Sex workers in China are subject to abuse by police, including physical assault, arbitrary detentions and extortion, a new report says. Click here for the Full Story

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Having been unsuccessful in his job applications to several multinational tech firms, including mobile giant Motorola, he was hoping to have better luck with local companies like Renren.

“If even the local firms are cutting staff, then the hiring sentiment is getting from bad to worse,” Zhao told The Straits Times. He will graduate next month with a master’s degree in software engineering from a university in Beijing.

One key reason for his employment woes is the record bumper crop of 6.99 million fresh graduates – 190,000 more than last year – who will enter the job market this year.

A sluggish economic recovery also dampens hiring prospects, with some state media calling 2013 “the worst employment year” for white-collar workers.

In the first three months of this year, when the economy grew a slower-than-expected 7.7 per cent, demand for workers fell by 3 per cent, or 163,000 people, in China’s 84 major cities from a year ago.

The hardest hit were the prosperous eastern provinces, according to data from the China Labour Resources Market Research Centre. This region, which houses many of China’s key export and manufacturing hubs, saw a 7.2 per cent drop in labour demand.

In Guangdong province, the hiring rate for fresh graduates at its major universities is currently 52.4 per cent, about 7 percentage points lower than last year.

The job trend this year “may even be worse” than in 2008 during the global financial crisis, the Information News reported yesterday, citing a spokesman for the provincial education bureau’s employment guidance centre.

Industrial output data for April, released yesterday, showed weaker-than-expected growth of 9.3 per cent. This prompted analysts like Renmin University labour expert Liu Yuanchun to warn that “if the economy continues to slow, the impact on employment in certain sectors will be more obvious”, with even mass layoffs.

Earlier this year, MNCs had already made headlines with a round of dismissals in China. In March, some 50 employees at HSBC’s life insurance unit staged a protest outside its offices after 22 workers and 138 agents were axed. Motorola’s Mobility Unit in China is currently undertaking the first of three rounds of job cuts that would shrink its workforce by 800 in total.

Some larger local firms reportedly received local government support to keep their staff numbers stable. This is in line with the Chinese government’s pledge last week to keep this year’s jobless rate at 4.6 per cent or less. It will create nine million urban jobs, the same number as last year, when the jobless rate was 4.1 per cent.

But there are signs that some local players are starting to buckle under pressure.

Loss-making Chery Automobile is said to be planning 9,000 job cuts, China Business News reported yesterday, citing unnamed company insiders. The company bled 191 million yuan (US$30.79 million) in losses in the first quarter.

Even here in Beijing, where white-collar jobs are traditionally more plentiful, Zhang Mi, 25, has yet to land an offer as a teacher or a trainer despite submitting 60 job applications to schools and private firms since last October.

The social studies master’s degree holder has had only four interviews and her parents are “worried sick”.

“There are simply too many graduates this year. I will have to lower my expectations,” said Zhang, who is seeking a 5,000 yuan starting salary.

via Job prospects grim for China’s 7m fresh grads – ANN.

When I arrived back at the hotel after my trip to Beijing Zoo, I was greeted by our guide, a Chinese woman whose English name was Snow. She led me into another room where some of the other travellers were waiting, so I took a seat and waited for everyone to arrive. There were thirteen people in our tour group – two girls from America, two couples from the UK, and then four girls and two guys who were Australians. Snow briefed us all about the Chinese part of our trip, and talked to us about what we wanted to do. The tour I was on was a little different to most – there was no strict set itinerary, and each individual was allowed to chose whatever they wanted to do, and decide how they wanted to fill their time in between the train journeys between cities. However, there was a unanimous vote to see China’s most popular tourist attractions: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China.

***

The following day was supposed to be quite cool and overcast, so we decided to hold off on our journey to the Great Wall until we had better weather. So on our first morning as a group, we met Snow at the hotel and then walked to Tiananmen Square. We were told it was the largest city square in the world, and could hold at least one million people. There’s also a flag pole where a flag raising ceremony is held at sunrise every morning – Snow told us we could attend it tomorrow morning if we wanted, but I decided that after Angkor Wat I had already played my “awake at sunrise” card for this month. The square itself was an interesting space though, not dissimilar to places like Martin Place back home in Sydney, although exponentially bigger – I was informed that the vast space in front of us was only half the square, and that it continued on the other side of the central monument, a memorial dedicated to the people who died in the Chinese Peoples Revolution, and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao, which has thousands of visitors every day, coming to pay respects to the former leader. However, I was surprised to find that many Chinese people still don’t know about the fatal student protests that happened in that very square in 1989. For me, it was a shocking example of just how much censorship the Chinese government imposes on its population – and here I was thinking how terrible it is that they block Facebook!

Myself in Tiananmen Square.

The Forbidden City.

After having a wander through Tiananmen Square, we crossed the road to the Forbidden City. The name sounds more intimidating than it really is – it simply comes from the fact that the Forbidden City was former the home of the Chinese Emperor, and therefore the common people were forbidden from entering. Snow took us through the City, pointing out some of the finer details in the architecture and design, and telling us stories about the history of the buildings and the people who once resided in them. The Chinese royalty haven’t lived in the Forbidden City since 1912, and it was opened to the public about a decade later. I also noticed that many of the buildings had scaffolding around them, indicative of reconstruction and repairs that were underway. It reminded me of places like the palaces in Bangkok and Phnom Penh, and the temples at Angkor Wat. When you see pictures of them, they look like impressive buildings that have withstood the test of time, but in reality they are in a constant state of upkeep and conditioning, something that you can only really see if you visit the places for yourself – or see amateur photographs that don’t make it into the advertisements or guidebooks.

