied States. Tyrrell Duncan is director, East Asia transport
division and concurrently Asian Development
“Nobody, even 20 years ago, ex-
Bank practice leader (transport).
pected there would so many cars
in China now,” Yang says.
The problem now is accommo-
dating the number of vehicles on
the roads, he says.
“Just take Beijing as an
example. Using advanced tech-
nology to improve the efficient use
of roads and alleviate congestion
in cities is now a major consid-
eration.”
“The other problem is improv-
ing the quality of roads in the
countryside. The people there
should enjoy the same roads as
people in big cities,” Yang says.
“Transportation is about the
people and improving their
quality of life.”
14 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949-1953
Land reforms for the
peasantry are initiated
throughout China.
Landlords are purged.

1953-1956
Agricultural coopera-
tives are set up on a
massive scale.

1958-1980
Rural cooperatives
are reorganized into
“people’s communes”.

1978-1982
China starts pro-
moting household
responsibility system
as market reforms are
kicked off. By January
1982, over 90 percent
of rural produc-
tion brigades have
introduced multiple
forms of responsibility
GROUNDWORK
systems. Breakthroughs are brewing to bolster the
1983 country’s food security, Wang Zhuoqiong hears
The central govern-
ment decides to dis- Li Denghai, who holds the world record for the highest yield of summer corn, says his success boils down to a love for crops.
mantle all communes.
L
i Denghai, with his muddy
1990s
boots and weathered com-
As market reforms
deepen, so do ag-
plexion, may not look like he
is one of China’s leading agricul-
ricultural and rural
problems.
tural pioneers.
But the 60-year-old from
Shandong province has made sci-
2001
entific breakthroughs that have
Rural cadre Li Chang-
made major contributions to the
ping coins the term
world’s most populous country’s
“sannong problems”,
food security.
namely issues related
His particular work has been in
with agriculture, farm-
achieving higher yields from corn
ers and the country-
production and in the breeding
side, in his open letter
technology of compact maize.
to the premier.
His publicly listed company,
Shandong Denghai Seeds Co, is
2005
valued at 480 million yuan and
Agricultural taxes are
he owns the country’s largest
abolished for the first
maize breeding center.
time.
Li, who holds the world record
for the highest yield of summer
2006
corn, says his success owes to his
The law on profes-
love of growing his crops.
sional rural coop-
“Maize has a life,” he says. “It
eratives is passed
sings and dances. If you listen
as China renews
clearly, it can speak to you.”
the push for agricul-
Agriculture has always been
tural mechanization to
central to the Chinese economy.
boost production.
After New China was created in
1949 there was a focus on orga-
2008
nizing farmers into mutual aid
The CPC Central
teams.
Committee allows
Then in the mid-1950s large
rural land-use rights
government-operated collective
to be leased or
farms were formed.
transferred between
After reform and opening up
farmers.
in 1978, the commune system
was broken up and individual
farmers were given the freedom to
produce their own crops.
There has also been a keen
focus on agricultural science and
obtaining greater yields from crop
production as well as a major
focus on organic agriculture.
Li’s lifelong passion for research
into maize began in 1969 when
the then 20-year-old, who had
just dropped out of high school,
read an article which pointed to
corn yields in the United States
being six times higher than those
in China.
Until then, he hadn’t been
aware his country’s agricultural
methods had been so out of date.
Zhu Zheng
STARCAST
battery torch late at night, if he LOOKINGGLASS
had been away during the day.
Yuan Longping
Credited with feeding
By careful nurturing he Planting seeds
managed to double the yield to
millions of Chinese
with the hybrid rice
500 kg per mu (0.067 hectare). of stability
His path to success has not China’s experience of attempting to
he developed in the
always been a smooth one. There develop a modern agricultural system
1970s.
have been many experiments that over the past 60 years can teach
Li Zhensheng
have failed, some almost devas- many other developing countries im-
Lifelong geneticist
tating him. portant lessons.
and expert on wheat
Once, hailstones destroyed a The main lesson from the first
breeding who won
year’s effort. half of this period is that government
the National Supreme
Another time, a bull rushed policies regulating and limiting small
Scientific and Tech-
onto his land and stepped on a farmers’ participation can constrain
nological Award.
vital new bud. development.
Li says he has experienced The lesson from the last 30 years
Wang Yihang first hand the potential poverty of is that reform, more market integra-
Potato expert breed- eking out a living from the land. tion, and an increasing focus on
ing eight new types of “I starved. I know how it feels,” research and development can lead
high-quality potatoes. he said. “We have a lot of people to tremendous success in agriculture
in this country and increasingly and the development of the rural
less land available for agricul- economy.
ture. Only by improving yield can My first impressions of Chinese ag-
we feed ourselves.” riculture date back to the late-1980s. I
Liu Yonghao
He was awarded the “China was fascinated then by the entrepre-
Board chairman of
Award for Significant Contribu- neurship of small farmers and their
New Hope Group,
tion to the Maize Industry” in capacity to apply new technology.
one of China’s biggest
2005, the same year he floated In more recent visits to farmers
fodder producers.
his company on the Shenzhen in China, I have been particularly
Stock Exchange. impressed with how Chinese small
Over the last 30 years, Li has farmers, many of whom are women,
nurtured 30 high-yield corn manage their value chains and how
seeds, including the world’s they connect to consumers.
Maize has a life. It sings highest yield summer maize. Despite significant progress in food
His name is now being men- production in past decades, China
and dances. If you listen tioned in the same breath as
clearly, it can speak to faces a serious challenge of feeding
another agricultural pioneer, its large population.
you. Yuan Longping, the leading To ensure food security for itself
Chinese agricultural scientist and the rest of the world, the govern-
LI DENGHAI who developed hybrid rice in the ment should not follow a narrowly
Agriculture pioneer 1970s. defined self-sufficiency approach but
“Corn is special because it is engage in trade with the rest of the
not only food, forage, but a source world.
for biology fuel. The increasing The next big challenge is to mas-
demand for it is what motivates sively increase the productivity and
my work,” he says. sustainability of water use in Chinese
Few now doubt that the coun-
try’s journey from food scarcity
to self-sufficiency has been partly
due to agricultural technology
“I was shocked,” he recalls. advances that have been achieved
He set out working on just a by Li and others like him.
small piece of land round the Li, however, is never happier
clock to see if he could increase than when he is in the middle of
the yield of the corn. his cornfields.
His dedication extended to “I can forget my tiredness and
walking around the field with a talk to my corns,” he says.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949
Chinese Academy of
Sciences is opened in
Beijing to boost Chi-
na’s scientific base.
1950s
China’s scientific
efforts focus on satel-
lite and missile tech-
nologies as well as
agricultural science.
First long-term plan
for science laid out.
Late 1970s
Deng Xiaoping ad-
dresses the “Spring
of Science” confer-
ence, which leads to
a fivefold increase in
workers in China’s
scientific field over 20
years.
1990s
Chinese companies
begin joint ventures Entrepreneur John Deng believes R&D is the key to Chinese companies’ success in the global arena.
with foreign compa-
nies. Emergence of
new breed of private-
sector technology
businesses.
2009
IDEAFACTORY
Prospect of Chinese
companies becoming
Growing Chinese corporate leaders rests on R&D,
the ‘Microsofts of to- Andrew Moody finds
morrow’ now realistic.
F
ormer Silicon Valley entre-
preneur John Deng is at
the sharp end of China’s
research and development (R&D)
efforts.
Deng, 40, is chairman and
chief executive of Beijing-based
Vimicro, a maker of multimedia
chips used by major companies
such as Sony, Samsung, Philips
and Lenovo.
After receiving $1.2 million in
start-up capital from the Chinese
government, Deng’s company
was the first Chinese technology
firm to launch on the New York
NASDAQ exchange in 1999.
Deng, who studied at the Uni-
versity of California in Berkeley,
and who after working for IBM
set up his own business in the
United States, returned to China
with the aim of becoming an en-
trepreneur.
He believes Vimicro — once
valued at $1 billion — provides
testimony to what can now be
achieved in China.
“When I came back in the late
1990s, there was a lot of research
activity in the university fields but
there wasn’t the number of start-
ups being spun out of universities
like in Silicon Valley. There was a
lot of research and development
knowledge but people didn’t
know how to commercialize it,”
he says.
“We became the first such
venture investment in China
with the government holding the
stock.”
China is now the world’s largest
investor in research and develop-
ment after the US.
In 2008, the country spent 457
billion yuan, or 1.52 per cent of
its GDP, on developing innova-
tion.
Corporate expenditure in
this area is also growing fast
60 1949-2009
Snapshot
Top Chinese companies in R&D
Total score
96.4
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
93.6
ZTE Corporation
90.0
Haier Co Ltd
89.4
Lenovo Group
89.2
Founder Technology Group Corp
Graphic by Tian Chi
— increasing 23 percent annually
between 2001 and 2006, com-
pared to between just 1 and 2
percent in the US and Europe.
Companies at the forefront of
its effort are telecom equipment
makers Huawei and ZTE, as well
as hybrid-electric vehicle maker
BYD.
Since its inception, the People’s
Republic has placed great empha-
sis on research and development.
There were only 50,000 people
engaged in science and technol-
ogy throughout the country in
1949, with only a few of these
conducting research.
As a result, the Chinese
Academy of Sciences was
launched, which proved the cata-
lyst for large numbers of scientists
to return from overseas. By 1955,
there were some 400,000 scien-
tists working in China.
In 1956, the country also
launched its first long-term plan
for scientific and technological
development.
Jonah M. Kessel
“The focus in the early days was
satellite and nuclear technology.
There was also an emphasis on
technologies that could be applied
to agriculture,” Deng says.
He says China was making
up for trailing behind the rest of
the world over the previous two
centuries.
“China 600 years ago had been
very advanced in mathematics,
physics and in the production
of ceramics … but had fallen
behind,” he says.
The reform and opening up
saw a renewed focus on research
and development, with late leader
Deng Xiaoping launching the
transformative “Spring of Science”
conference in the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing. By 1998, there
were 20 million people working
in scientific and technological
areas, nearly five times the level
of 1975.
Chinese companies also
entered into research and de-
velopment joint ventures for the
first time.
Since the late-1990s, with tech-
nological start-up businesses like
Vimicro emerging, the prospect
of China producing the next Mi-
crosoft or CISCO is no longer an
unrealistic prospect.
Deng believes there needs to
be more focus on ensuring that
China’s research and develop-
ment efforts are harnessed to
drive the economy forward.
“There is too much research in
universities that has nothing at
all to do with industry. There is
still a big gap between technologi-
cal development and application,”
he says.
“Our research and development
still tends to follow a traditional or
planned economy model. It needs
to become more market driven.”
As a member of the National
OCTOBER 1, 2009 15
LOOKINGGLASS
Industries of
tomorrow
China has the opportunity to lead the
world in the industries of tomorrow if
it builds on its research and develop-
ment capability.
New industries, such as those in
alternative energy, biotechnology,
nanotechnology and genetics, are
wide open to those who are prepared
to innovate.
With shorter and shorter technol-
ogy cycles, the mature markets of the
West no longer have a key advantage
in these areas.
This is the major challenge for
China’s State-owned enterprises and
private companies.
Until recently, China’s strength in
research and development has been
in its academies and universities.
The main driving force of the
economy has been its manufacturing
sector — its production hub — sup-
plying the rest of the world with low-
cost products but not necessarily with
cutting-edge technology.
There is a time limit on how long
China can remain in some of these
industries with countries like Vietnam
emerging as attractive manufacturing
centers.
And that is why its research and
development effort is vital. The private
economy has to replicate the suc-
cess of China’s excellent university
research base.
The government is making fund-
ing available to companies to make
this happen and aims to increase re-
search and development expenditure
to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2020.
China has already made great
strides in the development of hydro-
gen cars — for which the country
itself will be a huge market.
Not only will it be at the forefront
of solar and wind power, but also be
a major testing ground for new tech-
nologies as China aims to have 10
percent of its power generation from
renewables.
If China manages to take full com-
mercial advantage of its research
and development, its future economic
success will be substantially under-
pinned.
Dr Bernhard Hartmann is managing director
of global management consultants A.T. Kearney
in China.
People’s Congress, the country’s
top legislative body, Deng wants
a new research and development
body set up to provide venture
capital funding for new business-
es investing in technology.
“We need this sort of funding to
promote technology start-ups in
China,” he says.
“We need to commercialize our
research and development expen-
diture so that Chinese companies
become the global corporations of
the future.”
16 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
2004
Concept of cul-
tural productivity first
SOWINGSEEDS
raised at the Fourth
Plenary Session of
Innovation is being viewed as the next
the 16th Central Com- key to growth, Shi Yingying finds
mittee of the Party.
It is regarded as one
of the major calls for
F
or years, the Chinese
developing China’s
economy has thrived mainly
creative industry.
on the efficient harnessing
of a plentiful supply of labor, land
2005
and other resources.
Major cities in China
This is changing.
start to develop the
As China celebrates its 60th
creative industry.
anniversary of nation building,
On April 28, the first
industry and government are
18 creative parks in
joining hands to pursue a new
Shanghai, attracting
breakthrough in economic growth
more than 400 enter-
through innovation.
prises from nearly 30
It is not going to be easy. As the
countries, are opened
cost of labor, land and coal-fired
by the Shanghai
energy remains low, there is little
Municipal Economic
incentive for industry — especial-
and Information Com-
ly the private sector made up of
mission. On May 22,
millions of small to medium-sized
the Creative China
enterprises in the delta regions
Industrial Alliance,
of the Yangtze River and Pearl
a non-governmental
River — to invest in research and
organization, is set up
development of new products and
in Beijing.
processes.
Government planners have
2008
long recognized that sustainable
The first Pujiang In-
economic growth can only be
novation Forum is
assured by constantly moving
held in May 18 to 19 in
up the value-added chain from
Shanghai. Co-spon-
factory-level processing to design
sored by the Ministry
and marketing. To overcome the
of Science and Tech-
industry’s inertia, the government
nology and Shanghai
has established various agencies
Government, it is
to provide technical and other as-
themed Road to an
sistances to promote creativity.
Innovation-oriented
At the forefront of this drive
Country and issues of
for innovation is Shanghai, the
innovation trends and
service center of the industrial
ideas and pathways to
heartland of the vast Yangtze
entrepreneurial inno-
River delta region that extends
vations are discussed.
through several provinces in
Central China. The Shanghai
2009
municipal government has estab-
On March 5, Premier
lished throughout the city various
Wen Jiabao clearly
pockets of creativity and
proposes the idea
innovation. These are small com-
to develop China’s
munities that provide premises
creative industry in
at affordable rents for creative
his government work
talents and a pleasant environ-
report. Li Wuwei,
ment where they can gather to
vice-chairman of the
exchange ideas.
Chinese People’s
The city’s Taikang Road Cre-
Political Consultative
Conference suggests KEYPLAYERS
including creative
industries in the na- Li Wuwei
tional innovation initia- Vice-chairman of
tive on June 3. the country’s top
political advisory
body.
Kai-fu Lee
Founding president
of Google China
from July 2005 to
September 2009.
Wan Gang
Head of the Minis-
try of Science and
Technology.
Xiong Xiaoge
Senior vice-presi-
dent of venture cap-
ital group Interna-
tional Data Group.
60 1949-2009
Wu Meisen is helping to drive Shanghai’s creativity.
ative Park takes a novel approach
to nurturing creativity.
Ten years ago, Taikang Road
was a typical Shanghai lane
community, full of the noise and
smells from families living within
whispering distance of each
other.
Housewives haggled over the
price of live chickens and outdoor
markets; men smoked cigarettes
and slapped cards on courtyard
tables.
Today, with more than 400 gal-
leries, boutique shops and cafes
run by people from more than
20 countries and massive plans
on the way, Taikang Road has
developed into a hub for creative
industry.
The long path of this cre-
ative park’s development
stretches back to 1999, when
world-renowned painter Chen
Yifei and several other artists and
fashion designers set up studios
in old factory workshops and the
Shikumen houses originally built
in the 1920s. Around 100 shops
and cafes moved in after the early
buzz. But development stopped
a few years after the district an-
nounced plans to tear down the
old flats and warehouses to create
space for a commercial real estate
Gao Erqiang
development.
“We aim to complete a commu-
nity that is commercially based,
culture-orientated and tourist-
focused,” says Wu Meisen, the
planning director of the Taikang
Road Creative Industry Center.
The Factory is another such
district.
As a creative churner, the
Factory is centered around a
refurbished slaughter house of
architectural design represen-
tative of the 1930s. The entire
compound provides a space for
young minds and top market-
ers to chat about developing
ideas that are beginning to be
taken seriously by marketers
of foreign and local brands
exclusively targeting younger
patrons.
For example, a design company
in the Factory recently hosted a
brainstorming session for Pepsi’s
global marketing team, who came
to Shanghai looking for inspira-
tion on how to freshen up their
strategy in approaching post-’80s
consumers.
As China’s appetite for home-
grown products grows, the
Factory’s business model is being
viewed as having the potential to
flourish in a city like Shanghai,
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Creativity as
commodity
A lot has been made of China’s
commitment to creative industries in
recent years.
In Shanghai alone, there have been
so many new creative parks, zones,
hubs and lifestyle malls popping up
that it is hard to keep track anymore.
But what is the real commitment to
creativity in China and how should we
go about measuring it?
One way to look at it is through
the young creatives themselves, who
will be leading the way forward in the
years to come — they are the ones
who have made the decision to pur-
sue art, writing, design, fashion and
film making over time-honored, left-
brained professions like engineering,
law and finance.
It is not the easy choice. It is much
harder to tell your parents in China
that you want to be a designer than
in America, where you might become
the next Andy Warhol. There, your
parents will have seen an artistic
spark in you early on and either
encouraged it, or at least accepted it
finally, knowing that you can still have
a fine career in design because of the
creative industries. But that idea is
just now taking hold in China.
Real creativity needs encourage-
ment and nurturing from the family,
society and institutions. The emer-
gence of creative industries like mar-
keting, fashion and event planning
offers serious careers for young Chi-
nese with an artistic degree. With all
the pressure in China to make money
first, it is hard for these children com-
ing out of school to view their work as
a higher calling yet, one that is above
the rat race.
Unless they are pursuing a clas-
sical career, no child who wants to
make music will be taken seriously.
They will be told to “get a real job”.
And now, a real job will be coming
from the creative industries.
But watch out; things are changing
quickly, and the next Andy Warhol
will probably come from the Chinese
post-’90s generation.
Sean Dinsmore is the creative director at ᛣᎹ
എ Factory in Shanghai.
where international companies
are open to innovative marketing
approaches.
With the support and co-
operation of the Shanghai
municipal government, the Min-
istry of Science and Technology
has also established jointly with
Shanghai’s Tongji University
for what it calls “a global plat-
form of science and technology
management research and com-
munication”.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 17

GETTINGGLORIOUS
Wealth management is becoming the order of the day, Wang Zhenghua finds

S 55
miling staffers give advice over gleaming
counters, as water dispensers and mag-
azine stands alleviate any wait amid
round-the-clock service and ATM machines.
It is a far cry from the planned economy in
the early days of New China.
“Banks back then served as government
agencies, with tellers working behind iron
bars over counters 1.5 m high,” says Tiger
Chow, the editor-in-chief of financial maga-
zine Money Weekly.
“In the planned economy, the bank, with
its limited number of outlets, only sucked in
deposits from retail customers,” he says.
It was a reflection of an almost non-existent
state of financial management, during a time
when people hardly had any spare cash and
personal wealth was more like a badge of dis-
honor than a guarantee of a good life.
Money talks now. Multimillionaires from
the boomtowns in the Pearl River Delta to the
sordid mining districts of Shanxi province are
revered like movie stars and sports celebri-
ties. The national and local media spare no
effort in pandering to their readers by playing
up rich lists.
Many readers are also keen to know how
these billionaires invest their money to
become even richer.
Despite its limited scope, wealth manage-
ment has become one of the fastest growing
financial services for people on the Chinese
mainland.
“China has seen a very rapid increase in af-
fluence, prompting high net worth individuals
to search for channels to manage their newly
gained wealth,” says Chow, whose publica-
tion is touted as the country’s first and largest
professional magazine targeting middle-class
families.
A diversified scope of products now offers
consumers many choices, including trusts,
futures, art collections, venture capital and
all kinds of derivatives.
Hurun Report founder Rupert Hoogewerf
received scathing criticism when he released
his first Chinese fortune list in 1999 to the
public.
In the public eye, being rich was associated
with corruption.
Chinese millionaires are created daily,
surpassing the number in Britain to
rank fourth in worldwide millionaire
population
364,000
Chinese people are millionaires by
2008 amid the global downturn
Few people wanted to cooperate. Tax of-
ficials, media and even kidnappers targeted
many of the individuals he labeled as part of
the rich.
“About eight years ago, we tried to promote
the idea of wealth management by putting
forward the slogan of ‘if you don’t manage
wealth, then wealth will ignore you’. Now it is
deeply ingrained in our lives,” Chow says.
Still, despite rapid development, invest-
ment channels in China are limited compared
with what is being offered by sophisticated
markets overseas.
To some extent, the stock and housing
markets are still the most important ap-
proaches for Chinese investors to increase
the value of their wealth, moves that have led
to skyrocketing property prices and a roller-
coaster-like performance of equity markets in
recent years.
But in the eyes of Chow, who has seen his
weekly magazine facing more competitors in
recent times, the improvement of services for
all is the key to the rapid transition of wealth
management offered by financial institu-
tions.
“Wealth management is no longer the privi-
lege of the rich. It has become a widespread
idea and lifestyle.”

STARCAST
Huang Guangyu Yang Huiyan
Worth 43 billion yuan. Started elec- Worth 33 billion yuan. Property
tronic appliances business Gome in heiress saw her net worth drop
Beijing at 17, but charged with brib- from 130 to 33 billion yuan last
ery after a 2008 investigation. year.

Du Shuanghua Peng Xiaofeng

Worth 35 billion yuan. Set up joint Worth 27 billion yuan. Heads
venture Rizhao, one of China's a solar wafer maker and is
largest private steel manufacturers, named “most respectable
with Shandong Laiwu Steel Corp. young entrepreneur” by Hurun
Report. Financial magazine editor Tiger Chow says the need for wealth man-
agement is growing. Courtesy of Tiger Chow

Strength in numbers
A total of 55 millionaires are created every
day in China, as the nation passed the United
Kingdom to rank fourth by millionaire popula-
tion.
According to consulting firm Capgemini and
Merrill Lynch’s World Wealth Report issued in
June, the rising Asian power had 364,000 mil-
lionaires at the end of last year, compared with
413,000 the previous year, or a drop of 11.8 per-
cent, due to the financial turmoil and economic
downturn.
Yet the ranks of the rich have not been
thinned as much as elsewhere in the world.
The report said the world’s population of high
net worth individuals, or persons with investible
assets of at least $1 million, had dropped 14.9
percent from the year before, while their aggre-
gate wealth fell by 19.5 percent.
China now only ranks after the United States,
Japan and Germany in its number of million-
aires and the Chinese wealth machine has not
hit the brakes.
To be sure, China’s millionaire count still lags
behind those of many other countries on a per
capita basis.
And even in absolute terms, China has less
than half the number of millionaires than Ger-
many.
However, the report stresses that private
consumption in China “seems to have had a
more significant contribution than in the US,
with a rise in car and housing sales suggesting
increased confidence in the domestic Chinese
economy”.
Chief economists at China’s National Bureau
of Statistics said the nation’s economy will be
able to achieve the target of 8 percent GDP
growth this year set by the central government,
although there are still difficulties ahead.
China Daily
18 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949
Foreign brands quit
the Chinese mainland
market in the wake
of the establishment
of the PRC and
consequent Western
blockade.

1956
China starts public-
private partnership.
More than 16,000 rec-
ognized homegrown
brands join the move.

1950s–1970s
Lekai film (1958),
White Rabbit candy
(1959), Tsingtao beer
(1964), Flying Pigeon
bike (1965) and
Peony radio (1971)
become household
domestic brands.

1978
Reform sees the
emergence of private
sector companies
interested in concepts
NAMEGAME Word of Chinese
such as branding.
brands is spreading,
1980s
Western advertising,
Andrew Moody finds
public relations and
branding agencies Chinese brands have some way to go in emulating multinational giants in their branding, PR guru James B. Heimowitz says. Jonah M. Kessel
emerge. Famous

foreign brands also
begin making their
mark.
1990s
A number of China
brands targeting the
Chinese market ap-
pear.
2000s
Foreign brands be-
come keen on being
associated with the
Beijing Olympics and
Chinese companies
look to build brands to
take on the world.
J
ames B. Heimowitz believes
Chinese brands could be on
the brink of making a global
impact.
The North Asian president and
chief operating officer of interna-
tional public relations firm Hill
& Knowlton says a number of
Chinese companies may soon be
household names in the West.
“Chinese companies are going to
be more important both in China
and on the global stage,” he says.
“It won’t be long before Chinese
firms understand markets in
Europe, the United States and
Africa in a meaningful way.”
The Chinese market is now
awash with its own brands such
as Lenovo in consumer electron-
ics, telecom China Mobile, Master
Kong in soft drinks, retailers
Gome and Suning, as well as
Midea in domestic electronic ap-
pliances.
But this testifies only to a
reawakening of China brands,
which were the pride of New
China.
China was a farming country
with very little industry in 1949.
In its drive for industrialization,
Snapshot
Top 10 Chinese brands in 2008
Graphic by Tian Chi
the Chinese also took a lot of
pride when they produced many
firsts with Chinese brand, such
as Liberation trucks, Red Flag
sedan cars, Flying Pigeon bi-
cycles, Snow Flake refrigerators
and Peony radios.
However, “when I came to
China as a student in the late–
1970s, there was no real concept
of branding in a Western sense,”
says Heimowitz, 48. “There was
just one form of soda, qi shui,
which was orange-flavored, but
it was not a brand since every
factory made the same product.”
There has always been a ques-
tion as to whether the number of
Chinese brands have the same
value in China as in the West.
It was not until the 1980s
that Western advertising as well
as branding and public relations
companies appeared in China.
“The first time anyone actu-
ally saw a product was when they
went into a store and saw it on
the shelves. If they liked it they
would tell other people and that is
how brands took off,” he says.
Heimowitz says many of the
first Chinese brands to make an
impact globally have been in the
business-to-business market,
manufacturing vital components
that go into a vast variety of well-
known branded products.
“There are many Chinese com-
panies, making private label
products from mobile phones
to switching gear, that work for
world class international compa-
nies,” he says.
Chinese companies are still
a long way from emulating the
success of multinational giants
like Procter & Gamble, whose
brands are deeply ingrained in
many markets around the world,
Heimowitz says.
However, Heimowitz says
some Chinese brands such as
Bee & Flower soap, made by the
Shanghai Huayin Commodity Co,
as well as Tsingtao beer, have
already had an impact in interna-
tional markets.
“Bee & Flower is quite a niche
product but Tsingtao is being
exported and appreciated in
markets such as America and
Germany,” he says.
“The million-dollar question is
how Chinese companies are truly
going to be able to be successful
in exporting their brands around
the world,” he says. “It is going to
be a big challenge.”

LOOKINGGLASS
Tuning to the local digital ecosystem
It is increasingly difficult for international compa-
nies to adapt to the quickly growing and changing
Chinese marketplace.
2009 has seen dramatic shifts in consumer
behavior due to economic conditions, environ-
mental concerns, social changes and the evolu-
tion of Web and mobile technologies.
However, the question international marketers
must ask themselves remains unchanged: “How
can I build my brand in China?”
The practice of branding in China for inter-
national companies must evolve rapidly. Global
marketers are too reliant on TV commercials
and one-off retail promotions, which inundate
mobile communications.
source for Chinese con-
sumers aged between 14 and 30.
This is the new reality for marketing in China:
Local brands, on the other
their advantage to build more meaningful con-
nections with local consumers despite being sig-
nificantly outspent in marketing by international
brands.
In order to shift this paradigm, international
marketers must invest in understanding China’s
digital landscape and create social media cam-
paigns which are designed to empower consum-
ers.
Olivier Fleurot is chief executive officer, public relations, cor-
porate communications and Publicis events, Publicis Groupe.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 19

TIMELINE
1949
Shoppers have to
contend with rationing
BUYINGIN
and supply shortages. Chinese shoppers will fuel the next retail boom, Andrew Moody finds
1950s-1970s

K
State-owned stores
with limited product
ranges are where the
majority of consumers
buy their goods.
1978
Average rural con-
sumer has an annual
disposable income of
just 133 yuan.
1980s
New private sector
economy creates a
new breed of Chinese
consumers.
1990s
China becomes a
magnet for the world’s
retailers, including
Carrefour and Wal-
Mart.
2000s
China’s entry into the
World Trade Organi-
zation in 2001 sees
restrictions on foreign
retailers relaxed.
en Towle, the 45-year-old
president and chief ex-
ecutive of retail giant Tesco
China, believes China will be soon
the center of his industry.
Towle predicts that within
the first few decades of the 21st
century, fabulous state-of-the-art
shopping malls will proliferate
throughout the country.
These will be in marked con-
trast to the drab, State-owned
stores of the early days of New
China.
“Within time, China will have
the best stores in the world.
Given the number of stores there
will be, the Chinese consumers
will have the greatest choice also
of any consumer in the world,”
Towle says.
The rise of the Chinese con-
sumer over recent decades has
truly been a world phenomenon.
Since the reform and opening
up, per capita annual dispos-
able income has risen more than
seven fold from 343.4 yuan in
1978 to 13,785 yuan in urban
areas, according to business
information providers Euromoni-
tor International. In rural areas,
Ken Towle, retail giant Tesco’s CEO, says stores will get bigger and be more widely enjoyed. Gao Erqiang
spending has grown from 133.6
yuan to 4,140 yuan. It was not until the 1990s that winning in China is a very long
The clinking of tills has seen Snapshot foreign retailers began to enter game. There is ultimately massive
China’s major cities becoming the market with Carrefour from potential here,” he says.
2008 retail sales value in
magnets for some of the world’s France making its debut in 1995, Towle believes the next major
billion yuan, excluding VAT
leading retailers. followed by the American giant evolution in China will be the
Towle, who took over at Tesco 57.16 Wal-Mart a year later and then emergence of destination shop-
in China in 2005, just a year after GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd Tesco from the United Kingdom ping malls not just in major cities,
the retailer entered the market, in 2004. but also in more rural locations.
53.89
says he was hugely impressed Apart from food retail, other “There will be the develop-
China Resources Enterprise Co Ltd
with what he saw as soon as he major retailers have made their ment of huge, high-quality retail
got off the plane. 49.89 way to China, including the likes outlets in less affluent rural
“I thought it was amazing. What Suning Appliance Chain Store (Group) of Nike from the United States, areas. Stores will get bigger and
retailers like is a lot of customers Swedish home decoration giant modern retail will be much more
and there is no shortage of them 41.10 IKEA and UK DIY retailer B & Q. widely enjoyed over the next three
in China. I like the energy here. Auchan China One of the biggest catalysts decades or so.”
You can move things forward 30.45 was China’s entry into the World Towle predicts consumers will
here fast. I have found it a thrill- Carrefour
Trade Organization in 2002, become increasingly more sophis-
ing place to be,” he says. when restrictions on foreign re- ticated as to what they demand
Had he arrived only a few 26.20 tailers expanding their operations from retailers — and it will be
decades before, he would have Wall-Mart in the market were lifted. a challenge for retailers to meet
found it a very different story. Source: Euromonitor Graphic by Tian Chi Non-food retail has been that sophistication.
The Chinese economy was growing at a phenomenal com- “Retailers have in the past been
dominated by heavy industry without basic necessities. pound rate of 13.8 percent since able to present brands to con-
in the early years of New China There were some department 2004, according to Euromoni- sumers to stimulate demand. The
and retail was not a primary stores, such as the Shanghai tor. process to some extent has been
focus. No 1 Department Store, selling One of Towle’s objectives is supply led,” he says.
State-owned stores overshad- upscale products but they were to make Tesco, which has 67 “In the future, it will be custom-
owed the market and product few and far between. stores in China and 10 planned ers who will be demanding new
ranges were limited. Shoppers Reform radically altered the every year, the retailer’s biggest products as they become more
needed ration coupons to buy landscape and a new class of market — bigger even than its exposed to advertising, general
almost anything and there were consumer emerged with money in home market. media and a more Internet-based
frequent shortages leaving people their pockets. “We are here to win, but culture.”

LOOKINGGLASS
Growing to spend
The retail market in China has evolved consider-
ably in recent years.
Many of the big changes have taken place
over the last decade.
In the late-1990s, the big foreign retailers
such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour tended to have
a presence in major cities, such as Beijing and
Shanghai.
China joining the World Trade Organization in
2002 meant that restrictions that had been im-
posed on overseas retailers had to be lifted.
As a result, the major retailers now have hun-
also increasingly like specialist stores. They go
to electrical retailers to buy their LCD TVs or to
places like IKEA to buy furniture.
Retail patterns have also been radically trans-
formed by the growth of the Internet, with online
shopping growing by 17.43 percent a year, which
is really being driven by younger consumers.
The overall picture is of the Chinese consum-
er getting richer and wanting to spend more.
penditure.
Alex Liu is a research analyst with market research and con-
sulting company Euromonitor International in Shanghai.
Consumers in China
20 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1950s
Start of the nation-
wide selection for
SUCCESSMODEL STARCAST
Wang Jinxi
The “Iron man”
drilled the first well
model workers.
The torch of exemplary workers in China’s largest oil
Laborers such as is still burning, He Na finds field in 1959 in Daq-
ing, Heilongjiang.
toilet cleaners, coal
miners and construc-
tion workers make up Lei Feng

O
n her 79th birthday in This soldier remains
the typical images of
March, Liang Jun received a cultural icon sym-
model workers during
a large print of the Chinese bolizing selfless-
this time.
character for long life, or shou, ness, modesty and
made up of 1-yuan notes. dedication.
1960s
No longer in circulation, the
Selection for the ac-
notes date back to 1962 and carry Li Suli
colade extends to
a picture of a sprightly girl driving Bus conductor in
more fields such as
a tractor. Beijing who charms
education, culture,
Even with her wrinkles and gray passengers with her
sports and media.
hair now, there is no mistaking smiles and friendly
Liang’s bright eyes and confident advice.
1966-76
smile on the note.
The “cultural revolu-
Liang is the country’s first
tion” results in the Liu Xiang
woman tractor driver and was
suspension of the This hurdler’s 2004
chosen to form its pioneer batch
model worker pro- Olympic gold was the
of model workers in 1950.
gram. first in a men’s track
She is still excited when she
and field event for
recalls being received by the
1970s-1980s any Asian country.
late Chairman Mao Zedong and
Fueled by a promo-
Premier Zhou Enlai for the ac-
tion of respect for
colade.
intellectuals and
“It seems like it happened only
knowledge, many of
yesterday,” Liang says. “I never has shown diversified develop-
the model workers
thought I’d have the chance to ment from being based solely
during this period are
meet the leaders, let alone shake on manual workers,” says Zhou
scientists, engineers
their hands and talk with them. Tianyong, professor at the Party
and educators.
“Model workers are also School of the Central Committee
common workers … the only dif- of the Communist Party of China.
1990s
ference is we always choose to Still, with the country’s swift
The country’s focus
work the hardest and are too busy development, many industries in
on economic develop-
to think about rest.” recent years have reduced their
ment sees entrepre-
“Many model workers are gone, labor input through improved
neurs and managers
but people still give them a thumb- production techniques and mech-
with insight and cour-
up when they are mentioned.” anization.
age being selected as
Indeed, authorities first gave Inevitably, many model workers
model workers.
the honor to hardworking citizens were also phased out from their
who made significant contribu- sectors, but others have found
Present
tions to the country. new vocation, such as Xu Hu, who
Those who excel in
The title was considered to is now general manager of a local
their respective fields
be one of the most prestigious Liang Jun, the country’s first woman tractor driver, shows off an old property management company.
and reflect the highest
under the old planned economy note that marked her as a member of the pioneer batch of model The government has contin-
values of society are
and often brought with it promo- workers in 1950. He Na ued to keep the honor alive with
all eligible to be model
tion, better housing and political various measures to improve the
workers.
benefit. history even as a number of them workers needs to be revised in a lives of retired model workers.
The model worker is meant to live in relative obscurity. timely fashion … society needs To that effect, Liang Jun’s
help inspire the masses with the Other than Liang, the recipients more high-quality people who post-retirement years have been
virtues of hard work, modesty, include those like oilman Wang can contribute with the requisite relatively easy.
patriotism and unshakeable com- Jinxi, village Party secretary Guo knowledge and techniques,” says Keeping up-to-date with the
mitment to the national cause. Fenglian, ticket seller Li Suli and Zhou Yunlong, professor of the news is her main hobby. She is
The nationwide selection for utility service worker Xu Hu. Northeast China Institute of Elec- also a member of a chorus group
model workers began in 1950, But model workers now do not tric Power Engineering. and is active in charity work.
Liang says, and is carried out once necessarily have to be laborers in Model workers should continue “Labor union leaders and many
every five years with those chosen the traditional sense. There are to excel in their fields and reflect old friends often visit me during
invited to Beijing for a reception by also those who work in air-con- the highest values society holds at holidays, which means society still
the country’s leaders. ditioned rooms and drive luxury a certain stage, he says. remembers us,” she says.
The model workers of each age cars. “Although Yao is not a laborer, “China is getting stronger day by
offer unique characteristics and Basketball star Yao Ming, for he works very hard and worked day. My biggest hope is to watch
are talented in various fields, example, was selected as a model his way to win honors for the the upcoming 60th anniversary of
but the award ensures that they worker in 2005. country,” Zhou says. the founding the People’s Republic
remain a part of the country’s “The evaluation of model “China’s model worker program of China.”

LOOKINGGLASS
Building blocks of a great impression
I remember an experience I had many years
ago as a high school student in Germany. Our
geography teacher used to play an “association
game” with us to make lessons more interesting.
“What comes to your mind when I say
Egypt?” he would ask. The answer he expected
was “Nile”. For Brazil, he expected the Amazon
river and so on.
One day, he wanted a prompt for “China”.
Spontaneously, I said “Great Wall”. The teacher
was irritated and reminded me that this was a
geography class. He wanted to hear “Yangtze
River” or maybe “Gobi Desert”, so he asked me
to explain my answer.
I stood up in class and said something like
this: “I associate China with the Great Wall, the
biggest man-made structure in the world, but,
Sir, what I admire more than the building are the
people who built it.
“The laborers, who made the bricks from
mud, cut the building blocks from rocks,
carried on their shoulders the tools and
materials into the wastelands, deserts
and high mountains. I think of the
laborers who lived on a handful of
rice, slept rough, got very little
remuneration and were sepa-
rated from their families for
years. They were dedicated
to a task worth doing, they
risked their health, their
life.”
My teacher looked at me, somewhat sur-
prised, but did not say anything.
Years later, when I stood in awe in front of
the Great Wall at Jinshanling, admiring the
monumental structure in its daring dis-
regard of the geographical obstacles of
ridges, crests, faults and rivers that had to
be conquered, I thought again of the work-
ers who had made it all possible. They are
all long dead, their names unrecorded
and forgotten, but their legacy is
very much alive, and so is the ethos
of their work.
China’s mega-structures of today
are quite different from the Great
Wall: Highways, bridges, dams,
skyscrapers and so on, but without dedicated
laborers, the construction work cannot be com-
pleted. Who are these people? Many come from
the country; modest, hardworking folk, sepa-
rated from their loved ones for months, earning
a pittance ... living frugally to save money for
their families back home.
Model workers? There are millions of them
in the Middle Kingdom of today, as there were
millions of them in the China of the past. The
60th birthday of the New China can be an occa-
sion to remember, acknowledge and honor their
extraordinary achievements.
Karl Rensch is a professor at the school of language studies
under the faculty of arts at Australian National University.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 21

TIMELINE
1949
Capitalists control 80
TAKINGFLIGHT
percent of China’s
mines and transport,
A laid-off worker of the old
as well as nearly all economy speaks of the new
of its financial assets.
The new government opportunities to Cao Li
confiscates these and
nationalizes banks,
railways, mines and
factories.