Standing with a lion statue inside the Forbidden City.

The Imperial Garden inside the Forbidden City.

After spending a couple of hours wandering through the Forbidden City, Snow took us to a garden behind the city called Jingshan Park, where there was a tower from which you could have a wide, panoramic view of the Forbidden City and the surrounding areas of Beijing. From that vantage point we could see just how bad the city’s pollution really is. Part of it may have been due to the overcast weather, but there was still an undeniable thick smog that clogged the horizon. It was still an interesting view in its own weird way, and didn’t diminish the enormity of the city – buildings and civilisation stretched on in every direction, as far the eye could see.

The view of the Forbidden City from Jingshan Park tower.

***

After lunch, we caught the delightfully efficient subway system out west to visit the Summer Palace, another ancient building that housed different members of Chinese royalty throughout history. We walked along the banks of the artificial lake while Snow told us stories and explained different aspects of the landscape and buildings. Within the Summer Palace was a building called the Tower of Buddhist Incense, a large tower which also provided us with spectacular views of another area of Beijing. Even though the air was thick with clouds and smog, we could still see quite far into the distance over the lake, and the weather gave the whole place a sacred and mystical feeling.

Inside the ground of the Summer Palace – an area about 4 times the size of the Forbidden City.

View from the Tower of Insence.

One thing I began to notice, after having it pointed out by some of my other companions, was that Chinese people just love to get photos with white people – whether or not they have your consent isn’t really even an issue. As I stood at the top of the tower, looking down at the scene beneath me, a noticed someone standing a couple of steps below me. She was a Chinese woman who had been standing next to me just moments ago – she had repositioned herself and was now holding her camera up to take a photo of herself, clearly angled to have me in the background. My reaction was one of both amusement and annoyance, and I rolled my eyes as I side-stepped out of the picture. It wasn’t the first time it had happened – sometimes they’re even quite direct and simply approach you and ask if they can have their picture taken with you. Sometimes I oblige, other times I can’t be bothered, but I found it kind of rude to try and take pictures like that without even having the decency to be discreet about it. The local Chinese tourists love to pose and have their photo taken in front of everything – from the biggest landmarks to the most basic and insignificant details. I just wondered how they would react to one of us coming up and shoving a camera in their faces and calling it a holiday snap.

***

Our second day in Beijing would see us headed to the Great Wall of China, which is about a two hour drive out of the city. There are a lot of different locations where you can visit and climb the wall, but Snow had suggested we go to an area called Mutianyu, which was a little further than the other more popular tourist section of the wall, but was supposed to be one of the most beautiful spots. All I can say is if Mutianyu wasn’t the most popular section, I’d hate to see how many people were at the bigger tourist area. There were lots of groups of Westerners, but there was also huge amounts of domestic tour groups from other parts of China, including a massive group of school children.

There were two options for getting to the top of the Great Wall – riding a cable car or climbing the steps all the way to the top. Most of the group wanted to get the cable car, but I kind of wanted to walk. “I want to be able to say ‘I climbed the Great Wall of China’, not ‘Yeah I took a cable car to the top ’cause it seemed like a lot of stairs’”, I had said, and luckily Kaylah, one of the American girls, had shared a similar sentiment. So the two of us set off to climb the stairs while the rest of the group piled into the cable car. I quite enjoyed the walk up with Kaylah, because it was the first time I’d really gotten to get to know someone from the group one on one. Since we had an uneven number of people in our group, I had ended up being by myself in my room at the hotel. While I loved the little bit of privacy, it meant that I’d only really interacted with my group members in group situations. I hadn’t really made new friends or gotten to know anyone since meeting Laura back in Cambodia, so it was fun to talk to Kaylah and get to know a little more about each other, making jokes here and there and motivating each other as we made the steep ascent up the hill to the Great Wall.

Snow had said it would take about half and hour, but together Kaylah and I managed to conquer the steps in just under twenty minutes. We thought it was an impressive achievement, regardless of how out of breath we may have been once we reached the top. We stopped for a moment to catch our breath, and take some photos of the magnificent view. It was completely different from the kind of views we’d had back in Beijing – the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky, and you could see the Chinese mountains and countryside stretch on in all directions. The wall itself was an interesting structure – after the trek from the ground level up to the top, I hadn’t expected there to be more stairs. But as the wall snaked up and down the contours of the hill, there were old flights of stairs going up and down, made even more peculiar by the fact that many of the flights tilted either left or right, as well as having vast variations in steepness from flight to flight. It made for an interesting and somewhat challenging walk along the wall, though the real challenge was trying to take a photo without a horde of other tourists in the picture.

Feeling very proud of myself after claiming the Great Wall of China.

At the highest point of the wall with our guide, Snow.

We walked along a section of the wall, enjoying the views and taking photos, until we caught up with the rest of the group who were on their way back down. Kaylah and I continued on until we reached the highest major outpost that was accessible to tourists, and then made our way back to the bottom of the wall. However, instead of walking down, we decided to take the fun option and ride the toboggan down. It was a similar set up to theme parks in Australia like Jamberoo – a metal half-pipe tube that snaked down the mountain, which you rode down on a toboggan with a single lever to control acceleration and breaking. It was a fun way to reward ourselves after all the walking we’d done on the way up, even though we were slightly stifled by the Chinese tourists who weren’t as enthusiastic about gathering speed as Kaylah and myself. We just laughed it off and puttered along behind them, enjoying the fresh air, amazing views, and the fact that we’d just walked along one of the great wonders of the world.

***

The last stop of the day was the Ming Tombs, a huge mausoleum complex where thirteen of the sixteen emperors of the Ming dynasty were buried. We went down into the tombs to see the coffins, and visited the several exhibitions and museums, before piling back onto the bus and heading home. While we’d had two full days of sightseeing in Beijing, looking at maps and guidebooks and seeing all the other things we didn’t see made me realise just how huge a city Beijing is, let alone the enormity of the country of China. I’d had a couple of unpleasant experiences, but on the whole my visit to Beijing was interesting and enjoyable. Despite that, I definitely felt I was ready to get up early the next morning and begin our trek to Mongolia.

Huge coffins in the Ming Tombs.

Flow chart of multi-stage flash distillation in order to produce desalinated water (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Desalinization for China’s water woes? by Staff Writers Beijing (UPI) May 6, 2013

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

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It was in the times when the London China Vacation business office was on Cambridge Circus, opposite the Palace Theatre on Charing Cross Street. forty caves witnessed in the working day, archaeologist as a personalized manual. Beautiful. Fourteen dishes for meal.

Desert bus again to Liuyuan. Often a struggle for seats. Three dusty hours. Practice to Lanzhou. 800 miles alongside Gansu-Qinghai mountainous border. A lot more black desert, then yellow earth. Jaiyaguan fort at the restrict of the Ming empire. Right away by practice. Nation altered. Mountain move, green rolling hills and stepped fields. Wheat harvest in. Straw dollies like kids at assembly. Homes nevertheless of rammed earth. Lanzhou a flourishing industrial town. 30 hours of journey. Walk by Yellow River.

Fish in lodge cafe tank all lifeless. Lanzhou bus expensive. fifty fen for every vacation. Radios and knitting banned. Han dynasty traveling horse and bronze warriors. Steamed carp with rape on menu. The fish arrives 1st. Teach to Xian via yellow loess place. Deep furrows and gorges. All flat land cropped. five hundred miles overnight.

Terra cotta warriors experiencing east to guard Qin Shihuang’s tomb. Made in parts. Assembled in situ. Partly excavated section in which piles of dismembered limbs emerge from the earth. New terra cotta warriors for sale from the manufacturing facility guiding the museum. Actual replicas of originals. Wheeze at the thought of the complete thing as a sham for the vacationer trade.

Xian, like all Chinese cities, a square. Roads straight, intersecting usually at proper angles. Historic centre walled, Ming rebuilt. Old mosque exquisite. Xianyang nearby, with Seventh century Qian tombs, museum with yet another 3000 Han terra cottas like a soccer crowd. Train to Beijing. 800 miles, 26 several hours. Residences frequently caves in valley aspect. Later huge flat land, maize almost everywhere.

Temple of Heaven, Tiantan, and then Beijing Opera. Pause for beer at wayside stall. Served by moonlighting trainee stockbroker! Breakfast pickle wonderful, like 4 calendar year outdated camembert out of a shotgun. Will take the head off. Wonderful Wall. Mucho touristico, but still gorgeous. Like climbing a big ladder in spots. “I climbed the Wonderful Wall” T-shirts, charges reduced the further you climb. Need to be the air. Ming tombs dismissed by manual-guide. Mistaken. Remarkable barrel vaulted rooms nine tales underground. Jade doorways, carved thrones, marble, marble, marvel. Reminiscent of renaissance Italy. Eternal bricks etched with names of their makers. Souvenir jade boat for 55000 lbs ..

White drapes in excess of erotic statues in Tibetan Lama Temple. Identical bestial material in wall paintings. 24 metre gold Buddha through the incense-blur. No cigarette smoking indications everywhere.

Mao’s Maosoleum an emperor’s tomb. Traces for queues painted across the sq.. Toes pointing north towards Tiananmen Gate, upside-down feng shui. He is shiny, waxy and painted about the experience. Transferring strains file past on either aspect. No pausing. Outside, stalls with Mao T-shirts, Mao important rings, cuddly toys, publish cards, magic lantern displays. Mao Zedong sweet floss by the armful.

STEM Scholarship Reception (Photo credit: Savannah River Site)

Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: The citizens or permanent residents of Taiwan and international students are eligible to apply this scholarship.

Scholarship Description: Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership. A group of female undergraduate and graduate student finalists will be chosen from the applicant pool. Each scholarship recipient will receive a TWD 45,000 scholarship. In addition all scholarship recipients will be invited to visit Google’s Beijing office for a networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all scholarship recipients from Greater China region to meet and share their experiences.

Number of awards: Not Known

Study Subject(s):  The scholarship is provided to study Computer Science, Software Engineering or a closely related technical field.

Course Level:  This scholarship is for pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate degree level.

Scholarship Provider: The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and Google

Scholarship can be taken at: Taiwan, In addition all scholarship recipients will be invited to visit Google’s Beijing office for a networking retreat.