C
lad in the latest French
1953-1956
Ports dress and clutching
Public-private partner-
a Lancel designer bag, Wu
ships are formed in
Eryu still remembers her first day
almost all enterprises.
at work in 1983.
The public sector’s
“I wore a coat of yellow and
share of the economy
brown check that my mom made
rises from 21 percent
for me that day,” Wu says.
in 1952 to 92 percent
“It was a colorless time when
in 1956.
people made their own clothes and
everyone was wearing the same
1956-1966
unisex attire … so my clothes drew
The State pays its
a lot of attention.”
business people a to-
Wu, who is now 46, had joined
tal of 3.25 billion yuan
the Shanghai No 2 Textile Machin-
to buy out their capital
ery Factory under the Shanghai
and accumulated
Textile Group. At that time during
interests.
the country’s planned economy,
many needed guanxi, or connec-
1966-76
tions, to work at a textile company
Public enterprises
because the industry offered one
incorporate nearly all
of the best-paid jobs in a State-
members of society
owned enterprise (SOE).
into their organiza-
Earning 54 yuan a month, Wu
tions during the “cul-
and her colleagues were given ev-
tural revolution”.
erything from housing to cooking
pots.
1986
Pioneer State-owned
enterprise (SOE) It was a colorless time
Shenyang Explo- when people made their
sion-proof Appliance own clothes and every-
Factory announces its
bankruptcy.
one was wearing the
same unisex attire …
so my clothes drew a
1997
lot of attention.
Premier Zhu Rongji
announces a three-
year initiative to lay WU ERYU
off 1.2 million State Laid-off SOE worker
textile workers.
1997 – 2001
“We did not even need to buy
About 30 million peo-
food for the New Year celebra-
ple are laid off from
restructured SOEs.
tions,” she says.
But things soon changed
quickly as the country embraced
2008
more reform and development.
26 Chinese enter-
Around 1990, when the fast-
prises are listed on
developing economy was eclipsing
the Fortune 500 top-
old modes of manufacturing and
company ranking.
emerging industrial centers like
Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu
2009
provinces were becoming more
Only 5 percent of Chi-
competitive, Shanghai’s textile
nese firms, mostly re-
industry was losing its luster like
structured monopolies
many other State-owned sectors.
in crucial sectors, are
SOEs began to see their out-
State-run. Most of the
of-fashion products piling up at
Chinese enterprises
warehouses. In Shanghai’s textile
listed on the Fortune
industry alone, 600,000 female
500 are SOEs.
workers were facing unemploy-
ment.
STARCAST
Zhuang Weihong Pan Pingke Tang Yue
Starts a company to Laid off from hotel in Laid off from a SOE in
sell vegetables with 1994 and starts a bak- 1999. Starts pharma-
other laid-off SOE ery. Now heads two ceutical tools firm that
workers in the 1990s. large food companies. had 130 million yuan of
assets by 2008.
After 1995, most old State-owned
textile companies in Shanghai and
other parts of the country stopped
producing entirely.
From 1998 to 2001, with SOEs
being reformed further, about
8 million workers were report-
edly laid off every year. In total, 30
million at the SOEs lost their jobs
from 1978 amid reform.
Wu knew she had to find a way
out and decided to follow a govern-
ment initiative to employ laid-off
textile workers as air hostesses
for the fledgling aviation industry
in 1994.
“At that time, everything I knew
about being an air hostess was
from movies. In my mind, they
lived a glamorous life and traveled
for free,” she says.
Thousands applied for the job,
but only 14 were selected. Wu was
one of them.
On March 8, 1995, Wu began
her new job and boarded a plane
for the first time in her life.
The plane flew from Shanghai to
Beijing and back.
That year, Shanghai Airlines
was also buying its eighth plane,
a Boeing 757, which has since
stopped being made.
Wu was paid about 5,000 yuan
a month when the average annual
income of the Shanghai worker
was about 9,500 yuan.
As the economy became more
market-oriented, restrictions fell
Wu Eryu became an air hostess after she was laid off from her job in a
State-owned enterprise. Courtesy of Shanghai Airlines
and more were able to fly.
From 2000, the civil aviation
industry began to develop in an
explosive way. LOOKINGGLASS
Shanghai Airlines has 68 planes
now. Two months ago, China Choosing the path less familiar
Eastern announced a merger with
It is usually accepted without much market economy, where the distribution
the carrier.
argument that economic growth is a of risks and rewards is unfamiliar and, to
Compared with the time she
good thing to have, but it is always dis- many, disconcerting.
spent at her SOE textile factory,
locating. If people are to become more Yet, on balance, the rewards clearly
Wu now feels the excitement of
productive, which is the only sustain- outweigh the risks, as China’s rapidly
being at the frontline of an in-
able way they can improve their living rising living standards demonstrate.
creasing number of travelers and
standards, then they have to change the Old jobs are disappearing, but those
the growing sophistication of the
way they work and, quite often, the kind replacing them tend to be safer, more
aviation market.
of work they do. stimulating and better compensated,
“More people are taking planes
In a stagnant or near-stagnant soci- offering employees greater freedom
… more passengers are protesting
ety, the shape of careers remains un- to select and shape careers, develop
when there are delays,” she says.
changed across working lives and even capabilities, express creativity and de-
“Everyone knows customers call
across generations. In a fast-growing ploy social skills. Social uncertainty can
the shots.”
society, one’s own career path becomes often be uncomfortable, and in some
“In a planned economy, people
unpredictable, while the employment unfortunate cases close to tragic, but
normally stick to one job,” Wu says.
opportunities available to one's children in the final analysis it is an inextricable
“Now we have more opportuni-
are simply unimaginable. It can be part of development and for that reason
ties.”
stated as a reliable rule, therefore, that far preferable to the alternative.
the more dynamic a society becomes,
the greater the uncertainty clouding its Dr Nick Land, a professor at Warwick University,
has worked in China since 2000.
future and the higher the potential for
anxiety about the paths life might take.
China’s growth rate since the begin-
ning of its reform and opening up in
1979 has been historically unprec-
edented, so it is not surprising that for
many millions of people, life-patterns
Yang Huaiding (Yang have been disrupted unexpectedly and
Baiwan) often shockingly. Predictable (and com-
Quits SOE in 1988 by paratively menial) labor in vast nurturing
investing in treasury work units has steadily given way to
bonds and becomes the wide — and wild — horizons of the
investment guru.
22 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

SEEINGGRAY
TIMELINE
1949-1978
In 1956, the State
starts offering basic
welfare for the elderly More must be done for an aging China, Lin Qi hears
who live alone and

building rural homes
for the elderly on a
massive scale. Life
expectancy rises from
39 years in 1949 to 68
years in 1978.
1980s
The population con-
tinues to rapidly age
as market reforms
bring about improve-
ments in people’s
livelihoods.
1989
September 9 is des-
ignated festival of the
elderly.
1996
Law on Protection
of the Rights and In-
terests of the Elderly
comes into effect.
1999
China enters aging
society phase, with
the number of people
above the age of 60
exceeding 10 percent
of total population.
2001
A “Millions of Seniors’
Fitness Exercise Ac-
tivities” campaign is
launched. More than
58 million elderly en-
gage in regular sports
and fitness activities.
2005
Basic old-age insur-
ance scheme covers
175 million people,
with nearly 25 percent
of them retirees. Dis-
bursement of the old-
age insurance fund
hits 404 billion yuan.
2006
China publishes The
Development of Chi-
na’s Undertakings for
the Aged. It is the first
white paper to give
a detailed account
of the direction of
China’s aging issue.
I
t is known for having the
most number of people, but
not many are aware that
China is also facing its first
peak in a graying population.
“People born in the baby boom
after the founding of New China
in 1949 are aging. A lot of them
are parents of an only-child gen-
eration and don’t live with their
married children,” says Fang
Jiage, founder of the private and
non-profit Hetong Senior Citizen
Welfare Association and Chari-
table Foundation in Tianjin.
“The question now is: Who will
take care of them, and how?”
A member of this approach-
ing “gray wave” himself, Fang,
55, says that institutional facili-
ties should play a bigger role in
improving the quality of life of
the eldery — and maintain their
dignity at the same time.
When Fang set up Hetong’s
first retirement home based in an
old hospital in Tianjin’s suburb in
1994, almost all the institutions
for the elderly were still govern- Fang Jiage, who founded the private and non-profit Hetong Senior Citizen Welfare Association, says there
ment funded. These served the is a serious shortage of skilled workers to care for the aging population. Jiang Dong
childless, disabled and mentally
challenged.
As authorities boost the expan- senior citizens who meet certain their 40s and 50s who have been KEYFIGURES
sion of eldercare from families to standards. laid-off and are unable to find Yang Tuan
social institutions, elderly resi- However, Fang warns that care- work can join the sector. He also Deputy director of
dents today who are still capable takers in the sector suffer from a encourages young people to carve social policy re-
of working and prefer to stay at generally low-level of profession- a niche in old-age services and search center at the
home can begin to enjoy profes- alism. According to the China upgrade its overall management. Chinese Academy
sional homecare services and National Committee on Aging, If so, they will form a crucial of Social Sciences.
support provided by neighbor- the number of people working in part of the country’s efforts to
hood facilities as an alternative. old-age services hit 321,600 by accommodate the eldery. China’s Xu Kun
Fang’s group also operates an the end of 2007. Less than one in basic pension insurance system Former professor
old-age home in Beijing’s Yuetan 10 have the relevant professional had benefited 219 million people of philosophy who
community under agreement qualifications. by the end of last year. started free hotline
with the area’s neighborhood “Other than that, we may need The country has plans to for senior citizens’
community. The institution has 10 million eligible caretakers to expand the coverage of the elderly mental well-being.
only 50 beds, while the neighbor- fulfill the duties of old-age care,” in its extensive countryside,
hood is home to 26,000 residents he says. which would particularly benefit Yi-Ying Lin
and nearly 12 percent of them are Almost all of the caretakers at those who are left home alone Executive officer of
from empty-nest families. Hetong’s five retirement homes by their migrant children in the Taipei-based Hon-
The home’s employees also are migrant workers. cities. dao Senior Citizen’s
provide homecare services like “They quit easily because their The government also plans to Welfare Associa-
meals, haircuts, baths and jobs are not taken seriously by introduce a more flexible system, tion.
company that are just a phone many people. They shift to other so that its 230-million rural
call away. professions that don’t require migrant workers can enjoy retire-
Pilot eldercare home services such demanding skills and are ment benefits even if they change
have already been rolled out in much less tiring,” Fang says. jobs often.
large, aging cities like Beijing The public needs to change its Fang is also pushing for greater
and Shanghai. The municipal attitude toward the profession if health insurance. “The money can also be di-
governments help pay for services they want to create a better living “People can save money for rected to helping other people.
by granting a monthly allowance environment for the elderly, Fang possible healthcare services when Such a system tends to benefit
of between 50 and 250 yuan to says. He hopes that urbanities in they are old,” he says. everyone.”

LOOKINGGLASS
Need for private facilities
Due to the increasing average age and
fewer children per family, China is con-
fronted with a rapid demographic change.
The altered age distribution of the coun-
try demands an expansion of capacities
within the medical, nursing and fostering
sectors for old people.
At the same time, the economic pres-
sure on the younger working proportion of
the society will rise accordingly. Central
Europe and Scandinavia were the first
regions to introduce supply systems that
meet the needs of aging people.
All those senior citizens in need of
support should have a choice of options
ranging from family integration and home
care to day-care centers and other nurs-
ing facilities. China shows a higher rate of
integration of old people within the familial
and rural environment.
There is a greater need of care facilities
in urban areas. Home centers for the aged
have to be manned with specially qualified
staff. Such facilities however, are rather
cost-intensive and they raise the question
of individual care insurance, in which a
proportion of the income is allocated to
a pension scheme, from which different
amounts are paid to cover the nursing ex-
penses based on individual conditions.
Private facilities, in particular those
that meet the standards of building con-
struction and personnel, can contribute
significantly to a professional care supply
system.
Private centers should be available
for those who pay as well as for the less
well off, for whom individual government
support should facilitate their stay, ac-
cording to the principle of cost sharing.
As mentioned before, these facilities
should include day-care centers, home
care options, nursing homes and geriatric
clinics in order to satisfy all the different
demands.
China has a unique chance, but it
needs to establish a new model of old-age
provision. And it can possibly function as
an example for countries that could face
similar issues in the future.
Dr Günter Nebel is president of healthcare group
Sanlas Holding GmbH of Austria.
CHINA DAILY
Business news anchor Rui Chenggang sees himself as a globalist who is in favor of multilateralism on the international stage and pluralism at home.
R
ui Chenggang interviews world
leaders for State broadcaster
China Central Television (CCTV)
but made headlines himself when he
campaigned to get US-based coffee
chain Starbucks evicted from the For-
bidden City.
He gained a reputation for being a
nationalist in the process.
The reality, however, is more nuanced.
The suave TV anchor drives the latest
edition Jaguar (in British racing green)
and has a Union Jack decal on the rear
side window.
Though content to be called a patriot,
he is against “blind nationalism” and
describes himself as a “globalist”.
“I get critics from both sides,” Rui
says. “There are Chinese people who
say I have been brainwashed by the
West. They think I rub shoulders with
leaders around the world and have lost
my roots.”
Rui represents New China and he is
part of a generation that grew up in the
era after the reform and opening up in-
stituted by Deng Xiaoping in 1978. His
is a demographic group that has largely
set aside the turbulent politics of the
country’s first 30 years to be rich and
glorious.
It is also a generation whose members
have been characterized as “little em-
perors”, following the introduction of
the family planning policy in 1979,
which most parents in cities followed
and have one child.
“I almost got planned out by the family
policy but managed to stay in,” jokes
LOOKINGGLASS
Ready to rule
China’s “little emperors” are used to being the
center of attention.
The generation of children born in the 1980s
under China’s Law on Population and Family
Planning has grown up with many changes in
family structure, economic expansion, values,
habits and practices compared to earlier gen-
erations.
Used to being the center of attention, the
post-’80s generation gets what it wants, when
it wants.
Seem a little spoiled?
People’s Republic of China
60
STARCAST
Bo Guagua
The high-profile son of
Chongqing Party chief
Bo Xilai has won the Big
Ben Award, which honors
Britain’s 10 most outstand-
ing Chinese youngsters.
Guo Jingming
The student novelist-turned
pop idol is China’s wealthi-
est writer despite losing a
plagiarism case and refus-
ing to offer an apology to
the original author.
Rui, who was born in 1977 and has an
older sister.
He says the policy is beneficial
because China’s population needs re-
ducing. Otherwise it will hold back the
country’s development and be a burden
on the world in terms of carbon emis-
sions.
Even so, he admits there are negative
effects. Not least among these is a dis-
torted housing market as parents save
up and buy their 20-something children
new apartments.
“I would never buy my child a home.
They should buy it themselves,” the
unmarried Rui says. “I think we have a
whole generation who are spoiled, not
at school or in society, but within the
family.”
This makes them less tolerant and
explains the higher divorce rate, Rui
Look to family structure and we see a little
emperor placed on a throne, waited on hand
and foot.
Intelligent and clever, little emperors possess
a world view unlike past generations. Look at
employment, and the little emperors are taking
the reins, driving business in innovative ways.
Little emperors’ tech-savvy when it comes to
cell phones, laptops and iTouch-es have earned
them bragging rights on the Internet.
Look to love and we find “twenty-something”
little emperors with little empresses packed in
1949-2009
MYWAY
A member of the Me
Jules Quartly his group is
ready to take on the world
Li Xiang
The high school graduate’s
company PCPOP, the third
largest Chinese IT informa-
tion website, earned 20
million yuan through adver-
tising in 2005.
Li Yuchun
The 2005 Super Girl cham-
pion-turned celebrity contin-
ues to draw controversy and
support all at the same time
for her tomboyish appear-
ance and behavior.
says, adding that he agrees with the de-
scription of them as the “Me Generation”
— one that is overly interested in fame,
power and money.
“This generation is very different from
its parents. It’s a lot more entrepreneur-
ial but this is not necessarily a good
thing. Everyone wants to be an over-
night millionaire but this skews society.
We also need teachers and construction
workers.”
It is hard to imagine the immacu-
lately presented Rui on a building site.
The Foreign Affairs University student
wanted to be a diplomat, but after
meeting former UN secretary-general
Boutros Boutros-Ghali was convinced
of the power of the media. So he joined
CCTV.
Adept at dropping names, he says
he lunches with former US secretary of
restaurants, cinemas and taking over dance
floors. Look to money and economic expansion,
its advantages but also
OCTOBER 1, 2009 23
Generation tells
Jonah M. Kessel
state Henry Kissinger three times a year
and credits him with the development of
his globalized outlook.
“I asked him how much time the
United States had left (as the pre-
eminent power) and without thinking
he said, ‘I give it a hundred years’. Then
he paused and said, ‘I take that back,
actually it’s a new world order and in-
terdependence is what we are talking
about’.”
As a globalist, Rui says the UN
is an “old tool”, while the G20 will
become more powerful and relevant.
New paradigms are needed to solve
problems like climate change and
deal with global financial crises, he
says.
In favor of multilateralism on the
international stage, Rui is also for plu-
ralism at home.
“China over the last 30 years is living
proof of pluralism and how societies are
better off with more choices.”
He recently published a book, Life
Begins at 30, which touches on this
subject. Like himself, he thinks of New
China as a relative youngster on the
world stage.
While advocating globalization, he
says it would be a dull world if the only
hotels were Hyatts and the only place
to eat was McDonald’s. Thinking locally
and promoting national characteristics,
he says, is essential.
“Being global doesn’t mean looking
alike or thinking alike,” Rui says. “The
more national you are, the more inter-
national you are.”
its responsibilities. Little emperors must stretch
the limits of Chinese traditions and conventions
teaches culture
China Agricultural University.
24 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
Early to mid-1950s
The government pre-
SINGULARSOLUTION
fers a large population The family planning policy promises to increase its impact, Hu Yinan finds
amid recovery from
decades of war and
starvation.

D
ing Baoling, 50, is too
1956 young to remember the
Premier Zhou Enlai time when the country
suggests that health initially embarked on its family
departments pro- planning policies in the mid-
mote family planning 1950s.
nationwide except in But the obstetrician and
regions inhabited by youngest of four daughters can
minority groups. bear testimony to the measures
that were firmly put in place two
1957 decades later.
Family planning mea- “I never heard much about
sures proposed by Ma family planning before I gradu-
Yingchu are criticised ated in 1978,” Ding says.
as “anti-Party” and “But since then, I’ve been
“anti-socialist”. working for the family planning
office.”
1959–1961 Like all other family planning
Family planning is officials at her office in Shuiwan
halted altogether township of Shandong province
amid unprecedented and elsewhere across the country,
famines and political Ding has been working day and
campaigns. night, “to bring just the appropri-
ate amount of children into the
1962 world … so that they can all be
The CPC Central well taken care of and grow up
Committee and the healthy”.
State Council release Ding is part of a major policy of
circular to promote the country that promises to grow
family planning. in consequence as debate over it
Nonetheless, its continues.
When enough security
is in place and people
have something to fall
back on, things will
change.
DING BAOLING
Family planning official
families and couples who are from
only-child families.
Analysts say almost 36 percent
of the population, mostly in cities,
is limited to one child. Today,
there are more than 100 million
single-child families nationwide.
China’s population, the world’s
largest, would have ballooned by
400 million more than the current
1.3 billion, National Population
and Family Planning Commission
figures show.
The policy has been relaxed for
urban couples in recent years.
Parents who are both the single
child in their families can have
two kids.

400
measures are poorly
implemented. But many have recently called
for a more radical shift in the
1966 family planning policy, citing
Local family planning million more people would social costs.
agencies are shut have been born in the past With an already aging work-
with the start of the three decades without the force, China’s working population
“cultural revolution”. family planning policy. will dwindle by 10 million each
year after 2025. The number of

100
1967 people aged between 20 and 24
Family planning agen- will drop by about one-quarter in
cies resume work. the next decade, researchers say.
million families in China Today, 11 percent of Chinese
1971 have only one child. people are over 60 years old.
Full-scale family plan- That proportion is expected to hit

30
ning measures put in 30 percent by 2050, when there
place, with slogans will be 2.1 working-age adults for
including “One child every retiree.
is not enough, two is With fewer working-aged people
just right and three is
percent of Chinese will be to pay for pensions but more of
too much”. over 60 years old by 2050. such funds to cover, economic

2.1
1973
A leading group on
family planning is set working-age adults will be
up under the CPC working for every retiree by
Central Committee. then, when the family plan-
ning policies are expected to
1979
undergo major adjustments.
The first batch of
“only-child certifi-
cates” are distributed. In the last 200 years of Imperial
China, the country’s population
1980 increased from 250 million to 500
The government million. With the establishment
begins to enforce the of the People’s Republic of China
family planning policy. and improvements in healthcare
as well as food supplies, that
2007 figure spiked to 1 billion people in
In all of China except just three decades.
Henan, the country’s Political campaigns from the
most populous prov- late 1950s disrupted the coun-
ince, couples who are try’s nascent efforts to address
both single children the challenge and it was only until
are allowed to have 1979 that the family planning
two children. policy was strictly imposed.
Advocating late marriages,
Now late births and fewer babies, the
Scholars call for renewed policy was designed to
readjusting the family control the exploding population
planning policy to al- and ensure better education and
low more children as healthcare. Exceptions are made
the country ages. for ethnic minority groups, rural
woes loom large.
Many population experts say
the first generation of only-child
couples, now in their early 30s,
are starting to show signs of in-
ability in supporting their elderly
parents, which is a major compo-
nent of the Confucian values of
filial piety.
“To an only-child couple, this
means they would have to take
care of four people. It’s tough,”
Ding says. “That is still a major
reason why people in townships
and villages are inclined to have
more children. It makes them
better prepared.”
Ultimately, she says, any
change in policy should follow a
comprehensive social and health
insurance scheme.
“When enough security is in
place and people have some-
thing to fall back on, things will
change,” Ding says.
“People won’t want to have that
many children anymore and there
won’t be any need for family plan-
ning.
“It’s not about the money, it’s
about people’s lives and their As a grassroots obstetrician and family planning official, Ding Baoling
futures.” is part of a major policy that continues to fuel debate. Hu Yinan
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 25

TIMELINE
1949
Large-scale cam-
paigns start to eradi-
cate prostitution.

1950
The Marriage Law,
the first law of the
PRC, is enacted. It
is the first Chinese
law that specifies that
women and men en-
joy equal rights.

1951
Brothels disappear
from major cities.

1954
The first PRC Consti-
tution reaffirms that
women and men have
equal rights.

1958
All former prostitutes
are absovled into
State farms and other
public entities. Many
remarry.

1964
China announces the
mainland free of all
sexually transmitted Working through groups such as NGOs, Wu Qing, a district lawmaker in Beijing, wants to teach women more “survival skills”. Jonah M. Kessel
diseases.

FULLPROTECTION
1960s-70s
More concrete
regulations on gender
equality are issued.

1980s-1990s A veteran women’s rights advocate is effecting change

Prostitution resur-
faces. Workplace
inside and outside, Wang Shanshan finds
discrimination of
G
women takes on new rassroots lawmaker Wu
forms as the market Qing solves problems few
economy expands. others can — by reaching
Women’s legal aware- to officials through their wives.
ness of self-protection “I talked with your wife. She
grow. supports me on this issue,” Wu
often tells them.
1992 Sometimes, she makes more
The Law on the Pro- than 40 calls to one official. In her
tection of Rights and efforts to get to the officials, she
obtains the phone numbers of
Interests of Women is
enacted. their homes and even the mobile
numbers of their drivers.
It is all part of what the 72-year-
1995
Beijing hosts the Unit- old Wu does to work inside and
outside “the system” to improve
ed Nation’s Fourth
World Conference on the lives of women.
Women. Wu is a deputy to the people’s
congress of Beijing’s Haidian dis-
1990s-2000s trict and an activist with several
NGOs proliferate and nongovernmental organizations
offer aid in gender (NGOs).
equality on a more “My concern is to defend the
personal basis for rights of my voters. I care more
ordinary women. about women because they have
less protection of their rights
than men do,” says the retired
professor of American studies
at the Beijing Foreign Studies
University.
“My family suffered from the
Anti-Rightists Movement in 1957
to the end of the “cultural revolu-
tion” (1966-76). The two decades
taught me how difficult it could
be to live as an ordinary citizen,
especially as a woman, in the
absence of legal protection.”
Wu grew up in the United States
and post-war Japan. She remem-
bered her parents discussing
whether to return to China after
1949. Her father Wu Wenzao, a
sociologist, did not want to give
up his studies in Tokyo while
her mother Xie Bingxin, an es-
tablished writer, dreamed of the
motherland. The family eventu-
ally settled in Beijing in 1951.
At the time, Chinese women
were claiming their rights on
a large scale. Chairman Mao
Zedong announced that New
China would “clear the house” by
forbidding prostitution in 1949.
The unprecedented Marriage
Law, which came into force in
1950, stipulated that women
and men are equal partners in a
marriage, similarly pledging mo-
nogamy and protection of women
and children’s rights. Brothels
disappeared from major cities at
the end of 1951.
In 1954, the People’s Republic
of China had its first Constitution,
which stipulated that women
have the same rights as men. In
the following years, the govern-
ment also issued regulations
stipulating that women and men
receive equal pay for an equal
amount of work.
Wu carries the 1954 Consti-
tution and the amended 1982
Constitution wherever she goes.
“When I help people, I am pro-
tecting the law … I saw too much
of a lawless state,” she says.
Wu volunteered to represent
residents of Haidian district in
Beijing in 1983 and soon after
becoming a deputy to the local
people’s congress.
She surprised everyone at her
first congress meeting. When the
chairman introduced an official
as the son of a celebrity, she stood
up to say: “You cannot merely say
this about him. We deserve to
STARCAST
they were suffering in the name
of a market economy, despite
Soong Ching Ling
the fact that more girls went in
(1893-1981)
schools and more young women
Honorary president
entered colleges.
of the PRC and
Wu has also maximized her
lifelong leader in
power as a district-level legisla-
the women’s rights
tor. She publicizes her home
movement.
and mobile phone numbers, and
receives voters at her office on
Cai Chang (1900- campus every Tuesday afternoon.
1990)
There are almost always dozens
Born named Xianxi, of them, who arrive from every
Cai set up Hunan corner of the nation to discuss all
province’s first
kinds of problems.
women’s organization “The majority of those who come
in France in 1919.
to me are women, who tend to
be more persistent than men do
Deng Yingchao
in having their problems solved.
(1904-1992)
There is also the popular belief
Involved in political
that women will be better treated
and social causes in
when they request help from the
teens to halt feudal
authorities,” Wu says.
custom of binding
Through NGOs, she wants
women’s feet.
to teach women more “sur-
vival skills”. She is co-founder,
Ding Ling (1904-
fundraiser and lecturer at an
1986)
11-year-old school in Beijing,
Born named Jiang
where 4,360 rural women from
Wei, she became
26 provinces have received
one of the most
training before they look for
important writers of
urban jobs.
women’s issues.
She was also crucial in legaliz-
ing schools for children of migrant
workers in 2003.
know what he has achieved as a The most exciting change that
public servant.” she has seen in the past 25
As a local legislator, she became years is of the citizens, especially
more aware of the problems that women, who come for help.
women began to face as a result “They used to only tell me their
of economic transformation. The problems. Now they know why
complacency women had ac- the law should be on their side,”
quired in the first three decades she says.
of New China was replaced by “I believe China’s future lies in
worries and open discrimination such a change.”
26 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1902
Scholar Kang Youwei
proposes same-sex
OUTTHERE
marriages. One man tells Qian Yanfeng why he is not hiding his sexual orientation
1930s
The government lists
pederasty and homo-
sexuality as an offense
detrimental to public
morale.

1979-1991

L
awyer Zhou Dan lives with
Gay men were often
his partner, plays an active
detained on charges of
role in gay events and speaks
indecent assault even
outright for gay rights in public.
though the Criminal
The 35-year-old Shanghai
Law in 1979 didn’t
resident announced his homo-
specify pederasty was
sexuality on Chinese websites in
a crime.
2001 and says he will never need
to hide his real name or identity
1991
because of his sexual orientation.
The Ministry of Public
It is a far cry from the time
Security rules that
when Cui Zi’en, China’s leading
there is nothing illegal
gay theorist and activist, was
about two people of
stripped of his teaching qualifica-
the same sex living
tion and forced into hospital after
together. Two lesbians
he revealed his sexual orientation
were earlier arrested
in 1991.
in Anhui for living to-
Zhou says his experience was
gether.
entirely different.
1997 “We had a few quarrels, but my
The clause “indecent parents very soon accepted the
assault” was removed fact,” Zhou says.
from the Criminal Law. “My colleagues and friends, to Lawyer Zhou Dan says being openly gay is no longer the taboo it was decades ago. Wu Xiaoyan
my surprise, did not think it was
2001 a big deal at all. Even the media
Homosexuality is rec- gave me very positive coverage the government not to bar HIV- STARCAST
ognized as a natural and made me a prominent role positive people from jobs.
phenomenon instead My colleagues and friends, Cui Zi’en
model in the gay community.” to my surprise, did not Above all, he hopes to use
of a mental problem. Generally regarded
As shown by Zhou, being his professional background to
openly gay in China is no longer
think it was a big deal at provide legal counsel to homo-
as the first person in
2003 all. Even the media gave the Chinese mainland
the taboo it was decades ago. sexuals and fight for their rights.
Activist Li Yinhe sub- me very positive coverage to publicly reveal his
China removed the clause in the Still, he says there is a long
mits a proposal on and made me a prominent sexual orientation.
Criminal Law that led to the fre- way to go for gay rights in the
same-sex marriages quent police harrassment of gays role model in the gay com- country. Li Yinhe
to China’s top advisory and lesbians. In 2001, recognized munity. Although public tolerance for Sociologist, sexologist
body. it as a natural phenomenon rather the community has improved and activist for Lesbi-
than a mental problem. ZHOU DAN significantly over the years, the an, Gay, Bisexual and
2005 In recent years, gay bars and road to legislation on gays’ equal
Lawyer Transgender rights.
China’s Parents, gay and lesbian activists have rights to education, employment
Families and Friends sprouted in Chinese cities, while and marriage, as well as other
of Lesbians and Gays Internet access to gay groups issues like inheritance and child Qin Shide
group was founded in online has also helped eased the adoption, continues to present Professor from Qing-
Guangdong province isolation of homosexuals. challenges. dao University’s medi-
by Wu Youjian. From Cui’s failed attempt to proud that he has been part of Explicitly gay literature, cinema cal school said to be
hold the first gay and lesbian film this ongoing social transforma- and TV roles are also scarce and the first to reveal his
2009 festival in Beijing in 2001 to the tion: He helped start a hotline strictly controlled. sexual orientation in
Inaugural gay pride recent coming-out party of the for sexual minorities in Shanghai Social stigma and discrimina- Chinese academia.
festival held in Shang- first gay pride festival in Shang- in 2003 and has been teaching tion, meanwhile, continues to be Wu Youjian
hai to coincide with hai, there are clear signs that the China’s first graduate class on the major obstacle. Regarded as the first
the global gay pride country’s gay community has homosexuality and social science “The government has a big role Chinese mother to
movement. gone from being virtually invis- at Fudan University since 2004. to play in changing the attitudes publicly support her
ible to a recognizable social force He also takes on the issue of of people by promoting education child’s homosexuality
about 30 million strong. HIV/AIDS, propagating safe sex and training in both the public and in 2005.
Zhou feels both lucky and among homosexuals and lobbying professional sectors,” Zhou says.

LOOKINGGLASS
Crying out loud
Seven years ago, I came as a wide-eyed, fresh
university graduate to the bright lights of Shang-
hai on a one-way ticket.
I found a city that, for all its amazing and
eye-opening ways, had very little to offer to gay
people like myself.
Nightlife options were limited. Online informa-
tion was scarce. There were few avenues where
members of the local gay and lesbian commu-
nity could meet and connect with each other.
Yet, there was a certain freshness and en-
ergy in the young, nascent scene that ushered
in the metamorphosis that I witnessed in the
years between then and now. An explosion. And
the journey has been an exhilarating one.
Today, a plethora of bars, clubs and cafes ca-
ter to different segments within the community.
The city even has its own little “gayborhood”
located within the former French Concession,
as well as various sports and interest groups
meeting across town weekly.
This year, Shanghai hosted the Chinese
mainland’s very first gay pride season — an
event that was feted by China Daily as “an event
of profound significance for the country and the
world” and one that did not escape the attention
of the international media.
All across China, a quiet revolution is brew-
ing as a whole new generation of gay men and
women across different age groups are coming
out for the very first time.
The personal liberation that these individu-
als are experiencing will have a profound and I see hope in the eyes of some of the young
lasting impact even as modern Chinese society men I have met who set off from their village
continues to open up and embrace diversity. straight to Shanghai’s gay bars in search of
Homosexuality, after all, is not a Western freedom.
import. It has always been part and parcel of The echoes of this hope reverberate around
China’s history — documented well beyond the the world today and it is a voice crying out loud
often-cited stories of the “leftover peach” (yútáo ) to be heard.
and the “cut sleeve” (duànxiù).
Today, China is home to the world’s larg- Kenneth Tan is an editor
est gay population — 30 million by the most of Shanghaiist.com and a
conservative estimates. And with that comes a co-organizer of
Shanghai Pride,
heavy responsibility. the Chinese
Much needs to be done for the invisible and gay pride
long disenfranchised Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual season.
much to be hopeful for.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1952-1979
Illicit drugs are gener-
ally absent from the
country.
From 1978
Land, water and
airways opened up
with reforms. Drugs,
mainly opium and
heroin, start to spread
in the country.
From early 1990s
New type of drugs
begin to appear.
From early 21st
century
New drugs start to
grow at a very fast
pace, particularly in
major cities.
June 1, 2008
New national Nar-
cotics Control Law
comes into force. It
is the first compre-
hensive national law Fang Min knows exactly the suffering from drug abuse and uses that experience to help others.
touching every aspect
of drug control in
China and is designed
to provide a support-
ive legal environment
for the prevention of,
and punishment for,
illegal and criminal
ONGOINGBATTLE
acts involving narcotic
drugs.
New drugs are threatening the young, Shan Juan hears
F
ang Min vividly remem-
bers her first heroin hit
provided by friends in
her home region of Guizhou
province when she was 20,
pretty and rich.
“I thought it was classy then,
that it was a good way to flaunt
wealth,” says Fang, now 33.
The next decade, however,
proved to be a nightmare for her.
“The prime of my youth was
wasted in my attempts to quit
drugs and the relapses I suf-
fered,” Fang says.
“To get money for drugs, I flitted
from one rich man to another. I
was constantly afraid of dying
just like my young ‘friends’ who
overdosed. My parents had aban-
doned me.”
Fang has not touched heroin
for the past three years, but she
knows she will never be able to
get it out of her system entirely.
“Quitting drugs takes a life-
time,” she says.
Fang can be counted among a
rising number of youngsters in
cities who took to drugs, as they
enjoyed the greater freedom that
came with the country’s growing
economy and more open society.
Illicit drugs were generally
absent in the country from 1952
to 1979, figures from anti-drug
agencies show. But the land,
water and airways that were
opened up following economic
reforms saw drugs, mainly opium
and heroin, starting to spread.
In the early 1990s, new types of
narcotics began to appear.
The 2009 International Nar-
cotics Control Strategy Report of
the United States Department of
State said that 62 percent of drug
addicts registered for treatment
in China were under 35, even
60 1949-2009
Wang Jing
Snapshot
rehabilitation program named
Sunflower. She stayed there
for half a year and received
CHINA’S DRUG-USE POPULATION
2005 Not released
detoxification treatment and psy-
chotherapy.
2006 1,160,000
Sunflower also taught her skills
2007 950,000
like using the computer and
2008 1,127,000
surfing the Internet.
2009* 1,130,000 “I felt like a normal person
* June 2009
again who could live without
THE MOST POPULAR DRUGS IN CHINA drugs,” Fang says.
Her drug-free days lasted
nearly eight months after she left
Sunflower.
Heroin
Ice “I was just too confident at that
time. I thought it was a one-time
thing that I could handle and
easily get over,” she says.
Ecstasy Ketamine
Fang was subsequently put on
REGIONS WITH the methadone drug therapy to
MOST DRUG CRIMES help her quit again. She also took
1: Guangdong part in various anti-drug activities
2: Guangxi run by nongovernmental groups to
3: Yunnan share her experience with others.
4: Sichuan Last year, Fang and three
5: Guizhou friends who all used to be drug
Source: Ministry of Public Security Graphic by Tian Chi addicts started a grassroots or-
ganization to support those who
wanted to quit drugs.
though the Narcotics Control They opened hotlines providing
Bureau of the Ministry of Public consultation for people with drug
Security said in its recent report problems, helped transfer drug
that the number is declining. addicts to methadone clinics and
The trend among young urban organized outreach activities to
users has been fueled largely by prevent the spread of HIV infec-
their rising disposable income, it tions through needle use. They
said. also helped local police educate
In 2003, Fang left Guizhou for addicts in rehab and raise drug
Beijing and thought she was free awareness among the public.
from drugs. The work, while meaningful, is
She did not touch drugs during also challenging, Fang says.
her first six months in the capital, “What concerns me most now
but she relapsed when she found is the rising number of new drugs
out where to buy heroin. like ice, ecstasy, ketamine and
“I got caught by police and was triazolam, which are largely avail-
sent to a rehabilitation center,” able at nightclubs and bars …
she says. and getting popular particularly
But Fang was lucky enough among the young,” she says.
to be chosen for a special drug “I see a lot teenagers during
OCTOBER 1, 2009 27
LOOKINGGLASS
Stemming a
scourge together
China shares with other countries the
challenges that illicit drugs pose to
governments and people. It shares
the people’s sufferings and the
threats posed by organized crime,
which thrives on the profits made
from the trafficking in these illicit
drugs. In China, however, the prob-
lems related to illicit drug production,
trafficking and abuse are relatively
new compared to other countries.
China is a country in a transitional
phase and problems peculiar to tran-
sition phases are likely to happen in
this period, such as rapid economic
growth with discrepancies in income
and marginalized populations, mi-
grants and unemployment. These
factors together further contribute to
the spread of illicit drugs.
Youths are particularly at risk. They
are living in a rapidly changing society
and are under great pressure to de-
liver at school, succeed in university
and find a good job. Parents are often
out working hard and have little time
to spend with their children to pro-
vide needed guidance and support.
Moreover, economic development
also brings with it the opening up of
many entertainment venues, bars and
Internet cafes, where it is easy to be
exposed to illicit drugs and engage in
risky behaviors that may also lead to
acquiring HIV.
With the rapid growth of China’s
economic power, China has the
capacity and resources to continue
strengthening its anti-drug system in
a comprehensive, effective way.
The involvement of the community
is key in supporting government
anti-drug efforts. Civil society at large
and NGOs can greatly contribute
to advocacy, outreach intervention
and community rehabilitation and
treatment services. The policies
that regulate the implementation of
methadone maintenance treatment
are a good step forward as they allow
for more flexibility than was possible
in the past to meet the needs of the
treatment’s clients.
Worldwide, the United Nations Of-
fice on Drugs and Crime advocates
that “nothing less” should be provided
for the prevention of drug use and
the treatment and care of drug de-
pendence than what is provided for
other health problems — that is, ethi-
cal interventions based on scientific
evidence.
Giovanni Nicotera is the
Head of the Beijing Office
of United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime
our outreach activities using new
drugs for fun,” she says.
“Worse still, they don’t consider
it harmful at all.”
Healthcare professionals have
said that such drugs damage
nerve systems and lead to hal-
lucinations.
Fang says she will continue
helping others like herself who
have suffered from the evils of
drug use and is cautiously opti-
mistic about what lies ahead.
“The war against drugs will
never end,” she says.
28 OCTOBER 1, 2009
Mixed marriages
here experience their fair
share of challenges,
Erik Nilsson finds
MIX&MATCH
American Paul Cokeley and his local wife Li Jie are not daunted by any clash in culture over raising their child.
L
i Jie swore she would never date
another foreigner, after her Ca-
nadian boyfriend ended their
relationship because of his mother’s
scorn.
Till she met her future husband
and father of her unborn child, United
States citizen Paul Cokeley.
When Cokeley arrived in Beijing in
September 2007, one of the first things
he noticed was Li’s MySpace blog.
“He found I was having a hard time
in life and was interested in what was
happening to me,” says Li, 29.
“At the same time, he had no idea
about life in Beijing — where to go, how
to eat, where to go for help.”
After communicating online for a
month, the two met for lunch and soon
became a couple.
They married on March 7, joining the
ranks of the 60,000-some international
couples who marry in China every year,
according to Ministry of Civil Affairs
figures.
Overwhelmingly, it is Chinese women
marrying foreign men, as in the case of
Cokeley and Li. Like them, most meet in
the country’s major metropolises.
Such marriages were scarcely heard
of from New China’s founding until the
mid-1980s. Since then, the number of
international marriages has steadily
grown alongside the influx of foreigners,
although some surveys hint at a drop
since the financial crisis.
Cokeley and Li will hold their Chinese-
style wedding ceremony next Spring
Festival. Five of the groom’s family
members will be attending, together
with a number of his friends. More than
50 family members and friends from
Li’s side will also be celebrating their
union with them.
Li recalls being “immediately attract-
ed” to the 31-year-old university math
instructor but had no hope for a future
together, because he planned to return
People’s Republic of China
60
Everybody thinks we’re a
really right couple.
LI JIE
Married to Paul Cokeley
Snapshot
News Corporation CEO
Rupert Murdoch and his
wife Wendi from Xuzhou,
Jiangsu province.
Actress Gong Li, from
Liaoning’s provincial capital
Shenyang, and Singapor-
ean tobacco businessman
Ooi Hoe Seong.
Media star Mark
Rowswell, better known
by his screen name,
Dashan, and his wife
Gan Lin.
hinese actor
u Ye and his
rench bride,
hotographer
is Martane.
Graphic by Tian Chi
1949-2009
to the US a year later.
She also remembers what hap-
pened after the Canadian — whom
she says was her only other boyfriend
— visited her in China without telling
his mother.
“When she found yuan notes in his
pocket, she was very angry,” Li says.
“She thought that because he met me
online and I’m Chinese, I just dated
him to live in Canada … and we had to
end it. I didn’t want the same thing to
happen with Paul.”
But it was different this time. Cokeley
already talked about getting serious the
second time they met.
“Of course, we had a lot of problems
when we started out because we had
different cultures and mindsets,” Li
says.
“If Paul’s angry, he just tells me, ‘I’m
very angry’, and Chinese women —
maybe all women — are very sensitive.
Actually, we just have normal fights, not
ones involving culture.”
But Cokeley’s kindness, intelligence
and optimism vastly outshone any cul-
tural differences, she says.
“He did a lot of things that made me
feel I could spend the rest of my life with
this guy,” she says.
“He really does a lot of work for our
future.”
A big step for her was when he ar-
ranged for his family to visit Beijing to
meet Li because she could not get a visa
to the US.
“Before his mom left, she gave me her
mother’s ring," she says.
“I thought then, ‘She really likes me
and treats me like her daughter’.”
The couple hopes to move to the US
after their baby is born.
Li will not be able to get a visa for
another year because she is pregnant.
She says she appreciates the sacrifice
Paul has made for her by staying in
Beijing, far from his family.
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Putting in
the effort
If we date or marry someone from our
neighborhood we will likely have a great
deal in common — shared ideas and feel-
ings about many things in life, from how
relationships are supposed to work, to what
is humorous, and how to raise children or
even how to clean a kitchen (the way my
mother did, of course!).
Most people find this familiarity reassur-
ing and will value the security of knowing
that their partner shares the same outlook
on life.
However, that familiarity will not ensure
a rewarding relationship or guarantee how
long it will last. What seems to be neces-
sary for that is a willingness to be open-
minded, kind and understanding with our
partner and to generously explore whatever
similarities and differences may arise. And
of course, within a cross-cultural relation-
ship, such differences will be much greater.
The ability of the human mind to judge
itself as “right” and others, therefore, as
“wrong”, seems to know no bounds; how-
ever, it is just this tendency that must be
brought into awareness in order for our
relationships to flourish. After the initial ro-
mance and excitement, every relationship
settles into the practicalities of living. And
if we simply assume that our partner will
see the world as we do, behave in a similar
fashion or share our tastes, then we are
likely in for some struggle.
On the other hand, if we keep a curious
mind and put in the effort, relationships
with partners who have a very contrast-
ing background can bring its own reward,
something very different from staying within
our own neighborhoods.
He wants to move back to the US
because of greater convenience, smaller
crowds and higher salaries, Li says.
“If I can’t get a visa again next year,
we’ll have to stay for an even longer
time,” she says.
Neither is daunted by any clash in
culture over raising their child.
“Chinese families really spoil their
kids and I don’t think it does the kids
any good,” she says.
Their biggest concern is deciding
which language to teach their child first.
Li says she will speak Chinese and her
husband should speak English.
While she knows of many Chinese
girls who are occasionally insulted by
strangers on the street for dating for-
eigners, Li has never experienced such
discrimination.
Still, there are occasional stares from
strangers on the streets.
“I think people are still interested to
know why I am dating a foreigner,” Li
says.
Friends, however, fully approve of
their relationship.
“Everybody thinks we’re a really right
couple. And everybody who meets Paul
tells me I’m really lucky,” Li says.
“I think I am, too.”
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 29

TIMELINE
LOOKINGGLASS
1950
The Marriage Law
establishes sexual Set of ongoing
equality in legal
terms, making mar-
debates, diverse
riage more of a
personal choice
subcultures
based on feelings China has undergone not one, but a
rather than a decision series of sexual revolutions, radically
among families tied to transforming Chinese sexual culture,
Confucian ideals. marriage and love. The first during the
period of 1915-1927, when “modern”
1960s-1970s ideas such as romantic love, scientific
Sex becomes a social sexology, gender equality, eugenics,
taboo; descriptive, and homosexuality entered into popu-
hand-copied under- lar Chinese debate. Even more signif-
ground literature be- icant for ordinary people, a “socialist
comes one of the few sexual revolution” occurred when the
sources of sex educa- new Marriage Law of 1950 overturned
tion for youngsters. age-old Confucian traditions by legal-
ly establishing male-female equality,
June 1979 monogamy and marriage based on
A photo of a couple “feelings”, making marriage a choice
kissing on the back between young people rather than
cover of Popular families, even in rural areas.
Cinema magazine In the reform and opening-up
infuriates one-third of period after 1979, Chinese youth
its readers and sparks Former sociology professor Liu Dalin, who set up the country’s first sex museum. Gao Erqiang embraced the ideal of romantic
a national debate on love, which they celebrated through
sex. The still, taken popular songs from Taiwan and
from the British movie Hong Kong. This 1980s “romantic
The Slipper and the
Rose, is considered
one of the first moves
toward China’s sexual
liberalization.
CHANGINGMORES revolution” became the basis for the
“premarital sexual revolution” of the
1990s. In a dramatic break with tradi-
tion, many Chinese young women
Transformation in sexual attitudes stems began redefining feminine virtue not
through premarital abstinence but
1988 from a long tradition, Matt Hodges hears through romantic feelings. “Sex with
The Ministry of Edu- love (ganqing)” became a new moral
cation and the State standard. Late marriage, the family
Family Planning Com- planning policy and high divorce rates