Eligibility: Applicants must satisfy all of the following criteria to be eligible:

• Be a female student enrolled in full-time undergraduate or postgraduate study at an university in Taiwan. Citizens, permanent residents, and international students are eligible to apply.

• Be studying Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field.

• Maintain an excellent academic record.

What does it cover? Each scholarship recipient will receive a TWD 45,000 scholarship. In addition all scholarship recipients will be invited to visit Google’s Beijing office for a networking retreat. It will include workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities, and will provide an opportunity for all scholarship recipients from Greater China region to meet and share their experiences. Scholarship recipients are invited to an expenses paid retreat in summer.

In addition to free time for sightseeing and socializing, the formal part of the retreat typically includes:

• welcome meal and tour of Google,

• informal ice breaker activities and introductions,

• introduction to the Anita Borg Institute and the scholarship program,

• personal insights, technical talks, and workshops

Selection Criteria: Scholarships will be awarded based on the strength of candidates’ academic background and demonstrated leadership.

Notification: They will send an email notification within ten days of the submission deadline.

How to Apply: The mode of applying is online.Please complete the online application. If you are a first time user, you will need to register; if you’re already registered, simply login.You will also be asked to submit electronic versions of your resume, essay responses, transcripts, and name and email of your referrers.

Scholarship Application Deadline: The deadline for international scholarship applications isMay 25, 2013

Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

http://www.google.com.tw/anitaborg/

Instead I sat on a bench near a woman singing opera accompanied by harmonica, and line dancers twirling to recorded music, and workmen re-paving the sidewalk with rhythmic strokes.

Yet, somehow, observing community without being part of it, alone among crowds, there was peace.

The greeting in our mother tongue was warm and friendly.  The two young women claimed to be art students, displaying their work for the first time.  In impeccable English they slickly, yet subtly, practiced the art of persuasion.  We bought three paintings, paying way too much money.

The next day as we toured the Forbidden City, we heard over and over again, “Welcome to Beijing.  Do you need a tour guide?”

The greeting in our mother tongue no longer seems warm and friendly.

We’ve learned the most effective way to say, “No,” is to reply in Mandarin.

“Bu yao, xiexie.” (We don’t want it, thank you.)

We are no longer tourists.

“Xiexie.”  (Thank you.)

About half way through my laps, I heard the lifeguard shout, “Shisan!”  The word was familiar.  What was it?  It took me about ten strokes to remember.  ”Shisan” means thirteen! The lifeguard was watchfully counting my laps.

When I finished I returned the dripping cap and asked, “Tomorrow, may I use it again?”

He said, “Hao.”

But the next day when I signed in at the gym, the receptionist said, “You have to buy a cap.  We don’t provide them.”

Beginning to understand my lifeguard’s generousity, I simply said, “Hao.”

The first was that the men were dressed almost exactly as they were 6 years previously. Here is a bunch of guys hanging around on a side street, playing Chinese chess.

This is a very common scene (guys hanging around, that is), though more often they’re playing cards. I suspect their wives are in the nearby shops and stalls working while these guys goof off.

On or near the universities, the male students are dressed like most university students everywhere, jeans, sweatshirts, etc.

Like males in most countries, they don’t seem to dwell on their attire or invest much in it. You rarely see a tank top and only slightly more common are T-shirts (though these are more prevalent on the university campuses).

That’s pretty much it for the guys. Quite a different story when it comes to females, however. In 2007, most girls were dressed in pants or jeans, with a shirt or sweater.

In my last post I mentioned that, by comparison, Chinese females are slim. But they’re not skinny, and in the 6 years since my original visit, it’s like Chinese women just discovered that they have legs – and nice looking ones. Now, a large percentage in the 20-40 range (and a few beyond that age) wear very short shorts, very short dresses, or very short skirts, always accompanied by nylons or leggings of some sort. You rarely see bare legs, and those are usually on university campuses.

If they have less clothing down below, this trend has not reached the upper half: I have not seen a low-cut blouse or an bare bellies yet. Still, I’m wondering if the women are dressing this way to attract men. If so, I’m wondering if it’s working, because I have yet to see any male turn his head even slightly to follow a woman with his eyes. Perhaps to do so is regarded as being very rude.

The conscientiousness about women’s weight does not seem to have reached the pathological or obsessive stage. Still, KK, in a recent trip to a local mall, pointed out that the mannequins here are thinner than those in America.

This girl (the one on the right) could be a mannequin.

This young lady is wearing a sleeveless shirt, something that is not very common in China – yet. This was a relatively cool day but she didn’t seem to think so.

Though sleeveless shirts are rare, here is a middle-aged woman doing some arm exercises in her sleeveless shirt in warm weather. I decided against moving closer to examine her armpits.

Even when it’s very cold outside, the girls will wear their short skirts and pants, with thicker leggings and warm coat. You rarely see long coats – don’t want to cover up those newly discovered legs.

Boots, both short and knee-length, seem to be “in.”

The last woman, in the high boots, is holding her hand over her mouth and nose. This is fairly common for women who don’t have masks when the wind is blowing, carrying dust, pollen, or exhaust fumes. I get the impression that it’s more for show or out of habit as opposed to being effective. I rarely see a man holding his hand over his mouth, either to protect himself from the air or to protect others from his sneezes.