L
iu Dalin, the founder of
mission begin sex
China’s first sex museum,
education in middle
is not proud of helping
schools, although
send his former colleagues to
boys and girls are
hard labor for their extra-marital
still separated for
flings, but during the height of
discussions on sexual
the “cultural revolution” (1966-
organs.
76) this kind of sentencing was
fairly standard.
2001
“I was working at a garment
The Association of
factory at the time and I had to
Psychology reflects
attend three such meetings in as
more liberal attitude
many years, where I was asked to
toward homosexuality
criticize the philanderers,” the 77-
by no longer regard-
year-old told China Daily.
ing it as a psycho-
“I remember there was one
logical or physical
very good-looking married lady,
abnormality.
a university graduate in her
30s, who had sex with a man
2003
seven years younger than her in
First annual Guang-
a public park. They had to write
zhou Sex Festival
to condemn themselves and were
held to “build aware-
sent to the countryside to work,
ness of healthy sex”.
and this was a time when con-
It now attracts hun-
ditions in the countryside were
dreds of thousands of
very, very harsh.”
visitors and includes a
Liu, a former sociology profes-
lingerie catwalk show.
sor at Shanghai University who
has been called China’s answer
Dec 1, 2008
to Alfred Kinsey, said sexual rela-
Sex education begins
tions were still seen as dirty and
at Chinese primary
obscene in the 1960s, with love
schools.
and sex unofficially forbidden at
Chinese universities.
2009
Pre-marital sex was happen-
Government orders
ing but it violated centuries’ old
Love Land to be torn
tradition, which dictated chastity
down before the sex-
before marriage.
themed amusement
When New China was founded
park in Chongqing
1949, Liu, like most 17 year olds,
is fully built, inviting
had no idea about what conjugal
a mixed response
relations even meant.
from the public. It was
“I was totally clueless. There
originally scheduled
was no talk about it, no sex
to open this month.
scenes in movies, or books, there
were no sexy posters of women. I
knew something about the word
love, but sex was never talked
about,” he said.
These traditional sexual mores
STARCAST popular culture were still able to
further dissociated sex from marriage
cause a sensation.
and childrearing.
Wei Hui “There was a kissing scene
The advent of the Internet has led
Causes stir with her around that time in a movie
to yet a new phase in China’s ongoing
1993 novel Shang- called Love in Lushan Mountain
sexual revolution, which I would de-
hai Baby, featuring that startled people and triggered
scribe as the “pluralization of Chinese
a waitress called a lot of criticism,” he said.
sexualities”. On the Internet we can
Coco. During the construction of
Beijing Airport at the end of find voices ranging from advocates
of sexual liberation to advocates
Muzi Mei (Li Li) the 70s, artist Yuan Yunsheng
of premarital abstinence. We can
Started online sex created a mural of three Dai (an
no longer speak of a single sexual
diary detailing her ethnic minority) women bathing
culture in China, but rather a set of
“undercover” ex- in a river and washing each
ongoing debates and diverse subcul-
ploits in 2003. other’s hair. It drew a lot of visi-
tures, including gays and lesbians,
tors in the first month after the
and also young people interested in
airport opened and the mural was
dating foreigners, or people looking
Tang Jiali unveiled. However, soon serious
for “one night love”. China has now
Dancer who became criticism from other artists and
famous after pub- the public followed. The airport entered an era of globalized sexual
subcultures, to which China, as the
lishing nude photos staff had to board up the paint-
largest population of Internet users,
of herself in 2003. ing. It wasn’t until 1990 that the
will undoubtedly make important
cover was removed and the mural
contributions.
brought to light.
Han Bingbin (Xuan According to Liu, there was
James Farrer is the author of Opening Up: Youth
Xiaoman) a time in China’s ancient past, Sex Culture and Market
China’s first trans- when people were liberal in terms Reform in Shanghai and
sexual entertainer of their sexuality, however the
had sex reassign- door is still "only half open, not
ment surgery in fully open."
1999. “Up until the Tang Dynasty (6th Tokyo.
century to 9th century) Chinese
persisted for the next three had a very open attitude to sex.
decades as feudal and left-wing One of the reasons I opened my
ideologies refused to give way to museum was to educate people
more modern ideas about sexual about the fact that Chinese were
freedom, while the poverty of the not as conservative about this as
national economy meant that people think,” he said.
basic needs like food and accom- “Visitors are often surprised
modation took precedence. when they see I have sex toys renew our lease, complaining
The development of the made out of stone dating back that it was making the place too
economy and former premier 3,500 years.” sordid,” said Liu.
Deng Xiaoping’s policy of reforms Yet there is still resistance to “But when we moved to Tongli,
and opening-up helped liberalize too much liberalization, he said. the local government welcomed
people’s thinking. “We weren’t allowed to adver- us with open arms and gave us
However in the late 1970s, tise our Nanjing Road branch in 10,000 acres. About 95 percent of
when university students were 1999, and we had to close our our visitors show us their support
starting to embrace the idea of branch inside the Tunnel of the and say what we are doing is
romantic love, Indian movies Bund last Christmas and move really brave, which proves that
featuring belly dances and other to the neighboring town of Tongli mainstream society now regards
forms of sublimated sexuality in because the owner refused to sex as normal and healthy.”
30 OCTOBER 1, 2009
Dr Bai Zhixue, who is in-
fected with the HIV virus,
counsels a patient in a
restaurant in Beijing.
Jonah M. Kessel
Silent treatment
An AIDS doctor uncovers the disease for Lin Shujuan
D
r Bai Zhixue looks back on his
life and says he has served
each role with love and respon-
sibility.
Being infected with the human im-
munodeficiency virus (HIV), which
causes AIDS, does not change any
of that.
“I am as good as I was before,” says
Bai, who is in his 50s and professes
to be a caring father as well as a filial
son.
“In case anyone — either HIV pa-
tients or those living with HIV and
without it — fail to see that, I am
here to remind you,” he says.
“HIV/AIDS is not a crime one has
to be ashamed of for the rest of his
or her life.”
“As a doctor, I’ve seen how diseases
can affect lives, but none are com-
parable to HIV/AIDS in the way it
pushes one to the edge of despair,”
Bai says.
“That has little to do with the
physical aspect of the disease. It is
a chronic disease, which has been
far from being fatal for more than
a decade. But today we still hear it
being called a ‘deadly disease’.”
Before he was diagnosed with HIV
LOOKINGGLASS
Spreading the word
When I arrived in Beijing in 1987, everyone
was discussing and trying to predict the future
of China. Topics such as the continuation of
economic reform and the viability of sustained
economic growth dominated the analysis and
reporting of the day.
The transformed social landscape, especially
in the area of public health, has long been an
area of special focus for me. As an adjunct
professor at Tsinghua University’s school of
journalism and international communications,
this work has included a program that is unique
in 2006, Bai had a life not much dif-
ferent from most of his peers. Few
knew of his homosexuality, which
the divorced Bai says he had come to
terms with long before.
In the eyes of many, Bai is also a
proud father who has sent his only
daughter abroad to study. He has
witnessed her embarking on a good
career and a happy marriage. Simi-
larly, Bai has been taking good care
of his parents and his patients.
The doctor says he has no more to
ask of life. Bai was diagnosed with
the virus in 2006. His career suffered
and during his 40-odd days of hospi-
talization for the disease, none of his
colleagues visited him.
On the first day he went back to
work, he was told to refer all his work
to a colleague as soon as possible. He
was also told not to work anymore
“for the sake of his health” even as he
continued to receive his salary.
He was heart-broken at the dis-
crimination but he kept silent.
During his treatment for HIV at the
You’an Hospital, one of the two main
hospitals in Beijing dedicated to
treating the disease, Bai says he saw
many others in despair when they
sues.
in the print, broadcast and
electronic media — my
CHINA DAILY
TIMELINE
1985
China’s first AIDS
case is reported in
Beijing.
1987
China sets up a
national program for
AIDS prevention and
control.
2000
An epidemic in
Henan province
gets worldwide at-
tention.
2003
Wen Jiabao be-
comes the first
Chinese premier to
shake hands with an
HIV-positive person
on World Aids Day.
2006
Sexual transmission
overtakes intrave-
nous drug use to
become the leading
cause of HIV infec-
tion, indicating that
the epidemic is mov-
ing outward from
high prevalence
groups traditionally
associated with the
HIV epidemic.
KEYFIGURES
acknowledged their infections.
The country reported its first case Gui Xi’en
of AIDS in 1985. By 2007, 77,000 Discovers the AIDS
were diagnosed as AIDS patients epidemic in Henan prov-
while some 700,000 were believed ince in 2000, with most
to be living with HIV, according to patients the victims of the
official sources. illegal blood trade in the
At the same time, sexual transmis- early 1990s.
sion, especially among men having
sex with men, overtook intravenous Liu Ziliang
drug use to become the leading cause Peasant from rural Henan
for HIV infection — indicating that province who was the
the epidemic was moving outward first HIV patient to appear
from high-prevalence groups tra- on TV before millions of
ditionally associated with the HIV viewers on World AIDS
epidemic in China. Day in 2001.
Bai subsequently volunteered at Zhang Beichuan
You’an Hospital to help with psycho- Qingdao-based doctor
logical counseling for those infected among the first calling at-
with the disease. He also co-founded tention to the vulnerability
the “Quiet Garden” workshop of the of Chinese men having
hospital. sex with men amid the ef-
“We call our workshop ‘Quiet fort to prevent HIV/AIDS.
Garden’ because that’s what a person
would usually need in times of Pu Cunxin
illness,” Bai says. Celebrity who has be-
“We hope to offer such a place for come a leading advocate
AIDS patients … for a chance to for the public to under-
restore their confidence in life and stand HIV/AIDS and show
return to society as happy and re- compassion for people
sponsible citizens,” he says. living with HIV/AIDS.
accurate information about the disease, and set
positive standards that combat discrimination
and stigmatization.
In public health, the important role of the me-
dia to inform and educate gives it the power to
save lives. Now more than ever, at a time when
New China is celebrating its 60th anniversary,
it fills me with great pride and expectations for
how the country will continue to create its future.
pability to raise awareness Bill Valentino is vice-president for corporate communica-
tions, Greater China, Bayer.
about HIV/AIDS, provide
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 31

TIMELINE
1954
A great flood along
the Yangtze River
kills 30,000 people,
endangers nearly 20
million others and
destroys more than 4
million houses. About
63,000 soldiers are
deployed for rescue
and relief efforts.

1959–1961
Another great flood
along the Yangtze
River in July 1959 and
subsequent famine
from a poor harvest
kill about 2 million
people. International
aid is rejected on
grounds of self-reli-
ance.

1975
Successful forecast
and evacuation pre-
vent massive damage
after a 7.3-magnitude
earthquake shocks
Haicheng county,
Liaoning province, in
February.

1976
The 7.8-magnitude
Rescuers look for earthquake victims in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, in the immediate aftermath of the May 12 tremor. Xu Jingxing
Tangshan Earthquake
kills 240,000 people in
Hebei province. More
than 100,000 soldiers
are deployed. LIFELINE
1981
210,000 troops are
Disaster victims now have better chances of survival, Wang Linyan finds
deployed after six

D
eep in the back of his mind, ers saved the man after three of the air force and were the first
mountain floods hit
Liu Xiangyang keeps a hours. to arrive in the Wenchuan quake
Sichuan province
story about a nurse. “We were able to get these zone in eight hours,” Liu says.
between June and
In it, the healthcare worker people out, no matter how deep Other mechanisms that have
September.
is wedged under a cement slab, they were,” Liu says. been crucial to disaster relief
her two legs crushed under “At the time of the Tangshan include a 24-hour real-time mon-
1987
debris. Without the proper tools earthquake, there were only itoring of disasters at home and
35,000 troops are de-
to extract her, rescuers can only simple tools like picks and abroad, real-time communication
ployed for rescue and
feed the woman food and water to shovels. People could only save systems as well as emergency
relief efforts following
keep her alive. survivors at the surface of debris,” plans for natural disasters at
an historic forest fire
The nurse dies after a week, he says. various levels.
in Daxing’anling of
another victim of the 7.8-mag- On May 12, 2008, his team “We have also started working
Heilongjiang province.
nitude earthquake that hit headed for the quake zones on addressing victim psychol-
China raises its first
Tangshan city in Hebei province 14 minutes after they were ogy and counseling. The core of
request for interna-
in 1976. alerted. all these measures is a human-
tional aid since 1949.
“There were many cases like this In the next 17 days, they oriented one, which is also the
one in the Tangshan earthquake. worked for 216 hours at 48 principle of our team,” Liu says.
1998
If people had what we have today, sites, rescued 49 people, helped Set up in October 2001, the
The Great Flood
those victims could have been locate more than 300 others and professional search and rescue
along the Yangtze
saved,” says Liu, 40. removed 1,038 bodies. team has nearly doubled to 500
River kills more than
Liu is the deputy chief of the “We were part of the backbone We have also started rescuers.
3,000 people. About
China International Search and of rescue efforts in the Sichuan Two years after its establish-
300,000 troops,
Rescue Team. earthquake. We know where to
working on addressing ment, the team has proved that
2,200 military planes,
His rescuers now have access go and how to save people,” Liu victim psychology and they have the requisite capabil-
12,500 cars and 1,170 counseling. The core of all
to rescue equipment and facili- says. ity for international search and
boats are deployed. these measures is a hu-
ties that are a world of difference To maintain their quick re- rescue operations.
from what was available during sponse to emergencies, Liu says man-oriented one, which The team headed to Algeria
2008
and before the Tangshan quake, his team has regular training ses- is also the principle of our for its overseas mission when a
Approximately
which killed more than 240,000 sions of more than three hours team. quake struck the region in 2003.
146,000 troops,
people. In a geographically every day, as well as coordina- The Chinese rescuers were part
armed police, reserv-
expansive and varied country tion programs with other teams LIU XIANGYANG of 38 international teams and
ists and police are
like China, that difference can every two weeks and drills every Rescuer became one of two teams to save
engaged in rescue
mean saving countless victims of six months. Other state-of-the- victims.
and relief efforts of
natural disasters. art rescue equipment includes In the following years, the
the 8.0-magnitude
In the May 12 quake in Sichuan optical, infrared and sound wave Chinese rescuers have helped
Sichuan quake that
province that killed more than life detectors. with disaster relief in Iran, Indo-
results in nearly
69,000 people last year, Liu’s A joint mechanism has also nesia and Pakistan.
90,000 people dead
team faced a disaster victim been established between the Currently, Liu says his team is
or missing.
pinned 3 meters underground China Earthquake Administra- training for the upcoming United
from a collapsed six-story build- tion and other groups such as Nations classification for rescue
ing of Dujiangyan Hospital. land, sea and air forces to ensure work this month.
Liu stopped doctors who timely response and coordina- “I’m confident that we can meet
wanted to amputate the victim’s tion. the standard to become a heavy-
limbs to get him out of the rubble. “Thirty-two years ago, the army rescue team,” Liu says.
Using airbags, hydraulic jacks took trucks of rescuers to Tang- “By then, we can help out any-
and stretching pliers, his rescu- shan. This time, we took planes where in the world.”
32 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949
China has 44 regis-
BOTTOMUP
tered national social
organizations and NGOs are playing a big role in solving problems,
thousands of regional
ones.
Wang Zhuoqiong hears
1950s
N
The newly born PRC ew technologies are not
launches campaigns for farmers, thought Long
to reshuffle massive Zhipu, then a government
registered grassroots researcher on desertification in
NGOs. Ultra-religious, 1992.
feudal and reactionary Long was leading a pilot project
ones are dismantled. in Yanchi county of the Ningxia
NGO mafia and gang- Hui autonomous region in west
ster groups are purged. China to design a model to help
shepherds raise pigs, preventing
Early to mid-1960s sheep from depleting grass on
Social organizations the land.
prosper. By 1965, But villagers in the remote
China has nearly 100 desert found various obstacles
national social organi- in implementing their plan, in-
zations and more than cluding bad roads and a lack of
6,000 local ones. forage.
“Bits of difficulty buried our
1966-76 plan,” Long recalls. The obstacles
All traditional forms of served as a big wake-up call to
social organizations Long, now 46. He realized the
and NGOs are shut problems were not the farmers.
down, giving way to Seven years later, Long, who set
spontaneous “rebel” up the first nongovernmental or-
groups in the early ganization (NGO) in Ningxia to lift
years of the “cultural poor farmers out of poverty and
revolution”. The “rebel” improve the local habitat, decided
groups are later dis- to listen to what farmers wanted
banded. for themselves, rather than make
a decision from the top.
1978-1980s The NGO then was also a very
NGOs bloom again as new concept.
market reforms start. Long found that the groups,
freed from the cravings of profit
1987 or the bureaucracy of the gov-
The central govern- ernment, could be alternative
ment extends coopera- answers to social problems.
tion with foreign NGOs. “Instead of designing what
we want, we build up ideas ac-
1989 cording to their needs,” says
China has 4,446 Long, now director of the Ningxia
NGOs. Poverty Alleviation and Environ-
ment Progress Center.
1990s-2000s He says ideas and strategies
The number of regis- that do not work out for the gov-
tered NGOs in China ernment or the corporate world
skyrockets to 266,600 can be carried out by NGOs.
by 2003. Experts say He cited the microcredit loan
3 million, 2 million of rate as one such example.
which are at the village The local governments had
level, is a more ac- considered it wrong to raise
curate estimate. More microcredit loans among poor
than 500 foreign NGOs farmers. But Long and his col-
were registered in leagues found that government
China as of 2003. microcredit loans at low inter-
est rates were often taken up by
village officials or those in advan-
tageous positions.
Since 1997, Long’s organization
STARCAST
Huo Daishan Liang
A reporter- Congjie
turned-devotee Founder of
to cleaning up New China’s
the pollution- first environ-
plagued Huai mental pro-
River. tection NGO
in 1994.
Tong Lihua Ma Xiaoduo
An experi- Babysitter-
enced lawyer turned-leader
who leads his of NGO
Beijing Legal Home of Mi-
Aid Station in grant Working
the fight for Sisters.
justice for mi-
grant workers.
60 1949-2009
Long Zhipu (right), who leads an NGO working for poverty alleviation,
helps farmers with an irrigation system.
has issued about 40 million yuan
to nearly 6,000 farmers, of whom
93 percent are middle- and-low
incomers.
The organization has 14 people
working in the main office and
hire 25 people to work on micro-
credit finance projects, with each
of them in charge of 20 villages.
Long Zhipu’s NGO on poverty
alleviation and environmental
protection has been a mirror in
the country’s progress in develop-
ing its civil society. According to
the Ministry of Civil Affairs, by
2008, China had about 230,000
social groups, including 1,597
foundations working for various
causes.
International practices and
ideas make local NGOs grow
quickly, Long says of his experi-
ence of cooperating with China
Agriculture University and inter-
national development agencies.
In addition, the key to the
success of their project is the in-
volvement of local farmers.
“We design our services to-
gether,” he says. The engagement
among farmers in a loan group
Courtesy of Long Zhipu
I am encouraged be-
cause the work of many
NGOs can be an impor-
tant policy reference in
solving social issues.
LONG ZHIPU
Head of an NGO
creates powerful pressure to pay
off debts. Passion and devotion
have driven the NGO success, he
says. But how long it can last is a
question he cannot answer with
certainty.
“For NGOs, we need a big leap
in terms of mindsets and ideals,”
Long says.
“For the social environment,
sometimes, I feel powerless. But
most times, I am encouraged
because the work of many NGOs
can be an important policy refer-
ence for solving social problems.”
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Micro efforts,
macro changes
When I learned about the microfi-
nance program of the China Founda-
tion for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA)
two years ago, I was attracted by the
concept of using microfinance as a
tool to reduce poverty.
At CFPA, I am responsible for com-
municating with corporate donors on
sponsored programs as well as intro-
ducing more resources to expand our
existing programs.
Most people outside China have
this stereotype that Chinese NGOs
are conservative and serve the
government’s mission. It is hard to
compare Chinese NGOs with foreign
ones. Social welfare was a respon-
sibility of the government until 1978,
and the concept of the NGO did not
fit into Chinese society at that time.
After 30 years of economic reforms
and modernization, the rapid progress
and development of NGOs in China
reflects the emergence of a dynamic
civil society.
Citizens and corporations are more
concerned about social needs, and
their growing involvement influences
policies. Changes in the government’s
policy during the past five years have
allowed a number of Chinese and for-
eign NGOs to flourish in China.
The CFPA is a very innovative
organization with a powerful microfi-
nance methodology. We often invite
foreign experts on microfinance to
share their experiences with program
design and evaluation. We also regu-
larly consult our donors to learn how
to better help the poor and to better
engage volunteers.
It is satisfying to see the rapid de-
velopment of the organization and to
see that more people come to share
our belief in microfinance. The latest
example is that we just opened our
first handicrafts shop on Wangfujing
Street, where we sell handicrafts
made by women in China’s poorest
rural areas. It is a significant step to
engage more people in the cities to
support our programs in a mutually
beneficial way.
The most rewarding part of my job
is to share the happiness of people
who benefited from our programs!
Léonard Perriard is program officer, micro-
finance department, China Foundation for
Poverty Alleviation.
CHINA DAILY OCTOBER 1, 2009 33

TIMELINE
Aug 1, 1927
The predecessor of
BLOODLINES Vanguards
of victory
the People’s Libera- A Red Army veteran reminds Wang Ru Several things surprised me about the
tion Army is formed.
It is known as the of the heroes behind liberation Red Army: their discipline and morale;
their equipment and first-rate training;
Chinese Workers’ and their political consciousness and the
Peasants’ Red Army. high quality of the leadership; their

P
wholesome democracy and immense
1930-34 u Wenqing is one of the few STARCAST As they trudged up mountains, pride in themselves. And the fact that
The Red Army repels surviving Red Army soldiers a raging thunderstorm struck without doubt they are the happiest
four successive cam- who has personally experi- Edgar Snow and thick hail fell on them. people in China while living what is
paigns by Kuomintang enced the journey of her nation to Best known for the After the squall passed, they proverbially the hardest “coolie” life
troops but loses in its current prosperity. first complete Western realized Song, whom they tried all in the world, a life on the edge of
the fifth. Pu, 91, took part in the Long coverage of the Chi- means to save, had died. nothing ... These are all survivors of
March, the massive maneuver nese Red Army in his Pu says she still remembers the fittest, the finest specimens of the
October 1934 fronted by the Communist Party Red Star Over China. Song's final words: “You have human race that China has produced.
The Long March be- of China (CPC) from 1934 to 1936 finished your mission; head to And for those die-hards who persist
gins. The strategic re- that eventually led to the found- Lin Biao our victory.” in regarding the Chinese as inferior
treat of all Red Army ing of New China in the following The young chief of 1st She kept those words close to and “fit only to be a nation of slaves”,
troops is not complete decades. Red Army Corps, he her heart for the rest of the march, it may be added that these are a new
until Oct 22, 1936, She was born into an impover- was later named prin- devoting herself to others across species of what they call “Chinese”.
when the three forces ished family in Bazhong county of cipal of the prestigous mountains and marshland. They are what they are, struggling
link up in Yan’an, Sichuan province, the youngest Red Army College. In a ceremony held in Beijing to create; revolutionaries, fighting to
Shaanxi province. girl in a big family. Her life was last year to celebrate the 70th purify their nation of all the ancient
Chen Yi
a wretched one filled with famine, anniversary of the Long March, death and colonialism and corruption
The only PLA Marshal
1937–1945 disease and abusive landlords. Pu, wearing a Red Army uniform, of the old China. These are Fighting
who did not join the
The Red Army forces One freezing winter’s day, the narrated her experience. Chinese on crusade, taking history in
Long March. Fought
are integrated into the 4-year-old Pu and her elder sister She said it taught her the their stride.
years of guerilla war in
National Revolution warmed themselves by a fire used meaning of dedication, a virtue
KMT-ruled zones.
Army, forming the for boiling salt in their landlord’s that stays with her today. Inside Red China by Nym Wales
Eighth Route Army yard. When the man discovered “It is the soul of our nation; we (Helen Foster Snow, 1907-97)
Xiao Hua
and the New Fourth the sisters, he became furious should never forget the 200,000
The youngest PLA
Army. The latter be- and kicked them into the fire. Pu soldiers who sacrificed their lives
General who emerged I met several Young Vanguards, vet-
comes active south still has the burn scars to show. to fight for liberation,” Pu says.
out of a Red Army erans of the Long March, still in their
of the Yangtze River When Pu was 14, a group of In the following War of Re-
division of 8,000 teen- early teens, who had charges of orga-
while the former is guerilla soldiers set up camp sistance against Japanese
age soldiers in 1933. nizing and training children’s dramatic
based in the north- in her hometown. They called Aggression from 1937-45, Pu
west. themselves the “Workers’ and worked with her comrades in societies in various villages.
Peasants’ Red Army” that worked 10,000 km in 742 days. Yan’an, Shaanxi province. “Peasants come from long distanc-
1945-1949 toward liberating poor people During the March, Pu was suf- In 1937, Pu joined the CPC and es to our Red dramatics,” Miss Wei
The CPC merges its such as herself. fering from a serious eye affliction in 1939 married He Bingwen, a proudly informed me. “Sometimes,
two military groups Pu was skeptical of them and at the foot of an over 4,000-m transportation officer in Yan’an. when we are near the White borders,
and renames the warily watched those soldiers, high mountain they had to climb They had two daughters and five Kuomintang soldiers secretly send
multi-million strong who wore caps with red stars. But in Sichuan. She could barely see sons, all of whom became soldiers messages to ask our players to come
force the People’s it was not long before she saw anything but still insisted on and members of the CPC. to some market-town in the border
Liberation Army, and how differently they treated the taking care of Song Yimin, a seri- After the founding of the districts. When we do this, both Red
liberates the Chinese poor from the landlords. ously wounded commander. People’s Republic of China, Pu soldiers and White leave their arms
mainland. In September 1933, Pu joined With five other teenage nurses, worked in the transportation de- behind and go to this market-place
the Fourth Army division of Pu carried Song on a stretcher partment. to watch our performance. But the
1955 the Red Army and became a through hail and blizzards. They Her children and grandchildren higher officers of the Kuomintang
222 of the 245 senior nurse. The following July, she were exhausted but had to move continue her attitude toward life: never permit this, if they know about
PLA leaders con- became part of the Long March on, because stopping meant they “Life is enriched not by what you it, because once they have seen
ferred the ranks of — a journey covering more than would freeze to death. get, but by what you give.” our players many of the Kuomintang
lieutenant-general soldiers will no longer fight our Red
and above were part Army!”
of the Long March.
Red Star over China – The Rise of
2004 the Red Army (Edgar Snow, 1905-72)
Nearly 80,000 former
Red Army soldiers are
still alive.

Pu Wenqing, 91, is one of

those who took part in the
historic Long March.
Pan Songgang
34 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949 PLA PARADE
The People’s Lib-
eration Army (PLA)
liberates all of China
except Hainan, Tibet
and Taiwan.

1950
The Chinese army of
volunteers joins the
Democratic People’s 1949
Republic of Korea
(DPRK) in fighting the
US-led invasion.

1958
The Chinese army
of volunteers fully
withdraws from the
DPRK. The shelling
of Taiwan’s Dajinmen,
1950
Xiaojinmen, Dadam,
Erdan and other is-
lands starts.

1962
China and India fight
a brief border war.

1965-75
China sends a total of At 98, Kong Qingde is one of the last eight surviving lieutenant-generals who were conferred the rank in
320,000 troops to as- 1955. Zhao Guangliang
1951
sist Vietnam in its war
against US invasion.

1965
The PLA’s system of
military ranks is abol-
ished.
PEOPLE’SDEFENDER
A PLA veteran tells Zhou Lihua and Hu Yinan
1969
China and the USSR
about his lifelong service to the people

K
engage in sharp bor-
der clashes in March. ong Qingde is a member
of the 74th generation of
1979 ancient Chinese philoso-
The shelling of pher Confucius, but the stellar
Taiwan’s Dajinmen, lineage did not protect him from
Xiaojinmen, Dadam, the chaos that engulfed the
Erdan and other country in 1928.
islands stops on Jan Poor and marginalized in a
1. Chinese troops village in Shandong province,
launch a counterat- Kong decided then to join the
tack against Vietnam- Kuomintang army for a guar-
ese aggressors in antee of food and some security.
Guangxi and Yunnan Two years after he enlisted, Kong
in February, and with- fought in the bloody Central
draw from Vietnam a Plains War that broke out
month later. between Chiang Kai-shek and a
number of warlords. The fighting
1985 claimed more than 300,000 lives.
Deng Xiaoping an- In winter of that year, his
nounces a decision to troops were mobilized to Anhui
cut China’s army by 1 province in an attempt to wipe
million. out the Red Army. Kong, however,
was not willing to fight the people
1988 he believed were fighting for the
The system of military poor.
ranks is reintroduced. “All the poor under heaven
belong to the same family,” says
1992 Kong in Wuhan, capital of Hubei
Border clashes with province, where he served as
Vietnam end. Party chief in the early 1970s.
“If I were to fight, I’d die a Com-
July 1, 1997 munist, fighting for the poor.”
The PLA Hong Kong Now 98, Kong is one of the last
Garrison assumes surviving veterans of the Chinese
defense responsibility Revolution.
in Hong Kong. In 1931, his battalion revolted,
with about 100 of its soldiers
2009 joining the Red Army. Kong, then
The PLA holds its 20, was one of them. Seeing
largest military exer- common civilians in the Soviet
cise, one that involved zones supporting their troops by
the deployment of sending food, water and cheers,
about 50,000 heavily something he had not seen or
armed troops over ever imagined, made the youth
thousands of km, in extremely excited.
August. Kong never looked back. He
fought on, rising from a rank-and-
1952
STARCAST Kong became a battalion chief
and later a regiment commander,
Zhu De repeatedly launching his lauded
The sole command- midnight offensives against
er-in-chief of the Japanese forces. After Japan sur-
PLA between 1949 rendered, Kong, born in the same
and 1954, when the year the Republic of China was
Ministry of National founded, began to fight his final
Defense was set up. war — a war to emancipate all the
poor under heaven — as an army
Peng Dehuai corps commander of the freshly 1955
Commander-in-chief established People’s Liberation
of the Chinese vol- Army (PLA).
unteer army in the “The deceased didn’t make it to
DPRK’s war of re- see the times we enjoy now,” he
sistance against US says.
aggression. Kong was made a lieutenant-
general with 176 others in 1955.
Xiong Guangkai Only eight of them are still alive
Former head of intel- today. Not one of his comrades
ligence before be- who joined the Red Army in 1931
coming deputy chief lived to see the founding of the
of staff of the PLA. People’s Republic. 1959
The PLA progressively picked
up new roles as constructors,
rescuers and peacekeepers. In
Zeng Weihua 1970, Premier Zhou Enlai asked
The newest of the Kong to take over as construc-
PLA’s nationwide tion chief for Henan and Hubei
role models, Zeng provinces and build bridges,
is communications railroads and tunnels, as well as
chief at Jinan Military make cars.
Area Command. The 2.3 million-strong PLA,
which remains the world’s largest 1984
army, has become more modern-
ized and is opening to new ideas
and promoting a balanced vision
of development.
file trooper to division commander It has also conducted many
at the end of the Long March just joint military exercises with
five years later. foreign countries in recent years.
When Japan launched an all- “The days are really getting
out offensive against China, the better, especially now that we’re
Communists formed a United advocating a scientific concept of
Front with the Kuomintang and development,” he says.
reduced its Red Army from three “That came from generations of 1999
army groups to three divisions. lessons from the Revolution.”
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 35

On Oct 1, 1949, Chairman Mao

Zedong, on Tian’anmen Rostrum,
Milestones ...
proclaims the founding of the
People’s Republic of China. He said:
“From now on, our nation will belong
to the community of the peace-
loving and freedom-loving nations
of the world, and work courageously
and industriously to foster its own
civilization and well-being, and at
the same time to promote world
peace and freedom. Ours will no
longer be a nation subject to insult
and humiliation.”
“WE HAVE STOOD UP.”
Some 300,000 people gather
at Tian’anmen Square for the
ceremony marking the birth of the
People’s Republic of China.

Chairman Mao Zedong (center) proclaims the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Tian’anmen Rostrum at 3 pm on Oct 1, 1949. Hou Bo

Hua Tianyou (right), professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, National People’s Congress deputies cheer as the People’s Republic of China’s first Constitution is
sculpts the May 4th Movement of 1919, a relief on the Monument to passed in Beijing on Sept 20, 1954. Xinhua
the People’s Heroes, in Beijing in June 1953. Mao Songyou

1 ■ The Marriage Law, the first law of the

People’s Republic, is enacted. It is
9 the first national law in the history of
the “Middle Kingdom” that specifies
5 that women and men enjoy equal
rights.
0 1
■ Land reform spreads across China.
■ The Chinese army of volunteers cross
the Yalu River on Oct 19, 1950, to join
the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) in fighting the US-led
invasion four months after the Korean
War broke out. During those four
months, the US sent warships into the
Taiwan Straits and bombed villages
on the China-DPRK border.
1 ■ On May 24, the Agreement of the
Central People’s Government and
9 the Local Government of Tibet on
Measures for the Peaceful Liberation
5 of Tibet (known as the 17-Article
Agreement) is signed. The agreement
enables Tibet to repel the imperialist
forces and realize peaceful liberation,
and provides basic conditions for
Tibet to join other parts of the country
in the drive for common progress and
development.
■ China stipulates policies to encourage
farmers to set up agricultural
cooperatives, which initially spur
enthusiasm among farmers. The
cooperatives become the prelude to
communes.
1 ■ The first case of official corruption
is exposed. Corrupt officials Liu
9 Qingshan and Zhang Zishan
had swindled money from various
5 construction projects and rationed
food and incurred losses of 2.1 billion
2 yuan of State funds amid the ongoing
war and reconstruction. They are
executed in February as a part of an
anti-corruption campaign.
1 ■ China drafts its first Five-Year
Plan, which projects the country’s
9 industrialization. It specifies 156
projects covering iron and steel,
5 automobile, airplane, shipping,
machinery, nuclear energy and
3 chemical industries.
■ The Korean War Armistice Agreement
is signed on July 27, seeking to
“ensure a complete cessation of
hostilities and of all acts of armed
force” on the Korean Peninsula.
1 ■ The First National People’s Congress,
New China’s legislature, convenes
9 its first session and approves the first
Constitution of the People’s Republic
5 of China.
4 ■ On April 19, Zhou Enlai, China’s
premier and foreign minister, heads
a 200-member delegation to attend
the Geneva Conference. The
conference is an important confab on
such international issues as peace in
Indochina and the Korean Peninsula.
■ Public-private partnership starts in
September after the release of a
relevant regulation.
36 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

Milestones ...

People cheer the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region A serf-turned-herder ties hada to the two cows he has been assigned in Nedong county, about
on Oct 1, 1955. Xinjiang was peacefully liberated on Sept 25, 1949. Xinhua 190 km east of Lhasa, Tibet on Aug 5, 1959. As part of the Democratic Reform that freed all
serfs, the local agricultural association distributed 226 livestock from former landlords to 37
peasant families. Xinhua

Workers at Wuxi Hongqi Iron and Steel Plant in Jiangsu province during the campaign of iron and steel production in 1959. Xiao Zhuang

1 ■ The script reform starts in 1 ■ The Changchun Automobile Plant,

February, simplifying the shape of
9 hundreds of Chinese characters.
5 ■ The CPC Central Committee
endorses family planning and
5 plans to promote it in March.
■ In April, Premier Zhou Enlai leads
a Chinese delegation to the Asian-
African Conference in Bandung,
Indonesia. Zhou proposes that
countries should seek common
ground while shelving differences
and that the Five Principles of
Peaceful Coexistence should
serve as the basis for friendly
relations and cooperation between
countries with different social
systems.
the first Chinese car manufacturer,
9 starts operation on July 13, with
the first heavy-duty truck rolling off
5 the assembly line.
6 7 ■ In October, the first bridge
■ In June, Chen Jingkai breaks
the weightlifting world record in
the men’s 56 kg category. Chen
set the first sports world record in
China’s history.
1 ■ The Anti-Rightists movement
“unjustifiably” persecutes
9 intellectuals, patriotic people and
Party cadres, “with unfortunate
5 consequences”.
crossing the Yangtze River, the
Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge,
opens to traffic, linking railways
between Beijing and Guangzhou.
1 ■ China starts the Great Leap
Forward and organizes villages
9 into “people’s communes” to push
for industrial development and
5 agricultural production.
8 ■ Public canteens become the main
venues to obtain food as “people’s
communes” takes dominance over
private life.
■ The first nuclear reactor is
completed in June.
■ The Chinese army of volunteers
fully withdraws from the
Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea by October.
1 ■ China defeats a rebellion staged
by Tibetan separatists in March.
9 Serfdom is abolished in Tibet.
5 ■ Natural disasters begin to hit
China and continue for three
9 years.
■ The Daqing Oil Field is discovered
in Heilongjiang province.
■ Mao Zedong steps down as State
chairman. Liu Shaoqi succeeds
him in the post.
■ Rong Guotuan wins the men’s
singles title during the 25th World
Table Tennis Championship. He is
the first Chinese to win the event.

■ The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous ■ Public-private partnerships are

region is established on Oct 1. formed nationwide.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 37

Milestones ...

Chinese mountaineers scale the summit of Mount Qomolangma,

also known as Mount Everest, via the north ridge on May 25, 1960.
Xinhua

Above: Model soldier Lei Feng escorts an elderly woman home in

Fushun, Liaoning province, in 1961. Ji Zeng

Right: The first Chinese atomic bomb is detonated on Oct 16, 1964
at the Lop Nor nuclear test site in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous
region. China thereby becomes the fifth nuclear power after the
United States, the USSR, United Kingdom and France. Xinhua

1 ■ Chinese mountaineers scale the

summit of Mount Qomolangma, also
9 known as Mount Everest, via the
north ridge on May 25.
6 6
■ The first China-made 10,000-ton
0 ocean liner sets sail in Shanghai.
■ The USSR withdraws all experts in
China and refuses to offer further
assistance as the two countries split
after ideological debates.
1 ■ China hosts the 26th World Table
Tennis Championships, the first
9 international sporting event to be held
in the country. Chinese ping-pong
players capture three titles.
1 ■ China starts to address problems
arising from the speedy organization
of communes.
1 ■ The first 10,000-ton hydraulic press
machine is made, making China one
9 of the few countries to build such
machinery at that time.
6 6
■ Recognizing the failure of the Great
2 Leap Forward, the government
begins a series of policy adjustments
to enable economic recovery after
three years of natural disasters.
■ China and India fight a brief border
war in October and November.
1 ■ Chinese
In March, Mao Zedong calls on all
to learn from Lei Feng, a
9 22-year-old soldier who devoted his
spare time to helping others, in the
wake of disasters. Lei is struck and
killed after directing a colleague to
3 back off a truck in 1962.
■ Premier Zhou Enlai announces that
China is self-sufficient in oil supplies.
1 ■ China and France establish
diplomatic relations on Jan 25.
9 France is the first Western power to
establish official ties with New China.
6
■ Quotations from Chairman Mao is
4 published in May.
■ Following the detonation of its first
atomic bomb on Oct 16, China
announces that it would not strike first
with an atomic bomb and that it would
not use such a weapon on countries
with no nuclear weapons.
38 OCTOBER 1, 2009
Milestones ...
1 ■ China sees an industrial and
agricultural boom, a sign of full
9 recovery from the economic failures
of 1958 to 1961.
6 6
5 6 ■ Earthquakes, including one
■ China abolishes its military rank
system in May.
■ China sends a total of 320,000 troops
to assist Vietnam in its war against
the US invasion starting in June.
People’s Republic of China
1 ■ China successfully launches its first
intermediate-range ballistic missile
9 on Jan 16. On Oct 27 it is also
successful in its first nuclear ballistic
missile test.
measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale,
hit Xingtai, just about 390 km south
of Beijing, in March. More than 8,000
people are killed.
■ The "cultural revolution" breaks
out, resulting in years of social
chaos, economic slowdown and the
displacement of millions of people.
60 1949-2009
1 ■ China detonates its first hydrogen
bomb on June 17.
1 ■ The second bridge spanning the
9 9
6 6 ■ “Workers’ propaganda teams”
7 8
■ At the height of chaos in October,
State authorities urge all students
to return to their schools and
classes resume from elementary to
postsecondary levels.
Yangtze River opens to traffic in
Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.
are dispatched to all educational
institutions. The teams’ “permanent
leadership” of schools is announced.
■ Based on false charges, State
Chairman Liu Shaoqi is expelled
from the Party and removed from
all posts.
■ The People’s Daily publishes Mao
Zedong’s directive for urban high
school graduates to go to the
countryside to receive “re-education”.
CHINA DAILY
Political factions gather to
learn Mao Zedong Thought
in Nanjing, Jiangsu province,
in 1968. They vow to work
towards the overall victory of
the “great proletarian cultural
revolution”. Xiao Zhuang
Far left: Youths travel to
work on new farmland
in Beidahuang, or “the
virgin island of the North”,
Heilongjiang province, in 1968.
Weng Naiqiang
Left: A Chinese soldier prepares
for battle against the invading
Soviet forces at Zhenbao Island
in Heilongjiang province in
March 1969. Xinhua
1 ■ Following sharp border clashes with
the USSR in March, China evaucates
9 most veteran leaders out of Beijing.
6 ■ Liu Shaoqi dies after having endured
harsh political persecution.
9
■ The Beijing subway is completed
on Oct 1.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 39

Milestones ...

Dongfanghong-I, China’s first satellite, is sent into orbit on April 24, Vice-foreign minister Qiao Guanhua (left) bursts into laughter at
1970. Xinhua
a United Nations General Assembly session in October 1971. The
People’s Republic of China was restored all its lawful rights in the
UN that month. Xinhua

Premier Zhou Enlai shakes hands with Richard Nixon, the first US president to visit the People’s Republic of China, in Beijing on Feb 21, 1972.
Nixon’s week-long visit ends decades of hostility between the two countries and sees the signing of the Shanghai Communique, a harbinger of the
development of Sino-US relations in the decades to come. Xinhua

1 ■On April 24, China successfully sends

its first satellite into orbit.
9 9
■The 1,085 km-long Chengdu-Kunming
7 Railway opens to traffic on July 1.
0 ■The Tanzania-Zambia Railway starts
construction in October.
■Construction of Gezhouba project,
the first large dam across the Yangtze
River, is given the go-ahead in
December.
1 ■ At the Chinese government’s
invitation, a US table tennis team
travels to China in April, kicking
off what is known as “ping-pong
7 diplomacy”. In July, Henry Kissinger,
then US national security advisor to
1 President Richard Nixon, makes
a secret trip to Beijing and meets
with Chairman Mao Zedong and
Premier Zhou Enlai. The historic trip
fosters dramatic changes in relations
between the two countries.
■ In October, the UN General Assembly
passes Resolution 2758, which restores
to the People’s Republic of China its
lawful rights in the United Nations. In
November, New China’s delegation
attends the UN General Assembly for
the first time since 1949. This spurs the
second wave of China’s expansion in its
relations with foreign countries.
■ On Sept 13, the plane carrying Lin
Biao, his wife and son crashes in
Mongolia after a failed coup d’etat.
1 ■ On Feb 21, 1972, US President
Richard Nixon arrives in Beijing to
9 begin his historic visit to China. The
visit starts the process of normalizing
7 relations between the two countries.
2 ■ In May, China’s legitimate rights are
subsequently restored in the World
Health Organization, the Inter-
Governmental Maritime Consultative
Organization and the International
Telecommunication Union.
■ Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei
Tanaka visits China in September.
On Sept 29, Chinese and Japanese
governments declare an end to the
abnormal state of affairs in bilateral
relations and establishment of
diplomatic relations.
1 ■ Deng Xiaoping is reinstated as vice-
premier to assist Premier Zhou Enlai
9 in handling State and military affairs.
7 ■ China resumes activities in the
United Nations Food and Agricultural
3 Organization in April.
■ In August, Lin Biao and principal
figures of his clique are expelled from
the Party.
■ Deng Xiaoping is appointed chief of
PLA General Staff in December. The
CPC Central Committee also decides
that he would be member of the
Political Bureau of the Party Central
Committee and of the Central Military
Commission.
1 ■ Deng Xiaoping attends the Sixth
Special Session of the UN General
9 Assembly in April and delivers a
speech on China’s basic views on the
7 international situation and principles
governing its foreign relations.
4
■ Mao Zedong brings up the issue of
Hong Kong’s return to China with
former UK Prime Minister Edward
Heath during the latter’s visit to
Hunan province. Mao says China will
resume sovereignty over Hong Kong
in 1997.
■ A huge army of terracotta warriors
is discovered in Xi’an, Shaanxi
province, at the purported site of the
mausoleum of China’s first emperor
Qinshihuang, who died in 210 BC.
40 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 41

Milestones ...

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE

Villagers cry as they learn the

news of Chairman Mao’s death CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE
in Juejiao township, Rudong A street performance in Shanyin county, Shanxi province,
county, Jiangsu province, on celebrates the crackdown on the “Gang of Four” in 1977. The
Sept 9, 1976. Hong Zuren “Gang of Four” was detained in October 1976.
Yang Zhongzhen
Lu Guilan is rescued 13 days
after a strong earthquake that Farmers in Xiaogang village, Fengyang county, Anhui
killed more than 240,000 people province, in 1978. Xiaogang is considered the pioneer of
in Tangshan, Hebei province, on China’s economic reform. Wang Qiang
July 28, 1976. Wang Wenlan
Female workers at the Shanghai Chemical Fiber Plant carry
People swarm to Tian’anmen
their children after completing examinations at the factory
Square in Beijing on April
clinic in 1981. The poster reads: “Family planning is good.”
5, 1976, the tomb-sweeping
Xinhua
festival, to commemorate
Premier Zhou Enlai, who died on
Jan 8. Wang Wenlan Soldiers wait for military parade to commence on Chang’an
Avenue in Beijing on Oct 1, 1984. Xinhua

1 ■ China’s largest hydroelectric power

station, Liujiaxia Hydropower Station on
9 Huanghe River in Gansu province, is
completed in February.
7 7 ■ On July 28, a severe earthquake
5 6
■ China announces a plan to achieve
modernization of industry, agriculture,
defense, science and technology by the
end of the 20th century.
■ Massive movement to criticize Deng
Xiaoping starts in November.
■ On Nov 26, China launches its first
recoverable satellite, a remote sensing
device. Three days later, the satellite
returns to Earth on schedule.
1 ■ Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De,
the three most important founders of the
9 People’s Republic, die.
measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale kills
242,000 residents in Tangshan of Hebei
province.
■ The “cultural revolution” is effectively
ended with the arrest of the “Gang of
Four” in October.
■ In April, Hua Guofeng becomes
Chairman of the CPC Central
Committee and the Central Military
Commission as well as Premier.
1 ■ The National College Entrance
Examination resumes. In November and
9 December, 5.7 million eager candidates
flock to makeshift exam centers across
7 the country to take the first university
entrance exam in more than a decade.
7 Some 270,000 students who pass the
two-day test are subsequently enrolled.
■ Hua Guofeng announces the
“successful end of the great proletarian
cultural revolution” in August.
1 ■ The Third Plenary Session of the 11th
CPC Central Committee convenes
9 in Beijing on Dec 18. It is widely
considered the pivotal juncture at which
7 the CPC launches its grand reform and
opening-up policies and switches its
8 focus to economic construction.
■ On Nov 24, 21 farmers in Xiaogang
village of Anhui province press their
fingerprints or seals on a contract that
divided community-owned farmland into
plots for individual households. Initially
attacked as a return to capitalism, the
controversial move triggers a wave
of changes leading to the system of
30-year leases and marks the beginning
of the historic process of opening up
and reform.
■ The CPC works to remove the label
of “rightists”. The work is completed in
November.
1 ■ The opening of four special economic
zones in Guangdong and Fujian is
9 approved. These zones enjoy special
flexibility in their economic ties with
7 other countries.
9 ■ Vice premier Deng Xiaoping visits the
US in late January and holds talks with
President Jimmy Carter.
■ Chinese frontier troops launch a
counterattack against Vietnamese
aggressors in Guangxi and Yunnan in
February, and withdraw from Vietnam a
month later. Clashes persist until 1992.
■ Pierre Cardin becomes the first
internationally renowned fashion
designer to visit China and stage
private catwalk shows in Beijing and
Shanghai. Time magazine says he is
made “exclusive consultant to China’s
embryonic fashion industry”.
■ The family planning policy is promoted,
encouraging most urban families to
have only one child.
1 ■ Hua Guofeng resigns post as premier
in August.
9 9
■ In May, first Chinese carrier rocket
8 reaches destination in the Pacific
Ocean.
0 1 ■ In June, Hua Guofeng resigns
■ Starting November, the “Gang of Four”,
or “Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary
clique”, is tried with the “Lin Biao
counter-revolutionary clique”. Both
“gangs” wielded significant power during
the “cultural revolution” (1966-76) and
are accused of causing disasters across
China during that decade.
1 ■ Inchairwoman
May, Soong Ching Ling, vice-
of the Standing Committee
of the National People’s Congress and
honorary president of the People’s
8 Republic of China, dies in Beijing.
as chairman of the CPC Central
Committee and the CPC Central
Committee Military Commission. Deng
Xiaoping officially becomes core of the
PRC’s second-generation leadership.
■ The Beijing subway, with 19 stations
and a length of 27.6 km, opens to the
public in September.
■ Deng Xiaoping proposes the idea of
“one country, two systems” as a solution
for the reunification of the country.
Taiwan, as a province or region of
PRC, would not be made to practise
socialism, current social system and
standard of living would be unchanged,
foreign capital left intact, and be allowed
to keep its own armed forces.
1 ■ By January, over 90 percent of rural
production brigades have introduced
9 multiple forms of responsibility systems.
8 ■ China launches a submarine-based
carrier rocket in October.
2 3
■ In August, China and the United States
issue joint communique on gradually
reducing and finally resolving the issue
of US arms sales to Taiwan.
■ British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher pays an official visit to
China during which leaders of the two
countries hold in-depth discussions on
the question of Hong Kong.
■ The new State Constitution is adopted.
1 ■ White Swan Hotel, the first five-star joint
venture hotel on the mainland, opens.
9 The bold move by Hong Kong tycoon
Henry Fok Ying-tung spurs the reform
8 and opening-up policy.
■ The CPC Central Committee and
the State Council issue a circular to
dismantle communes and reestablish
township governments in October.
1 ■ The Third Plenary Session of the 12th
CPC Central Committee endorses a
9 planned commodity economy, a sign
that China would open up and make
8 efforts to revitalize the economy.
4 ■ As the textile industry flourishes, cloth
is no longer a limited commodity and
coupons rationing a families’ cloth are
phased out.
■ The Chinese and British governments
sign a joint declaration, under which
Hong Kong will be restored to Chinese
sovereignty on July 1, 1997, when a
special administrative region will be
established there, leaving the social
system and lifestyle unchanged for 50
years.
■ Xu Haifeng becomes the first Chinese
to win an Olympic gold medal at the Los
Angeles Games. China earns 15 golds
and is fourth on the medals table.
42 OCTOBER 1, 2009
Milestones ...
Rock legend Cui Jian (right) poses at
Tian’anmen Square in Beijing in 1988.
Soldiers fight a huge fire on the Daxing’anling Mountain in Heilongjiang province in 1987. The fire covered 20 percent of China’s largest forest area, killed 211
people and burned down the homes of 50,000 people.
1 ■ Deng Xiaoping announces strategic
decision to cut China’s army by
9 1 million.
8 ■ The CPC Central Committee
approves reforming China’s scientific
5 research and education system.
■ Goals to set up a market-based
scientific development scheme and
a nine-year compulsory education
system are formulated.
People’s Republic of China
The first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Beijing opens for trial operation on Oct 10, 1987.
Zeng Nian
1 ■ The State Council launches reforms
for State-owned enterprises (SOEs)
9 by allowing multiple operating
methods.
8 8
■ The Shenyang Explosive Devices
6 Plant declares bankruptcy, the first
SOE to do so since 1949.
■ The central government maps out a
strategy to develop several hi-tech
programs, including biotechnology,
aviation, information technology,
automation and new materials.
■ Computer scientist Liu Chuanzhi and
10 colleagues found the first private
hi-tech company, which grows into
the multinational Lenovo.
60 1949-2009
1 ■ Kentucky Fried Chicken opens its first
outlet in Beijing. The first American
1 ■ China conducts its first test fire of
9 fast food chain to set foot on the
mainland, it quickly becomes one of
the most popular restaurant chains.
7 ■ Hu Yaobang resigns from his post as 8
general secretary of the CPC Central
Committee. Zhao Ziyang is elected
acting general secretary.
■ Deng Xiaoping reaffirms that after
things are settled according to the
policy of “one country, two systems”,
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will
be allowed to keep their present
systems for at least 50 years.
Qiao Tianfu
carrier rockets from underwater
9 nuclear-powered submarines, giving
the PLA the capability to launch long-
8 distance nuclear strikes.
■ Hainan province is established and
becomes China’s fifth and largest
special economic zone.
■ The military rank system is
reintroduced in the PLA.
■ The CPC Central Committee releases
several policies and measures for
economic readjustment following
double-digit inflation in the summer.
CHINA DAILY
Xinhua
1 ■ China normalizes all-round relations
with the Soviet Union in May.
9
■ China sustains severe political
8 turmoil during May and June. As
Deng Xiaoping says on June 9, “the
9 outbreak of this incident has given us
much food for thought, impelling us
to reflect soberly on the past and the
future.” He calls for steady progress
but also emphasizes that the country
should push ahead on reforms and
opening up and correct errors.
■ During the 4th session of the 13th
CPC Central Committee during June
23 and 24, Jiang Zemin is elected
general secretary of the CPC Central
Committee. He is elected Chairman
of the Central Military Commission
in November, after Deng Xiaoping
resigns from the post. Jiang thus
takes the helm of the third generation
leadership of the PRC.
CHINA DAILY
Milestones ...
Deng Xiaoping (center) at a botanic garden in Shenzhen of Guangdong province on Jan 22, 1992. Deng’s support for opening-up policies renewed China’s modernization drive.
1 ■ The Shenzhen Stock Exchange and
Shanghai Stock Exchange open in
9 December. The two establishments
are welcomed as potential engines to
9 drive China’s market economy. Stock
markets were previously reviled as a
0 symbol of capitalism.
■ The State Council allows the
Shanghai municipal government to
develop its Pudong area. Preferential
monetary policies are approved to
facilitate its development.
■ Beijing hosts the 11th Asian Games.
People’s Republic of China
1 ■ The Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant,
the first designed, built and installed
9 by China, starts operation.
9 9
1 2
60 1949-2009
1 ■ Deng Xiaoping tours southern
China’s special economic zones and
9 shows support for the opening-up
policy by pressing for faster economic
reforms, thus renewing the country’s
modernization drive.
■All border clashes with Vietnam end.
OCTOBER 1, 2009 43
Far left: People flock to the
Shanghai Stock Exchange in
December 1990. It is one of
the first two stock exchanges,
previously reviled as a symbol
of capitalism, to open in China in
decades. Xinhua
Left: A view of the Qinshan
Nuclear Power Plant, the first
designed, built and installed by
China, in Zhejiang province in
1991. Xinhua
Jiang Shigao
1 ■ Chinese homes bid goodbye to ration
coupons as China begins to loosen
1 ■ China becomes the 77th country
to connect to the Internet. The
9 control of most commodities prices, 9 commercialization of the Internet
following the growth of industrial starts in 1995 when Ding Lei quits his
9 and agricultural production. The 9 job to set up NetEase.com.
rationing system, in which coupons
3 were issued for products, began in 4
the 1950s when commodities were
scarce during the early days of the
People’s Republic of China.
■ Jiang Zemin is elected president of
the PRC.
■ The construction of the Three Gorges
Water Conservancy Project over the
Yangtze River starts in December.
44 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

Milestones ...

Top: Chinese President Jiang

Zemin (third from left) and
Prince Charles of the United
Kingdom (second from right) at
the handover ceremony of Hong
Kong on July 1, 1997. Xinhua

Far left: Residents unite to

combat the great flood in
Yueyang county of Hunan
province in 1998. Yang Shizhong

Left: People wander around

the ruins of St. Paul Church in
Macao on Dec 20, 1999 as China
reassumes sovereighty over the
region. Chan Kuong Chong

1 ■ China switches to a five-day

workweek starting on May 1 to
9 promote work efficiency, tourism and
consumption. This change greatly
9 boosts the country’s leisure time and
cultural and tourism development.
5 6 ■ The country becomes the world’s
■ Beijing hosts the United Nations’
Fourth World Conference on Women.
■ On Nov 16, the Beijing-Kowloon
Railway opens to traffic.
1 ■ China allows the yuan to be
convertible on the current account,
9 a significant move that allows the
free flow of money for imports and
9 exports.
largest steel producer.
1 ■ On Feb 19, Deng Xiaoping, the
chief architect of China’s economic
9 reform and socialist modernization,
dies at 93.
9 9
■ The 15th National Congress of the
7 CPC in September announces plans
to reform, sell, merge or eliminate a
vast number of SOEs.
■ Under the policy of “one country, two
systems”, China resumes sovereignty
over Hong Kong on July 1, ending
more than 150 years of British
control.
1 ■ Most of the country suffers severe
floods, with Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei,
9 Heilongjia and Jilin provinces and
Inner Mongolia sustaining heavy
losses. More than 3,000 people are
killed. Some 300,000 troops are
8 deployed for rescue and relief.
■ In the wake of the floods, the central
government issues a series of
new regulations banning logging
in mountains and hilly lands and
protecting the environment.
1 ■ On March 22, the State Council
stipulates 10 measures for the further
9 development of western China,
covering six provinces (Gansu,
9 Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan
and Yunnan), five autonomous
9 regions (Guangxi, Inner Mongolia,
Ningxia, Tibet and Xinjiang) and one
municipality (Chongqing).
■ On May 8, US-led NATO attacks
the Chinese embassy in the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia with missiles,
causing injuries and three deaths.
Chinese protest nationwide.

■ On Dec 20, China resumes

sovereignty over Macao, ending 442
years of Portuguese rule.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 45

Milestones ...

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE

Liu Qi (center), mayor of Beijing, is elated as Beijing wins the
right to host the 2008 Olympic Games in Moscow on July 13,
2001. Zhao Yingxin
Chinese men’s soccer team coach Bora Milutinovic (center)
celebrates as China books a first-ever place in the FIFA
World Cup finals by beating Oman 1-0 in Shenyang, Liaoning
province on Oct 7, 2001. Wu Zhiyi
Shi Guangsheng (right), Minister of Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation, raises a toast as China joins the WTO
on Nov 11, 2001. Xinhua
Astronaut Yang Liwei greets the world at the door of his
spaceship in Inner Mongolia on Oct 16, 2003 after completing
China’s first manned space mission. Xu Jingxing
A Beijing resident surnamed Liu takes his grandson on a ride
around Tian’anmen Square on May 1, 2003 at the height of the
SARS outbreak. Tian Baoxi

2 ■ China’s GDP surpasses $1 trillion,

making the country sixth largest in
0 economic volume that year.
0 0
0 1 ■ On April 1, a Chinese and a US plane
■ Cheng Kejie, a former vice-chairman
of the Standing Committee of the
National People’s Congress, is
executed in September for soliciting
and taking bribes. He is found to have
accepted, in collaboration with his
mistress, 41 million yuan (US$4.9
million) in bribes.
2 ■ On Nov 10, the Fourth Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade
0 Organization in Doha, Qatar,
approves China’s entry into the WTO
following 15 years of negotiation.
collide over the southern Chinese
Island of Hainan.
■ Beijing wins the right to host the 2008
Olympics and Paralympics at the
112nd Session of the International
Olympic Commitee in Moscow on
July 13.
■ China’s men’s soccer team
books a first-ever place for the
FIFA World Cup finals by beating
Oman 1-0 in Shenyang, Liaoning
province, on Oct 7.
2 ■ Yang Yang wins China’s first gold
medal in the Winter Olympic Games
0 in Salt Lake City, US, in February.
0 0
2 3
■ In November, the 16th National
Congress of the CPC proposes the
concept of building a well-off society
— both materially and socially —
as the goal of China’s accelerated
growth and bid to steadily lift living
standards.
■ Hu Jintao is elected general
secretary of the CPC Central
Committee.
2 ■ Severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) is first reported in China
0 in February. The epidemic spread
worldwide, killing 774 people and
infecting 8,098. Nearly 350 people
are killed in China, the hardest
hit country. The incident prompts
China to start serious efforts to
establish basic medical care systems
for urbanites and new medicare
cooperatives for rural people.
■ On Oct 15, China launches the
Shenzhou V spaceship with astronaut
Yang Liwei aboard. China becomes
the third country to launch a human
into space after Russia and the US.
2 ■ The State Council decides to reform
debt-laden State-owned commercial
0 banks (SOCBs) by allocating
$45 billion of the nation’s foreign
0 exchange reserves to supplement the
capital of two pilot SOCBs — Bank of
4 China and China Construction Bank.
The same year, the two pilot banks
are transformed into State-controlled
joint-stock commercial banks. This
proves a valuable experience for
subsequent banking reform in China
and is followed by other SOCBs.
■ On March 14, the Second Session of
the 10th National People’s Congress
adopts the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution, which mandates that
“citizens’ legitimate private property
shall not be violated” and “the State
respects and protects human rights”.
The amendment later expands in
scope and has a profound influence
on China’s economic reform.
46 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

Milestones

Top: President Hu Jintao helps soldiers with relief materials in Guilin,

Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, in early Feb 2008, at the height
of a nationwide snowstorm. Xinhua
Above: A local resident walks in Yingxiu township of Wenchuan
county, Sichuan province, on May 14, 2008. Wenchuan was the
epicenter of a 8.0-magnitude earthquake two days earlier. Zhou Chao
Right: Gymnast Jiang Yuyuan during the preliminary round of
gynmastics at the Beijing Olympics on Aug 10, 2008. Guan Xin

2 ■ The Standing Committee of the

10th National People’s Congress
0 approves a draft regulation to abolish
agricultural taxes, making history of a
0 levy system thousands of years old.
5 ■ The Shenzhou VI spacecraft,
China’s second manned spacecraft,
lands safely in north China’s Inner
Mongolian grasslands on Oct 17
after a five-day flight by astronauts
Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng. The
successful mission of Shenzhou VI
represents significant progress in
China’s space exploration.
■ From April 26 to May 3, 2005,
Lien Chan, chairman of Taiwan’s
Kuomintang, leads a delegation to the
mainland. It is the first time he has
set foot on the mainland since 1949.
Relations between the two sides have
improved steadily ever since.
2 ■ On May 20, 2006, the 2,309-m
(7,575-ft) long Three Gorges Dam,
0 the world’s largest hydroelectric
project, is completed.
0 0
6 7 ■ China’s first moon probe, Chang’e-I,
■ The Qinghai-Tibet railway is put into
operation on July 1. Some 1,000 km
of the tracks sit 4,000 m above sea
level. The railway connects Tibet with
the heartland and plays an important
role in boosting the local economy.
2 ■ China’s landmark property law, which
grants equal protection to both State
0 and private property, is approved by
the 10th National People’s Congress
and takes effect on Oct 1.
takes off on Oct 24. It marks another
milestone in China’s space program
after satellites and manned space
flights. Chang’e-I is the first step in
China’s three-stage moon mission.
■Yu Youjun, governor of the coal-rich
Shanxi province, resigns after a
forced slave-labor scandal involving
illegally-run brick kilns and mines.
2 ■ Asupporters
riot instigated by overseas
of “Tibet independence”
2 ■ Apackage
4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus
helps ensure a steady
0 breaks out in Lhasa in March. The 0 growth rate for China, which remains
rioters killed 18 civilians, injured one of the least-hit major economies
0 382 others and burned down 120 0 amid the financial crisis.
residences, 20 buildings and 80 cars.
8 9 ■ Riots in early July leave almost 200
■ The Sichuan Earthquake on May 12 people dead and more than 1,700
leaves more than 87,000 people dead injured in Urumqi, capital city of the
or missing and millions homeless. Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
■ On Aug 8, the 29th Olympic Games ■ At a UN General Assembly in late
open with a spectacular gala show September, President Hu Jintao
in Beijing. China grabs 100 medals pledges to curb China’s carbon
and tops the gold medal tally with a dioxide emissions by a “notable
haul of 51. margin” by 2020 from its 2005 levels.
■ On Sept 27, Chinese astronaut Zhai
Zhigang conducts China’s first extra-
vehicular activity in space. China
becomes the third country to conduct
a spacewalk after Russia and the US.
■ The CPC Central Committee allows
farmers to lease or transfer land-use
rights for the first time in decades to
boost income in the countryside.

■ Direct cross-Straits postal and

transport links are launched on
Dec 15.
CHINA DAILY OCTOBER 1, 2009 47

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48 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949 Party perspective
The Chiang Kai-shek
portrait overlooking z The “cultural revolution,” which
Tian’anmen Square is
replaced first by paral- One man recalls his lasted from May 1966 to October
1976, was responsible for the most
lel portraits of Mao
Zedong and Zhu De
revolutionary fervor severe setback and the heaviest
losses suffered by the Party, the
and, eventually, a por- to Lin Jinghua State and the people since the
trait of Mao himself.

REDREDUX
founding of the People’s Republic.
It was initiated and led by Com-
1959 rade Mao Zedong.
Mao resigns as State z His principal theses were that
Chairman. Liu Shaoqi many representatives of the bour-
succeeds to the post. geoisie and counter-revolutionary
revisionists had sneaked into the
1962–65 Party, the government, the army,
Mao sees Liu’s ad- and cultural circles, and that the
ministering of state leadership in a fairly large majority
affairs as revisionist of organizations and departments
and uses his personal was no longer in the hands of
prestige to counter it. Marxists and the people; that
Party-persons in power taking
1966–69 the capitalist road had formed a
The entire bureaucra- bourgeois headquarters inside
cy is almost wiped out the Central Committee, which
by millions of militant pursued a revisionist political and
Red Guards claiming organizational line and had agents
loyalty to Mao. Social in all provinces, municipalities and
order is halted as autonomous regions, as well as in
sects of militants take all central departments; that since
control. Worship of the forms of struggle adopted in
Mao reaches its peak the past had not been able to solve
and becomes an in- this problem, the power usurped
strument of control. by the capitalist roaders could be
recaptured only by carrying out a
1969–76 great cultural revolution, by openly
The worship diminish- and fully mobilizing the broad
Wang Shuibo is one of many Chinese people who spent their childhood amid the revolutionary period.
es to a certain level as masses from the bottom up to
Gao Yuan
order resumes amid expose these sinister phenomena;

M
occasional chaos.
y childhood dream was
to meet Chairman Mao,
1976
says Chinese Canadian
The “Gang of Four” is
Wang Shuibo, now 48.
arrested after Mao’s
“Many people of my generation
death.
at that time loved Mao more than
our parents.”
1977
Wang was only six years old
Chinese leader Hua
when the “cultural revolution”
Guofeng announces
(1966-76) started and he learned
the “successful end”
of the late leader in brief docu-
of “China’s first prole-
mentaries.
tarian cultural revolu-
“We all believed that Mao would
tion” in March.
never die, that he was always
right and never made any mis-
1978
takes,” Wang says.
Mao’s observation
“I did not even celebrate my
of class struggle is
birthday for several years after
called off.
Mao’s death because it was only
two days after his passing on Sept
1979
9, 1976 … it was too close.
Deng Xiaoping first
“But when I finally got to meet
refers to the “cul-
him, Mao was no longer great. He
tural revolution” as
was only an old man lying in that
“10 years of turmoil”
crystal coffin.”
in March but refrains
The experience shattered his
from criticizing Mao’s
“childhood illusion” and since
effort in the project.
then, Wang has been searching
for something to fill the void.
1980s
Wang is just one of many
A resolution is re-
Chinese people who spent their
leased in 1981 to
early childhood amid the fervor of
officially denounce
the revolutionary Mao period.
worship of Mao and
As a teenager, Wang himself
his mistakes.
wanted to be a revolutionary
artist. That aspiration took him
1993 – 2003
to Canada when he was 30 and
Grassroots worship of
he has since extended that to
Mao revives in 1993
filmmaking, although he has con-
and 2003, the 100th
tinued to use pencils and paint
and 110th anniversary
brushes in his animated films.
of Mao’s birth. Presi-
His first film Sunrise Over
dent Hu Jintao says
Tian’anmen Square even netted
in 2003 that the Party
an Oscar nomination in 1999.
will “always hold high
In the animated autobiographi-
the great banner of
cal documentary, Wang spoke
Mao Zedong Thought
about his “Red Dream” in the first
at any time and under
half before moving on to the social
any instance”.
changes in the country during its
KEYFIGURES army in 1980. He was enrolled
at the prestigious China Central
Nie Yuanzi Academy of Fine Arts, majoring
Former deputy chief in comic books and illustration.
of the Beijing Revo- During his four-year course he
lutionary Committee, never stopped sketching; and his
the capital’s acting works were published in various
administrative body. picture-stories.
Received by Mao Ze- In 1985, he became an assis-
dong on Tian’anmen tant professor at the academy but
Rostrum in 1966. never gave up his dream.
Spent years in prison His opportunity came four
and, at 88, lives in years later when he was accepted
Beijing. into the graduate program in art
education at Concordia Universi-
Kuai Dafu ty in Montreal, Canada. There, he
Most famous for the was introduced to Frederic Back,
“struggle” against one of the most famous anima-
then State Chairman tion artists in the world and also
Liu Shaoqi’s wife an environment enthusiast.
Wang Guangmei. Wang became an assistant to
Stripped from power Back for the short animated film
by Mao in 1968 for The Mighty River, focusing on en-
the violence, and was vironmental protection. He spent
sentenced to 17 years three years drawing more than
in prison in 1983. 200,000 sketches and the film
Now lives in Shen- was nominated for an Academy
zhen, Guangdong. Award in 1994, among other ac-
colades. Wang, at that time, was
Tan Houlan
already an art designer at the
Ex-leader of Red
Canada Broadcasting Corpora-
Guards at Beijing
tion in Montreal and could have
Normal University
settled for a very comfortable life.
who destroyed relics
But he gave it all up.
at Confucius’ birth-
“I wanted to make my own film,”
place. Stayed free of
Wang says.
charges and died of
He spent one year finishing
cancer in 1982.
Sunrise, also his first animated
man who has come full circle. film, after he moved to Canada.
He was born in Jinan, Shan- He is now planning a feature
dong province and his grandfather titled Floating Dreams (Fu Meng).
and parents were all in the army. “It’s a film about the journey of
Wang also joined the army my generation — from the ‘Red
when he was 16, becoming an Dream’ to the ‘American Dream’
army artist and creating posters now,” he says.
and stage settings. “For as long as I can remember,
“Screening movies was one of ‘revolution’ has been the word most
the army’s most important enter- important to me. To become a rev-
tainment activities,” he says. olutionary artist was my childhood
and that the “cultural revolution”
was in fact a great political revo-
lution in which one class would
overthrow another, a revolution
that would have to be waged time
and again.
z The history of the “cultural revolu-
tion” proved that Comrade Mao
Zedong’s principal theses for
initiating this revolution conformed
neither to Marxism-Leninism nor to
Chinese reality. They represent an
entirely erroneous appraisal of the
prevailing class relations and politi-
cal situation in the Party and state.
z Practice has shown that the
“cultural revolution” did not in fact
constitute a revolution or social
progress in any sense, nor could it
possibly have done so.
z Comrade Mao Zedong’s personal
leadership characterized by “Left”
errors took the place of the col-
lective leadership of the Central
Committee, and the cult of Com-
rade Mao Zedong was frenziedly
pushed to an extreme.
z Chief responsibility for the grave
“Left” error of the “cultural revolu-
tion,” comprehensive in magnitude
and protracted in duration, does
indeed lie with Comrade Mao Ze-
dong. But after all it was the error
of a great proletarian revolutionary.
z In his later years, he still remained
alert to safeguarding the security
of the country, stood up to the
pressure of the social-imperialists,
pursued a correct foreign policy,
firmly supported the just struggles
of all peoples, outlined the correct
strategy of the three worlds and
advanced the important principle
that China would never seek he-
gemony.
Source: The Resolution on Certain Questions
in the History of Our Party Since the Found-
ing of the People’s Republic of China, June
27, 1981

reform and opening up. Wang decided to enter college dream and this dream continues
Wang’s own story is one of a after being discharged from the to be with me to this day.”
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 49

LOOKINGGLASS
Letting real-time
voices do the work
A recent announcement by Facebook in
the United States said that more than 85
of the top 100 US advertisers advertise on
its site. I would assume that the situation
in China is similar.
Nearly every digital campaign these
days has a component on one of the
major social networks in China including
Xiaonei (now RenRen), Kaixin or Tencent.
These major players have seen astronom-
ical increases in their user figures over the
past 18 months and have severely shaken
up the digital media landscape.
It is all in the numbers. With the mas-
sive rise in eyeballs, social networks have
become a significant marketing channel
that offers the ability to reach consumers
at a very reasonable cost. They also en-
able brands to engage their audiences
and to connect like-minded people. The
power of social media is the amplifica-
tion of consumer voices and the ability
to spread news and content in ways that
were never possible before.
We’re now talking about real-time
marketing.
Brands today are increasingly playing
the role of conversation starters and then
letting consumers do the rest.
Cheng Binghao’s social networking site has more than 40 million users and 1 billion daily page views. Zhang Wei Among all the news about the rapid rise
in users of SNS sites, a more interesting
observation is the fundamental change

HEARTYFUN
that social networks drive in the way con-
sumers communicate, receive and share
information. This in turn has a significant
impact on brand marketing.
Brands now need to be social — and
Chinese social networking sites are just getting accept the fact that the balance of power
warmed up, as Chen Ziyan and Liu Baijia discover has finally shifted entirely to consumers.
Today’s social consumers will not accept
being bombarded with advertising mes-
sages. They have become much more

W
hen Cheng Binghao quit as service (SNS) websites recording more vocal and involved with those brands that
head of technology at Chinese than 100 million unique visitors a week. STARCAST provide them with content and an associa-
media group Sina Corp at the These online users spent 53.5 million Ma Huateng tion with a higher ideal that resonates with
end of 2007, he suffered from severely hours on the sites in more than two Founder of Tencent Com- them. Brands today need to create advo-
sore eyes and could not see properly. months. puter System, establish- cates and supporters and can no longer
More importantly, he was not having There are now almost 10,000 SNS ing the major QQ online see consumers as a pure demographic
any fun. websites in China, following the suc- community. that can be marketed to.
Cheng had been leading a team for cesses of websites like Facebook and Opening up to consumers certainly
two years developing a search engine. Kaixin001. requires a leap of faith for many market-
But top management of Sina’s web “Kaixin001 is a milestone in the Chen Yizhou ers, but it also offers huge opportunities
portal told him the company would development of the SNS, with social CEO of Oak Pacific for bringing a brand into people’s lives and
instead be working with US-based media becoming a cultural and social Interactive, behind lead- to be a part of their lives. Social networks
search giant Google because “we phenomenon,” says Hans Yu, CEO of ing online platforms allow brands to engage with consumers
cannot beat it”. CR-Nielsen Greater China. like xiaonei.com and in ways that were never possible before.
“I did not have fun because I was too “Of course, without looking at Face- mop.com. At the same time, consumers are mak-
focused on an external object,” Cheng book, I would not have thought of ing brands “their” brands and providing
says. starting Kaixin001,” Cheng says. Pang Shengdong
marketers with a near real-time sounding
So when Cheng recovered and Kaixin001 started with some game Successfully ran a number
board for what consumers think and feel.
started his own social networking functions similar to Facebook. of commercial websites.
website in March last year, he named it But Cheng believes that only with His 51.com has become Chris Reitermann is president of OgilvyOne China
Kaixin001.cn: kaixin in Chinese means Chinese characteristics can a website one of the largest SNS and Ogilvy & Mather Group Shanghai.
both “open the heart” and “have fun”. win the hearts of users in China. here.
Cheng’s site, which he runs from an While social websites in the United Wang Xing
office in western Beijing with 70 em- States help strangers meet and expand Founder of Hainei.com,
ployees, reported more than 40 million their networking circles, SNS in China which is one of the fastest
users and more than 1 billion daily are mainly based on real-life relation- growing SNS for Chinese
page views in August. ships — the web is a tool to strengthen working adults.
At the same time, recent figures from their relations.
market research firm CR-Nielsen have Cheng says the explosive growth of
found the country’s social networking his company comes from the desire of
white-collar employees and students, at an electronics company in Shanghai,
Snapshot especially young people, to have fun
amid mounting pressure and loneliness
finally paid about 100,000 yuan to buy
himself a real Chevrolet.
350 Internet population 338 in an increasingly commercial society. Wang confesses that his wins had
Source: China Internet Networking Center, July, 2009

unit: in millions With a large user base and rapid convinced him that a real red Chevrolet
300
253 growth, many SNS websites in China could bring him more luck.
250
including Kaixin001 have also stepped “I hope I can get the same kind of fun massage services.
200 up the search for revenue. in real life,” Wang says. Still, in spite of all the success, Cheng
162 To that effect, Chinese SNS websites Similarly, 5 million people reportedly says revenues of Kaixin001 “are still at a
150
123 target users through embedded ads. bought real ice cream products for a very small scale of several million yuan”.
100 One of Cheng’s online users, Wang code they could use in a game called His focus is still on “growing the
50 Rui, recently beat his rivals again in Special Treatment on Kaixin001 — so number of users and their loyalty” to his
an online rally with a team of six red that they could offer virtual treats to site.
0
2006 2007 2008 2009 Chevrolet cars. their friends, such as sending him or “Only when our users and customers
Graphic by Tian Chi Wang Rui, a 27-year-old technician her to a Hawaii beach and getting local are happy can we really be happy.”
50 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949
The newly set up cen-
trally planned system
GIVINGBACK
focuses on citizen More businesses here are fulfilling their
welfare.
responsibilities to society, Andrew Moody finds
1950s

State-owned enter-
prises have wide
responsibilities for
employees, including
providing education
for their children.
1990s
Nike and other com-
panies demand that
China suppliers adopt
CSR attitudes.
2001
China joins the WTO
and companies are
required by buyers
to meet CSR interna-
tional kite mark.
2006
The Chinese govern-
ment signals it wants
companies to em-
brace CSR to create
harmonious society.
2008
CSR guidelines
introduced for State-
owned enterprises.
Snapshot
Chinese companies with highest 2008 world CSR ranking
Rank
55 State Grid Corporation of China
China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec)
84
PetroChina Company Limited (PetroChina)
87
C
hen Guangbiao is one of
China’s new generation of
entrepreneurs who takes
corporate social responsibility
(CSR) seriously.
The 41-year-old, who is China’s
406th wealthiest business person
with a personal fortune worth 2
billion yuan, had given more than
600 million yuan to charity by the
end of last year.
His company, Jiangsu
Huangpu Renewable Resources
Utilization Co Ltd, a recycling
business which he set up in
1998, sets aside 30 percent of its
turnover for charity every year.
“Chinese entrepreneurs have
become much more aware of the
importance of giving something
back to society,” he says.
“If you have a cup of water,
you drink it yourself; if you have
a bucket of water, you have it in
your home for your family.
“But if you have a river, you
have a responsibility to share it
with other people.”
Corporate social responsibility Chen Guangbiao, China’s 406th richest business person, believes in giving back to society. Du Lianyi
is not a new concept in China.
Following the birth of New China
in 1949, the ethos of the cen- rights and the pollution missions the standard suddenly found China. AmCham-China, which
trally planned economy was for from manufacturing processes. themselves at a competitive dis- has 1,200 members, spelled out
companies to supply goods and “The concept of corporate social advantage compared to those its commitment in a book, Part-
services for the benefit of society responsibility has been around in in the domestic market and a nering in Progress, in 2006. It also
as whole. the West for the past 200 years, if number of international markets, donated more than $100 million
State-owned enterprises also you think of the early industrial who did not. in money, goods and services to
had a wider responsibility toward philanthropists,” Chen says. The government in recent years last year’s quake victims.
their employees and provided in “In China, it has only been in has been keen to give clear signals John Watkins, chairman
many cases schools, accommoda- the last 20 years that people have that it wants China to take a lead of AmCham-China, says his
tion and food. been aware of the concept. I think on CSR issues. members are committed to being
The modern, Western concept initially the main aim of the new In a landmark speech to a good corporate citizens.
of CSR was largely imported into entrepreneurs in China was to major CSR conference in Beijing “Our members call China home
China in the late 1990s. make money, but now there is in 2006, Liao Xiaoqi, former and the chamber is committed
Major international brands much more of a focus on envi- vice-minister in the Ministry of to giving back to the Chinese
like Nike and Adidas wanted to ronmental protection and other Commerce, signaled he wanted to community. We make a positive
conduct social audits of their issues.” see corporations play their part in impact in the community on a
supply chains and became inter- A big turning point in terms of creating a harmonious society. regular basis,” he says.
ested in such issues as workers’ China taking CSR issues on board There is still progress to be Chen, who is a member of
was the country joining the World made. In its International Survey the National Committee of the
Trade Organization in 2001. of Corporate Responsibility Re- Chinese People’s Political Consul-
This meant Chinese compa- porting last year, international tative Conference, the country’s
nies that wished to trade with businesses advisers KPMG found top political advisory body, be-
many international companies 88 percent of Japanese firms, lieves there is real momentum
Score had to adopt international kite 84 percent of UK ones and 73 behind CSR in China now.
45.9 mark standards, such as the SA percent of those in the United “I think the drive is much
8000, set by the international States produce stand-alone CSR stronger here now than it is in
body Social Accountability Inter- reports. Estimates suggest the the United States. We need to
30.3
national. equivalent figure in China is build on that and make CSR a top
This resulted in a difficult between 20 and 30 percent. priority for us all,” he says.
29.1 period for many Chinese com- Certainly, CSR has become a Additional reporting by Wang
Source: Fortune magazine Graphic by Tian Chi panies. Those who embraced major issue for foreign firms in Bo

LOOKINGGLASS
Creating a harmonious society
The development of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) in
China in recent years has been
remarkable.
It has moved from being just a
labor issue to being a much more
comprehensive concept.
The Chinese government sees
CSR as a central force to creating
a more harmonious society.
President Hu Jintao himself has
said businesses should incorpo-
rate social responsibility into their
strategy.
As a result of concerted efforts
by government agencies, the
number of sustainability reports
produced by Chinese enterprises
has hit record levels.
An increasing number of pri-
vately owned enterprises have
also started reporting their CSR
practices.
Concepts of CSR are not new
to China. From the outset of New
China in 1949, companies in a
centrally planned economy were
supplying goods to benefit society
at large.
State-owned enterprises also
used to provide wider employee
benefits, such as schools.
The modern Western concept
of CSR was largely imported to
China by multinationals such as
Nike wanting to take greater con-
trol of their supply chain in the late
1990s.
Joining the World Trade Or-
ganization in 2001 proved a big have begun to release their reports
catalyst of change with companies
being required to meet the interna-
tional kite mark standard.
The government has been
instrumental in changing attitudes are creating history
about CSR here.
As a result, there is now a great-
er number of Chinese companies
producing CSR reports than for- Dr Guo Peiyuan
eign multinationals. Sustainability consultancy SynTao,
reporting is developing in a prom- based in Beijing.
ising direction. More enterprises
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 51

TIMELINE
1949-1950
Charity organizations,
which total 4,172 as
of 1948, continue to
assist the new state’s
efforts in social aid.

1950
Charity work is con-
sidered “mind-numb-
ing instruments” of the
capitalist class. Char-
ity groups are taken
over by public institu-
tions and reformed.

1951-1953
Regulations are set
to form New China’s
charity network under
the ministries of inter-
nal and civil affairs.

1953-1956
All charity groups set
up before 1949 are
institutionalized or Educator Zhang Shengli from Hebei province is doing his part to expand children’s learning opportunities. Qi Peiran
dismantled as public-
private partnerships
are formed nationwide
in 1956.

1966-76
Charity organizations
under the government
FULFILLINGHOPE
are cancelled and the Charity at home continues to aid rural dreams, Wang Zhuoqiong finds
Ministry of Internal
Affairs is dismissed

W
hen Zhang Shengli com-
during the “cultural
pleted third grade at 10,
revolution”.
he was the most educated
person in his village in Laiyuan
1981
county of Hebei province.
The China Children
But his father was physically
and Teenagers’ Fund,
ill and his mother suffered from a
the first of its kind in
mental illness. They were too poor
decades, is set up.
to support his studies any longer.
Zhang had to cut firewood for two
1988
years to survive.
The Administrative
Sometimes, he begged for food
Regulations on Foun-
and money.
dations is passed.
One day, Zhang finally decided
to write to a local official who had
1999
visited his village.
China’s first donation
Zhang’s letter, which spoke of
law is enacted.
his longing to study, moved the
official and was passed on to the
2004
visiting researchers of the China
Charity work is written
Youth Development Foundation.
into the Communique
All this happened in 1989,
of the CPC Central
when international studies found
Committee for the first
that one in four dropouts world-
time in history.
wide was a Chinese student.
So to put more rural students
2008
back in schools, the founda-
Donations to the Si-
tion was considering a program
chuan earthquake hit
— Project Hope.
37.3 billion yuan.
Zhang’s letter of hope could not
have been more timely, because
he was subsequently chosen as
the country’s first beneficiary of
the foundation’s new project.
By last year, Project Hope
had raised 5.3 billion yuan in
19 years, supported 3.3 million
rural students and built 15,444
schools.
The project has been also
instrumental in inspiring the
surge in the country’s charity
organizations over the decades,
says Tu Meng, secretary-general
of the China Youth Development
Foundation.
Before the project, there was
no modern, organized charity for
education assistance in China.
The Red Cross Society of China
was the only charity organiza-
tion but it was known to only
offer medical help in disaster-hit
areas.
The youth foundation has also
boosted public participation in
charity work and volunteerism,
he says.
Zhang Shengli’s story itself is a
“true reflection of the core values
of Project Hope”, which is to help
one build capacity through one’s
own efforts.
Zhang made his way to
Shanghai Normal University,
fulfilling his dream of being a
STARCAST acting principal at Dongtuanbao
primary school.
Wang Zhenyao
Zhang could have stayed in the
Director of the city for a better-paying teaching
country’s first social
job. But he chose to read books to
welfare and charity
children in the countryside.
promotion depart-
The real poverty in China is
ment.
not in big cities like Shanghai or
Beijing, Zhang says. It is in the
Abulizi Nulaike remote villages, “where knowl-
Brought up an aban-
edge can make a difference and
doned and disabled
make a better person”.
child for 10 years.
“I wouldn’t have become what
I am now if not for Project Hope,”
Zhang says. “I want to help those
who are like me, so the torch of
Huang Rulun
love and care can be passed on.”
Received accolade
As the government now
of “China’s Top Phi- exempts school fees and provides
lanthropist”.
additional subsidies, children in
his village will no longer be forced
to drop out of school.
Zhang is already raising money
Niu Gensheng
for a better playground for his 400-
Chief of dairy giant
odd students to play basketball or
Mengniu and one of football, as well as a multimedia
the biggest Chinese
classroom for the children to
donors.
learn of the outside world outside
through the Internet.
But getting everyone on board
teacher. Upon graduating in is only the beginning.
1997, Zhang returned to his “I am thinking of telling my
hometown to teach and is now an stories in colleges to raise funds.”