Females on university campuses tend to be dressed a little more conservatively than those on the business streets. Is education or sophistication a factor here?

Stripes are definitely in, especially wide ones. A rough estimate today leads me to think that 5-10% of the people I see on the university campus were in stripes of some sort,

Occasionally you see a guy in flashy stripes, but not often.

Here’s one of the park’s gardeners in her striped shirt.

On the university campus you frequently see girls in long, light-weight skirts, but this is much less common on the streets.

There seems to be some relationship between long skirts and cell phones.

Speaking of cell phones, one of the surprises for me is that Bluetooth earpieces are exceedingly rare here. I’ve seen one. A lot of people walk around speaking into wired earpieces going to their cell phones, holding up the mouthpieces close to their faces. I don’t know whether it’s a cost issue (I doubt it), whether it’s just too noisy on the streets of Beijing (which it is), or whether there are legal/political issues involved. Anyone know?

In some of the pictures above you see the women with little umbrellas or parasols to protect them from the sun. On a warm, sunny day I’ve seen up to 5% of the females with umbrellas. Though a guy and a girl may share one, I’ve not seen a solo guy with a parasol. The girl below is sitting on the bench in the shade, but still she has her parasol. I was sitting in the same place the other day when bird poop landed 6 inches from me. Maybe this girl is savvier about avian excretory patterns than I. *****GIRL ON BENCH

KK fits right in with the local crowd.

My newest friend in this park is Douglas.

He and were talking about the Chinese people involved in one way or another with the Boston bombings. He said that the Chinese girl who was killed was very pretty, adding that foreigners seem to find Chinese women attractive. I simply smiled, not wanting to get myself in trouble.

保罗

P.S. Sorry some of the photos are blurry. I was force to be a bit furtive in taking these photos, requiring me to hasten.

Location

Yangshuo is one of the most beautiful places in the world. You might ask what this has to do with learning Chinese. When you think of it, it has everything to do with learning Chinese. Would you rather cycle through fresh air and beautiful scenery to get to class or trudge through smog and endless crowds of people everyday? Yangshuo offers great activities for people to enjoy. In Yangshuo you are never more than 10 minutes driving from world class rock climbing. Cycling is also very popular and is a great way to visit local towns and villages. When it heats up in summer it seems everyone gets into swimsuits and heads to the (not so) secret beach. There is a great variety of bars and restaurants here serving both western and Chinese tastes. So if you are excited to try the local beer fish or just want a good old pizza, you can get what you need.

People

People are very important for language learning. For how else will you learn with noone to practice with. Fortunately Yangshuo has great people to help you learn Chinese. First is the teachers, they will motivate you, teach you and help you as best they can. Our school is popular for people who want to study Chinese in China. Yangshuo is a tourist spot and you will meet people from all over China. What better way to have a well rounded learning experience than conversing with a Beijinger one day and group from Chongqing the next. This will help you in many ways. There is also a good expat community here that will help you out when you miss home. They also know some great tips and tricks to living here, and have great hidden gems be it a great restaurant or bar.

People

Cost

China is a cheap place to live compared to the west. Yangshuo is a cheap place to live compared to most of urban China. Because living costs are so low students here can live on a fraction of what they do in their home countries. Imagine getting two meals on school days, accommodation and tuition for less than $1000 a month in the west. Its not possible. Dinner in one of Yangshuo’s great restaurants can be as low as Y10 which is about €1.2 or $1.5. A bus from Yangshuo to one of the local scenic spots or climbing spots is Y3 around $.5.

Career Opportunities

As China continues to grow more and more businesses want people who understand Chinese culture and language. You can read about these things at your local library but you really have to be here to understand all the great Chinese idiosyncrasies. China has overcome Japan to be the number two  global economy and continues to grow despite bad figures coming from the Eurozone and USA everyday. While unemployment grows and grows in these countries people who can speak Chinese find it easier and easier to get a job.

Kick start your career

Travel and Adventure

Guangxi is a great place to travel. You can go to our neighbor province of Yunnan to see the Himalayan foothills or go south to our border with Vietnam. Yangshuo itself is an adventure take a motorbike or bicycle and search for hidden villages and friendly local people.

On our first night in Beijing, we headed to its location at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (1 Dong Chang’an Jie). Unfortunately, even though we had a reservation, the hostess informed us that there were no tables available and that we would have to wait. After wandering the lobby for a while, we returned and were given a table all the way in the back of the restaurant.

It wasn’t a spectacular start to the meal. Next, I discovered that my fork had all sorts of food residue on it. I asked for another fork and wasn’t given one until I asked for it a second time.

In any case, we had pre-ordered the peking duck, which is recommended to do, and it came out quickly. I was salivating as the duck was being sliced up.

The duck came with the usual condiments of pancakes, scallion, garlic, onions, and hoisin sauce.

The duck was cooked expertly. The skin was crisp but the meat was still moist. Each bite was exquisite. The duck cost 298 yuan (plus a 15% service charge) and included the condiments.

Next, we went to Duck de Chine (1949 The Hidden City Courtyard 4, Gongti Bei Lu), for which it is also recommended that you make a reservation. The restaurant is located in a hidden area, and you have to walk through a museum to get to it.

The duck at Duck de Chine is cooked a little differently than your typical peking duck. It is roasted for a longer-than-usual 65 minutes over 40-year-old jujube wood. Plus, the condiments are a little untraditional since the dipping sauce includes sesame paste and peanut.