LOOKINGGLASS
The art of investing
Charity organizations are represent-
ing those with the fewest resources
for access to the opportunities they
need to succeed in school and in life.
Philanthropy is an art of invest-
ment, for the simple reason that poor
people do not have a position in the
market. That is why few invest in
products for the most vulnerable.
There are two ways to manage
charity work. The first is short term.
For example, some charities help
those most in need by offering money
and materials. The second focuses
on the long-term effect by advocacy
and supporting work to build up a
endowment of $30.2 billion, would not
be enough to save the poor and sick
in Zimbabwe in a year. Offers of direct
move with urgency. We are in it for
the long haul.
Like in the business world, philan-
thropy also needs partnerships.
I have been working with the gov-
ernment and civil society by address-
ing key global health issues while
supporting the planning and develop-
ment of major foundation projects.
I am often asked why the founda-
tion chose China as one of its four
locations outside its headquarters in
Seattle, Washington. The answer is
simply that China is one of our special
tasks. We are here to work with the
Chinese government, with preference
in raising advocacy and communica-
tion rather than big investment.
China, with its economic develop-
ment at a crucial moment, its practic-
es and lessons learned, can be also
a good example for other developing
countries.
Dr Ray Yip is China director of the Bill & Me-
linda Gates Foundation.
52 OCTOBER 1, 2009
TIMELINE
1949
Martial law is imposed
in Taiwan in May,
months before Chi-
ang Kai-shek flees
there with 2 million
Kuomintang (KMT)
followers. Chiang
rules for decades with
hopes of “reclaiming”
the mainland.
1979
The mainland ends
the shelling of Dajin-
men, Xiaojinmen,
Dadam and other
islands, which began
in 1958, and pro-
poses cross-Straits
exchange of mail,
trade, air and shipping
services at an early
date.
1980s
Taiwan-born singer
Teresa Teng, along
with a batch of musi-
cians, actors and
actresses from the is-
land, rise to supreme
popularity across the
Chinese mainland.
1984
Taiwan singer Xi
Xiulan is invited to
sing at the mainland’s
Spring Festival Gala.
May 2000
The island’s superstar
A-mei is banned
from the mainland
after singing Taiwan’s
“national anthem” at
the inauguration of
pro-independence
“president” Chen
Shui-bian.
Jan 30, 2005
For the first time in 56
years, direct flights
carry passengers be-
tween Taiwan and the
Chinese mainland.
April 29, 2005
CPC chief Hu Jintao
meets KMT leader
Lien Chan.
2006
Taiwan television
show host Jacky Wu
is invited to host a
program for the main-
land’s China Central
Television.
2007
The mainland’s ban
on A-mei is lifted.
July 2009 Taiwan artiste
Minister of Culture Van Fan says
Cai Wu says cultural his next
authorities are making album will have
policies to encourage a harder edge.
greater access for Courtesy of
Taiwan’s entertain- Forward
ment business on the Management
mainland.
People’s Republic of China
COMINGTOGETHER
An emerging Taiwan star rides on Chinese
mainland magnetism, Jules Quartly finds
A
rt comes first for Van
Fan, an aboriginal
singer and actor from
the Amis tribe in Taiwan, who
made a splash with the hit
movie Cape No 7 in 2008.
Shot on a small budget and
with no big-name stars, it is set
on the island’s southern shores,
near Kenting, which is famous for
its annual Spring Scream music
festival.
Fan plays the lead role of a
struggling singer in Taipei who
decides to return home. After
various humorous adventures,
the film ends on a high note when
Fan’s character holds a wildly
successful concert on the beach
and finds love.
The beauty of the film, for Fan,
is that his life followed art and
the concert really did make him
famous.
“I can definitely say that before
Cape No 7 was screened my
career was in a bottleneck, life
was full of uncertainties and a
sense of powerlessness,” Van
says in an exchange of e-mails
from Canada, where he was on
tour.
“It really was similar to
the role I played in Cape
No 7.”
The film’s popular-
ity surprised everyone,
not least of all Fan, who
bet it would not make
more than NT$30 million
($914,000) and said if it
did, he would swim naked
60 1949-2009
in the sea.
Cape No 7 became Taiwan’s
highest grossing film ($13.8
million) after Titanic and won a
slew of prizes at film festivals,
including six Golden Horse
awards.
A man of his word, images of
Fan skinny-dipping and showing
off his butt cheeks to the world
were splashed across Asia’s en-
tertainment pages and went viral
on the Web.
Though Fan did have a follow-
ing after releasing four albums
and recording the hit song I
Believe, in 2003, Cape No 7 raised
his profile exponentially.
Naturally, he has been cashing
in and makes regular visits to the
Chinese mainland, Hong Kong
and Japan to sponsor products
and perform. Success has also
allowed him to be more than just
a manufactured record company
product.
“I was known as the ‘Prince
of Love Songs’, which was the
record company’s way of posi-
tioning me because the market at
that time preferred ballad
idols. But my preference
is rock ‘n’ roll.”
Fan said his next
album, due later
this year, will have
a harder edge and be
closer to his musical
roots. As for movies,
he is constantly being
offered new roles
but does not see any
STARCAST
Teresa Teng
The first popular
idol in decades for
millions of people
on the Chinese
mainland.
A-mei
Taiwan’s top singer
was banned for
seven years for
singing Taiwan’s
“national anthem”.
Jacky Wu
The TV entertain-
ment show host
enjoys fame among
youth on the main-
land.
Jay Chou
Best-known Taiwan
entertainment
icon for younger
generations of the
mainland.
distinction between being a musi-
cian or an actor.
“Actually, it’s not important
whether I see myself primarily as
an actor or singer. What’s impor-
tant is what I want to express or
convey. My feelings are the same,
I approach what I do as art.”
This focus on being an artist,
not just a product or teen icon,
also underpins his attitude
toward politics.
The releasing of Cape No
7 on the Chinese main-
land was delayed until
February 2009 because
it “overtly” showed the
influence of Japan,
which occupied Taiwan
between 1895 and 1945.
A slimmed-down version of
the film received less popu-
larity on the mainland.
“I think art is for art’s sake,
you can’t let politics and history
get involved too much. In the
world of art, we need freedom and
variety,” Fan says of the contro-
versy.
Speaking of the popularity that
Taiwan films and music have in
the Chinese-speaking world, he
said this is partly because of its
ability to absorb outside influ-
ences.
“Taiwan (and Hong Kong) often
quickly integrate Western and
Japanese influences. Then they
will incorporate Chinese people’s
culture before it becomes a new
thing. It doesn’t matter whether
its music, fashion or showbiz.”
He calls the Chinese mainland
a huge “magnet” that attracts
people from around the world.
But he says it is natural for
Chinese-speaking celebrities, in
particular, to focus on the main-
land because of its cultural and
economic clout.
He said the Chinese-speak-
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Island platform
It is ironic today that when one thinks
of Chinese music, or what is more
commonly known as Mandopop, Tai-
wan is the place that comes to mind
for most Asians.
Indeed, most Chinese music fans
have music from pop idols such as
Jay Chou, A-mei, Jolin Tsai and
Wang Lee Hom rather than artistes
from the Chinese mainland.
The irony here is that when one
looks back about a century, most
Chinese music had actually come out
of Shanghai. It was not until the late
1980s when the “New Taiwan Song”
era started that Taiwan music really
came to the forefront. Although Tai-
wan singer Teresa Teng was already
taking the rest of the world by storm,
she was, until the song movement,
about the only recognizable Taiwan
face on the mainland.
Singers such as the Blacklist Stu-
dio, Wu Bai, Emil Chau and Jimmy
Lin later started catching on all across
Asia, in particular on the mainland, in
Malaysia and Singapore.
While Hong Kong was still pretty
much charming Asians with their Four
Heavenly Kings in Jacky Cheung,
Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon
Lai, Taiwanese music was spread-
ing like wildfire. By the 1990s, it was
seen as the destination to be if you
wanted a Chinese singing career.
Singaporeans such as Kit Chan, Ste-
fanie Sun and Tanya Chua all made
their names because their success in
Taiwan. It was only about a decade
later that foreign musicians started
venturing into the Chinese mainland
to make their careers.
Although the Chinese mainland is
now often considered a key destina-
tion for all pop idol wannabes as a
market, there is little doubt that the
Taiwan music stars are still the most
influential. Just pop into any karaoke
and it will be the music of S.H.E.,
5566, Zhang Zheng Yue, MC Hotdog
or any of a multitudes of Taiwan sing-
ers that the mainland people follow.
Taiwan music is without doubt, one
of the region’s biggest exports today.
Edwin Yeo, a Singaporean, is a former
journalist and now works as a public relations
consultant.
ing “celebrity circle is united”
and cited the charitable response
of showbiz types to the Asian
tsunami, Sichuan earthquake and
“88” (the date typhoon Morakot
hit Taiwan) as examples of what
he calls “two shores, three places”
— meaning the mainland, Hong
Kong and Taiwan.
“We celebrities don’t differenti-
ate. We all get together and show
solidarity.”
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 53

TIMELINE
1949-1950s
Many Hong Kong
businesses are en-
CLOSESYNERGY
gaged in re-export Hong Kong stands to grow with confidence in the motherland, Joey Kwok finds
from the Chinese
mainland to other

I
t started in 1947, when he
countries. The textile
began importing foodstuff
industry is one of
like cinnamon and sesame
the most prominent
from the Guangxi region to Hong
industries in the city.
Kong, before exporting these
Hong Kong’s popula-
products to the United States.
tion also experiences
About four years later, Hong
rapid growth in the
Kong entrepreneur Fong Yun-
1950s because of the
wah’s Hip Shing Hong Group
influx of refugees and
had become the largest cin-
entrepreneurs from
namon exporter on the island,
the mainland.
benefiting from the city’s role as
an entrepot between the Chinese
1960s-1977
mainland and the West.
Overseas exports be-
As a witness to the economic
come a key economic
cooperation between the main-
driver for Hong Kong,
land and Hong Kong over the
accounting for 64 per-
past six decades, Fong, 83, be-
cent of the city’s GDP
lieves there is one crucial factor
in the 1970s. Hong
for businesses such as his own
Kong’s industry also
to succeed — confidence in the
begins to diversify
development of the country.
into clothing, electron-
“New China faced quite a dif-
ics, plastics and other
ficult time in the first 30 years of
labor-intensive manu-
its establishment,” Fong says.
facturing.
“Yet, I would say the first three
decades created a firm founda- Hong Kong entrepreneur Fong Yun-wah (seen here with his son David Fong) has been closely involved in
1978-1980s
tion for future development.” the country’s development. Joey Kwok
Economic coopera-
Now a philanthropist as well,
tion and integration
Fong says he is glad to have “As a Chinese, I wish for my STARCAST to invest in the mainland.
between the Chinese
witnessed the formative years motherland to be prosperous “When people saw that Fok had
mainland and Hong Fok Ying-tung
of the country as a Hong Kong and strong.” earned quite a lot from his hotel
Kong intensifies after Building and prop-
resident and celebrate its 60th The SAR’s future continues investment, Chinese entrepre-
the central govern- erty magnate who
anniversary together with the to be similarly tied to the main- neurs from Hong Kong, Taiwan,
ment announces the had many hotel
motherland. land’s. Southeast Asia, the US and
Open Door Policy in investments on the
The Hong Kong Special Admin- Hong Kong’s economy entered Europe were also interested in
1978. Encouraged by mainland.
istrative Region (SAR) has come a new era when the country wit- participating the mainland’s eco-
the central govern-
a long way in growing in tandem nessed rapid change following nomic development,” Fong says.
ment’s policy, Hong Lee Ka-shing
with the Chinese mainland. reform and opening up in the “In the last 30 years, the indus-
Kong enterprises start Richest man in
After the War of Resistance late 1970s. trial and commercial industry in
their first investments Hong Kong, worth
Against Japanese Aggression As the Chinese mainland Hong Kong, as well as overseas
on the mainland. an estimated $16.2
ended in 1945, the population gradually progressed in interna- Chinese enterprises, has con-
Financial services, billion.
in Hong Kong jumped to 2.36 tional trade and investment, its tributed a lot to expanding the
including real estate,
million in 1950, from 650,000. economic integration with Hong country’s foreign reserves,” he
banking and insur-
Seeing opportunities in the Kong also accelerated. said.
ance, begin to take Lee Shau-kee
city’s population explosion, Hip “The socialist economic system Hong Kong, as an international
the lead in the city’s Third richest man in
Shing Hong started to transform on the mainland was being city with a century of experience
economic growth. Hong Kong, worth
into a local property developer. merged with the capitalist one in in external trade, has been a
about $9 billion.
It became one of the leading Hong Kong,” Fong says. “very good platform for the main-
1990-1996 Dubbed Asia’s
property developers in the city in “At that time, the local in- land to step into the world”, Fong
Hong Kong busi- “Warren Buffett”.
the 1960s. dustrial and commercial sector says.
nesses start to move
Fong, together with tycoon thought the policy was innova- “In the early reform period, the
their labor-intensive Cheng Yu-tung
Fok Ying-tung and 66 other tive but also challenging.” mainland did not have any land
activities and factories Helped build one of
local property developers, sub- Any worries over policies were auctions or stock exchanges,” he
back to the main- Hong Kong’s larg-
sequently established the Real eased after the central govern- says.
land, while the city’s est jewelry chains,
Estate Developers Association of ment’s liaison office in Hong Fong hopes enterprises in the
economy gradually Chow Tai-Fook.
Hong Kong in 1965. Kong invited local tycoons to visit Hong Kong and Macao SAR can
transforms to com-
Fong’s company has since Beijing and Guangzhou, in the continue to gain confidence and
merce and services
been involved in the country’s early 1980s, Fong says. commitment to the country’s
from manufacturing.
development. “Central government officials development.
“Our company started build- had guaranteed our investment 1980s in the White Swan Hotel “We can build a prosperous
1997-present
ing schools and hospitals on the on the mainland would be secure in Guangzhou, touted as the first and harmonious country, with
Businesses and
mainland in the 1960s, as well and profitable,” he says. five-star hotel on the mainland, strong confidence between the
financial services
as donating money to youths To that effect, he says Fok had given significant encourage- mainland and the SARs strong,”
become the two most
living in poverty,” Fong says. Ying-tung’s investment in the ment to Hong Kong enterprises Fong says.
important growth
engines for Hong
Kong’s economy,
after the handover in LOOKINGGLASS
1997. Backed by the
prosperous economy
of the Chinese main-
Growing with a force
land, Hong Kong Great changes have taken place in China presence five years ago, Jebsen’s busi-
sustains its economic since the founding of the People’s Repub- ness in China has changed and grown in
growth despite the lic of China 60 years ago. line with the country’s economy.
Asian financial crisis From a closed economy, it has trans- Jebsen is proud to have been part of
in 1998, the SARS formed into a force to be reckoned with China’s amazing transition over the past
epidemic in 2003 and on the global economic stage. decades and we hope to continue to play
the global financial Hong Kong has been a vital link in this a role in the country’s continuing modern-
turmoil in 2008. development, both as a market for Chi- ization of its economy.
nese products in its own right, as well as
a conduit to the outside world. This role Helmuth Hennig is group managing director of
marketing and distribution organization Jebsen
was further enhanced after the handover premium brands from representative
Group.
in 1997 with the introduction of the Closer offices to a direct
54 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
Oct 1949
The 10th Panchen
CHANGINGLIVES LOOKINGGLASS

Focusing on
Lama writes to Chair-
man Mao Zedong
A former serf recalls the horrors of Old Tibet to Hu Yinan
and PLA chief Zhu the reality
De requesting Tibet’s
liberation. Western media suffer from severe
MAJORFIGURES “selection bias” — or worse — in its

A
s a servant to a senior
Feb 1950 coverage of Tibetan reality. It is not
lama in Tibet’s influential
The PLA’s 18th Corps 14th Dalai Lama Ngapoi Ngawang that there are no problems in Tibet or
Drepung Monastery, Yeshe
in southern Sichuan Lives in exile in Jigme in China. It is that generally only the
Lodro grew up believing his life
province is mobilized northern India and Leader of Tibetan problems, and sometimes even false-
would be short.
to Tibet. still welcomed by negotiators who hoods, are propagated in Western
“My mother told me that, as
serfs, all we owned were our the central govern- helped the region’s media.
Oct 1950 ment for any talks. peaceful liberation. A particularly regrettable misrep-
shadows and footprints. Every-
The PLA enters Qa- resentation of Tibetan reality was
thing else belonged to the lords,”
mdo in eastern Tibet. Western media depictions of the work
Yeshe says. 11th Panchen Yabshi Pan Rinzin-
“We had to wait for a better fate of Chinese police in ending the riots in
Nov 1950 Lama wangmo, or “Renji” the Tibetan capital of Lhasa last year.
in our next life.” Says he will devote Only child of the late
The 14th Dalai Lama, Chinese police actions at the
Yeshe is now 74, the same age himself to “the 10th Panchen Lama
16, assumes full politi- time were, given the severity of the
as the Dalai Lama, Old Tibet’s reunification of the who urges ethnic
cal power. violence which claimed 18 innocent
supreme leader. motherland”. unity.
The former serf was sent to the civilian lives, quite restrained. These
May 23, 1951 actions were widely misrepresented in
monastery at age 2. Being a monk
The 17-Article Agree- Western media, and by certain West-
then was considered a privilege;
ment keeps Tibet’s ern political figures, as a “crackdown”
ordinary followers had to pay but I could only take so many became a servant of an aristocrat,”
sociopolitical struc- or “repression” of Tibetan people.
heavy taxes to visit monasteries. beatings.” Yeshe says.
ture and frees it from Such claims ignored, however, the
Officials, aristocrats and powerful In 1954, when he finally learned “Even slave labor for a lord felt
international control. reality that the riots, and the deaths
lamas ran society, where serfdom of the 17-Article Agreement better than working in Drepung.”
remained until 1959. between the Central People’s Three years later, he joined the they caused, were not perpetrated by
September 1954 ordinary Tibetans; they were mainly
People were divided into three Government and the Local Gov- revolution and was assigned to
The Dalai Lama and the work of a minority of monks who
classes and nine ranks; Yeshe be- ernment of Tibet that had been study the Tibetan language for the
the Panchen Lama helped to burn down buildings result-
longed to the seventh in the lower signed three years before and led first time in the People’s Liberation
arrive in Beijing to at- ing in the deaths of ordinary people
class. There was no way he could to the region’s peaceful liberation, Army’s Tibetan Cadre School.
tend the First National living in Lhasa in a highly orches-
“work up” the ladder. he chose to escape. Soon after March 1959, when
People’s Congress. trated attempt to disrupt the Beijing
He was but one of more than The central government prom- the central government foiled an
10,000 monks at the Drepung, ised local authorities that no attempted armed rebellion by Olympics.
March 10, 1959 Tibetan people are, in reality,
which controlled 185 manors, 300 political reform would take place aristocrats and serfowners, Yeshe
Aristocrats and completely free to peacefully practice
major pastures, 16,000 herdsmen anytime soon. Still, the feudal became a member of the first
serfowners staged Buddhism, and a large proportion of
and 25,000 serfs. lords were afraid and kept the batch of 25 traffic police officers in
an armed rebellion them in fact do so.
“My biggest hope as a child was news from local people, who were Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autono-
against the central What is not permitted, and could
not to be beaten and scolded. But mostly illiterate and had no access mous region.
government. not be permitted by any responsible
it was futile,” he says. to radio. Tibet became the last place to
“I could deal with the scolding, “I fled the monastery and have abolished serfdom, when government, is the attempt to use vio-
March 17, 1959 lence, or subversion by a minority, to
Premier Zhou Enlai issued a
The Dalai Lama flees break up the country. This reality, and
decree of the State Council on
to India. not distorted and one-sided reporting,
Mach 28 of that year, dissolving
the region’s aristocratic govern- should be the focus when reporting
March 28, 1959 on Tibet.
ment and ordering the Preparatory
Tibet’s aristocratic
Committee for the Founding of the
government is dis- Eric Sommer is a
Tibet Autonomous Region to exer- Canadian teacher and
solved and steps for
cise local power. has taught at Beijing’s
the founding of the Chinese Academy of
Serfs, who composed about 95
Tibet autonomous re- Sciences Graduate
percent of Tibet’s 1.14 million
gion (TAR) are made. School.
population and possessed no
Serfdom is abolished.
more than 5 percent of the social
resources in Tibet, were freed once
1960
and for all.
The Tibetan “govern-
Yeshe has been a People’s
ment-in-exile”, set up a
Congress deputy for Lhasa’s
year earlier, moves to
Chengguan district for five years.
India’s Dharamshala.
He has moved to a beautifully dec-
orated home and proudly wears
Snapshot
Sept 1965
his cell phone on his ethnic shirt. Tibet: figures now and then
The TAR is established.
This March, he was invited to
1966
Beijing for the first time to share
1959 2007
recollections of his earlier years
Tibetan Red Guards
shut monasteries.
at a high-end seminar, which 1.29 2.84
commemorated the 50th anni- million Population million
versary of the Democratic Reform
1979
Tibet opens to foreign
that ended Tibetan serfdom. 35.5 Average 67
Yeshe made his speech at the years Life years
tourists.
seminar just meters away from Expectancy
the 11th Panchen Lama, who lis-
2006
tened calmly and later said Tibet
The world’s highest
has witnessed a “historic leap” in 95 % Illiteracy rate
4.76 %
railway opens, con-
the past half century. (ages 18 to 45)
necting Golmud of
Despite huge losses after last
Qinghai with Tibet’s
March’s Lhasa riot, one that led
capital Lhasa.
to the deaths of 18 civilians,
0 Highways
4,861
km km
Tibet’s GDP in 2008 was still
March 14, 2008
estimated at 39.2 billion yuan
A bloody riot breaks
43% Infant 0.66%
($5.7 billion), 65 times more
out in Lhasa, leading to
than that in 1959, says Qiangba live births Mortality live births
the deaths of 18 civil-
Puncog, chairman of the regional Rate
ians and huge losses.
government. Fixed-line and
Its per capita GDP amounted to
Jan 2009
more than 14,000 yuan ($2,048) 0 mobile
phonesub- 1.44
March 28 voted Serfs’ scribers million
Yeshe Lodro, 74, a former serf, was invited to Beijing in March to share in 2008 — 27 times more than 50
Emancipation Day. Graphic by Tian Chi
the suffering he endured under Old Tibet. Hu Yinan years ago.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 55

TIMELINE
1950-1960
China sends a total of
16,000 teachers, grad-
HOMINGIN
uates and interns to
the USSR and Eastern
More overseas Chinese are returning for the
European countries. same reasons they left, Wang Hongyi finds
1960s
Exchange programs
with the USSR are

I STARCAST
t is used to describe turtles that he spent a whole year before de-
halted after the Sino-
are born on shore, grow up at ciding to go out on his own.
Soviet split. Chen Zhangliang
sea and eventually head back “I am sort of traditional. All my
to land. One of the country’s education on management and in-
1972-1973
Haigui, or “returning sea turtle”, pioneers in genetic vestment is about avoiding risk,”
China starts to send engineering and
is also description of the flood of he says. “But once I make a deci-
a selected number of has been on top
overseas-educated Chinese who sion, I will never regret it.”
youths to study foreign advisory bodies.
are returning to their homeland So far, about one-third of the
languages in Western
and has become one of the most country’s 15,000 hotels have
countries, including the
popular terms in the media in joined his system. HUBS1 was
UK and the US. Yang Lan
recent years. also selected as the exclusive hotel
TV anchor who
Teddy Zhang is a Haigui and his reservation service provider for the
1978 became one of
story is typical of immigrants who 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. LOOKINGGLASS
China’s reform archi- China’s richest
succeeded overseas. The event is expected to attract
tect Deng Xiaoping business people.
Zhang graduated from Cornell 70 million visitors from more than
stresses importance
University’s school of hotel ad- 200 countries, which would make Where it is all
of sending students
to study abroad to ac-
ministration and holds an MBA
from the Wharton School. He Robin Li (Li Yan-
it the largest human gathering in
history.
happening
celerate the country’s
held various executive positions of hong) Still, like most other Haigui, “How many people from the Chinese
development and re-
major international hotel chains CEO of Baidu.com, Zhang experienced culture shock mainland can you think of who are
duce the gap between
but finally moved back to his one of the largest upon his return to his homeland running multimillion dollar companies
China and developed
birthplace of Shanghai. Chinese online — as much as when he landed in today in the US compared to here in
countries. Since then,
“As an emerging market, China search engines. a foreign land for the first time. China?”
the government has
is full of opportunities. The “It is difficult to make any quick This is my response when I was
continued to select out-
tourism and hospitality industry changes, but what I do now is asked the question. “Why are there
standing students for Peggy Yu (Yu Yu)
contributes to a great part to the influence the whole industry in so many people from the mainland
overseas study, mostly Founder and CEO
US economy. But in China, it is the country. On the contrary, if I looking to return to China these
to Western countries. of dangdang.com,
still at a low level,” he says. had chosen not to return, I would days?”
the world’s largest
Since 1978, when the country never be able to influence any- Frankly, there is no comparison
1985 Chinese language
first allowed students to go thing even if I do well in the US,” between the two.
China introduces online retailer.
abroad, more than 1.3 million he says. When I set up our office in Shang-
policy allowing self-
Chinese have reportedly gone Zhang’s efforts seem to be hai 10 years ago, going and staying
funded studies abroad.
overseas to seek better opportuni- making an impact. Earlier this overseas was the objective of every
Overseas universities
ties and futures. The trend was With more than two decades year, the industry named him “the person from the Chinese mainland
also start offering
such that when they left, they left of experience in the travel and most influential executive for its who could find a way to go abroad
scholarship to Chinese
for good. hotel sector, Zhang launched the China hotel online distribution”. and also afford to do it. Places like
students. Few students
But more overseas Chinese Shanghai-based HUBS1 Company “The country is now rapidly de- the US and Europe not only offered
return home after com-
are now returning for the same and introduced a new distribution veloping,” Zhang says. better career opportunities, but also
pleting their studies
reasons that they left. More than system for the hotel market in “Traveling back and forth a far better quality of life.
abroad. Most choose to
300,000 of people like Zhang China. The Web-based platform between China and the US, I The trade-offs were huge though.
work and stay overseas
have come back home, with half enables hotels to manage their notice that many of my friends in Chinese mainland professionals
due to the better living
of them starting their own busi- booking process in real time, with the West are now racing to get into overseas had to compete in less
conditions and oppor-
nesses, mostly in the hi-tech field, updates instantly reflected across China. familiar environments and perform in
tunities.
Ministry of Education figures all distribution channels. “I was fortunate to make my their second language. As a result,
show. The wave of returnees is But opportunity always comes decision before them, but oppor- rather than business and leadership
1990s
expected to grow by more than 10 with risk and Zhang, who consid- tunities always come for those roles, they were mainly directed into
More students head
percent in the next few years. ers himself to be risk averse, says who are prepared.” technical and engineering career
overseas along with
tracks. Going abroad also meant
economic development
separation, sometimes for many
and rise in incomes
years, from close relationships.
at home. Overseas
That has all changed. Although
education agencies
many still want to study or gain some
began to make their
work experience overseas, they do
mark. These agencies
not necessarily want to stay abroad.
later become the main
Here in China, returnees can lever-
channel for students
age and apply 100 percent of their
to study abroad. The
international training in a place that
government begins to
they know intimately. My recruit-
examine the quality of
ment firm sees the demand for their
education agencies to
backgrounds from many middle to
protect students’ rights.
senior management positions that
More students choose
we fill with them for our multinational
to return to China after
clients. To borrow an expression, it is
finishing their study
in China now where they can “be all
abroad due to the
you can be”.
country’s rapid devel-
On top of this, they can also pur-
opment.
sue success while being near family
and friends, and enjoying the quality
2008
of life that previously was only attain-
Over the past three de-
able overseas. So while money may
cades, about 1.4 million
not be the driving factor for every in-
people studied abroad
dividual from the Chinese mainland,
and 400,000 overseas
the chance for a better life certainly
students headed home.
is. Increasingly, from the perspective
In 2008 alone, 179,800
of career and quality of life, China is
people studied abroad
the place where they are able to best
and 69,300 returned
achieve that.
after graduation, in-
creasing 24.43 percent Larry Wang is CEO and founder of Wang & Li
and 55.95 percent Asia Resources, China’s “2008 Recruitment
Many of returnee Teddy Zhang’s friends are also racing to get back China. Gao Erqiang
year-on-year. Firm of the Year”.
56 OCTOBER 1, 2009
HOMEABROAD
An expat explains the changing attraction of New
China to Andrew Moody and Bao Wanxian
W
hen David G. Brooks
wanders about a
supermarket in
Shanghai, it seems a world
apart from his expatriate
life of more than 30 years
ago.
“I went to the supermar-
ket with my family during
the weekend and there
were stands offering a vast
selection of every book
imaginable from around
the world translated into
Chinese,” he says.
“There is a degree of open-
ness, not just with books
but also with movies and
the Internet, that would
have been unimaginable in
the 1970s.”
Brooks, a senior executive
with Coca-Cola in Shanghai,
first came to China in 1975
when everyone rode bicycles
and wore Mao suits. It was a
“sea of monochrome”.
He was the 13-year-old
son of a United States dip-
lomat who worked in the
new liaison office in Beijing
established after President
Nixon made his historic
visit to China in 1972.
Brooks came with his sister
and two younger brothers.
“Before we arrived we
were told that China was a
boring, fairly lonely place
and not a nice place to go.
But we found it was pleas-
antly not like that. People
everywhere rode their bikes
and children played in the
parks,” he says.
Brooks went to the No 55
Middle School in Dongzhi-
men, which was one of very
few schools that admitted
foreign students.
There were no pocket cal-
culators (ubiquitous then in
the West) and the students
STARCAST school encouraged children
to learn practical skills.
Rewi Alley “After the first day I was
New Zealand told to bring in a knife. In
writer completed America you weren’t allowed
over 60 volumes to carry knives but in China
of writings himself. it was a requirement to
Died in 1987 at 90. have a pocket knife.”
Brooks left after two years
Isabel Crook to continue his high school
Canadian anthro- education and went on to
pologist who is university in Wyoming,
a pioneer in the although he visited China
country’s English every Christmas and
education. summer since his father
had become consul general.
Joan Hinton He came back to China
Sister of lifelong full-time in 1985, working
China writer Wil- in Beijing for a law firm
liam Hinton, the doing translation work and
American nuclear foreign investment nego-
physicist helped tiations. After the country’s
develop the atom reform and opening up, he
bomb but refused was aware China was a dif-
to work on it after ferent place to work as an
the bombings of expat.
Hiroshima and “Changes were happen-
Nagasaki. Now ing fast. There were many
88, she has been more foreign companies in
doing agricultural Beijing and the world was
research for de- much more engaged with
cades in Beijing. China. You had China Daily
also, which didn’t exist in
used an abacus instead. 1975,” he says.
“I had a photo album about Brooks now lives in
the Apollo moon landings Shanghai with his Belgian
and my classmates thought wife Patricia Lambert, 47,
it was interesting because and their two children
they had never heard any- Nicolas, 16, and Oliver, 14.
thing about them … men His sister Susan Leary, 45,
who had been to the moon,” also runs a school in China.
he says. His parents, Thomas S.,
“China was operating in a 77, and Claire, 76, now
way that had not changed live on a ranch in Wyoming.
since the 1950s. There was All family members speak
no real technology per se.” fluent Mandarin.
Although he was one of “My parents visit regularly
few pupils to be allowed and my father likes moun-
to wear blue jeans, Brooks tain climbing. When he
had to work in the school comes down from a climb,
factory (then a key feature taxi drivers get a big sur-
of Chinese schools) making prise when this 77-year-old
fluorescent desk lamps. The bearded American gets in
David G. Brooks first arrived in
China in 1975 and found “a sea
of monochrome”.
Courtesy of David G. Brooks
and speaks fluent Manda-
rin,” he says.
He says China became a
much more open place to
live and work in the 1990s
and there was no longer
any sense of isolation for
foreigners.
“It was very much a two-
way process. There was
much more engagement
between China and the
West.”
Brooks and his wife have
many Chinese friends and
love to spend their time
browsing markets and
shops for Chinese art and
antiques.
“We buy a lot of things
from the ‘cultural revolu-
tion’ (1966-76) and from
Shanghai in the early 20th
century,” he says.
Brooks, who has lived in
China for nearly 20 years
and in his native US for only
seven, says it is possible to
have a more layered life-
style in China.
“In the United States,
your neighborhood defines
much of what you are and
what you do. China gives
you the opportunity to go
out and see lots of people
from different backgrounds.
I can get on my bike in
the morning and encoun-
ter peasants in the fields
who will tell me their life
stories,” he says.
“China may have changed
but it has also kept its
common human touch.”
AILY
LOOKINGGLASS
Whole new world
Expat life in China has changed a
great deal since I first came here in
the early-1980s.
I was the daughter of a diplomat
and there were very few expats here
at all then. The ones that were here
were mainly from the embassies.
You were actually something of a
curiosity when you walked around
the streets and sometimes people
would come up and try and converse
with you. There wasn’t the range of
bars and other activities there are
now so it is was very much a case of
making your own entertainment then.
I went back to the United Kingdom
in 1986 to study Chinese at the Uni-
versity of Westminster in London and
returned in 1992 and have remained
here ever since.
Since then I have witnesses a
gradual evolution. I think when you
are here all the time the change is
not so obvious, you morph with soci-
ety. By the end of the 1990s, the type
of expat changed. Instead of just
embassy people, there was an influx
of people working for foreign com-
panies. There were also a lot more
younger people coming in to teach
English, which has meant overall a
more youthful expat community.
I think on a social level with the
wide range of bars and restaurants
you can pretty much find in Beijing
and in other cities what you can
find in the West. Culturally, though,
there are limitations, particularly with
cinema, concerts and the opera, but
that is changing. Chinese cultural
centers, such as museums, are be-
coming more foreigner-friendly with
signs in English and so on.
It is a totally different place now
than it was nearly 30 years ago.
Alexandra Pearson is the owner of The Bei-
jing Bookworm, a bookstore cum café and one
of the city’s most famous expat haunts.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 57

TIMELINE
LOOKINGGLASS
1947-1949
A golden age is born
following the end of
Looking for
World War II. Amid audiences within
the ongoing civil war,
political melodramatic It has been an extraordinary decade
masterpieces, such for Chinese cinema.
as The Spring River In 2001, there were just 71 feature
Flows East (1947), film productions, but they included the
Spring in a Small debuts of Zhang Yibai, Teng Huatao,
Town (1948) and Meng Qi, Lu Chuan and Cao Baoping.
Crows and Sparrows I was able to watch more than half of
(1949) are made. the year's production on VHS and it
was the breakthrough year for me.
1949-1952 The following year, there were the de-
The film industry is but films of Chen Daming, Ma Liwen,
nationalized. Most Zhang Jiarui and Xu Jinglei. Anyway,
pre-194910 films and it was an exciting start to the decade.
foreign productions Since then, production has
are banned from boomed to more than 400 films a year
1951. and there needs to be more venues
to discover those films. The Shang-
1964 hai International Film Festival finally
China’s first feature seemed to integrate fully with the
animation Uproar in Chinese film industry this year, with
Heaven made. the whole Beijing film industry coming
down for the first time to promote their
1966 upcoming lineup of films. If the under-
Between 1949 and funded festival can keep improving, it
this year — what is can help drive the Chinese film indus-
known as the “17 try forward.
years” of Chinese China still lacks a professional
cinema — 603 films organization that promotes its films
and 8,342 reels of internationally. The most visible Chi-
documentaries and nese producers traveling overseas
newsreels are pro- specialize in independent cinema, but
duced. But soon after they are now making films for wider
the “cultural revolu- audiences, paralleling the move of
tion” (1966-76) breaks practically every interesting "under-
out, most previous ground" director. Ultimately, filmmak-
Chinese film director Zhang Yibai is ready to ride the industry’s boom. Peng Xiaoping ers want their films to be seen by local
films are banned.
audiences and they are becoming
1970-1976 less dependent on the shallow victory
Dozens of revolution- of foreign festival awards.

RIGHTDIRECTION
ary films — most I hope investors in China become
between 1974 and much more adventurous. There are
1976 — and eight too many films by first-time directors
model plays are pro- that are forced to
duced under the strict follow the Hong
political and technical A veteran Chinese director reveals the Kong model of
sacrificing their
instructions of the
“Gang of Four”.
industry’s opportunities to Raymond Zhou shooting days
and lighting bud-
1988 get for the sala-

W
ith annual takings
Red Sorghum by
jumping more than four-
Zhang Yimou wins the
fold to 4.3 billion yuan in
Golden Bear, pointing
five years, most see the box office
to a new direction for
growth of Chinese cinema as a
Chinese filmmakers
spectacular takeoff.
to gain international
Zhang Yibai prefers to call
recognition.
it “the light at the end of the
tunnel”.
1994
The Chinese director made his
A quota of 10 import-
film debut with Spring Subway in
ed films effectively re-
2002, the same year compatriot
suscitates a moribund
Zhang Yimou’s Hero raked in 250
industry with such hits
million yuan to top the box office.
as The Fugitive and
Hero was considered the first
Terminator 2.
“blockbuster” produced by the in-
dustry on the Chinese mainland,
2002
even though the talent involved in
Major cinema chains
the martial arts extravaganza also
roll out.
hailed from other regions such as
Hong Kong.
2007
The industry went on to make
Attendance at movie
1 billion yuan in 2003, with an
theaters climbs back
average growth rate of 34 percent
past the 100-million-
for each year, before hitting 4.3
viewer mark, reaching
billion yuan for last year.
103 million.
Many say Chinese cinema
is rebounding from the worst
2009
malaise in its history — from
Transformers 2
the mid-1980s all the way to
breaks the nation’s
the dawn of the new millenni-
box office record,
um — that was brought about by
earning 400 million
the surging penetration of televi-
yuan.
sion, rampant piracy and, above
all, the dearth of competitive
products from the nation’s film
industry.
STARCAST exude a cosmopolitan flair and
ries of mid-range
gloss rare among filmmakers of
stars. The South
Zhang Yimou his generation.
Korean model of
Achieved fame by Zhang’s current role is some-
fully supporting a debut director with
winning multiple what like Steven Spielberg. He
a first class cinematographer, for ex-
awards abroad before directs and produces.
ample, is a better way forward. After
shifting his attention “Look at what China’s film in-
all, Hong Kong cinema has failed to
to blockbusters. dustry lacks now. It does not
produce a new generation of directors
lack money. It lacks good content.
Jackie Chan and stars.
Specifically, it lacks profession-
The kungfu comedian
als who can manage this content,” Stephen Cremin is a specialist on Asian
won over Hollywood
he says. cinema.
on his second attempt
Zhang’s forays differ from the
before making the
offerings in the first three decades
world his oyster.
of New China, when filmmaking of large coastal cities,” he says.
was totally State-controlled. “Now multiplexes are finding
Feng Xiaogang A filmmaker operated as a gov- their way into second- and third-
One of China’s most
ernment employee and did not tier cities, places where moviegoing
profitable directors.
need to worry about distribution has vanished for almost a genera-
He widened his
or the market. tion. Imagine the explosion that
Beijing audience to a The past few decades have been will come in the next decade.”
nationwide one.
a constant flux, with more market That is also why 34 percent
mechanisms experimented with growth is still “light at the end of
Zhang Ziyi
and adopted. the tunnel”.
Her perseverance
Although no one dreamed of Han Sanping, chairman of
has landed her roles
recovering the revenues of 27.9 China Film Group, the largest
directed by the best
billion yuan in 1979, the industry State-owned film corporation, re-
filmmakers in the Chi-
is entering a golden age in terms cently predicted that total box
nese-speaking world.
of monetary value. office takings would reach 30
Last year, 1.56 new screens billion yuan in 10 years.
Zhang Yibai, having tasted were added to the inventory every By that time, Zhang says China
the sweet success of commer- day. will no longer have a handful of
cials, music videos and television “That’s a reflection of growing moneymaking filmmakers.
series, chose the inevitable path demand,” Zhang Yibai says. “That club will grow to at least
to filmdom. “One must know that the box- 10,” he says.
His movies were not runaway office growth we have achieved in “And I hope to be one of its mem-
hits, to say the least, but they recent years stems from a handful bers.”
58 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1953
Engineering represen-
ENTERTAINMENTEXPRESS
tatives visit the Soviet
Union and Czecho-
slovakia to study TV
Chinese TV audiences are getting what they want, Liu Wei finds
technologies.

1955

W
hen TV sets firmly made says Long, 38. “amusing the public to death” or
Premier Zhou Enlai
their way into Chinese So on Happy Citadel, offerings “vulgarizing aesthetic standards”.
adopts a proposal to
people’s homes shortly included celebrities delighting
We have so many com- Long disagrees.
establish China’s first
after the 1980s, presenters re- viewers by playing games with or- petitors ... But we are “It would be very easy to use
television station in
peating lines from tiny prompt dinary people on the set. It was not also happy to be here, vulgar jokes and gestures to get
Beijing. because we have such a
cards and beaming performers in long before the program became a attention,” she says.
gorgeous garments formed most of mainstay of Chinese TV. large market. “But I believe only healthy en-
1958
the offerings that strained to move Stars who initially appeared on tertainment can last.”
The newly set up
audiences. her show were also young and LONG MEI That seems to be working for
Beijing TV station
Apart from popular drama ready to try new things. TV producer her show, which is into its 12th
begins broadcasting.
series, the most-viewed programs It took Long and her team one year.
Programs include live
then were State broadcaster year to prepare for the program. Long also keeps her team young,
news and dramas.
CCTV’s News Broadcast, a daily They watched numerous enter- with its members’ ages averaging
Shanghai and Harbin,
news bulletin hosted by straight- tainment and variety shows from form the most popular TV shows. at 27. They are sensitive to new
capital of Heilongjiang
faced anchors, and the Spring Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United But many say the educational trends, buying fashion magazines
province, establish
Festival Gala, shown on the eve of States and Europe for ideas. mission of Chinese mainland TV and hitting bars regularly.
their own TV stations.
every Lunar New Year since 1983. Inspired by other shows at first, continues, partly because of the Her employees also catch the
So when Long Mei and her team Happy Citadel soon had a number traditional belief that networks latest shows worldwide to search
1960
launched Happy Citadel (Kuaile of copycats. Almost all provincial still come under the government for new inspiration.
More than half of
Dabenying) in 1997, the Hunan TV network had a similar show and play a role in cultural devel- “Doing entertainment shows in
China’s provinces
TV variety show was destined for every weekend in the late 1990s. opment. China is very hard,” she says.
have established TV
success. Many called Happy Citadel the To that effect, Long says the “We have so many competitors.
stations.
“What viewers needed then was initiator of the “entertainment era sexually suggestive jokes one Every time you have a new idea,
a show that relaxed them after a of Chinese TV”. sometimes sees on Hong Kong you have hundreds of clones in
1963
hard week’s work. But there was That era continues today with and Taiwan programs can never no time.
Due to economic diffi-
no such offering before our show Happy Girls, a Chinese version of appear on her show. “But we are also happy to be
culties, the number of
… most of the TV programs were the American Idol singing contest, Still, critics often blame main- here, because we have such a
municipal TV stations
wooden, serious and preachy,” and other similar programs that land entertainment shows for large market.”
drops from 23 to 8.

1978
The Beijing TV station
STARCAST
is renamed China Bai Yansong
Central Television Has been at the
(CCTV). Its News frontline of almost all
Broadcast daily news major events since
bulletin becomes the he joined in CCTV in
most-watched TV pro- the early 1990s.
gram in China.

1982
Yang Lan
The first Lunar New
Ex-CCTV presenter
Year Gala of State
who is now a noted
broadcaster CCTV is
producer, anchor
aired and becomes
and co-owner of a
the most sought-after
media company.
platform for perform-
ers nationwide with its
estimated audience of
700 million people. Liu Changle
Founder and chair-
1991 man of Hong Kong-
TV series Yearning based Mandarin
(Kewang) is aired broadcaster Phoe-
and Beijing police nix TV.
reportedly thank the
crew for their contri-
bution to less crime,
Hu Mei
because the show is
Found fame with TV
so popular that every-
series on emperors
one stays at home to
and one of the few
watch it at night.
established female
directors in China.
2005 TV producer Long Mei believes in the staying power of “healthy entertainment”. Courtesy of Long Mei
Second season of
singing contest Super
Girls rocks the whole
country with its young
contestants, many of LOOKINGGLASS
whom become stars.
Going for a global audience
In the mid-1980s, I taught English at Ts- Channel was launched. A month later, August 2008, it was 17 Days, the special Russian and Arabic, all within a decade.
inghua University. When China Central I started working part-time as a copy live programming for the Olympics, an There are also plans for an English
Television (CCTV) started broadcasting editor. exciting and exhausting time. News Channel by 2011, separate from
15 minutes of news in English at 10 pm, Two years later, CCTV-9 went live CCTV, the nation’s broadcaster, CCTV-9.
the other foreign teachers and I would round the clock. In 2003, coverage of the was founded in 1958 and has an operat- We are now part of the 60th anni-
watch on a tiny black-and-white televi- Iraq War brought in live foreign televi- ing income of 1.12 billion yuan with 19 versary of the founding of the People’s
sion set. We watched for the novelty as sion images and live studio interviews. channels. It has village-to-village TV Republic. Bringing the celebrations to
much as for the bits of news from outside In 2007, we covered the return of Hong coverage, a multi-dimensional Internet the world is part of CCTV’s mission of
the country. Kong. platform spurred by the Beijing Olympics “Going Global”.
The 15 minute-broadcast grew, and In May 2008, the reporters went to and international channels in English,
in September 2000, the 24-hour English the quake zone in Sichuan province. In French, Spanish, and most recently, Laurie Lew is a copy editor at CCTV-9.
CHINA DAILY 59

TIMELINE
1951
Initiated by Mao
STAGINGLOVE
Zedong, the China
Academy of Local Op- A dramatist has a vision of utopia for
eras is established in audiences, Chen Jie finds
Beijing to promote the
development of the-

A STARCAST
atrical art. Renowned t half past noon on “Theater is a space to realize LOOKINGGLASS
Peking Opera artist Sept 29, avant-garde dreams. It can be simple,
Mei Lanfang (1894-
1961) is named as its
theater phenomenon
Meng Jinghui opened the
Cao Yu (1910-
1996)
without frills or dazzling deco-
ration, but not shabby. I hope
‘Show me
president. door of his studio in an old The “Chinese
Shakespeare”
my theater allows audiences the money’
red-bricked building next to experience a variety of
behind the Beijing Artists will persist in creating
1959 to the National Theater delicate and mysterious visual
People’s Art The- whether or not they have funding.
The Central Ballet of Company of China. spaces.”
ater. But the support a country offers its
China (now National Fueled by the afterglow of Before the Beijing Youth
artists often reflects the way that
Ballet of China) is recent success, it was going to Lin Zhaohua
Theatre Festival, Meng’s most
nation views their role in society.
founded with its be a beautiful day. Arguably the
popular production Rhinoceros
The expectation that China will
talent pool from The night before, the drama- country’s top direc-
in Love had been running more
be the next global superpower
the Beijing Dance tist and a hundred other young tor in experimental
than 40 shows since June 9. It
extends not only to politics and
Academy, which was directors, actors and theater- theater.
is now on its second run until
economics, but also to the cultural
established in 1954. goers partied at a bar near the the end of November.
realm. How China will fund this cul-
The dancers receive Central Academy of Drama to In Meng’s eyes, Rhinoceros in
tural realm is a question of ongoing
training from Pyotr celebrate the achievements of Love is an auspicious play that
Jin Xing debate as the country moves from
Gusev of the former the Beijing Youth Theater Fes- always brings him luck. Since
This classical- the planned to a market economy,
Soviet Union. Under tival, the first festival he set up its debut in 1999, the play has
trained dancer is and reevaluates the roles artists
his guidance, the and worked as artistic director. caused big stirs among young
probably the most should play in this nascent market-
company produces For thousands of the city’s audiences across China with its
famous Chinese driven system.
Swan Lake, Giselle youngsters, the festival made passion, pain and power.
modern dancer. In 1942, Chairman Mao Ze-
and Le Corsaire. them fall in love with theater. In his 2008 version at the
dong delivered his Talks at the
In 19 days, 12 young direc- new Citycomb Theater, Meng
Yan’an Forum where he outlined
1960s and 1970s tors presented 11 plays in a Yang Liping builds a 7-m-high mirror wall
the role arts would play as “cogs
During the “cultural variety of styles ranging from The Bai ethnic group backstage. With a bed hanging
and wheels” of his revolution. His
revolution” (1966-76), the absurd and mime to the member made over the auditorium, Ma Lu
republic supported them as such,
all theatrical perfor- physical and musical. All ex- famous overnight and Ming Ming run on a huge
with government-sponsored song
mances are banned plored the multiple dimensions in 1986 for her solo jogging machine as a metaphor
and dance troupes, State-run
except for the eight of modern society and human dance “Spirit of Pea- for making love.
theaters and academies to train
yangbanxi, including sentiment. cock”. The stage is covered by tons
generations of revolutionary per-
five Peking Opera “Beijing has various fes- of falling water in the final
formers. This blanket support came
plays, two ballets and tivals including an annual “Beijing has so many theaters act and all the performers are
not without quid pro quos, however.
one symphony, all international drama festival. but they prefer to run commer- drenched.
Any creative expression that did
with a revolutionary But most of them get govern- cial productions rather than He also has plans to collabo-
not have an explicitly pro-revolu-
theme. ment support … big and classic experimental dramas. When- rate with the British Council to
tionary message was eventually
productions or blockbusters. ever I called to rent a theater, host the Best of the Edinburgh
outlawed, reaching fever pitch dur-
1982 We want to do a different a they said they had booked out Fringe Festival at the Citycomb
ing the “cultural revolution” (1966-
Lin Zhaohua directs festival, specially for young and asked me to wait. Theater from Nov 4 to Dec 7.
76) when all performances were
The Warning Signal people who have their own “I cannot wait any longer.” Over the five weeks, theater-
banned except for eight model op-
at the Beijing People’s interpretation of theater, who Last year, he settled on a goers will get a rare opportunity
eras, including two ballets, known
Art Theater. It is the try to experiment with differ- closed cinema near Dongzhi- to sample a range of the unique
as the “Yangbanxi.”
first experimental ent styles or who cannot afford men and raised funds from styles and traditions that make
Since the 1980s, artists have
small-theater play in very professional productions,” like-minded friends. They up contemporary UK theater.
been carving out niches for experi-
China. says Meng, 39. jointly invested 5 million yuan Meng is, after all, a director.
mental performance with funding
“In our slogan, theater is to turn the old cinema into a Besides managing the theater
from a combination of sources
1998 likened to love. I hope this 3,600-sq-m theater with 380 and organizing events, he is
— often doing so simply out-of-
Directed by China’s year’s festival is the first love. seats. working on a new play adapted
pocket. China’s 11th Five Year Plan
leading film director “As a director, it has been my from Fassbinder’s Love Is
(2005) states that all cultural State-
Zhang Yimou, Puc- dream to have my own theater.” Colder Than Death.
owned enterprises will have been
cini’s opera Turandot It seemed a long ago — all of “I want to set up a ‘theater
required to complete their transfor-
is performed at the two decades — when he had utopia’ … where people can do
mation to market-supported private
Forbidden City under to ride his bicycle across the things as freely as they like.”
organizations by 2010. (There has
the baton of Zubin capital looking for venues.
since been an extension on that
Mehta. It becomes
deadline.)
the first large-scale
Previously, arts organizations
show of its kind in
that were not government-run could
China, drawing celeb-
register only as commercial enter-
rities from all over the
prises, which meant high taxes.
world to watch it at the
One challenge artists face is the
ancient venue.
increasing commercialization. The-
aters seek big-name performers to
2001
sell tickets, and costs to produce
The China Youth Art
performances have skyrocketed.
Theater and Central
Conversely, a diversity of funding
Experimental Drama
sources hopefully contributes to
Theater merge to form
a more diverse ecology of per-
the National Theater
formance venues, troupes and
Company of China.
content.
In such an environment, the role
2000s
of the artist is hardly monolithic but
Private, small-budget
rather one that nurtures rich, varied
theater productions
discourse for exploration and in-
and extravaganzas
novation.
with government sup-
The value of such creativity, es-
port flourish. People
pecially for an aspiring superpower,
are more open-mind-
should be priceless.
ed about the presen- Meng Jinghui is
tations and themes of looking to expand the Alison M. Friedman is an arts manage-
the theatrical works space for theater. ment fellow at the Kennedy Center for the
as more productions Performing Arts and runs her own production
Jiang Dong company, Ping Pong Productions.
tour abroad.
60 OCTOBER 1, 2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE

BETWEENLINES 1949
Launch of People’s
Literature (Renmin
A bilingual author turns the country’s next literary page for Liu Wei Wenxue), the first
literary magazine of
New China.
that decade were Yangbanxi,

C
hinese author Yan Geling Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye STARCAST
started writing in her in 1982. or modern Peking opera, ad- 1950s
early 20s and left China “Literature can be like this!” vocated by notorious Gang of Lao She Contemporary litera-
for the United States in 1989. she remembers saying after Four leader Jiang Qing. Creator of a unique ture with a socialist
Over the past two decades, reading the novel that depicted Similarly, the most popular style featuring the Realism focus pros-
the 50-year-old writer has teen rebellion and defiance. novelist then was Hao Ran, Beijing dialect in a pers. Many pioneer-
penned her works in Chinese It is not hard to understand who wrote about flawless role poetic way. ing works like The
and English, traveling across her reaction. models in the countryside, Song of Youth are
vast territories with her US Between 1949 and 1966, who adhered to socialism and adapted into films and
diplomat husband. the most popular of Chinese fought with anti-revolutionists Yu Hua translated.
But Yan is an outsider in the literature could be categorized and the petite bourgeoisie. Dentist-turned-
Chinese and Western literary into those eulogizing the new Then came the early 1980s, writer known for his 1960s-1970s
worlds. country and its leaders, re- when Yan and peers became scalpel-like obser- Revolutionary ro-
She occasionally feels lost calling a miserable past and fired up by the hundreds of vations on social manticism becomes
and lonely in the dazzling liter- battling old doctrines. Western literary works and once- reality. popular. A new gen-
ary trends of the two countries, Famous works of foreign lit- forbidden Chinese classics that eration later includes
but her outsider status also erature included those of the hit the shelves shortly after the grassroots writers like
endows her with an objectivity former Soviet Union. country’s reform and opening Wang Shuo Hao Ran, a farmer
to study Chinese literature and Many Chinese writers also up. His cynical and who rises to fame with
Chinese writers in the West. stopped writing during the Yan calls that era the best for brash pen shows The Golden Road
Still, she was first struck “cultural revolution” (1966-76). Chinese literature after 1949. young men lost in a (Jinguang Dadao),
by reading US author J. D. Prevalent literary works in She devoured works by F. changing society. which praises rural
Scott Fitzgerald, John Updike collectivization.
and Gabriel García Márquez.
Around her were 2,000 poetry Han Han 1977
societies and more than 20 lit- Race-car driver and Liu Xinwu publishes
erary magazines. representative fig- The Headmaster (Ban
When a poetry festival ure of the post-80s Zhu Ren). The work
kicked off in Sichuan province writers who is popu- is considered a sig-
in 1984, its 2,000 tickets sold lar for his talent and nature piece of Scar
out rapidly. The event was as outspokenness. Literature, a school
popular as a Beatles concert in reflecting on the
its heyday. Audiences rushed “Those who are accepted by “cultural revolution”
to the stage for poets’ auto- the market are stars, so every- (1966-76).
graphs, while Chinese bards body wants to be a star before
such as Bei Dao and Gu Cheng cultivating their writing skill 1985
had to hide under desks from first,” she says. Han Shaodong raises
their crazed fans. Such post-80s writers include the concept of “root-
But in a more open at- Han Han and Guo Jingming, searching”, with the
mosphere, many Chinese who boast good looks and fre- idea that literature’s
writers also searched for quently make headlines with root is in traditional
more personal and ver- their attitude, bestsellers and culture.
satile ways of expression. wrangles with the old school.
Novelists such as Mo Yan But Yan believes that when 1999
and Yu Hua, who started the market is mature enough, Literary website
making their mark in the it will provide various writers “rongshuxia” (literally
1980s, created their signa- their own niche. Pulp, serious “under the pagoda
ture works in the 1990s. and other kinds of writers will tree”) is set up. Online
Today’s Chinese literary co-exist, and have their own writing becomes a
world is becoming increas- target readers. platform for literary
ingly similar to that in the Still, having published two lovers to share works.
US, Yan says. English novels and expecting
her third one next year, Yan is 2005
not optimistic about Chinese Penguin Books pays
writers’ future in the West. a record $100,000 for
Chinese literature is in urgent the worldwide English
need of good translation, she rights to Jiang Rong’s
says, as English is the most Wolf Totem (Lang
Author Yan Geling popular international language. Tuteng).
pens her works in But resonating with readers
Chinese and English . remains the biggest challenge, 2007
Zhou Mi Yan says. Guo Jingming and
“If you don’t share the same several other post-
experiences, finding a topic the ’80s authors join the
readers can relate to will still conservative Writers
be very difficult.” Association of China.

LOOKINGGLASS
Journey to a bright new world
There are so many fascinating voices and
stories to tell in China — so many that the West
has not heard of.
China is a country that has opened to the
West in relatively recent history and there is so
much to discover and hear from it.
Our agency itself represents a large variety of
authors — Su Tong, who has seen the sweeping
changes in China in the 1980s and 1990s. Annie
Baobei, whose beautifully written bestselling nov-
el, Lotus, reigned on the bestseller list in China
for weeks. Han Han, an icon of Chinese youth, is
also a racecar driver and publisher.
The West is very receptive and eager to read
Chinese writers. In the past, there have been
many books written and published in the West
by Chinese expatriates that were often originally
penned in English.
This has changed over the years. Writers
from the Chinese mainland have been growing
in international reputation. Take for example the
recent success of Jiang Rong, who wrote Wolf
Totem. With the Beijing Olympics and the Bei-
jing Book Fair — which is probably the largest
international book fair after Frankfurt, London West. It is often a slow jour-
and Bologna — the West has become much ney to get a book accepted
more exposed to China. The Chinese govern- by a Western publisher, and
ment has also helped to promote Chinese writ- one that involves a lot of
ing with generous subsidies that help with trans- patience and perseverance,
lations. Along with others who recognize the but it is a journey well
growing importance of Chinese writing, such as worth taking.
Jo Lusby of Penguin China, expert translators
of Chinese literature like Howard Goldblatt and Marysia Juszczakiewicz
runs Hong Kong-based
Julia Lovell will help to increase the readership
Creative Work, one of
of Chinese writing. Asia’s leading literary
Chinese authors have a bright future in the agencies.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 61

TIMELINE
1955-1960s
2.88 million elemen-
tary and secondary
HELPINGHAND
school graduates, the
One volunteer soldiers on to aid others, reminding
first batch of zhiqing, many of a legend from long ago, Cui Xiaohuo finds
or educated youths,
voluntarily return to
help their native lands

T
here is one considerable dis- stationed in Beijing. As he toiled
in the countryside
tinction between 66-year-old with them on the farms, he
upon Chairman Mao
volunteer Sun Maofang and would befriend them and talked
Zedong’s call.
his role model, legendary soldier about their tremendous efforts to
and cultural icon Lei Feng. provide for themselves on a daily
1963
Lei, immortalized in propa- basis.
The “Learn from
ganda posters for his exemplary As a junior army officer in
Comrade Lei Feng”
volunteerism and dedication to the 1980s, Sun moved to urban
campaign is initiated
helping others during the early Beijing. It was there that he began
by Mao to call on the
1960s, never left his name with focusing on his neighbors in need,
nation’s youths to fol-
people he helped. Sun, on the assisting them when they needed
low the young, devot-
other hand, can be seen giving it. To this day, he remains close
ed soldier’s example
away his business cards to those friends with many of them.
in the wake of natural
he assists whenever he can. “We are not just doing somebody
disasters and failed
Sun, who became a soldier at a favor. We are making friends.
political campaigns.
the age of 22, the same age that Maybe someday in the future,
Lei reportedly died, laughs at the they may become one of us,” Sun
1966-1980
comparison. recently told a group of students
18 urban youths
“Lei Feng was humble,” says who regularly assist him at a
sign up to go to the
the gray-haired man, decked in volunteer service station in down-
countryside in another
his volunteer T-shirt, cap and town Beijing named after Sun.
wave of the zhiqing
favorite army green trousers. Sun visits schools frequently
movement, the focus
“His humbleness represents the and recruits volunteers as young
of which is to “reedu-
selflessness and modesty of the as 8-year-old second-graders
cated by the poor and
Chinese way of living. He had in his various ventures, which
low-middle peasants”.
such a beautiful mind. I am less include offering free and basic
noble than Lei Feng. I have just medical services.
1970s
been spreading his message.” The recent spirit of volunteer-
Lei’s prominence in
In March, the veteran soldier ism, says Ren Hai, an expert on
textbooks reaches
was voted atop a field of the Ten the Olympics at Beijing Sports
a climax. “Living Lei
Best Beijing Volunteers in 2008, University, was “greatly lifted with
Feng” becomes a
the city’s highest award for a the success of the Beijing Olympic
term for anyone seen
volunteer through the Beijing volunteer program last summer.”
as selfless, or anyone
Volunteers Federation. In a rare Still, he says that more is needed
who goes out of their
moment at the award ceremony, than simply enthusiasm to
way to help others.
Sun exchanged a warm soldier’s become a volunteer,
salute with Liu Qi, Beijing’s mu- “The volunteer programs in
1980s
nicipal Party chief and president China will not last if it just
The first international
of the Organizing Committee of subsists on passion. The good
volunteer group from
the Beijing Olympics. experience (from the Olympics)
the UN visits China.
Today, there are over 10 million has to be sustained and written
The first community
volunteers in China and nearly into the rules of future volunteer
volunteer groups are
100 million have taken part in a programs.”
set up in Tianjin.
volunteer program at some point Sun also admitted that one of
this year. Volunteerism has also the major obstacles that stymies
1994
expanded from helping others volunteerism in China is the
China’s first volunteer
mired in poverty relief and suf- social environment.
group, Chinese Young From the time he became a soldier, Sun Maofang’s enthusiasm for fering from diseases to performing Days when everyone was as
Volunteers Associa- helping others has not waned. Feng Yongbin acts beneficial to the environment nice as Lei Feng in the ’60s are
tion, is founded. Cities
and the climate. gone, Sun says. But the social
nationwide follow suit STARCAST Sun says that from the time atmosphere has been replaced
shortly. Volunteers
Fu Yiquan he became a soldier, his enthusi- by a more open society with more
take the stage in nu- Xing Yanzi
Beijing resident who asm for helping others has never volunteer groups willing to con-
merous international The Tianjin native
became the 2008 waned. His work, he says, is a tribute to the social well-being,
events held in China. gave up a life in the
Games’ oldest volun- way of reaching people’s hearts. he adds.
city and returned to
teer at 103 years. “I always enjoy it when elder Sun believes someday there will
After 2000 work in rural areas to
ladies call me ‘son,’ when younger be less incidences in which he is
“Volunteers” becomes improve people’s lives.
fellows address me as ‘grandpa’ challenged by questions such as:
a popular word.
Chen Yan Olympic volunteers and my peers greet me as ‘brother.’ “Why do you still make a show out
In 2008, a record
Soldier-turned-quake From giving directions I am simply content when I reach of yourself at such an age?”
number of volunteers
volunteer rose to to presenting medals, them. I have been feeling this way “People will stop thinking in this
nationwide take parts
national fame for relief 1.7 million people vol- all these years,” he says. way once they know what volun-
in the Olympic and
efforts during last unteer their services at Sun says he once helped some teers try to achieve,” says Sun,
Paralympic volunteer
year’s Sichuan tremor. the 2008 Games. rural villagers with their farming who will celebrate his birthday
program.
during his spare time as a soldier during the National Day Holiday.

LOOKINGGLASS
Assisting others helps in learning ways of Beijing
Living in Beijing is not easy. It’s not easy for
Chinese youths, let alone overseas students like
me. But I still enjoy living in the city.
But I understand this was precisely what the
Beijing Olympic organizers were looking for
before the Games started last summer — expa-
triate volunteers with knowledge of living in the
Chinese capital. I remembered that among the
100,000 Olympic volunteers who helped in the
Games, 935 were expatriates. They included
foreign students, overseas Chinese and expatri-
ates living in the city.
I guess I was chosen because the Olympics
organizers fully trust us to use our local knowl-
edge and bilingual skills to help visitors.
My job, along with 19 other foreign students
living in Beijing, was answering calls in our
mother tongues for spectators from our home
countries who call a hotline run by the Games
organizers.
We had one shift each day, either night or
day, for about eight hours. Sometimes, the ho-
tline would be extremely busy. I was answering
one transportation question while I could see
that another impatient visitor from Turkey was
waiting on the line. Those were tiring days, but
they were rewarding. Not anybody can wear the
Beijing Olympic volunteer uniform.
I have lived in Beijing since 2006, so an un-
derstanding of the city was not much of a prob-
lem. But to help us volunteers become more
familiar with Beijing, we received extensive ses-
sions of cultural learning, which helped us know
more about China.
I could barely communicate in Chinese when
I first arrived, but that did not stop me from mak-
ing friends. But I soon began inviting Chinese
friends to my home for a cup of Turkish coffee
and fortune-telling using the dregs of coffee
grounds left in each cup. That was how I got to
know the local culture.
I am glad to be able to witness and be part of
the Olympics. It will always be one of my best
memories.
Volkan Gurcan, an Olympic volunteer and Beijing
University of Aeronautics and Astronautics gradu-
ate student, is from Turkey.
62 OCTOBER 1, 2009 CHINA DAILY

LOOKINGGLASS
Harmony with
LIFE’SWORK
environment A renowned conservationist tells Li Xing his work is far from over
I have to get out my old photos to remind STARCAST
M
myself of conditions in China during the
any people remember 1972 as discovered problems that threatened the
1980s. It is so far removed from the shiny
the year Richard Nixon visited survival of the pandas and other wildlife.
Hu Jinchu
new skyscrapers and multilane highways of
Beijing, a visit that foreshad- These included poaching, poor forest
80, the first Chinese biolo-
China today.
owed momentous changes in China and management, and destruction of habitat.
gist to begin studying giant
In 1986, China had 300 nature reserves.
the world. Despite initial success, he found it dif-
panda.
Today that figure is more than 2,500, cover-
But for zoologist George Schaller, ficult to accomplish what he had set out
ing more than 16 percent of the territory; way
1972 was the year he first thought of to do. When Schaller raised questions
above the global average and four times the
studying giant panda and their habitat in Professor Pan Wenshi with Chinese biologists about wildlife
size of Germany! There are another 2,000
western China. Now 76, he shows no sign 72, is known as China’s pri- and ecology in China, “they looked at
protected areas as scenic sites, forest parks,
of retiring from that work. mary panda scholar. Starting me and didn’t know what I was talking
geo-parks and marine areas. This is astonish-
In 1972, Schaller was working in Paki- in 1996, he shifted attention about,” he says.
ing growth that has catapulted China to be
stan for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF, to saving the white-headed But a series of droughts and floods,
one of the biggest global players in terms
now the World Wide Fund for Nature). langur species in Guangxi . especially severe floods that hit most of
of setting aside natural areas to protect bio-
While traveling in a WWF van, he met the provinces and autonomous regions in
several Chinese workers, who showed Dr Lu Zhi China in 1998, served as a wake-up call.
logical diversity and environment. More than 44, who first drew public at-
quarter of a million staff require training to
obvious familiarity with the logo of a giant Continuous logging had not only caused
panda, which was painted on the van. tention to her field research of soil erosion but also raised the incidence
manage these areas effectively. wild giant pandas in the Qin-
Today, China has become the workhouse
While WWF chose the giant panda as and severity of floods and landslides.
its logo in 1961, little was known about ling Mountains, now runs the In late 1998, the State Council issued
for the world, even the worldwide economic Center for Nature and Society
crisis has not been able to stop the tremen-
“the big furry animal with her appealing, regulations banning commercial logging
black-patched eyes”, Schaller recalls. at Peking University and also in all mountainous areas of western
dous growth. Half of all new development an NGO, Shan Shui Conser-
globally occurs in China and this of course
The giant panda is indigenous only to China. Th government also subsidized
China. At that time, no one knew how vation Center. farmers to convert farmland on slopes
puts tremendous pressures on the natural
landscape and environment.
many there were in the wild, what their Dr Kang Aili of greater than 25 degrees to shrubs and
As in every country that has undergone
habitat was, or what condition it was in. 32, is named “Early Career woods. Since 1996, the acreage of nation-
rapid industrialization, this comes with dirt,
Schaller went to the Chinese embassy Conservationist” by the Soci- al and local nature reserves has doubled
dust, pollution. Cleaning up the damage lags
in Islamabad to discuss the possibility of ety for Conservation Biology. and now accounts for 15 percent of the
behind. We still read of lead poisoning, air pol-
going to China to study pandas, “but they nation’s land mass.
lution, acid rain, mining accidents and natural
were not ready”, he says. Schaller says that large-scale logging
disasters are always lurking in the form of
He waited, never giving up hope. and poaching have almost stopped,
floods, droughts, earthquakes and strange
When news about China’s opening up panda research as a WWF expert in and that conditions for pandas have
new diseases. But at least these issues are
spread worldwide in 1979, Schaller again Wolong, Sichuan, his job was to “intro- improved “tremendously”. Despite prog-
being openly addressed and tackled in a very
put forward his panda project. duce our Chinese co-workers to new ress being made in many areas, however,
serious manner. The great floods of 1998 trig-
Soon the Chinese government agreed technology, ideas, and techniques”, he “the minute you improve something, new
gered a logging ban on all old-growth forests,
to collaborate with WWF on a panda says in his book, The Last Panda, pub- problems emerge”, he says.
the SARS epidemic was handled effectively
research project. Since then, Schaller lished in 1994. Over-population of the Tibetan wild ass
and followed by a temporary ban on wildlife
has come to China almost every year, Although China set up its first nature now poses problems in some villages in
markets in Guangdong. Huge efforts and
spending weeks or even months in the reserve in Guangdong in 1956, wild- Tibet, as a result of stringent protective
expenditures are made in returning degraded
forest and pastures of the Qinghai-Tibet life studies were few and far between. measures.
steep farmlands to green cover.
Plateau or the alpine meadows connect- To study the giant panda in the wild, Overgrazing is another problem as
China plants more trees than the rest of the
ing China’s Xinjiang with other Central Schaller and his Chinese colleagues had economy booms. Some traditional ways
world combined. We were all impressed by
Asia countries. to start gathering basic information on of life, such as herding, are also dis-
the amazing rescue operations following the
In nearly 30 years, Schaller has in- the animal first. appearing. Many children now go to
2008 Sichuan earthquakes. Meanwhile, envi-
troduced the ecological systems and On May 15, 1980, he first walked into boarding school and no longer learn
ronmental protection has become very visible
big-hoofed wildlife of the remote northern a forest inhabited by giant pandas. “Al- herding at home. Their fathers now
on the national agenda. Policy embraces
and western areas of China to the world. though I did not see pandas that day, I drive motorbikes to and from the pas-
the concept of ecological society in harmony
“One has the obligation to animals and did find their droppings and examined tures where their livestock feed.
with the environment — a new concept but
plants for protecting the environment,” sites where they had fed on bamboo,” “The whole economy is changing,
totally in line with China’s ancient traditional
he says. he recalls in The Last Panda. “I was in posing challenges for conservation,”
beliefs in the need for balance. Environmental
Accompanied by Chinese scientists, Wolong for two months before I saw a Schaller says.
protection is routinely listed as a priority for
he has pursued the goal of conservation panda in the wild.” Above all, global warming is having
cooperation with major partners such as the
through many twists and turns. While Schaller and his Chinese col- a huge impact on the Earth’s wildlife,
EU and USA.
When Schaller officially started his leagues conducted an inventory, they Schaller says. In western China, as
A long list of new environmental laws and
glaciers retreat, less water flows down
regulations have been issued. Environmental
the mountainsides and alpine meadows,
protection has been raised to full ministerial
pastures, and grassland suffer from
level and polluting factories are being fined
drought.
and closed. China is now the leading country
“You can never relax,” Schaller says.
in terms of developing green energy sources
and has the most ambitious targets for reduc-
ing per unit carbon emissions.
But threats still loom. A combination of
deforestation, overgrazing, irrational use of
underground water tables, an invasion of
alien species resulting from China’s growing
world trade and climate change all combine
to degrade the natural environment. Cli-
mate change now threatens to create more
droughts, floods, extreme weather, loss of bio-
diversity, reduction of crops, flooding of coast-
al cities and higher frequency of typhoons.
These are huge challenges, but China is a
huge nation. She can rise to the task and I am

,
George Schaller tracing the footsteps of
large herds of Tibetan wild ass in Chang
Tang National Nature Reserve in Ti-
bet. Lu Zhi
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 63

TIMELINE

1972
Discovery of Mawa-
ngdui Han Tombs
— an open book to
China’s Western Han
Dynasty (206BC-24)
— reveals the corpse
of a noble lady and
other articles buried
with the dead, all
extremely well-pre-
served for more than
2,000 years.
1973
The Hemudu Cultural
Relics, the remains
of a primitive tribe of
China’s Neolithic age,
prove that Chinese
people were among
the world’s first to cul-
tivate rice.
1974
Emperor Qin
Shihuang’s terracotta
army, later known the
“Eighth Wonder of the
World”, is unearthed.
1984
The unearthing of
large palatial re-
mains at the prehis-
toric Sanxingdui sites,
proving Sanxingdui
was home to an an-
cient city, previously
the political, economic
and cultural center of
the ancient Shu King-
dom, now in Sichuan
DIGGINGIN
An archaeologist revels in the country’s STARCAST
finds, Lin Shujuan hears Guo Moruo (1897-
1978)
Used scientific way to
date ancient bronzes
and oracle bones,
on which the earliest
Chinese pictographs
were carved.
Su Bingqi (1909-
1997)
Known as doyen of
contemporary Chi-
nese archaeology
and a leader of sub-
ject’s first program at
Peking University.
Xia Nai (1910-
1985)
Xia Nai was the top
Chinese archae-
ologist from 1949 to
1979 who ended the
dominance of foreign
scholars in Chinese
archaeology.
Yuan Zhongyi
“The father of the
Terracotta Warriors,”
Yuan is among the
most cited archae-
ologists in China.
Zhao Zhijun gave up the American Dream to take advantage of the bigger platform and opportunities pre-
sented by China’s archaeological heritage. Courtesy of Zhao Zhijun

W
province.
1987
Discovery of Nanhai
No 1, a merchant
vessel shipwrecked
about 800 years ago,
boosts China’s under-
water archaeological
studies.
hen Zhao Zhijun gave up
his big houses, cars, com-
fortable job and green card
in the United States — things that
made up the American Dream —
and headed back to China, many
people called him “crazy”.
One decade later, the archae-
ologist is China’s leading expert
in archaeobotany, or the study of
plant remains from archaeologi-
cal sites to identify the origins of
agriculture or the co-evolution of
human-plant interaction.
“I bet you won’t find a more
exciting playground than China
in the coming decades for archae-
ologists across the world,” Zhao
says in his Beijing lab.
A graduate in archaeology from
Peking University in 1982, Zhao,
like most of his peers, had longed
to go to the US for further study.
The chance came in 1989 when
he was given a scholarship to
study at the University of Mis-
souri, at Columbia.
By the time he got his doctorate
from the university in archaeo-
I bet you won’t find a
more exciting play-
ground than China in
the past and coming de-
cades for archaeologists
across the world.
ZHAO ZHIJUN
Archaeologist
botany, the field which was widely
practiced in the US, remained
rarely known in China.
Upon his graduation, Zhao had
two choices: Staying in the US for
a comfortable life or going back
to China where he could find a
bigger stage and opportunities to
test himself.
Based on his frequent visits
back to the country for regular
field research, Zhao knew that
China had been actively embrac-
ing new theories and technologies
in the subject over the previous
two decades.
“There are simply so many new
archaeological findings each and
every day, thanks greatly to the
country’s recent construction
boom brought by its fast econom-
ic development,” Zhao says.
But Zhao had remained hesi-
tant until he tried out his first
choice by working for a few years
at a museum in Kansas City
— a job he could fulfill without
his years of academic training in
the US.
In 1999, Zhao felt he could no
longer resist the “magnetic spell”
cast by his homeland.
“Deep in my heart, I know
archaeology is experiencing a
golden age in China,” he says.
Zhao returned to China and
opened a lab at the Institute of
Archaeology in Beijing, which
at the time lacked many of the
modern facilities common at any
American university.
But as archaeology attracted
attention, central and provincial
governments were already spend-
ing more on new facilities and
better salaries.
Zhao had a budget of 1.5
million yuan in 2008. His modest
lab in a Beijing suburb has an
enthusiastic staff of mostly young
researchers.
Some are specialists in dating
ancient wood — dendrochronol-
ogy — while others analyze spores
and pollen to understand ancient
environments.
As a construction boom con-
tinues to alter the physical
landscape of the country and
inadvertently uncover vital clues
to China’s past, Zhao, along with
most archaeologists in China, has
to rush to archaeological sites one
after another before he can spend
as much time as necessary in the
lab for research.
“Back in the United States, you
complain about no new discover-
ies available for research,” Zhao
says.
“Here we have too many.”

LOOKINGGLASS
Preserving culture beyond borders
Many ask me if my constant support (raising
and donating more than 30 million yuan) for
the preservation of the Kuqa Buddhist grottoes
and research on historical relics of Niya and
Dandanwulik over the past three decades has
anything to do with my being a Buddhist monk.
In fact, my first donation to Xinjiang was in
1985 and I became a monk two years later.
Growing up in Japan, where preservation of
cultural relics is regarded as a norm, I offered to
help because I know that it is a thing worthy of
doing, and because I have loved Xinjiang ever
since my first visit to the region in 1982.
But it is interesting to see that in 1985, when
I made the first donation of 100,000 yuan to
Xinjiang for the preservation of the Kuqa Bud-
dhist grottoes, I had to wait for three months
to wire the money. As I was later told, the local
government had several rounds of discussions
before they decided that it was appropriate to
receive a donation from a foreigner, which was
unprecedented.
I was also happy to see that my donation
reminded them it is important and imperative to
preserve those cultural relics. They have since
allocated special funds to take good care of
the grottoes. This put me much at ease when
I resigned from business in 1997 to devote my
time to cultural exchanges between Xinjiang
and Japan.
After my retirement, I knew I could no longer
offer much monetary support for relic preserva-
tion and archaeological exploration in Xinjiang
any more. But I also know that money will not be
since the 1980s.
a main problem for that purpose, as China is get-
ting stronger and its people are more willing than
64 OCTOBER 1, 2009 CHINA DAILY

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CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 65

TIMELINE
LOOKINGGLASS
1920s-1930s
Western suits and Homogeneity to
cheongsams become
the definitive dress for self-expression
the urban rich.
The fashion-adoring Chinese scru-
1949
tinize global trends and experiment
While no concrete
with all of them.
guidelines are set, ex-
Mother and father dressed identi-
isting Western fashion
cally and wore uniforms while in
styles of the upper
school, so the instant the freedom
middle class are seen
of dress arrives, youths take every
as residuals of a cor-
single fashion risk.
rupt, exploitative past.
Countless modes of expression
blossom on the streets of Beijing
1950s
and Shanghai, while the lag between
Amid wars, blockade
trends starting in London or Tokyo
and construction,
and reaching China decreases every
the Sun Yat-sen,
year. Many different elements are stu-
Lenin and Mao suits
diously mixed to form often wacky en-
become staple wear
sembles. The savvier tend to pick one
across China.
style tribe and imitate it perfectly while
others leap on every new avant-garde
Early 1960s
fashion as it appears. The range of
Three years of famine
styles is from hip-hop and rock, to
lead to a significant
all manner of androgyny, to hipsters
drop in the production
Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei continues to bear witness to the industry’s development in the country. that could have just flown over from
of cotton. Wear-re-
Jonah M. Kessel Brooklyn, to ethnic looks, to innova-
sistant gray, dark and
tive new uses of traditional Chinese
blue-colored clothes
clothing. One thing that we barely see
become standard.