Once again, I couldn’t wait until the slicing was finished. The duck was amazingly delicious. The skin was also crispy while the meat was succulent.

I particularly enjoyed the dipping sauce being a little different. Although the dipping sauce was an extra 8 yuan per serving, the duck only cost 238 yuan for a total of 254 yuan, which is still less than the duck and condiments at Made in China.

Moreover, the ambiance and the service at Duck de Chine were superior to Made in China. The location was more subdued and romantic at Duck de Chine, and we had no problems with the service. In fact, we ordered tea at Duck de Chine, and a waitress was in charge of pouring our tea. She never missed a beat even though Mr. Selfish drinks like a camel.

I must admit that the duck at both Made in China and Duck de Chine were equally delicious. However, due to the cheaper cost, untraditional dipping sauce, and better ambiance and service, I must recommend Duck de Chine more. But if you’re in Beijing and have the budget for it, why not try both?

Characters made easy

Study Chinese in China

                Luas bangunan istana ini mencapai lebih dari 70 hektar, dengan dikelilingi oleh sungai-sungai yang mengalir. Tahukan anda berapa banyak kamar yang ada di istana ini? Jangan kaget ya! Istana ini memiliki sekitar 9000 kamar, dengan masing-masing fungsi yang berbeda-beda. Kamar-kamar yang ada di dalam istana ini, selain sebagai tempat tidur Kaisar dan permaisuri, sebagian kamar juga digunakan sebagai tempat persembahyangan. Akan menyenangkan jika anda berada di tempat ini, karena anda dapat merasakan berada di jaman kekaisaran Cina. Bentuk bangunan istana ini juga khas Cina jaman dulu, dengan atap bangunan yang dihiasi dengan hiasan naga yang dipasang pada empat penjuru mata angin.

                Di area istana ini, terdapat lapangan yang sangat luas, tepatnya berada di depan istana yang berfungsi sebagai tempat berkumpul prajurit kekaisaran sebelum perang jaman dulu. Di sekitar istana, terdapat rumah-rumah kecil yang mengelilinginya. Rumah-rumah kecil tersebut merupakan tempat istirahat bagi para penasehat beserta prajujrit lainnya. Jika sewaktu-waktu dibutuhkan, mereka akan berkumpul di lapangan luas tersebut. Kini, istana terlarang telah mengalami beberapa kali renovasi, mulai dari penggantian material bangunan, hingga renovasi konstruksi bangunan itu sendiri. Jangan sampai melewatkan Istana Terlarang saat anda bertamasya ke Negeri Panda ini!

Terimakasih para pembaca setia website idtravelicious, dukungan anda akan sangat berharga bagi kami. Demi kelancaran dan kemajuan website ini, jika anda ingin bertamasya ke luar negeri,  kami mohon untuk menggunakan jasa tour dan penginapan yang ada di dalam artikel ini, agar idtravelicious dapat terus memberikan informasi dan menemani perjalanan anda. 

]]> http://tmiwithtim.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/china-cars-and-driver-stereotypes-a-not-so-gentle-rant/ Wed, 15 May 2013 01:03:58 +0000 timothynh http://tmiwithtim.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/china-cars-and-driver-stereotypes-a-not-so-gentle-rant/ An interesting quote by a long-time expat in Beijing from some years ago: “The Chinese Highway Code is extensive and if you read it, and if it were followed, it would put the Chinese driver at an extremely high level. Unfortunately I have to say that I believe that the majority of Chinese drivers haven’t even seen this set of rules, let alone follow them! Chinese drivers are extremely aggressive in their driving style and care little (i.e. not at all, if they even realize they are there!) for those people and vehicles around them and generally completely ignore the rules of the road. Until the Chinese authorities introduce a Traffic Department as part of the police force, and start to clamp down on drivers breaking the rules by hitting them where it hurts (in the pocket), then I only see the situation deteriorating as the level as traffic increases.”

THINGS HAVE CHANGED SOMEWHAT

It is funny to think that 95% of all drivers in China have had their driver’s license fewer than five years.  Beijing adds about 1,500 new cars a day, and it is not the largest city in China.  We take driving for granted in the U.S. because we are an automobile culture, and have been since after WWII. Chances are when your parents were pregnant with you they had a car, and their parents them; depending on how old you are, maybe even one more generation beyond that.

When I was in Beijing in January I was driving – or being driven; foreigners cannot drive unless they pass a test which according to my sister-in-law is very difficult – I passed a line of maybe 150 identical cars with five passengers in each. The procession was odd, so I asked what was happening.  It is a local driving school, I was told. Everyone is learning to drive and they are practicing on the relatively empty outskirts of the northeastern part of the city. This was just one company on a Tuesday, in the afternoon.  The cars crawled at fifteen or twenty miles per hour following each other; the drivers’ faces tense as they copied the driver in front of them. Regular drivers swerving into the opposite lane of oncoming traffic to get around this interminable line only made the new drivers more nervous.  They do this practicing several times and then are ready to pass a driving test. It was a comedy, and terrifying too. Truth be told, the swerving into oncoming traffic did not make me feel much better.  Our driver, J’s usual, has a picture of a Ferrari on his mobile phone. He craves speed and sharp corners. He honks incessantly and veers into oncoming traffic taking cat whisker width chances. He does pass in the emergency lane. He is a professional driver. That recklessness is what happens to all drivers after they pass their test and become suddenly overconfident. It is why insurance for young drivers is so high and why rental car companies do not rent to those under twenty-five. This is no video game; there is no re-apparate. The number of traffic deaths has soared in China.* ++