1966-1978
Green army uniforms
gain popularity.
BYDESIGN
Chinese fashion is set to take center stage,
1978 as Gan Tian finds out
Chinese consumers
are introduced to Ital-
H
igh-heeled models sashay
ian brand Versace,
through the room, while
the first foreign fash-
famous TV hosts and
ion label to appear in
performers walk past the door,
the country.
exchanging greetings with warm
smiles.
1979
Surrounded by the crowd,
Pierre Cardin holds
Guo Pei kneels down, inspects a
the first fashion show
pair of red, open-toe shoes and
in China. Some con-
instructs her assistant to accom-
sidered the catwalk as
modate another customer for the
“evil” and “belonging to
next day.
the capitalist class”.
Guo is the top high-end fashion
designer in China and she is
1983
preparing her new collection for
Chinese people begin
China Fashion Week in Novem-
to wear Western suits
ber.
regularly after Party
“You will see giant evening
chief Hu Yaobang
dresses in my show during
makes consecutive
fashion week,” Guo says, point-
public appearances
ing to a half-finished dress on a
in Western instead of
model in her Rose Studio at the
Sun Yat-sen, Lenin or
capital’s North Fifth Ring Road.
Mao suits.
She fell in love with dresses
when she was 15, when few
1986
people here knew what fashion
Female gym competi-
design was.
tors create a nation-
“When I majored in fashion
wide stir by sporting
design in 1982, no one knew
bikinis on stage.
what it was for. My neighbors
would ask me, ‘What is fashion
1992
design?’” Guo says.
Louis Vuitton opens
She is proud to be a pioneer of
its shop in Beijing.
the industry. China has a fashion
Armani, Chanel, Gu-
history of 30 years and Guo says
cci and Christian Dior
she witnessed its beginning.
also make their mark
She remembers clearly the first
in the country.
costume she made — a wedding
gown that formed part of her
1999
graduation work.
Lu Yan, the first Chi-
“It was in 1986 and I had no
nese female model to
idea where to learn how to design
go global, stirs debate
a wedding dress. My tutor didn’t
in China for being “too
know either, so he asked me to
ugly to be a model”.
finish it on my own.”
The sharp young designer
2005
headed to the theaters, where
Du Juan becomes the
many Western palace costumes
cover girl of Time’s
were designed. She learned a few
supplement. She is
skills, including using wooden
the first Chinese su-
tools to put together dresses. Guo
permodel.
realized there was much to learn
STARCAST
Song Huaigui
Fashion pioneer who
married Pierre Cardin
and brought his brand
to China. Song died
in 2006.
Li Dongtian
Currently one of the
most famous stylists
in China. His works
appear in top fashion
magazines.
Lu Yan
China’s first global
model. She stepped
into Paris in 2000 and
later became popular
in Milan and Japan.
in the industry.
Her first show was in 1996,
a full decade after she gradu-
ated. There were three collections
— casual attire, artistic dresses
and haute couture. Rave reviews
followed, people started to notice
and she has not looked back
since.
Guo now has about 300 regular
clients who are willing to pay up
to 1 million yuan a year for her
clothes.
Her fame also brought Guo
closer to last year’s Beijing Olym-
pics.
“I still feel a connection with the
Games,” Guo says.
As early as 2001, when the
world found out China would
host the 2008 Summer Games,
Guo felt the excitement when she
saw female members of the China
Olympic bidding team, including
celebrity host Yang Lan, wearing
her dresses.
is classic or staid.
Fashion knowledge and maturity
reached this market quickly and one
way of assessing a person’s level of
international exposure is to observe
the sophistication of their dress. The
last three years have witnessed a
move away from the aping of celebri-
“They put on my dresses and ties or foreigners and fashion for the
exuded confidence and power,” sake of showing off wealth. Now,
she says. many dress to express themselves
“It spoke of a typical Chinese rather than to impress others with
beauty and that was when I their status. This means fewer logos
knew the world was looking at on belts and handbags and more
us.” creativity. Purchases are made be-
Later, when actress Zhang cause of quality rather than brand. As
Ziyi appeared at the ceremony sophistication increases, there are
in Athens to accept the torch for fewer egregious fashion crimes like
the following Olympic Games in unconscious vamp, overwhelming
Beijing, one of Guo’s friends told over-accessorizing, as well as general
her Zhang looked gorgeous in her kitsch and trashiness. Always improv-
dress. ing, fashion in China is an exciting
“When I heard the country was and colorful tapestry.
asking for fashion designers to
Nels Frye is a popular American fashion blog-
submit their costume options for
ger living in Beijing.
the medal ceremony presenters, I
felt it was my job to do so,” Guo
says.
“I had the draft designs in mind
only five minutes after I heard the
news — but I knew my designs
had to present the elegance and
confidence of Chinese women,”
she says.
Guo blended the Chinese qipao
and Western evening gown, com-
plemented with porcelain colors,
flowers, dragons and phoenix
embroidery.
“Though I spent only five
minutes on the draft design, I
spent half a year finishing them.
It was tiring but it was a special
honor.”
Guo never thought of giving
up in the face of well-known
hardships and difficulties in a
cutthroat industry. She chose
fashion simply because she loves If she had to pick one industry
it. to show the differences China
“I was one of those lucky people experienced in the last decade, it
who could make their interests would be fashion.
their career and reap benefits at “The last decade has seen the
the same time,” Guo says. greatest change and fastest
For Guo, fashion is all about growth in the industry. More
beauty. And people love to be fashion magazines appeared,
beautiful. Chinese consumers knew more
“Chinese people began to notice international brands and more
what they wear after the country’s Chinese faces were seen on the
reform and opening up,” Guo says. global fashion arena.”
66 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949–1960s
Revolutionary music
remains the over-
SOUNDINGOUT
whelmingly predomi-
nant genre.
A homegrown DJ shows Erik Nilsson the next wave
1970s
Red music pervades
E
lvis. T believes Chinese DJs
and the Yangbanxi
are poised to make a break-
(Eight Model Works),
through in bringing their
which includes re-
homespun flair to the turntable.
vised Peking operas
“Electronic music came from the
and revolutionary
West, and Chinese DJs haven’t
ballets, become a mu-
yet developed a unique style,”
sical staple. Cantopop
the 11-year veteran of the music
emerges in Hong
scene says.
Kong and Mandopop
“People want to hear Chinese
becomes the rage in
cultural elements in electronic
Taiwan.
music, but you can’t force it in.
That’s fake Chinese style. You
1980s
have to let it happen naturally.”
Mandopop also gains
But as nightclub dance floors
ground on the Chi-
writhe with swelling ranks of
nese mainland. Rock
moneyed, young and fashionable
is born mid-decade.
Chinese, the country’s adolescent
electronic music scene is growing
1990s
into its own identity.
Pop and rock grow,
Elvis. T says electronic music
punk appears mid-
has been booming on the Chinese
decade and jazz
mainland since 2007, when its
emerges.
second wave began.
Gaining a foothold on the main-
2000s
land after Filipino DJs brought it
Electronic music and
to the capital around 2000, the
hip-hop gain a foot-
genre’s appeal faded along with
hold on the mainland,
its novelty. Hip-hop usurped its
while pop music con-
place as the musical new kid on
tinues to flourish.
the block and Chinese clubbers’
dance music of choice.
Electronic music was brought to
Taiwan in 1992 and Elvis. T first
stepped into the DJ booth in his
hometown of Taipei six years later.
But as hip-hop also suffocated the
genre there, the scene eroded to
“almost nothing”, he says.
So he relocated to Beijing
in 2007 to get in on electronic
music’s second coming.
“It used to be impossible to
make a living or release your own
music as a Chinese DJ, but now
there are more ways to do it and
more people entering the indus-
try,” he says.
Elvis. T earns his income
DJ-ing in clubs, releasing his
own tracks and working as
Acupuncture Records’ chief
producer. Acupuncture
is the first domestic label
to release Chinese DJs’
music on an interna-
60 1949-2009
STARCAST
Cui Jian
Became the “God-
father of Chinese
Rock” after his
Nothing to My Name
in 1986.
Lang Lang
China’s most
famous classical
musician.
Jay Chou
A household name
who has won the
World Music Award
four times.
You Dai
or DJ Dio behind the
turntables, is widely
known as the coun-
try’s first radio DJ.
tional platform, he says.
Very few of the country’s DJs
have any way to release their
music at all, which makes it all
the trickier for them to get picked
up by international labels.
“First, we need more releases,
something for international labels
to listen to,” he says.
His releases on Japanese label
PLUS Records and Malaysia’s
Asian Music have made him one
of a handful of Chinese DJs with
music released by foreign com-
panies.
Elvis. T says that in addition to
the snags Chinese DJs face in re-
leasing their music, the country’s
electronic music scene must sur-
mount a lack of public awareness
about the genre and an absence
of homegrown superstar DJs to
inspire other artists.
But things are looking up, he
says.
“There are a lot of great things in
store for Chinese electronic music,
because we have been doing a lot
to push the scene,” Elvis. T says.
“By now, we know what we want
and have a clearer idea of how to
get there.”
In May, the artist co-organized
China’s first electronic music fes-
tival, Acupuncture’s INTRO 2009,
in Beijing. About 10,000 people
danced in an open-air plaza to
performances by 28 artists during
the 10-hour jamboree.
“That was a special moment,
because the setup, music and
crowd were lifted to an unprec-
edented level,” Elvis. T says.
“But it was like a split second
compared to all of the prepara-
tion; it was kind of like having a
baby. I was so thrilled.”
Elvis. T describes most Chinese
electronic music devotees as “24-
hour party people, a fun-loving
generation with high consump-
tion power”. He says most are
20-somethings working in cre-
ative industries, such as design,
writing and fashion.
The number of nightclubs has
mushroomed from a handful to
several dozen in all of the country’s
metropolises in the last decade.
The proliferation of DJ booths
means there are more pulpits from
which electronic music artists can
evangelize the genre.
By now, electronic music has
radiated to the country’s second-
and third-tier cities, and even
smaller settlements are opening
nightclubs featuring local DJs.
“The more chances people have
to attend these events, the more
chances they’ll get to experi-
ence electronic music
for themselves and fall
in love with it,” Elvis.
T says.
He says “Chinese
electronic music will
have a big fan base
and bright future”
— and that is music
to the ears of the
country’s DJs.
DJ Elvis. T says there
are great things in
store for Chinese
electronic music.
Courtesy of Acu-
puncture Records
CHINA DAILY
LOOKINGGLASS
New musicians
ready to rock
A formidable new wave of musicians
is taking China’s music underground
by storm. This burgeoning group of
performers works tirelessly and in the
process turns the ears of the interna-
tional music community to Beijing.
They now constitute a fresh, inde-
pendent voice in a country renowned
for its breakneck speed of change
and ancient cultural legacies.
For now, China remains a state of
transition between the socialist ideal-
ism of old and an unflagging drive for
wealth spurred by free-market reforms.
This seemingly unbridgeable gap
spurs creativity and weaves a new
social fabric while provoking younger
generations to greater artistic heights,
especially in the realm of music.
Given the impressive industrializa-
tion, destruction and reconstruction
of China’s rapidly changing urban
landscapes, it is probably no surprise
that Beijing musicians are heavily
influenced by the desperate no-wave
sounds of New York in the late 1970s
and early 1980s, as well as industrial
Manchester in the 1980s.
The Beijing musicians have nonethe-
less reconfigured this urban Western
vocabulary to fit with Beijing opera’s
traditional delight, with textural experi-
mentation and China’s centuries-long
history of infatuation with shimmering
melodic structures.
With the sound of broken-down ma-
chines cranking out lovely pop songs,
the unique sound emerging from China’s
music underground illuminates the new
social contract, aggressively questioning
the moral and social basis of the urban
modernity on which it subsists. Their
highly lauded performances
continue to rock China
and will, very soon, do
the same for the rest
of the world.
Charles Saliba is the
co-founder of the for-
eign-run, pioneer Chi-
nese rock venue D-22.
CHINA DAILY OCTOBER 1, 2009 67
68 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1920
Artist Lin Feng-
mian (1900-91) goes
to France to study
Western painting. He
returns to China to
head the Beiping State
Vocational Art School,
the cradle of modern
Chinese art.
1953
Artist Dong Xiwen
(1914-73) creates
“The Founding of the
Nation” to capture the
proclamation of the
People’s Republic three
years earlier. The work
becomes a milestone in
Chinese oil painting.
1953-1966
Oil painting takes
a more proactive
sociopolitical role as
revolutionary realism is
entrenched in everyday
consciousness.
1966-76
Oil painting stresses
revolutionary optimism
through vermilion and
bold colors to depict
heroic figures and
grand scenes during
the “cultural revolution”.
1979
The Stars Art Group,
formed by young art-
ists such as Ai Weiwei,
Bao Pao, Huang Rui,
Ma Desheng and Mao
Lizi, holds the first
public group show of
Chinese contemporary
artists.
1989
The China/Avant-Garde
Exhibition pushes the
“85 New Wave” to its
climax, showing some
of the seminal works by
China’s first generation of
contemporary artists.
2001
Huang Rui, a mem-
ber of the Stars Art
Group, introduces
what is now the 798
Art Zone, one of the
largest hubs of Chi-
nese contemporary
art in Beijing.
CHALLENGINGCANVAS
Contemporary art is carrying high hopes amid ripples of change, Zhu Linyong hears
STARCAST
F
or a long time before 2004, signaled the official debut of con- local media has hailed Zhang as
ink painter and publisher temporary Chinese art. “a key supporter and promoter of Ai Weiwei
Zhang Zikang remained a Works by 186 artists, ranging contemporary Chinese art”. Activist and key mem-
calm and patient observer of the from experimental ink, installa- Next year, Zhang will regu- ber of the Stars Art
ebbs and flows of Chinese con- tions, performances, photographs larly show part of the museum’s Group at the forefront
temporary art. and videos, challenged the permanent collection, which of China’s contempo-
“My early knowledge about conventional, Socialist realism comprises more than 2,000 con- rary art scene.
Chinese contemporary art and approach to art. temporary works.
such terminologies as abstract Chinese contemporary art Still a fervent lover of Chinese
expressionism, conceptual art, further stole the limelight in the ink art in his spare time, Zhang Luo Zhongli
performance art and surreal- late 1990s when local artists continues to pin high hopes on Sichuan Academy of
ism came from newspapers and flooded international art bienni- Chinese contemporary art. Fine Arts president
magazines in the early 1980s,” als in Europe and the Americas, The soaring prices at auctions who won instant fame
says Zhang, director of the Today Zhang says. over the past years also do not for his depiction of an
Art Museum. Since 2000, Chinese contem- necessarily justify the academic imaginary farmer.
The venue is one of the earli- porary art has found its way on value and the position in art
est and by far the largest private a massive scale into public life history of certain contemporary Zhang Xiaogang
space for Chinese contemporary at such art galas as Art Beijing, art pieces, Zhang says. Red-hot artist’s works
art. Shanghai Biennale, Chengdu Likewise, the current lacklus- sold at astronomical
“With limited background Biennale and Guangzhou Trien- ter art market does not mean prices at auctions in
knowledge about modern and nial, exhibited alongside works contemporary Chinese art has London, New York
contemporary art, I felt it hard by international artists. come to an end, he says. and Hong Kong.
to understand how art works Zhang himself was invited in This is because “the vast lands,
could be executed in such bold early 2004 to helm the Today widely different local cultures and Cai Guoqiang
and subversive manners,” Zhang Art Museum, which was founded rapidly changing economic, social Drew global prestige
says. by real estate developer Zhang and cultural scenes in China will for works inspired by
But looking back, he says “it Baoquan in 2001. lend great strength to contem- sources like Taoism,
also came naturally that pioneer- The museum has been widely porary art in the coming years”, Buddhism and UFO-
ing art groups such as the Stars recognized as a leader among the Zhang says. observations.
Art Group and No Name Group country’s private museums of “We are happy to be part of this
emerged instead … and Chinese contemporary Chinese art, while rosy future.”
artists rushed to try their hands
at the many newly imported art
genres”.
That was a time when the
whole nation was similarly into
reform and opening up, when
people were thirsty for knowledge
and information from the outside
world to empower themselves.
“It is no wonder that experi-
mental art, music, poems and
Western philosophies were
extremely popular during that
time,” Zhang says.
In February 1989, when
China’s avant-garde artists
staged their first and largest
group show at the National Art
Museum of China, Zhang, then
an art designer with the Hebei
Book News, heard about the
event and took a bus from Shi-
jiazhuang in Hebei province to
Beijing, without telling his family
or colleagues.
Zhang said he “was totally
absorbed” by the China/Avant-
Garde Exhibition that was
addressed as the climax of the
“85 New Wave” movement and Museum director Zhang Zikang is confident the art market will overcome the slowdown. Jonah M. Kessel

2005
The first China Song-
zhuang Art Festival
opens, with some 600
works by 300 artists.
2006
Zhang Xiaogang’s
oil painting Comrade
No 120 sells for a
record $979,200 at
Sotheby’s New York
sales.
2008
Synthetic Times, Me-
dia China 2008, the
first and largest new
media exhibition, is
staged at the National
Art Museum of China.
LOOKINGGLASS
Catching up with itself and the rest
The Chinese contemporary art scene
today is, in so many ways, everything it
dreamed of becoming.
This is an astonishing achieve-
ment considering that the entire scene
emerged from nothing in the mid-1980s
and for a fleeting moment recently took
the world by storm.
itself through art.
volume that unfolded
from 2006 until the eco-
nomic crisis, we can still say that China’s
contemporary art scene has achieved
a measure of progress, modernity and
success. Today, major cities across the
country each own art districts, art zones,
or art villages, as well as a mass of stu-
dios and galleries.
that China’s contemporary
influence upon what has become known
and recognized as “Chinese” or “China”
today to the outside world.
Behind the explosive rise of the mar-
ket, we can find a range of assumptions
and attitudes about China, Chinese art
and culture that are at odds with domes-
tic attitudes and readings of the same
scene.
China’s contemporary artists continue
to flourish and to move forward.
Today, the masters of the early group of
pioneers are joined by new generations of
younger artists, whose experiences of the
world and of China are very different.
While it thrills me to see young artists
producing work that reflects contempo-
rary Chinese society and issue in ever
more profound and creative ways, people
unfamiliar with China clearly find it harder
to read these innovations and are thus
less ready to share such enthusiasm.
With current financial headaches and
funding issues a primary distraction for
the international art world, the contem-
porary art world in China is presented
with a moment to catch up with itself.
There is reason to re-examine recent
strategies in the light of what will cer-
tainly be another tumultuous yet exciting
30 years ahead.
Karen Smith is a veteran art critic and historian in
Chinese contemporary art.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 69

TIMELINE LOOKINGGLASS
1949-1952
Most Western restau-
rants close down as
foreigners leave the
CUISINECENTRAL Sweet Shanghai
Restaurants in Shanghai are like the
city’s beautiful girls — trendy, whimsi-
Chinese mainland A Shanghai classic cooks up part of the cal and often unpredictable.
country’s culinary changes for Wang Ying
and well-off urban-
Whatever their style, most Shang-
ites try to shake off
hai restaurants put up their best to
residual imperialist
entice potential patrons. As such, they
privileges after the

L
aozhengxing on busy Fu- are not merely places for eating, but
founding of the PRC.
zhoulu is not just another also for entertainment, relaxation and
Shanghai restaurant. socializing.
1953
But then, Fuzhoulu is not just Foreigners always marvel at the
China adopts a
another street. delicate presentation and appealing
system of planned
Together, they embody the taste of new Shanghai cuisine. They
purchase and supply
decadent glamour that was old are also impressed by the elegant and
to monopolize the
Shanghai and exemplify the responsive service of the waiters and
selling and buying
youthful vitality of this modern waitresses at top-ranking eateries.
of grain. Food grain
cosmopolitan city that, itself, is a This was not always the case.
ration coupons are in-
reflection of the past 60 years of Restaurants here used to be quite
troduced to guarantee
New China. different. Old Benbang restaurants
food for all.
To many Chinese residents, made eaters feel like eating in large
that progress is most evident on canteens that were noisy and dirty,
1953
the dining table. Indeed, food has with the air fouled by cigarette smoke
Russian cuisine
always played an important role and the prevailing smell of overused
emerges as the urban
in Chinese culture as a reliable cooking oil.
elites’ new favorite .
indicator of development that The restaurants in Shanghai have
In 1956, nearly every
most people can appreciate and grown up with the burgeoning econ-
homegrown restau-
understand. omy in terms of quantity, variety and
rant joins the public-
Few places in China have quality over the past decades.
private partnership.
made so great a stride in social But the cuisine has not changed
and economic development than much as consistency is an essential
1958-1961
Shanghai. True to tradition, element for cooking. The Shanghai
Public canteens are
hardly any local cuisine has cuisine is a mixture of flavors across
the main venues to
seen so much change than the the nation, but characterized by
obtain food as the
Benbang, or native land, food of a strong taste of sweetness.
people’s communes
this town by the mouth of the When you talk about food in
take dominance over
mighty Yangtze River. Shanghai, you cannot ignore the hairy
private life, providing
With more than 100 years of crab that is the craze of Shanghai din-
security through State
history serving Shanghai’s rich ers. Harvested in neighboring lakes,
distribution.
and famous, Laozhengxing is the hairy crabs are at their prime in
widely revered as the symbol of the the spawning season throughout the
1962
Benbang. Gutted and refurbished autumn months.
Public canteens are
in 2005, the six-story building that The most sought-after variety
dissolved after famine
is home to this ancient eatery has comes from Yangcheng Lake in Ji-
hits most parts of the
retained its old-styled façade, dis- angsu province, about an hour’s drive
country. People rely
tinguished by elaborately carved from downtown Shanghai. So many of
on food ration cou-
wooden window frames painted in the crabs in that lake are consumed
pons and rarely eat Chen Jiguan of Shanghai’s Laozhengxing restaurant is making
bright Chinese red. by the big spenders in Shanghai that
outside. changes to attract diners while keeping the characteristics of Benbang
But like many old establish- only the smaller and weaker ones are
ments in fast moving Shanghai, cuisine. Gao Erqiang left for the locals.
1987
Laozhengxing fell out of favor in map. The traditional rice vermi- Benbang cuisine. Hairy crabs are an expensive
Kentucky Fried chick-
subsequent decades. celli soup with deep-fried tofu Of course, new ingredients delicacy valued mainly for their roe,
en (KFC) becomes
It failed to keep in step with and the fist-sized rice balls stuffed developed and processed at which, to many foreigners, is an ac-
one of the first West-
the changing whim of Shanghai with chopped meat survived only modern facilities have helped. quired taste. Many foreigners prefer
ern fast-food brands
diners, who were busy explor- in make-shift cook food stands, in For instance, the quality of the the crabmeat cooked with vegetable
to enter the Chinese
ing the new tastes served up by the back alleys of run-down tene- soy sauce used at Laozhengxing or tofu.
mainland and shunt
celebrity chefs at five-star hotels ment blocks in the oldest parts of is much better than those before, We are not all that crazy about the
a large group of eat-
and fancy restaurants, as well as the city. Chen says. crabs and other expensive Shanghai
ers from traditional
those at fast-food chains from the But none of these changes have “It is lighter in color and less dishes such as the sea cucumbers
cuisine. KFC quickly
United States and Hong Kong. gone unnoticed by Chen Jiguan, salty,” he says. "But it lends the or fish maw served in opulent restau-
becomes popular
The typical Benbang cuisine, general manager of Laozhengxing. food the same aroma befitting that rants. What we would like to see are
among the younger
famous for its heavy sauce and “We have to make fundamental of the Benbang tradition." more mid-priced restaurants serving
generation. Traditional
sweet taste, sounded unhealthy changes to attract patrons, or But one thing on the menu of Benbang
cuisines face tough
and looked old fashioned. The our Benbang cuisine will lose its every Shanghai-style restaurant
challenges in drawing
increasingly health-conscious sheen as Shanghai’s brand,” Chen will never change, the xiaolongbao,
young consumers.
diners had grown wary of such says. a small steamed dumpling with a
old-time favorite dishes as braised Some changes are obvious and soft thin skin of dough wrapping
1990
pig knuckles in brown sauce or seemingly easy to implement: around a juicy meatball.
The first McDonald’s
stir-fried eel swimming in oil. Cut down the use of oil, salt and Consult a Shanghai friend
in the Chinese main-
Even the supposedly healthier sugar. But the problem facing before you make your first bite
land opens in Shen-
breakfast foods favored by Shang- Chen and other master chefs in — because spilling the hot au jus
zhen.
hai people for generations had all town is doing all that while retain- all over a white tablecloth is defi-
but disappeared from the culinary ing the special characteristics of nitely “un-Benbang”.
1993
China abolishes food
coupons. Snapshot
Late 1990s - Eight great styles
2000s SHANDONG SICHUAN GUANGDONG FUJIAN CUISINE JIANGSU ZHEJIANG HUNAN ANHUI
Characterized by its Known for its spicy Diverse and rich, Distinguished by its Aquatics are the Its dishes boast Characterizes itself Chefs focus on the
Indigenous fast food emphasis on and pungent flavor, the cuisine uses choice seafood as main ingredients. mellow fragrances from thick and temperature in
chains emerge. aroma, freshness, its prolific tastes many vegetables well as color and Freshness of and are not greasy strong flavors. Chili, cooking more so
Traditional domestic crispness and emphasize the use from around the taste of sweet, ingredients is but fresh, tender, pepper and shallot than in other
tenderness. Shallot of chili. Pepper and world. It often sour, salty and stressed, along with soft and smooth. are necessary, as is cuisines and excel
cuisines try to combat and garlic are prickly ash are also chooses raptors and savory. carving techniques. Frying, quick-fry, garlic. Stewing, in braising and
foreign food through usually used as commonly used, beasts for dishes Typical cooking stir-fry, braising and pan-roasting, frying stewing. Hams are
seasonings. Soups alongside garlic, with a clear, light, methods include steaming are basic and smoking are often added to
renewed dishes, up- are also given a lot ginger and crisp and fresh stewing, braising, cooking methods. emphasized. improve taste and
graded facilities and of attention. fermented taste. Basic cooking roasting and sugar candy to
soybean. Basic techniques include simmering. enrich freshness.
increasing publicity. cooking techniques roasting, stir-frying,
include frying, sautéing,
frying without oil, deep-frying,
pickling and braising, stewing
braising. and steaming. Graphic by Tian Chi
70 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949
Tea becomes a key
resource for export
through the newly set
up China Tea Com-
pany, the first State-
run firm that manages
the tea trade. China
exports 9,900 tons of
tea during the year.
1950
China General Tea
Company, the first
Chinese State-run
company, is set up to
manage tea trade in
the country.
1956
Zhejiang tries out and
promotes mechanized
tea making, a step
soon followed by
other provinces.
1950-1970s
The area taken up
Tea connois-
LOOKINGGLASS
seur Wang Qing
says the classic Classic drink
Chinese bever-
age is in need of takes fresh root
a revamp to suit
global tastes.
in Europe
Jiang Dong
During the past 15 years or so, the
world of tea has seen lots of changes.
A much wider variety, increase in
product knowledge and improved
product quality have generated better
consumer awareness and refinement,
leading to a growth in consumption.
High quality leaf teas have seen
their market share grow and the
introduction of the “single origin”
premium teas from China are blazing
new paths, although 90 percent of tea
consumption in Europe remains in
“tea bags”.
Elegant teashops have also been
sprouting up all over European capi-
tals and they all carry an important
assortment of high-quality Chinese
leaf teas.
Traditional tea drinkers may still
consider that it is in the hills of Dar-

TEA-INGUP
by tea gardens in the jeeling in India where the champagne
country rises 7.3 per- of tea is produced. But newcomers
cent a year following a to the market are the ones who have
series of promotional keenly discovered the incredible vari-
campaigns. Tea pro- ety of premium teas from China.
duction increases 5.9 The Chinese beverage is swirling with A number of European pioneers
began travelling to China in the 1990s
percent annually.
the waves of change, Ye Jun discovers to learn more about these famous
1984 teas, which at that time were still dif-
ficult to purchase. Lu Yu’s classic Cha

F
China opens up tea or Beijinger Wang Qing, tea
for free trade. is a way of life.
“In the morning, I drink a
1988 cup of refreshing green tea. In the
Lao She Teahouse afternoon, I drink an aromatic
set up as the first cup of tieguanyin,” says Wang,
teahouse in Beijing 45.
and China amid the “In the evening, I drink black,
country’s reform and dark or oolong tea, to aid di-
opening up. gestion without disrupting my
sleep.”
1994 Wang is a tea drinker in a
Wufu (Five Fortune) country considered to hold the
Tea Ceremony earliest records of the habit.
Teahouse founded The history of picking and
as Beijing’s first consuming tea in China dates
teahouse specializing back more than 2,000 years, with
in the tea ceremony. ancient Chinese scholars immor-
talizing the beverage with famous
2005 poems.
China’s overall tea Wang’s first impressions of tea
production exceeds date back to his childhood.
India’s to become “As a boy, I would go to tea-
world’s No 1. shops to buy ‘gaomo’ or powdery
remains of jasmine tea.”
2008 But it was not until Wang
Chinese character worked at the Ministry of Com-
“tea” appears at merce that he got to know other
Beijing Olympics Chinese tea varieties such as
opening ceremony as white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea,
a symbol of traditional black tea, dark black tea and re-
Chinese culture. processed teas like Pu’er. Over the
years, Wang’s work has taken him
to 1,000 Chinese counties.
In 2004, Wang was transferred
to the China Tea Marketing As-
sociation and became executive
vice-chairman of the semi-official
organization.
“I tried all kinds of tea ... these
included almost every tradition-
ally famous tea of China.”
Those in the country’s southern
regions are known for drinking
mostly green tea, while their north-
ern counterparts are said to enjoy
jasmine tea.
Still, China’s tea production
has seen great changes over the
years.
“When the People’s Republic of
China was founded in 1949, the
country’s tea production was only
about 10,000 tons,” Wang says.
“In the1970s, it was just more
than 100,000 tons.”
But last year alone, China
produced 1.24 million tons of tea,
taking up one-third of the world’s
total tea production with an
output value of 30 billion yuan.
“China has 21 provinces and
900 counties that produce tea.”
“There are 240 million tea
drinkers, 80 million tea farmers
and 50 million tea traders in the
industry.”
China’s vast tea producing
regions also extend to Tibet in the
west, Shandong in the north and
Hainan in the south.
The country has 1.6 million
hectares planted for tea, with
production surpassing India to
become the world’s largest since
2005.
China is also the third-largest
tea exporter in the world, ranking
after Kenya and Sri Lanka. Last
year, China exported 297,000
tons of tea, 80 percent of which
was green tea.
Compared with 60 years ago,
Chinese tea producers have also
equipped themselves with ad-
vanced tea-making technology.
“Tea is being used for many
other purposes, with scientific
analyses backing up its health
benefits,” Wang says. These
include polyphenol extract pills
and tea fiber for clothing.
Still, Wang says Chinese tea
consumption has not grown as
swiftly as tea production.
“In the past seven or eight years,
average consumption grew at
a lukewarm 10.7 percent,” he
says. Wang estimates China’s full
annual tea production capacity to
be 1.5 to 1.6 million tons.
But Wang says tea continues to
be more than just a beverage in
the Chinese psyche.
“It is a way to balance myself
mentally … and a great way to
socialize.
“But it’s understandable that
fashion-conscious youth these
days would rather drink coffee
and cola.”
Wang concedes that Chinese
tea needs a revamp.
“It is time for tradition to merge
with reality,” he says.
“That’s one way for Chinese tea
to take global strides.”
Jing or Book of Tea was re-translated
and a whole series of tea books have
been written and edited in the last 10
years, promoting this knowledge to
new tea consumers.
Premium green tea such as the
first pickings of longjing and tai ping
hou kui arrive in very small quantities
and they are sold to “registered” cus-
tomers in 20g bags.
Pu’er tea is becoming better known
every year, in particular the mini
tuocha.
White teas were intensely promot-
ed a few years ago by some market
operators, not only from China but
also from Sri Lanka and parts of India.
Most speciality teashops carry
oolong tea, and some of them may
also sell yellow tea. Given the very
small production, these teas are rare
and available only to “insiders”.
Types of flower tea, in particular
jasmine, are very well known and
greatly appreciated, although not al-
ways identified as Chinese tea.
Fine Yunnan tea is well-known,
with discerning customers willing to
pay the very high prices for “premium
golden tips” and the more common
variety also available.
Gourmet consumers are keen to
exercise their palate and taste buds,
but often require guidance from the
teashop or teahouse manager.
Barbara Dufrene is a French tea consultant
and was secretary-general of the European Tea
Committee from 1992 to 2004.

MAINVARIETIES
Green Tea White Tea Reprocessed Oolong tea
China produces Processing of this Teas Fermentation level
and exports the tea is closest to Two famous teas is 30-70 percent.
world’s largest primitive practice, that make up this Famous for variety
amount of green that of withering popular category and floral aroma.
tea. Some of the and sun-drying. are jasmine and
most famous ones Most famous pro- Yunnan Pu’er.
include longjing duction regions
(Dragon Well) and biluochun (Em- are Fuding and Zhenghe of Fujian
erald Spring Spiral). province.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 71

TIMELINE
1949
As the Soviet Union is
the first country to rec-
ognize the People’s Re-
public and starts to enroll
Chinese students into its
universities, Russian be-
comes the most popular
foreign language.

1951-1956
The Ministry of Educa-
tion publishes draft on
national standards and
guidelines for English
teaching in middle
schools.

1959
The Ministry of Educa-
tion stipulates that one
third of middle schools
should offer Russian lan-
guage courses while the
rest can open courses on Sichuan province primary school teacher Wang Zhoubin and his pupils are part of the nationwide English fever. Courtesy of Wang Zhoubin
English and other foreign
languages.

1966-76
Normal classes are
CLASSACT
distrupted in the first
few years of the “cul-
English is heating up in the country, Lin Shujuan learns
tural revolution”. When

schools reopen, English
classes resume in middle
schools and colleges but
with a focus on political
vocabulary.
1978
“English Language
Learning”, China’s first
magazine dedicated to
English learning (set up
in 1958), resumes pub-
lication.
1984
English is included as
a major subject in the
country’s college en-
trance examination.
1990-2000
Various international
English-language train-
ing institutes, such as
English First, appear in
China.
2002
Beijing launches a
“Speak English Pro-
gram” in preparation for
its hosting of the 2008
Olympics.
2003
Shanghai launched a
citywide English training
program in preparation
for the 2010 Expo in
Shanghai.
P
rimary school teacher
Wang Zhoubin received
a compliment from his
8-year-old pupil recently.
“I really enjoy being in your
class,” the child says.
While he was happy to hear
that, Wang was baffled at first.
His English lessons in Hongbai, a
town in Shifang county of Sichuan
province that was hit by the May
12 quake last year, consisted
mostly of tape recordings played
for his pupils because he himself
confessed to be almost ignorant
about the foreign language.
So the 32-year-old teacher
asked the pupil what made his
classes so attractive.
“It’s because I can always fall
asleep so easily,” the pupil says.
Wang and his pupils are just
some of the millions of Chinese
people being caught up in a na-
tionwide fever to learn the English
language.
Wang had been teaching math-
ematics after graduating from
vocational school in 1994. But
he started to teach English three
years ago, as English was made
compulsory from grade three in
2001.
Wang says the last time he read
English was 18 years ago, after
he spent three years trying to re-
member a set of vocabularies and
grammar so that he could score
well enough to be admitted to a
vocational school for teachers.
as the phenomenon to learn the
STARCAST language is known in Chinese,
Xu Guozhang (1915 started to sweep into the country’s
-1994) most cities and hit every student
English educator who above the high-school level about
compiled China’s first two decades ago.
English education But the enthusiasm to study
textbooks for college English began much earlier, in
students. 1972, after US President Richard
Nixon’s historic visit to China.
Yu Minhong A few months after Nixon’s visit,
Founded Beijing- the local Beijing Broadcast Station
based New Oriental started preparation to air an
Education Group, of- English teaching program.
fering intensive train- On July 18, 1972, Premier Zhou
ing for students plan- Enlai sent a message to the station,
ning to go abroad. predicting that the program would
have a “great impact” in public. He
Li Yang instructed that the host send the
The founder and lessons to such experts as Tang
chairman of “Crazy Wensheng — Chairman Mao Ze-
English” is known for dong’s interpreter — for approval.
his over-the-top and The rudimentary English many
rock-concert-style urban youngsters learned via radio
teaching methods. prepared them to enter colleges in
early 1978 as the first batch of lan-
Wang Tingting guage students after the “cultural
This student drew at- revolution” (1966-1976).
tention last March for Today, the wave to learn English
blogs criticizing the is being felt in remote villages such
Ministry of Education as Hongbai.
for its English-teach- With more Chinese people going
ing approach. abroad for work or study and more
foreigners coming to the country
for business, English proficiency
All that English has been long is now an individual’s hallmark
forgotten, Wang says. “I didn’t even for success.
use it once over the past 18 years,” Every college student must also
until three years ago. meet a certain level of English
The ongoing “English fever”, comprehension to earn his degree.
To many, a working knowledge
of English is a passport to college
graduation, the key to an overseas
education and a decent job in a
foreign enterprise.
China’s entry to the World Trade
Organization in 2001 and its prep-
aration for the Beijing Olympics
last year also helped boost English-
language learning.
Linguists estimate the number of
Chinese now studying or speaking
English at more than 350 million
— or about the entire population of
native English speakers worldwide.
Private schools, study aids and
high-priced tutors vie for a piece
of this enormous market. The
country’s largest English-language
learning network, New Oriental,
is traded on the New York Stock
Exchange.
Still, those like Wang continue
to question the necessity of learn-
ing English. “Is it really necessary
for everyone in the country to learn
it?” he asks.
In recent years, the same ques-
tion has been raised and debated
online and in the mass media.
For now, the good news for
skeptics like Wang is that the
new English course focuses on
developing the students’ ability to
use English in their daily life.
Wang says that he has also
been learning English along with
their students over the past two
years. “Like it or not, I’m also part
of this ‘fever’,” he says.

LOOKINGGLASS
Tool to take global center stage
English is the global language of business and
the growth of English study in China is reflective
of that reality — it is staggering how many mil-
lions of people have begun studying English in
China during the last 60 years.
I believe this is very much a reflection that
as a major world power, China is committed to
learn how to communicate in English. During
the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, we saw a
wonderful culmination of China's ascendancy
onto the world stage.
It is my personal belief that the education
industry in China, during the last 60 years, has
changed a great deal too. Previously silent and
very low-profile, education in China seems
to have evolved during the era of reform and
opening up, not only because of government
initiatives, but also from individuals who want to
change their lives.
It would not be fair of me, as a non-native
Chinese, to point out deficiencies in China's
educational system. However, we do see that
many of our students have a strong desire to
learn English, and come to our school with a
good base of grammar, but lack confidence to
use their English.
Our learning system, specifically designed
for Chinese English learners, is geared to give
our students plenty of confidence-building op-
portunities to speak and use the English they learn English.
learn in our schools. I am often impressed by
our students who are passionate about learning
English, and it is an honor to create the right Bill Fisher is the
chief executive of-
English environment for them to improve. ficer of education
We recently helped to train a few local Eng- group English First
lish teachers from the quake-stricken area of China
72 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE
1949-1974
Access to China is
very restricted save
for select foreign
visitors.

Late 1970s
China begins rapidly
assembling its own
travel industry.

1978
China welcomes
230,000 foreign tour-
ists.

Mid-1980s
More than 250 cities
open to foreign tour-
ists.

1995
Foreign Exchange
Certificates, a cur-
rency reserved for
foreigners, finally
phased out.

1998-2002
Number of travel Veteran travel agent Li Xuesong says Chinese tourists now have an abundance of destination options. Gao Erqiang
agencies jumps from
6,222 to 11,552 as
outbound tourists
spike from 3.2 million
to 10.1 million people.

2008
Travel ban to Taiwan
lifted; the US is also
GOINGPLACES
A tourism boom is giving Chinese travelers
given coveted Ap-
proved Destination
unprecedented choices, Matt Hodges discovers
Status.

S
hanghai resident Li Xuesong
comes from an upper-
middle-class family but he
does not have any memories of
going anywhere with his parents
when he was young, not even to
places in China.
“Thirty years ago, people had
no concept of traveling abroad,”
Li says.
China was struggling to feed and
cloth its huge population while
most Western countries placed
all types of sanctions against the
young socialist nation.
In the 1960s, Air China flew
only to a few cities in the world,
such as Moscow and Karachi.
Now, as a travel agent with
two decades’ experience, Li sees
Chinese students flooding foreign
universities and the country
standing on the brink of an out-
bound tourism boom.
He took his daughter Jiayi to
Thailand when she was just six
years old and she is now studying
in Berlin.
“Things have changed so much.
Back in the 1970s, there was so
much propaganda about ‘Western
imperialists’ that we had to be
careful even talking to foreign
tourists,” he says.
Before China started mobiliz-
ing its travel industry at that
time, only the privileged few
could travel overseas. Those in-
cluded public servants on official
visits or people with relatives
abroad.
Even officials had to get “politi-
cal authorization” for their travel
and destinations were few. Many
of the early travelers were ac-
tually technicians and other
Chinese specialists sent overseas
STARCAST they began to wind down,” he
says.
Wang Zhenghua Thirty years ago, people “Now it’s more popular to fly
Former official who had no concept of trav- into Paris and out of Rome 7-9
founded Spring eling abroad. days later,” Li says, adding that
Travel Agency, the next year’s FIFA World Cup host
group has almost South Africa, and especially its
4,000 branches. precious stones, was one of the
LI XUESONG
Liang Jianzhang Travel agent hottest draws for his customers
Founded online
this summer, along with the pyra-
travel agency
mids of Egypt.
Ctrip.com in 1999,
Domestic attractions like tropi-
fueling the rise of
cal Hainan Island, mountainous
do-it-yourself trips.
Sichuan, Tibet and the lime-karst
rocks of Guilin in Guangxi have
Tong Wei Domestic travel was cheap in also spurred local travel, with 1.7
President of the comparison with today’s white- billion Chinese taking domestic
major China Interna- collar salaries. “When I started trips in 2008 alone. It marked an
tional Travel Service in the business in the 1980s, increase of more than 30 percent
head office (CITS). one-way tickets from Shanghai from three years earlier.
to Beijing cost 90 yuan, or 101 While the bulk of Chinese satisfy
yuan from here to Guangzhou,” their travel bugs domestically, Li
Jiang Jianning Li says. estimates that one-in-five resi-
CEO of China CYTS After two decades of solid eco- dents in major cities like Shanghai
Tours Holding, tak- nomic growth, what once seemed and Guangzhou now travel over-
ing chain operations normal now seems backward. seas each year.
into the sector. “I traveled to Cuba in 2006 and China’s opening up with the
it was exactly like China 20 years, outside world also saw it welcome
what with the two currencies they more than 46 million foreign tour-
use,” he says. ists in 2006 to rank as the 4th
to help foster bilateral relations, Southeast Asia was one of the most-visited country in the world,
he adds. initial draws for Chinese with World Tourism Organization
Like foreign tourists, who were passports and cash to burn, then figures show.
not allowed to buy or spend yuan Australia and New Zealand. En- Present and future trends include
until some 15 years ago, Chinese tering the 21st century, Europe a growing rate of do-it-yourself
had to get difficult-to-obtain opened up with the lure of the holidays, with local websites like
Foreign Exchange Certificates, a Schengen Agreement, offering Ctrip.com.
second medium of exchange al- Chinese tourists a free pass to “I remember when Ctrip started,
lowing them to purchase foreign hop across 10 countries’ borders I looked down on them because
currencies. on just one visa. they gave out small name cards
But whereas international “People used to flash their and no one had heard of them, but
travel was fraught with diffi- passport stamps and show off by now they are the No 1 operator in
culty, there was little travel for saying ‘ba guo you’ (8-country- China,” Li says.
leisure at home. Most people tour). Then, after a few years, they “Even my wife and daughter are
who visited tourist sites were realized that you couldn’t soak up now bugging me to travel alone
doing it on the sideline of busi- any of the local atmosphere from rather than go for (cheaper) group
ness trips. these whistle-stop excursions so tours.”
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 73

TIMELINE
2002
Fang Xingdong opens
Blogchina with an
OWNSPACE
infusion of 5 million Raymond Zhou explores the tip of the blogosphere
yuan in angel invest-
ment and later an
additional $10 million.
He is often called
STARCAST
O
the “father of China’s n March 8, 2006, Wang Obviously, Time magazine took
blogging” partly be- Xiaofeng shut down his notice. At the end of 2006, when
blog. Xu Jinglei Time picked “You” as Man of the
cause he was respon-
He did not leave a word of ex- Film actress who Year, Wang was the only Chinese
sible for the Chinese
planation. The webpage displayed was for a long time representative featured as a
term for it.
the usual line “inaccessible due to the world’s most- sample.
technical reasons”. read blogger. His irreverence did not stop at
2004
Li Li, a.k.a. Muzi Mei, The next day, Reuters publishes Time. A few months later, Wang
posts a collection of a story, saying the Chinese gov- wrote a blog describing how he
true stories of her sex ernment shut Wang’s blog. They Hong Huang bribed the magazine’s editor-in-
life, causing a jam on could not reach him. So they A leading media chief into giving him the honor.
the Internet and alert- wrote about what they assumed. mogul and outspo- Not everyone got his humor and
ing the online public It was exactly what Wang ex- ken, widely influen- many, including Westerners, took
of the possibilities of pected. Some time earlier, Reuters tial blogger. it at face value when this newspa-
blogging. interviewed him, but the story per translated it into English.
that came out depicted him as a Wang Xiaofeng represents the
2005 kind of dissident. He felt his words Lian Yue tip of the blogosphere iceberg.
In September, Sina, were twisted to suit the needs of a Highly respected Most of China’s blog postings read
China’s biggest portal, Western perspective. So, he came freelance writer who like high-school diaries and are of LOOKINGGLASS
opens a channel for up with a plan to “get even”. uses his blog as an interest to only a coterie of friends
blogs. It amasses al- Wang is a symbol of irreverence aggregate platform. and family members. Wang, like Unleashing
most all celebrities in that extends to such prestigious other good bloggers, works within
the Middle Kingdom, institutions of journalism as the establishment of the press, the power
irrevocably reshaping Reuters. He is one of the senior Song Zude and understands how the system
I have been following Chinese blogs
China’s blogsphere writers for Sanlian Life Weekly, Entertainment exec- works better than most. They do
since 2003, when Muzi Mei’s online
into one for celebrity one of China’s best-selling maga- utive says the most not jump up and down and shout
sex diaries introduced the concept
gossip and self-pro- zines. But that is not describing outrageous things “New media are to replace the old!”
of blogging to millions of Chinese
motion. The number even half of him. about celebrities. Instead, they use new media to fill
people. Since then, it has been a real
of blogs explodes, Before that prank, he was the void left by the old.
pleasure to observe the flowering of
reaching 16 million. known as China’s best music When Wang’s boss asked him
creativity and unleashing of the pow-
critic, or at least one of the best. why he did not apply his produc-
ers of expression that blogging has
2008 After that, he was hailed as one the nuances. He does not hide his tivity of blogging to his day job at
encouraged.
Fang Xingdong’s of the best bloggers. And only a disdain for the typical blog browser Sanlian, he replied there was no
Before blogging, it was very dif-
Blogchina operation small portion of his blogs is about who leaves nonsensical words of way the magazine would publish
ficult to find out how ordinary Chinese
is rumored to be near rock music. praise or encouragement. And his blog writing.
people were thinking: China’s tradi-
bankruptcy, but he What is certain is, Wang is the he hurls F-bombs as if they were In China, new media are devel-
tional media organizations have quite
sees it as “strategic most prolific blogger in China. spears in the hands of a martial oping in ways unanticipated by
conservative editorial policies, so real
contraction”, with the He blogs every day, sometimes artist. His webpages ooze with Western experts. Blogs are for ev-
voices from young people and ordi-
number of employees three pieces a day. A typical piece acerbic wit and cynical witticism, eryone, but the best are firmly in
nary people were rare to see in print.
plunging from 200 in is feature-length. It deals with a but not diplomatic safe play. the hands of professionals. Fang
It’s not only the voices of ordinary
its heyday to 30. cultural or social issue by taking In a sense, Wang engages in Xingdong, the “father of Chinese
citizens that blogging has made pos-
a sarcastic jibe that differs from a brinkmanship that has carved blogging”, proposes a clear divi-
sible to hear: Many of China's best
2009 mainstream commentary. His out a niche for self-expression. He sion between “elitist blogs” like
journalists and opinion leaders in vari-
The China Internet ingenuity with puns is such that has showed that it is not what you Wang’s and “grass-roots blogs”.
ous industries write blogs where they
Network Information a week’s output is enough to fill a say — but how you say it — that Wang’s blogs get an average of
can publish stuff that would never
Center releases in whole comedy. determines how much space you 60,000 readers a day but, as ev-
make it into print because of consider-
January that 54.3 That requires his readers to have. Some call his style “home- eryone else has seen, his influence
ations of length and subject matter.
percent of Chinese read between the lines and catch grown satire and irony”. goes beyond that number.
The bloggers that we have followed
netizens or 162 million on my own group blog at Danwei.org
people were using give an idea of the range of subjects
blogs by the end of and opinions that blogs have brought
2008, but only 35 to the Chinese Internet:
percent were used at The columnist Lian Yue sometimes
least once within six uses his blog to draw attention to so-
months. cial issues that the traditional media is
reluctant to talk about, as does Tiger
Temple. Youth novelist and racing
driver Han Han also tackles serious
issues that the mainstream media
won’t report on, and manages to keep
them very entertaining. I may be the
only person who is not a post 70s or
80s Chinese girl who enjoys the rath-
er girly content of actress and director
Xu Jinglei's blog, but it's window into
the life of a successful Chinese ac-
tress and filmmaker.
But of all the Chinese bloggers that
I have followed, I think Wang Xiaofeng
has been the most fun and for me, the
most rewarding to translate: his mix of
knowing — sometime caustic — hu-
mor and satire directed at sacred
cows in the media industry, China's
cultural scene and at the behavior of
ordinary netizens have an appeal that
crosses cultural boundaries and can
make laowai laugh, even when they
don't totally get the joke.