The highway safety here is getting better. Back in the old days, as quoted from the expat above, the usual passing lane was the emergency median on the right. The government became much stricter after a massive car pile-up happened and the ambulances and fire trucks could not get to the accident.  People died as a result.  Traffic police can no longer issue tickets, as they are too susceptible to bribes. The answer: put cameras everywhere. Take pictures of everything. At the end of the year you are sent a bill with all your infractions detailed, points deducted, and monies owed courtesy of the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Public Security; Department of Traffic Safety.  You had better pay your bill; and people do. My brother remarked yesterday that the system is working because on our six hour drive no one passed in the emergency lanes, and people obeyed the speed limit.  I guess there is something to be said for a big brother.  It is not that the Chinese drivers are bad drivers, they just haven’t the experience.

Given the inexperience of the drivers and the very powerful cars here makes me more forgiving of the idiocy one faces every day, but it means one has to be more vigilant too.  One only hopes that not too many people will die from traffic fatalities as the inexperienced drivers mature and can pass on some of that experience to the next generation. The problem is that as a control freak passenger there is nothing I can do wear my seatbelt and hope for the best.

I lost two very close friends when I was young to drunk driving. They were drunk and they were driving; driving fast and without seatbelts. I was made fun of because I wore a seatbelt in High School. I make passengers in the back seat wear seatbelts when I drive. Hey, you don’t like it? WALK!

Please buckle up…and hey! Let’s be careful out there (Old TV show reference)

Oh, if you want to see some of the silly questions for foreigners who want to drive in China, follow the link below…some of the questions are priceless http://www.shekouonline.com/drivingtest.html

On a separate note: I do believe that China missed the boat in the car modernization game; they could have mandated an electric car system here, and the world would have followed. With the the largest auto market in the world and growing exponentially, BMW, Mercedes, etc. would have jumped at the opportunities to sell whatever the mandate.  Even if the government started with buses and way stations for battery swapping as they built the highway infrastructures, the transition would have been easier. Oh well, I am not surprised at the short-term profit seeking. It is what we are as a species, no?

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080604194701.htm

++ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-01/07/content_11808453.htm

The streets were lined with Chinese Architecture and floating lanterns. The hum of an oriental melody flooded the streets and an older woman began signing along. The sound of her fragile voice blended seamlessly with the music, as it if were a familiar tune memorized by her vocal chords. Quaint Bonsai trees lined my path and food vendors clamored outside to convince me their noodles were the best in town.

Pastries for Sale

I’ve never been to China, but it was easy to imagine it being like this. As the path arrived to my destination, quaintness and culture aside, I mentally prepared myself to conquer the shoppers, the mecca of all souvenirs, the reason for my journey…The Flea Market. Hoardes of bargainers buzzed through the stands. T-shirts, key chains and kangaroo gear galore… on the exterior this was your typical flea market but nestled deep within lay some of the most interesting trinkets I’ve every laid lens on. From hand painted aboriginal art, to a rubber chicken man thong. Adult sized animal onesies anyone?

Shopping at the China Town flea market taught me two important lessons:

1) If  your heart so desires it, it can be found.

2)  I cannot haggle to save my life and will forever buy over priced items.

Once relics were purchased for each of my loved ones, I headed across the street to the Chinese Friendship Gardens, which were given to Australia by China in 2000.

The gardens were absolutely breathtaking and discounted for students! What more could I ask for? Asian flora filled the landscape and was accompanied by tranquil waterfalls. Leisure readers hid away in private nooks and couples enjoyed their lover’s company.

Small children dressed in traditional Chinese robes wandered by. Curious, I asked them why they were so done up and they replied they were playing royal dress up. I nearly tripped while I sprinted in the direction they pointed towards. Royal dress up?! I finally get to dress up as the princess I’ve always known I was!

Sam the seamstress was quite a character. He even invited me to spend the day dressing up visitors and learning more about the role of garments in Asian Culture. I’m going back to Chinatown in a few days to interview him and I couldn’t be more excited. Stay tuned for that story! Everyone has been so kind and the stories keep coming to me. I truly couldn’t of anything better than getting paid to do what I’m doing right now. Travel Channel here I come! I hope!

Where’s Ebony now you ask?

At an internet café typing this blog post because Wifi is hard to come by here. But tonight I’ll be at Omalley’s Pub in King’s Cross. It’s Karaoke Night, aka my Headlining Night. Should I show these Aussies my Yankee talent in the styling of Celine or Whitney?

And with that, take it easy Mates! Until Tomorrow.

Read Here – German Council on Foreign Relations

Read Here – CNN

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi.

Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi is unfazed by reports that the Chairman of the Chengdu Exhibition and Travel Group (ETG), who signed an MOU with Samoa to build a 500-room resort and a casino, is in custody in Beijing China.

Asked for a comment, Tuilaepa said there was nothing to be alarmed about.

“It doesn’t really matter if one person goes,” said the Prime Minister. “ETG will still have a new Chairman and so as far as we are concerned, nothing has changed.

“That’s how the world operates. Organizations continue; that’s why they are called a growing concern.”

Deng Hong, who has reportedly been in custody since March 2013, is being investigated over corruption linked to land deals, by the Communist Party anti corruption officials, according to a Caixin Online report of April 14.

Tuilaepa, Samoa’s Ambassador to China, Tapusalaia Terry To’omata and officials from Samoa visited the ETG Company’s Head Office in Chengdu, China in May 2012. Discussions centred on the building of a 500-room hotel resort project in Samoa to be managed by Intercontinental Hotels Inc.

The Prime Minister and the Chairman of ETG, Deng Hong then signed an MOU during the visit to facilitate the implementation of the project. Ambassador To’omata visited Samoa with a team from ETG in April prior to the Prime Minister’s visit to Chengdu.

In June, ETG Chairman Deng, the Chengdu Exim Bank President and officials of ETG returned to Samoa for site visits, following a visit to Yap in Micronesia, where ETG is also planning another resort.

On the Samoa Embassy website in Beijing the report said “The proposed project would be a huge boost for Samoa’s tourism especially in targeting Chinas growing outbound tourism as well as nearby markets such as Australia and New Zealand.”

Earlier this year, the Government granted ETG one of two licenses to operate a Casino in Samoa. The other license was given to Aggie Grey’s Resort in Mulifanua.

Pressed about the future of the company and the casino plans, Tuilaepa said “people can go wrong but the organisation still lives on.”

Asked to elaborate, he said; “That’s the definition of an ongoing business, an entity goes on.”

Tuilaepa said that contrary to reports, Mr. Hong was arrested in relation to “investments in Yap.”

“My information is that it’s to do with Yap, so you cannot say that it’s an investment in Samoa, it’s in connection with Yap,” he said.

“What I gather also is that it’s to do with competition over business rights with another big company. It’s not anything to do with Samoa.”

Asked whether the incident highlights the need for Samoa to tighten its rules surrounding foreign investors, Tuilaepa said; “We always do.”

“There are many times we get clearance but of course it does not mean that the project will go on.

“People can come in and everything appears ok but you can never tell [what might happen] regardless of all the checks.”

The Prime Minister did not say when or where the project is likely to be located.

“When a decision has been made, we will let you know,” he said.

Earlier media reports in Caixin Online had said Deng was questioned in December by anti-corruption officials in connection with an investigation into Li Chuncheng, the former mayor of Chengdu.

The inquiry into Li regarded “a serious violation of the law,” the party’s Central Discipline Inspection Commission said on December 6.

“Last time (Deng) was asked to assist in the investigation, but this time he is the target,” the source close to the investigation said.

Deng has been in custody since early March, the source said. His last public appearance was on February 19, when he met officials from Shanghai in Chengdu.

Deng is a well-known businessman in Sichuan who operates a wide range of exhibition and property projects across the southwestern province. He is known to enjoy close ties to local officials. “Deng has lots of government support, but he is also very talented in doing business,” a Chengdu businessman said.

Deng, who was born in 1963, spent eight years in military. In 1985, he left the military and started his own business. Caixin has learned that the property business he started in late 1990s and all of his current projects involve the local government.

Speaking at the annual CLSA China Forum in Beijing, Francis Cheung, the brokerage’s China head, said that the country was hooked on an “unsustainable” pace of growth requiring ever-greater injections of debt to keep going.

Fifty per cent of the Chinese econ-omy is made up of investment, an unprecedented level for a country at its stage of development, sucking in increasing amounts of credit, effectively to buy growth.

Total debt in the world’s second-largest economy soared from 148 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008 to 205 per cent of GDP last year and is expected to hit 245 per cent by 2015, Mr Cheung said in a report.

But despite the rising tide of investment being poured in to build everything from houses and roads to railways and power plants, China’s credit habit is becoming less effective, with the same amount of debt generating lower returns every year.

China’s annual GDP growth has almost halved from 13 per cent in 2007 to an expected 7.5 per cent this year, while total debt has more than doubled in the same time, a development model that President Xi Jinping also has called “unsustainable”.

“China is running just to stand still … China is not a rich country; it is a lot of debt for a country at this GDP level. What I worry about is unregulated lending,” Mr Cheung told the forum.

With Chinese industry suffering from overcapacity in every sector from steel to cement to solar panels, the country “cannot use any more stimulus policies to boost growth”.

The fastest-growing debt is that shouldered by local governments, with the undisclosed sum estimated to have hit 20 trillion yuan (£2 trillion) last year — a doubling in two years. Local governments are being forced to pay more to service their debts, while their ability to raise money through selling land is slowing.

The biggest risk, Mr Cheung said, came from the growing use of unregulated loans generated by “trust companies”, financial sector intermediaries that make money from offering risky loans known as “wealth management products” to private companies unable to get credit from state-run banks.

A report published by Moody’s yesterday found that China’s “shadow banking” sector had hit an estimated 29 trillion yuan (£3 trillion) last year, posing a “systemic risk” to the financial system, despite a partial clampdown in March. The credit ratings agency also warned of the threat of contagion, stemming from little-regulated shadow lending that has swollen by 67 per cent in the past two years.

Last month China sudffered its first sovereign credit rating downgrade in 14 years as Fitch lowered its appraisal amid fears that its debt problems would necessitate a government bailout.”

via An addiction that could spell economic disaster | The Times.

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