Jeremy Goldkorn is a China observer who

Blogger Wang Xiaofeng’s irreverence extends to prestigious institutions of journalism. Mu Qian operates media portal danwei.org.
74 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY

TIMELINE LOOKINGGLASS
1851
Qing Dynasty mer- Full confidence
chant Xu Rongcun
contributes to the first
ahead
World’s Fair in Britain I have no doubt about the success
with a dozen pack- of Shanghai’s World Exposition. I
ages of Chinese silk The exploration into have no doubt about the importance
from his store. the Expo’s theme ... of the more than 70 million visitors
will help people know and importance of this World Expo-
1873 more about the trend of sition. But I want to underline two
The Qing imperial urban development. challenges. The first challenge is
government sends an we must not miss the theme of the
unprecedented group HONG HAO Expo, “Better City, Better Life”. For
of official representa- Shanghai Expo official almost all the countries of the world,
tives to the World’s it is not only relevant, it is, I would
Fair in Vienna. go so far to say, urgent.
In China, almost 60 percent of
1982 the population still lives in rural
New China par- areas and within 20 to 25 years,
ticipates in the World the majority of the Chinese popula-
Expo for the first time tion will have migrated to the urban
in Knoxville, Tenn., in areas. Cities and in particular, me-
the United States. tropolises — are the source of nu-
merous problems: Health, pollution,
2002 waste disposal, heavy congestion
China wins its bid to and also sometimes, solitude for the
host the 2010 World citizens.
Expo in Shanghai. The second challenge for the
exhibition is the international com-
2007 munity. There is mobilization all over
Construction of the China, but we expect the Bureau of
China Pavilion, the International Expositions to be even
Shanghai World Expo coordination bureau director general Hong Hao says next year’s event will help the
host country’s land- more, to be an international event
city as well as other countries explore ways of tackling the urban challenges of the day. Gao Erqiang
mark at the Shanghai on “Better City, Better Life”. We
Expo and one of the expect this exhibition to introduce a
permanent structures, dialogue on the different problems
starts with a target encountered by different countries,
completion date by continents, cultures and interman-
year end.

URBANANSWER
agement of the cities. This respect
and honest progress still has to be
2010 met.
The Shanghai World We are opening an Urban Best
Expo is scheduled to Practices Area, which is a remark-
be held between May
1 and Oct 31.
The Shanghai Expo will help plug problems able initiative. But we have noticed
that there is some lack of participa-
of a New China, Wang Zhenghua hears tion from Africa, South Asia, South
America in this zone, and it is in this
KEYFIGURES situation that the problem of the cit-

M
ore than 500 new vices center that is backed by an
Chinese cities have abundance of world-class infra- ies are the most urgent. Within this
been built since the structural facilities and plentiful Hillary Rodham framework, France must be allowed
founding of New China in supply of talented professionals Clinton to initiate and develop the dialogue
1949. from home and abroad. US Secretary of State by participants by urban scientists,
The country’s urban population The Expo will also mark the helped her country sociologists and mayors of large cit-
alone is expected to account for successful transformation of confirm its presence ies throughout the world.
47 percent of its total 1.3 billion Shanghai from a colorless manu- in the Expo. I am sure the Exposition will be a
population this year, up from 14 facturing base of the planned success, but we can have more, we
percent in the 1950s. economy to a high-value-added Wan Jifei can have a new departure about the
As such, the Shanghai 2010 engine of growth, as the nation Chairman of China perfection on management of the
Expo aims in part to offer a so- marches from the road of reform Council for the Pro- cities of the world at the beginning
lution to that looming urban and opening up. motion of International of the 21st century.
explosion. In the early years of economic Trade is confident of
the Expo’s success. Jean-Pierre Lafon is president of the Bureau
“The exploration into the Expo’s reform, the city was largely over- of International Expositions.
theme of ‘Better City, Better Life’ shadowed by the boomtowns
will help people know more about in the Pearl River Delta with Wu Jianmin
the trend of urban development. Shenzhen as the center of mod- Elected president of
During the Expo, effective expe- ernization and industrialization. the Bureau of Inter-
riences will be shared on how to But in the past decades, Shang- national Expositions
achieve scientific and green devel- hai has been quickly catching in 2003.
opment,” says Hong Hao, director up by embarking on a relent-
anghai World Expo less pursuit of its destiny as the
bureau. business hub that services the Tomiyo Yamada
s Fair seeks solu- industrial powerhouse of the Japanese housewife
urban problems like mighty Yangtze River Delta region who visited 2005
r pollution, traffic and beyond. Aichi Expo 243 times
congestion and As a symbol of its destiny, the and is also heading to
limited living 2010 Expo is dear to the heart Shanghai next year.
spaces, in a of most Shanghai people. Their
country that is dedication to this memorable
undergoing rapid event for locals and visitors has
urbanization. been most evident in the extensive
e fair, to be held reconstruction that has turned
ween May and this city of 18 million permanent
tober next year, residents into a building site. Ele-
ill also enhance the vated expressways are being built
overnment’s role in to channel above-ground traffic system that is nearly as large as in infrastructure, the most influen-
erving the public, and huge efforts are underway to New York’s and a $700-million tial impact of the Expo is the garden
ng says. expand the subway system. promenade in its historic river- … offering the world an opportunity
ion-yuan show is By the time the Expo opens front district. Parks, roads and to examine Shanghai and a chance
as the rebranding next May, Shanghai will have two bridges have also been opening. for Shanghai people to learn about
nto a regional ser- new airport terminals, a subway “In addition to the improvement the world,” Hong says.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 75

TIMELINE
LOOKINGGLASS
1932
China attends the Memories are
Olympics for the first
time with sprinter Liu made of these
Changchun as the
only Chinese athlete When I first received news of my
at the 1932 Los Ange- work attachment to China Daily
les Olympic Games. for last year’s Beijing Olympics, I
thought it was a dream come true.
1952 For a sports journalist, to
The People’s Repub- cover any Olympic event is surely a
lic of China sends its memorable milestone of his career.
first delegation of 40 Furthermore, as a Singaporean of
coaches and athletes Chinese descent, I was eager to see
to the Olympics. first-hand how a proud nation like
Swimmer Wu Ch- China can manage an event of global
uanyu is the nation’s magnitude.
first athlete to com- As it turned out, it was a jaw-drop-
pete in the Games. ping experience that filled me with
plenty of joyful memories.
1956 From the spectacular Opening
Weightlifter Chen Ceremony to the dazzling end, from
Jingkai becomes the the marvelous monuments of the
first Chinese athlete Bird’s Nest Stadium and the Water
to break a world Cube Complex to the record-break-
record. ing efforts of Michael Phelps and
Usain Bolt — the Beijing Games
1972 was surely a milestone for the entire
The nation’s table world.
tennis team debuts But the memories that I treasured
in the United States. most must surely be the wondrous
Nine years later, the Weightlifting head coach Ma Wenguang says the country’s athletes are being recognized. smiles on every Beijing citizen's face
team sweeps the China Daily as they welcome the world to their
Table Tennis World ancient city.
Championships with I once sat in a taxi to Wangfujing
seven titles. Street and, upon discovering that I’m

1984
Sharpshooter Xu Hai-
feng is the first Chi-
nese athlete to win an
Olympic gold medal.
Chinese athletes win
15 gold medals, 8 sil-
PEERLESSPLAY a Singaporean, the driver proceeded
to give a 10-minute analysis of my
country's top table tennis player, Bei-
jing-born Li Jiawei.
Sport is experiencing a rise in individualism and more It's this enthusiasm that I will
recognition for athletes, Cui Xiaohuo finds remember most of Beijing during
the Games. When even 70-year-old
grandmothers signed up as volun-

F STARCAST
or Ma Wenguang, one of the
vers and 9 bronzes.
nation’s most successful
weightlifting coaches, this
1993
year’s ongoing National Games
Beijing loses bid to
proves that the biggest transfor-
host the 1996 Olym-
mation in sport in China has been
pic Games.
the brighter spotlight on athletes.
Fans were shouting the names
2001
of many of the athletes at the 11th
China celebrates Bei-
annual sports event in Shandong,
jing’s winning bid to
rooting them on and heaping
host the 2008 Olym-
praise for their efforts, the 57-
pic Games; the men’s
year-old says, despite the fact
soccer team enters
that many had never competed in
the World Cup finals
the Olympic Games.
for the first time.
“Athletes are now being recog-
nized, which is more important
2008
to any athlete than an Olympic
Beijing holds the 29th
medal,” the veteran coach says.
Olympiad, which
“It is time for athletes to take
IOC Jacques Rogge
center stage.”
describes as “excep-
Today, select athletes are por-
tional”.
trayed as role models. Many are
media darlings and some have
major endorsements from leading
companies. They are now able to
make their own choices in terms
of training and what events they
will compete in. Fame, once a
foreign concept, is a reality for
many athletes.
“Sportspersons have hit big
time,” explains China’s weight-
lifting head coach, who is a
passionate observer and partici-
pant in the development of sport
in China. “They can be remem-
bered in a certain sport as long as
they try hard.”
But it wasn’t always such
a beneficial environment for
athletes. The State-run sports
system used to overlook the needs
of most athletes. Ma recalled that
in the early era of sport in New
China, athletes were training and
competing to carry out missions
career in 1972, Ma made it onto
teers, the Games spirit was well and
China’s 225-person delegation to
Xu Haifeng the 1984 Olympic Games in Los truly strong within China’s capital city.
A sharpshooter in the Oh yes, my tiny nation also made
Angeles at the age of 27. But he
50-m pistol event, he its mark, winning a table tennis team
failed to net a medal in the men’s
won China’s first gold silver medal — the country's first
middle-heavyweight competition
in the 1984 Olympics Olympic medal in 48 years.
as hip injuries held him back.
in Los Angeles. “I had big ambitions, but I just Memorable, momentous in every
way — that’s the Beijing Olympics
could not put in the effort. I regret
Li Ning for me.
that my injuries came at the
China’s “prince of
worst time,” Ma recalled.
Gymnastics” won six Chia Han Keong is the sports editor of
Still, compared to athletes Singapore's first bilingual newspaper,
medals at the 1984
who train in more advanced fa- My Paper. He was on work attachment
Olympics.
cilities, Ma ranks as one of the top with China Daily for last year's Beijing
Games.
weightlifting athletes in China. He
has won 178 gold medals, broken
Deng Yaping 18 Asian records and netted 56
Legendary paddler
national records in 16 years. He
won six world cham-
retired as an athlete after the
pionships and four
sixth National Games in Guang-
Olympic golds be-
zhou in 1987.
tween 1989 and 1997.
He has also achieved success
as a coach. His weightlifters made
Lang Ping history by hauling in eight gold
Led the Chinese medals and a silver medal in nine
women’s volleyball competitions at last summer’s
team to its first-ever Beijing Olympics. To emphasize
Olympic gold in 1984. how important it is for them live
a full life, he then told his team:
“This is the sweet burden and bered, if not for his achievements,
you have to balance your careers then for his once-tremendous
issued by “superiors”. But no one among training, competitions, appetite.
knew who these superiors were, contracts and families.” “I should be remembered by
he explains. Ma says it is more important many, even by the notorious fact
“But finally, Chinese athletes that each athlete he trains to have that I ate a lot as a young athlete,”
have careers,” he says. a fruitful sports career and not to Ma jokes. “I wish all of the athletes
Ma points out the State-run just win an Olympic medal. become a success. Athletes are all
system’s evolution. He says indi- “Winning an Olympic medal for unique on their way from teenage
vidualism, professionalism and China is a luxury and a gift of the talents to rising stars, to expe-
commercial element are among heavens; not every athlete will rienced veterans, and finally, to
the many new concepts that the have the opportunity. But every retired sportsmen. Every athlete
State has been brought into all Chinese athlete should try their should taste a career full of ups
sports. best and enjoy their short but and downs in their own way.”
Ma is an example of how a life-changing sports careers and He says that his most impor-
Chinese athlete can achieve fame make themselves remembered by tant principle to protect the love
without Olympic glory. A 16-year- others,” he says. for sports in the heart of every
old when he began his athletic Even he hopes to be remem- athlete.
76 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
August 1979
The Washington Bul-
lets (now Wizards)
POWERBALL
The NBA’s largest overseas market is holding court, Tym Glaser finds
plays two exhibition
games against the
Chinese National bas-
ketball team and the
Bayi Rockets team.
June 8, 1994
CCTV broadcasts
Game #1 of the 1994
NBA Finals live. The
W LOOKINGGLASS
es Unseld lowers his
network televised all
200-cm frame into
seven games of the
NBA Finals, marking
one of the five-star
hotel’s plush seats, looks
the first time every
around, shakes his head and
game of the NBA
utters, more to himself than
Finals has ever been
anyone else, “it’s all changed,
carried live in China.
it’s all changed”.
Thirty years ago, Unseld was the
June 30, 1999
cornerstone of the NBA champions
Wang Zhizhi be-
Washington Bullets; an under-
comes the second
sized center nearing the end of a
international player of
career, which would ultimately see
Chinese descent to
him named to basketball’s Hall of
be drafted to the NBA.
Fame and the NBA’s 50 Greatest
Sung Tao, who is the
Players list.
first Asian player to
Also 30 years ago, Unseld and
be drafted, is selected
his Bullets created history by be-
by the Atlanta Hawks
coming the first NBA team to visit
in 1987.
China after team owner Abe Pollin
accepted an invitation from late
April 5, 2001
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.
Wang Zhizhi makes
Following closely on the heels
history as the first
of ping-pong diplomacy, the trip
NBA player from Chi-
marked another small but signifi-
na when he signs with
cant step in the gradual opening
the Dallas Mavericks
of ties between the United States
on April 4 and plays
and China.
his first NBA game.
The country was very different
then, Unseld says of that trip 30
Feb 27, 2002
years ago, and he was just along
Mengke Bateer be-
to enjoy the ride.
comes the second
“I didn’t realize the historic
player from China to
significance of the tour in 1979,”
play in the NBA.
Unseld, 63, says.
“I never saw it that way. I
June 26, 2002
thought of it as a tremendous op-
Yao Ming is selected
portunity to see something a lot of
by the Houston Rock-
people had never had an opportu-
ets as the No 1 Draft
nity to see.
Pick.
“All the history and culture; to
get an opportunity to experience
Oct 8, 2002
that was the most important thing
The NBA officially
… I’d played basketball all over
opens an office in
the world, so that was kind of sec-
Beijing.
ondary,” he says of the trip which
included games against China’s
Oct 30, 2002
national team and the People’s
Yao Ming becomes
Liberation Army’s Bayi side (for
the third Chinese to
those keeping count, Washington
play in the NBA.
won both encounters).
“What strikes me now is the
Feb 11, 2003
change — it’s a completely differ-
Yao Ming becomes
ent place. When we got to Beijing
the first Asian to
in ’79, I think they told us there
participate in the NBA
was only one air-conditioned
All-Star Game.
hotel in the city — and we weren’t
staying in it!
Oct 14 and Oct 17,
“There are thousands of cars
2004
now and back then you couldn’t
The first NBA games
cross the street for bicycles … the
in China takes place.
transformation is amazing, just so
different.”
Oct 17-18, 20, 2007
The basketball landscape has
The second NBA
also altered dramatically in those
China Games are
same 30 years with the game
hosted.
arguably the most popular in the
land.
Oct 15-18, 2008
If Unseld and his Bullets, now
The NBA China
called the Wizards, pried the
Games returns to Chi-
door open in China for the NBA;
na with two games.
Michael Jordan blew it off its
hinges less than a decade later.
Industrious adults today freely
admit to skipping school simply
to watch the Chicago Bulls’ legend
“fly”.
His on-court feats were other-
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY
worldly but his interests off the
court had a far greater impact on
China and NBA relations. Something special
The Bald One’s image and
It was 1987
shoes were everywhere, which
that I first
had the dual effect of further
visited the
popularizing the game in China
Middle King-
while also showing the NBA the
dom arriving
tremendous market potential of
by ferry
the Middle Kingdom — China is
from Hong
NBA’s largest overseas market
Kong and
with a record 1.6 billion viewers
landing at
watched NBA television program-
the Shunde
ming last season.
port outside
A side branch has been the slow
Guangzhou.
emergence of Chinese talent into
Coincidentally, 1987 was the first year
the world’s premier basketball
that the NBA appeared across China
competition.
on CCTV-5 with the broadcasting of
The Houston Rockets’ giant
the NBA All-Star Game.
center, Yao Ming, was at the van-
Great teams and great players
guard and followed by the likes of
combined with shrewd marketing are
Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue.
fundamental to building something
However, as Unseld points out,
special in sports. The USA “Dream
China had good players in his day
Team” in 1992 (Barcelona Olympics)
too and made special mention of
needs no further explanation to the
Yao prototype Mu Tiezhu, who
impact they had on Chinese and glob-
passed away last year just after
al basketball. The solid performance
the Beijing Games.
of the Chinese National Basketball
The less heralded women’s team
Team in 1996 in Atlanta (USA) that
has performed significantly better,
included the emergence of a young
claiming silver at the 1992 Olym-
“Da Zhi” (Wang Zhizhi) who would go
pics in Barcelona along with World
on to become the first Chinese player
Championship silver in 1994 and
to don an NBA uniform in 2001. The
bronze back in 1983.
momentum for Chinese basketball
While young Yaos pound the
continued to grow.
playground courts with distant
Of course, it is always nice to have
hopes of NBA glory, across the
the “Good Fortune Angel” shine upon
Pacific far more worldly NBA ex-
you. For Chinese basketball and the
ecutives have dreams of their own
NBA good fortune turned to great
— the huge China market.
fortune with the emergence of Yao
Out of the 16 NBA marketing
Ming onto the NBA stage. Unless you
partners of the 2008-09 season,
have been living on Mars, you know
six are coming from China, plus
the story. It is a story for the ages. The
three Chinese promotional part-
Wes Unseld is getting front row iconic Yao is one of the greatest role
ners.
seats to the NBA in China. models in the history of sports, peri-
The Rockets (Yao) and New
Feng Yongbin od! Sure, he has game but his stature
Jersey Nets (Yi) have Chinese
in China among all citizens is beyond
stars they can market while the
comparison. He may not sell as many
major franchises, led by the Los
shirts as MJ, Kobe or LeBron but with-
Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant) and
STARCAST Boston Celtics (Kevin Garnett),
out Yao, the rapid growth of the NBA
in China would have taken quite a bit
Yao Ming aim to sell on the strength of their
longer than the present cash register
Iconic giant cen- brand-name as well as that of
clinging pace.
ter from Shanghai their stars.
With Yao in toe, the NBA set about
playing for the Washington, basically in the
executing an on-the-ground strategy
Houston Rockets. NBA hinterland since that title
that has included exhibition games
in 1979, are not only pushing
and marquee player appearances
their stars (Caron Butler, Gilbert
Wang Zhizhi in China, grass root programs such
Arenas and Antawn Jamison) and
First Chinese as Jam Session, 3 on 3 events, NBA
the franchise but the nation’s
player in the Van, cheerleader competitions and
capital itself.
NBA. more. These types of basketball-relat-
“We want to develop relation-
ed activities, while they no doubt raise
ships with Chinese companies,"
the profile of the NBA dramatically,
Wizards president Peter Biche
are essential to expanding basketball
Yi Jianlian said during the team’s anniver-
participation, particularly in lower tier
Elite of China’s sary tour.
cities.
new basketball “When you have a partner in
No doubt the NBA has had a pow-
generation who Washington you have a set of
erful influence on basketball in China.
plays for the New eyeballs different from anywhere
China certainly has had a powerful
Jersey Nets. else because it’s where our legisla-
influence and contributes mightily to
tors are, every trade association is
the present and future commercial
Sun Yue based in Washington.
success of the NBA.
A former Los An- “You won’t find that anywhere
geles Laker and else in the US. I’m trying to sell Tom McCarthy is presently the CEO of Beijing
signing with the Washington’s high-powered eye- International Group. From 1996-2002, he served
New York Knicks. balls to China.” as CEO of the Asian Basketball Confederation
Yes, Wes, it’s all changed, it’s all Promotions (now FIBA-Asia) overseeing 44
countries in Asia.
changed.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 77

TIMELINE
1952
China sets up national
training academy for
PING-PONGLEGACY
table tennis. A table tennis great is keeping the sporting flame burning bright, Lei Lei finds
1953

A
China enters the s one of the world’s most
Championships for successful table tennis
the first time. players of all time, Deng
Yaping is well-placed to view the
1959 phenomenal rise of sports in the
Rong Guotuan is the country.
first Chinese world “China has been getting stron-
champion in any ger and the results we achieved at
sport. the Beijing Olympics have proven
that sport in the country has
1961 reached new heights,” Deng says.
Chinese men’s table The legendary paddler herself
tennis team wins the has been instrumental in the
World Championships country’s sporting success.
team title for the first Deng picked up the sport 31
time. years ago when she was 5, start-
ing her road to table tennis fame
1965 from her hometown of Zhengzhou,
Chinese women’s capital of Henan province.
team wins the World In a sporting career spanning
Championships team two decades, Deng has won more
title for the first time. titles than any other paddler. Upon
her retirement from the sport in
1971 1997, she had four Olympic golds
“Ping Pong Diploma- and 18 world championship titles
cy” sees table tennis under her belt.
playing an important She reigned as world No 1 from
role in international 1990 to 1997 and was voted
diplomacy when sev- China’s female athlete of the
eral teams are invited century. In 2003, she entered the
to China for a series International Table Tennis Fed-
of friendship matches eration Hall of Fame.
after the 1971 World Deng’s prowess in the game Table tennis legend Deng Yaping continues to contribute to the country’s sports. Courtesy of Deng Yaping
Championships. grew out of a longtime emphasis
on sports.
1988 In 1952, the authorities estab- “The situation improved some- become crucial members of other STARCAST
Chen Jing claims lished national training camps what when I was selected for the countries’ teams. Rong Guotuan
the gold medal at for about 10 sports that included provincial team.” After retiring from sports in China’s first table
the Seoul Olympic table tennis. In 1959, men’s table Deng says it was “heaven” 1997, Deng pursued a bachelor’s tennis world cham-
Games, clinching tennis player Rong Guotuan when she finally trained with the degree at China’s renowned Tsin- pion, who won a
China’s first table ten- claimed China’s first world national team in Beijing in 1988, ghua University. She also earned gold medal in 1959.
nis Olympic gold. champion title at the 25th World although it is still hard to compare a masters and doctorate from
Championships, arousing a na- those times to what it is like now. Britain’s University of Nottingham
2008 tional interest toward the sport. While she did not have the and University of Cambridge,
Liu Guoliang
About 330 million TV “From the founding of New opportunity to train in the new, respectively. But her link with
China’s first table
spectators in China China to the 1980s … that was advanced table tennis hall in the sports did not stop then.
tennis player who
follow the women’s a period that laid a solid basis for State General Administration of Upon her return home, Deng,
won Grand Slam
team finals at the sports in the country,” she says. Sports Training Bureau, Deng who claimed gold medals in the
titles.
Beijing Olympics “Table tennis was one sport that says she is glad the fighting spirit women’s singles and doubles at
between China and got popularized … since almost of the team has been passed to the the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and
Singapore. everyone played the game at that younger generation to help main- repeated the same glory four years
time, more talented paddlers tain China’s lead in the sport. later in Atlanta, witnessed Beijing Wang Nan
emerged and China began its “Better training conditions will winning the right to host the 2008 China’s female
dominance.” make it more comfortable for Games in 2001 with the bidding player with the most
For Deng, the road to success players, but it does not mean that committee. She later joined the or- champion titles.
was not all smooth and it was the they will gain better results just ganizing committee for the Beijing
difficulties she faced early on that from improved facilities,” Deng Games as the deputy director of
left deep impressions. says. the Olympic Village department
“The situation was very tough “Chinese players were also in 2003. Zhang Yining
when I was training early on in able to reach the top of the world “From 1992 to 2008, I think Has held the world
the amateur sports school in my during difficult periods.” it was full circle for me … from No 1 ranking con-
hometown. It was very cold in Chinese paddlers have since an athlete to an organizer. I’m tinuously since
winter but there was no heating continued to rule the Olympic very lucky to have worked for January 2003.
system in the training room,” she and world rankings, with numer- the Olympics both in front of and
says. ous players heading overseas to behind the curtain,” Deng says.

LOOKINGGLASS

Little by little, unfortunately,
the world of table tennis
has changed in last 10 years. Until 2000,
there was the chance of a challenge
between Europe and China, with other
strong countries like South Korea be-
ing able to beat, sometimes, both the
European and Chinese. Now, except
South Korea, no one can hope to win. All
the old Western champions have disap-
peared and there are no new ones. The
results of the last Olympics and World
Championships are clear: The Chinese
dragons won everything — more than
everything.
The only chance for the opponents of
China to win something is make some
strange rules, like those in the 2004
Olympics in Athens. That time, there was
this unbelievable and crazy rule: In the
doubles event, the two doubles team of
the same nation had to stay in the same
side of the draw.
In this way, China could not have two
couples in the final, one of them could
not have hoped to have the gold or silver
medal, only bronze. It is against all the
principles of sport, but it shows the way
the Western countries want to beat China.
So there is only one chance to enter
in the paradise of table tennis: Go to the
Chinese National Games and National
Championships. That is what I have been
doing since 1996.
This is not only the 60th year of the
People’s Republic of China: It is also the
50th anniversary of the first world title for
China in table tennis.
Gennaro Bozza is a journalist with Gazzetta dello
Sport, the first sport newspaper in Italy and Europe.
78 OCTOBER 1, 2009 People’s Republic of China
TIMELINE
1949-1953
The government
nationalizes all golf
COURSEMANAGEMENT
courses. Most of them The rebirth of Chinese golf is getting into full swing, Matt Hodges hears
are rebuilt into parks.
The Hungjiao golf
club is rebuilt into a
W
hen China televised its
park in 1953 and a
first golf tournament in
zoo the next year.
1995, people in Shen-
zhen “dressed like royalty but
1978
acted like hooligans”.
Liao Chengzhi, then
This was a decade after the
vice-chairman of the
sport re-emerged in the country,
Standing Committee
says Tenniel Chu, son of the
of the National Peo-
founder of Mission Hills Golf
ple’s Congress, says
Club in Shenzhen, Guangdong
China “may consider”
province.
building golf courses
“Back then, people turned out
for foreign investors.
in their finest ballroom dresses
and high heel shoes, and men
1984
were wearing tuxedos,” says Chu,
Golf returns to China
with five clubs set up.
recalling the club’s first hosting of
the World Cup of Golf.
Over a decade later in 2007, it
1994
signed an agreement to host the
The Jack Nicklaus
prestigious event for 12 years.
Course at Mission
“When balls went astray,
Hills Golf Club in
people rushed to pick them up.
Shenzhen becomes
Kids were tempted to jump into
the country’s first
the bunkers and play in the sand.
PGA-accredited golf
At that time, an understanding of
course.
the sport had not yet been culti-
vated,” he says.
1995
Dismissed during the first few
China sees first tele-
decades as a symbol of bourgeois
vised domestic tour-
decadence, golf was officially
nament in the form of
reborn in China in 1984, a year
the World Cup of Golf,
that saw five clubs spring into
turning out galleries of
being nationwide.
thousands.
Golf’s arrival at the former
boomtown of Shenzhen, however,
2001
heralded the fruits of the
Tiger Woods turns up
country’s economic miracle, and
for his China Chal-
since then the country’s 300-plus
lenge, single-hand-
clubs have remained centered in
edly raising aware-
Guangdong province, Shanghai
ness of the sport on a
and Beijing.
national level.
Growth was helped by what
Chu describes as “three defin-
2007
ing events that changed China’s
World Cup of Golf
golfing landscape forever”, as
begins 12-year stay at
well as Hong Kong’s return to the
Mission Hills.
motherland in 1997 and the golf
tourism this triggered in neigh-
boring Guangdong.
The first of these pivotal events
was the completion of the club’s
Jack Nicklaus course in 1994,
60 1949-2009 CHINA DAILY
STARCAST
teurs and 300 professionals.
The China Golf Association
Zhang Lianwei
predicts it will equal the United
China’s first “name” States’ stagnant golfing popula-
golfer turned pro in
tion of 20 million by 2020.
1994 and claimed
While Mission Hills was in-
the Caltex Masters
strumental in raising the game’s
profile, Chu says few shared his
father’s faith when they first set
Liang Wenchong
out.
Won the Singapore
“A lot of people thought it was a
Masters in 2007 to
big risk — a project bound to fail,”
rank as the second
he says. LOOKINGGLASS
Chinese to win on
“In the beginning we had about
the European Tour.
100 rounds of golf a week, cer-
tainly not enough to sustain the Winning only a
Yani Tseng
maintenance and growth of our
Taiwan golfer ranks
facilities in the long-run.” matter of time
as the current world
But word soon spread of the
No 2 behind Mexi- If ratified as expected, golf will once
club’s world-class courses. With
co’s Lorena Ochoa. again be declared an Olympic sport
the creation of a highway to the
in 2016. As a result of this decision,
Shenzhen border that shortened
the game will truly become a global
a two-hour drive across rice
Feng Shanshan pastime.
paddies and through people’s
The world No 46 is Nowhere in the world has “the
backyards to a 20-min journey,
the first and only golf bug” bitten harder than in China
the stage was set.
woman from the Chi- Male golfers Zhang Lianwei and this Olympic announcement
nese mainland play- is great news for the future of the
and Liang Wenchong then began
ing in the US LPGA. sport. The popularity of the game
taking major steps to put China
is clearly indicated by the number
on the world map.
of professional tournaments in the
Meanwhile, world stars and big
country (headed up by the presti-
giving China its first PGA-ac- tournaments began making the
gious World Cup at Mission Hills),
credited course; the second was trip to China, a journey that led
more than 350 world-class courses
the arrival of the (televised) World to the upgrading this year of the
Cup the following year; the third Shanghai-based HSBC Cham- designed by international architects,
public driving ranges, junior devel-
was simple: Tiger Woods. pions to a WGC event worth $7
opment programs and home-grown
“Tiger’s visit to China in 2001 million.
professionals playing the world
was a huge publicity coup. Not that everything is perfect.
circuits.
Playing our Nicklaus course (for Far from it, Chu says. Elitism
We also have young amateurs
the Tiger Woods China Chal- remains a chronic problem as
attending academies outside of the
lenge), he was pitted against Chinese fees are among the most
country and winning tournaments
three top Chinese professionals, expensive in the world.
which was perfect because it Clubs often charge members (we have more than 30 top-level
youngsters from China attending
showed that China had its own $50,000 to join and greens cost
my academy in Bradenton, Florida),
rising stars,” Chu says. $160 on weekends.
and tremendous young talent at-
In the space of two years, the “One of the most critical chal-
tending universities in the United
number of Chinese golfers had lenges is to reposition golf as a
doubled to 1 million. sport able to nurture future role States such as Hu Mu, a young
It now stands at about 3 million, models,” he says. phenomenon at the University of
including 2,000 competitive ama- Florida.
In the few years that I have been
visiting China, having co-designed
a golf course and established an
academy at Mission Hills Golf Club,
I have noticed a huge growth in the
sport. The “Tiger Woods” influence
has been phenomenal with younger
players, but also the fact that golf is
now the “in” sport, being enjoyed by
Chinese business executives who
are benefiting from China’s huge
economic prosperity.
Driving ranges are full, lessons
are aplenty — my son Andy resides
and teaches in Shenzhen and, judg-
ing by his legions of young potential
superstars, whose work ethic is un-
matched anywhere in the world, the
game which was once considered a
bourgeois activity is fast becoming
a national pastime.
Having coached some of the
world’s best golfers, it is my opinion
that it will not be too many years
before we see a Chinese national
holding up one of the world’s major
golf trophies, and perhaps even a
gold medal!
Tenniel Chu, the son of the founder of Mission Hills David Leadbetter has coached some of the
Golf Club in Shenzhen, is at the center of the sport’s world’s top golfers and is known as the “mas-
rebirth in the country. Courtesy of Tenniel Chu ter of the art of teaching the golf swing”.
CHINA DAILY People’s Republic of China
60 1949-2009 OCTOBER 1, 2009 79

TIMELINE
1951
The All-China Federa-
tion of Sports popular-
izes the first set of
“gymnastic exercises
to radio music”. Exer-
cises for adults, ado-
lescents and students
PUMPINGIT
aimed at improving
public health are
worked out.

1954 A gym and fitness

The government
grants a 10-min break
culture is growing
in the mornings and with a young urban
another in the after-
noons for workers and
class, Katherine
public servants to do Danks finds
exercises or engage
in other sports.

1960s-1970s
The government re-
leases and refines the
State Athletic Fitness
Standard to further
promote mass sports.

1980s
Spontaneous sport Gym instructor Wang Luo says
activities prosper in changing attitudes to exercise is
the wake of improved important as the economic and
economic conditions social landcape here transforms.
and the general stan- Jonah M. Kessel
dard of living.

2
1990s

S
he does not look like a champi-
Fitness television pro-
on weightlifter, but Wang Luo
grams debut and rise
is no lightweight either.
in popularity.
The 25-year-old was the star in
her 53kg-class as a teen and while
1999
she laughs that pumping iron is not
Fitness clubs are
a popular pastime for young women,
expensive gyms at
it is a skill that helped earn her a
tice tai chi or dance in the park or
outside, they don’t usually come to
the gym, but there are some who are
starting to come in and exercise,”
she says.
Wang says the definition of ex-
ercise and sport is also changing
for young people, who have more
LOOKINGGLASS
Number of Western-
Getting the right fit
style fitness clubs in The fitness industry in China has
changed immensely.
Beijing in 2001
Just a decade ago, health club
memberships were those at four- or

400-500
luxury hotels or local
university scholarship and laid the disposable income than previous five-star hotels that cost about 10,000
gyms with poor equip-
foundation for her career as a per- generations and are influenced by yuan a year or the ones at small lo-
ment.
sonal trainer in Beijing. Western culture and sport stars like cal gyms that cost 200 to 300 yuan
On weeknights at the Hokay gym Chinese basketball player Yao Ming. a year. Now the public has a much
2001 Number of Western-
in Chaoyang district, Wang can be Fitness clubs and gyms are a good wider range of choices, ranging from
Beijing wins bid to style fitness clubs in
seen pushing young professionals solution for people who have more the very cheap to the extremely ex-
host 2008 Olympic Beijing today
through the pain barrier as they money but less time or motivation pensive.
Games, sparking a
huff and puff on stationary bicycles, for organized sport, she says. There are now about 400 to 500
growing health aware-

treadmills and, of course, with
ness among Chinese.
weights.
She believes weight-lifting exercis-
Aug 8, 2008
es suffer a poor reputation because
Beijing Olympic
many women are afraid using the
Games commences,
equipment will make them look like
with China topping the
bodybuilders, while some men only
gold medal tally for
work on their upper bodies and
first time and health
While there are no national figures
available on the number of gyms in
China, it is estimated that about
1,000 new gyms have been opening
annually in the past few years.
In Beijing alone, more than 30
new gyms and fitness clubs are
being built every year and up to 70
340
fitness clubs in Beijing and I do not
think it is saturated yet. The industry
million is still growing and finding experi-
enced people is one of the biggest
Number of people
challenges facing it.
in China who
In my fitness clubs in China, I have
exercise regularly had members who are aged between
60-70 years who exercise during the

1,000
neglect their legs. percent of residents in the capital day when everyone is at work. I think
awareness in the
But changing people’s attitudes to are said to be taking part in sports, membership has a lot to do with the
country peaking.
exercise is crucial as China’s social compared with the national average club and the area they are in. It is true
and economic landscape transforms, of 33 percent. that fitness clubs are a predominantly
Aug 17, 2009
Wang says, adding that strong Wang says there has been more Number of fitness urban, middle-class phenomenon, but
State General Admin-
muscles are also vital to increase health awareness among urban resi- clubs now opening clubs are now attracting a wider client
istration of Sports of
metabolism and important to overall dents since 2001, when Beijing won every year across base than before.
China launches na-
fitness. the right to host the 2008 Olympic China The fitness industry will continue to
tional fitness program,
“People used to work at farms and Games. grow in years to come, but not as fast
under which profes-
factories and did a different type of Of the dozen or so personal train- as it has before. The people working
sional trainers volun-
exercise, but now people work at ers at the gym, Wang is one of only at fitness clubs will have more experi-
tarily help people with
desks in companies and have real- three who are women. ence and knowledge. Customers will
their fitness regimes
ized they need to exercise,” she says. She believes that women have a be more sophisticated and knowl-
at gyms throughout
“People who just sit at computers different approach to personal train- edgeable as well. Prices will continue
the country.
need exercise to keep healthy and ing than men, and that it’s important
stop their bodies from becoming to have a mix of both skills in the
Oct 1, 2009
weak.” industry. Personal training will only
National Fitness
Wang says that more Chinese become more popular as China’s
regulations come
people are choosing to sweat it out in economy grows, she says.
into effect. These
a gym rather than more traditional Wang speaks with obvious enthu-
include a requirement
forms of exercise, like practicing tai siasm and pride about her job, which
that students have at
chi in public parks. involves long hours often scheduled
least one hour to play
However, the growing gym culture around her client’s work hours.
sports or exercise
in China is a largely urban, middle- She says the payoff is watch-
each day at school.
class phenomenon. The majority of ing their bodies transform through customers.
Aug 8 is also declared
Wang’s clients are young profession- eating the right food and exercise.
National Fitness Day.
als and most members at the gym “When my members are confident Matt Lewis is a club manager, con-
are aged 40 or under. and happy with their new bodies, I sultant and investor in the Chinese
fitness industry.
“Many of the older people prac- feel very happy as well,” she says.
80 OCTOBER 1, 2009 CHINA DAILY

Rising international reinsurance giant

China Re eyes Nuclear family: Insuring
crucial strategic facilities
IPO in bid for By Zhou Kun requirement for membership that
has become a key consideration
in evaluating an insurance firm’s

global market Risk management in nuclear proj- comprehensive strength.

ects is of strategic significance Over 10 years of development,
in every country, and nuclear the number of the group members
insurance plays a vital role, said have grown to 19, comprising
By Zhou Kun insurance business Wu Gaolian, chairman of China the country’s 15 major non-life
sectors. Nuclear Insurance Pool (CNIP). insurance companies — which
Over the long-term “CNIP has helped China reduce together had more than 90
China Re is set to go public at “a the company plans dependence on foreign reinsurers percent of domestic market in
proper time” as part of its bid to strike a balance for domestic nuclear projects and 2008 — and four reinsurers, as
“to become the world’s leading between its insurance push forward the development of well as the foreign reinsurers
reinsurance holding group”, said and reinsurance the nations’s nuclear industry Swiss Re and Lloyd’s.
Liu Feng, board chairman of the business and set up an over the past decade,” said Wu, With domestic business
company. interactive mechanism who is also the president of China expanding more than fourfold
The group will also continue along the insurance Reinsurance over the past
to seek strategic investors to business chain. (Group), at the decade, CNIP
accomplish its restructuring, Liu said that his 10th CNIP’s CNIP has helped China underwrote
Liu said. company will improve Liu Feng, board chairman of China Re establishment 10 nuclear
“With ample capital and strong its ability in asset anniversary reduce dependence reactors last
repayment capacity, our company management and investment to “It is our priority to make earlier this on foreign reinsurers year.
enjoys advantages in international pursue high returns. our development strategy clear, September. At the same
competition. Yet we need to better The company plans to expand enhance management, cultivate China’s for domestic time, it has
our corporate governance, improve its investment channels into the high-end professionals and nuclear nuclear projects and forged close
information transparency, and nation’s large-scale infrastructure provide top-class products and industry is push forward the cooperative
enhance execution capacity to get construction and urban public technological solutions to our expected relations with
ourselves prepared for listing,” he service facilities. It will take clients and give a swift lift to our to continue development of the 22 foreign
said. equity stakes in banks. core competitiveness. boom in the nation’s nuclear industry counterparts,
The company’s development “Known as the ‘safety valve’ “Through adjusting tactics for next 10 years, including
plan from 2009 to 2010, says of the insurance industry, future development, we are set providing over the past decade. those in
China Re will consolidate its reinsurance is now typically to achieve our strategic goal of further WU GAOLIAN Britain,
leading position in domestic featured in internationalization,” focusing on China, leading the opportunity Chairman of China Nuclear Insurance France and
reinsurance business and at Liu said. Asian market and expanding for the nation’s Pool and president of China Re Germany
the same time explore overseas The world’s top 10 reinsurance influence across the globe.” burgeoning to insure
markets and expand into other giants together have 70 percent of The State Council approved nuclear 310 nuclear
the global market. restructuring of the only State- insurance business, he added. reactors around the globe, about

INSURANCE “Considering that it is a giant owned reinsurance company

in the international reinsurance in 2006, giving the green light
market, China Re has no other to $4 billion fund injection by
SPECIAL choice but to pursue sustained, Central Huijin Investment Corp
effective growth,” he stressed. to form a larger reinsurance
group with a competitive edge on
the international market.
With ample capital and strong repayment Liu said China’s reinsurance
capacity, our company enjoys advantages industry is undergoing a golden
period of development, despite
in international competition. Yet we need to increasing competition from
better our corporate governance, improve overseas.
Plans by the China Insurance
information transparency, and enhance Regulatory Commission released
execution capacity to get ourselves prepared in 2007 had as one of its goals
for listing. 66 billion yuan in reinsurance
premiums by primary insurance
LIU FENG firms by 2010, 40 billion yuan
Board chairman of China Re of which would be generated
domestically.
CNIP’s underwriting ability 70 percent of the world’s total.
for overseas projects has soared It has paid out compensation
to $270 million from $15 million of 120 million yuan over the past
10 years ago, a 12-fold increase, 10 years.
to rank third in the world. With China’s nuclear industry
Its underwriting capacity in poised for further growth,
domestic nuclear insurance CNIP is sparing no efforts to
has rocketed to $415.8 million, further expand its underwriting
ranking the fifth globally. business, Wu said.
Founded in 1999 by China CNIP is considering adjusting
Reinsurance Co, the People’s the limit of each its members’
Insurance Co of China, China underwriting capacities. Currently,
Pacific Insurance Co Ltd and the ceiling is set at 5 percent of the
Ping An Insurance Co, the insurance company’s total assets.
organization is designed to use In 2008, CNIP hosted the
the huge worldwide underwriting conference of the Pools’ General
capability to spread nuclear risks Purpose committee. It also hosted
globally. the annual Asian Pools’ Forum in
To guarantee insurance 2002 and 2006 and the 21st World
obligations, CNIP set a strict Nuclear Pool’s Forum in 2005.

China Re’s headquarters

on Financial Avenue in the
central business district of
Beijing
North America, the Middle East, Af-
rica and Latin America, covering all
major lines of non-life business.
In 2008 the group established
business relationships with more
than 260 companies in more than
70 countries and regions and forged
cooperative ties with all major rein-
surance brokers in the world. It has
also further developed its interna-
Backed by its underwriting team tional inward reinsurance business.
The group company has six sub-
sidiaries:
„ China Property & Casualty Re-
insurance Co Ltd
„ China Life Reinsurance Co Ltd
„ China Continent Property &
Casualty Insurance Co Ltd
„ China Re Asset Management
Co Ltd
„ China Insurance Media Co Ltd
„ Huatai Insurance Agency &
Consultant Service Ltd
Its business segments range
from reinsurance to primary insur-
ance, asset management, insurance
brokerage and an insurance news
service.
China Reinsurance (Group) Corp
China Re Building, 11 Jinrong
Avenue, Xicheng District,
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