Tanggulashan town officials have come up with a unique plan to kill grassland-destroying rats. They have erected about 830 bird perches to attract hawks and wolves, which in turn can kill the rats, reports China Daily.

The town, referred to as the “first town of the Yangtze River source”, has been struggling with the problem, leading to desertification.

In 1998, the local government started to wipe out the rats with a chemical called rodenticide. But it had a negative impact on the grassland. The government recently came up with the idea to attract hawks and wolves to kill the rats.

bron: www.dnaindia.com

China has a long tradition of silk making, dieing, and tapestry making.  Many fine exhibits can be found in museums around the world and up-market shops throughout Asia.  Then there is the tourist market,  Hardly a tourist goes to China without being exposed to a constant barrage of attempts to lure dollars from their wallets in special tourist silk shops, street markets and the gaggles of street vendors near any major attraction.

Such was the case on our journey from the airport at Yichang to the city which was escorted by China National Tourist Corporation guide and driver – first stop a silk embroidery demonstration and shop.

Sony Alpha DSLR A200, 1/13 sec, F5.6, ISO 400, Sony DT 18-70 mm Lens at 45 mm

My travel section on the blog has been slumbering for quite some time. As it happens to be almost one year ago when my wife and I went to China I thought about the old town of the mega metropolis Chongqing (重庆) where we spent last Boxing Day. Chongqing is a fast growing city and is now the largest inland city of China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Chongqing was originally part of the Sichuan province but since 1997 it is one of four municipalities in China and these are not part of provinces but are directly subordinated the national government. The other are Beijing, Shanghai and TianJin. Chongqing is the largest municipality.

Ciqikou (磁器口) means porcelain port but the place is also called Small Chongqing. It is the old harbor of Chongqing and here lived rich merchants. The town only covers 1.18 sqkm but it still maintains Ming and Qing architecture, of which there is almost nothing to see in central Chongqing whose skyline is dominated by skyscrapers. Ciqikou is today dominated by local shops, tea houses and local Sichuan street performances.

It was founded in 998 by emperor Zhenzong (998-1004) of the Song dynasty. It’s original name was Baiyan but during the Ming dynasty the name was changed to Longyinzhen and it became an important land and river port along the west bank of Jialing River. It was during the Qing dynasty that the town became famous for its porcelain making. It was during this time the town received its current name. There is a Buddhist temple overlooking the town but I never visited it.

eram doar noi doi în Alei

și busturile aliniate ale ofițerilor căzuți în războiul de Independență

ne înconjura o ceață deasă

banca pe care ne-am așezat am simțit-o rece și umedă

încercai să mă convingi să mănânc un șnițel de pui

obișnuiai să le spui tuturor cunoscuților că sunt un lingav

mi-ai promis că-mi dai ceva dulce dacă-l voi mânca

și asta nu știu de ce m-a motivat

chiar dacă bucata de pâine pe care l-ai pus era înecăcioasă

am primit apoi o jumătate dintr-o tabletă de ciocolată chinezească

al cărei gust n-am să-l uit niciodată

pe ambalajul ei era fotografia un pod ce părea nesfârșit peste o apă ce părea nesfârșită

am auzit înainte să plecăm  sirena de pe un șlep

mi-ai  zis că vom merge într-o zi frumoasă

în acel loc știut doar de tine

de unde vom vedea mai de aproape Podul Prieteniei

vom merge și-n port să-mi arăți locul unde ai lucrat

în punctul de transformare

de unde trimiteam bulgarilor curent electric

după al doilea război mondial

când am plecat m-a amuzat

bustul unui maior care avea o frunză mică de arțar pe frunte

nu ne grăbeam

trenul de întoarcere pleca la patru

și era doar două și jumătate

știam asta pentru că aveai pe mâna dreaptă

un ceasul bărbătesc

mergeam prin micul oraș agale

aveai în mâna stângă geanta maron deschis din vinilin

în care nu țineai lucruri femeiești

ci doar lucruri utile oricărei călătorii

un briceag multifuncțional

o linguriță

o ceașcă de plastic

două batiste

trenul mergea prin ceața lui noiembrie

parcă doar unul dintre gândurile mele

știa drumul spre casă

deși speram ca el să mergă spre  lumea fantastică

din poveștile pe care mi le spuneai

știu că am adormit cu capul în poala ta

în trenul în care frigul domnea

nici nu-mi amintesc dacă am visat ceva

probabil un pod nesfârșit peste o apă nesfârșită

Poem de George Floarea

Foto: quasiote

MY name is Ray Calcott and I was an Able Seaman on HMS Amethyst.On April 20, 1949, at around 8am, we weighed anchor and started to move up the Yangtze River, in China, to relieve HMS Consort on guard in Nanking.We had been under way for about 20 minutes when we came under fire from the north bank of the river by communist forces. Forewarned, and knowing what might happen, the skipper had ordered the quarterdeck to have a Union Jack painted on it so that aircraft could see our nationality. Canvas was stitched together and a very large Union Jack was painted on them, one for the port side and one for the starboard side.    These were rolled up on an oar from the whaler and secured with sailmakers twine, and were then secured to the bottom of the guard rails.Immediately that we came under fire, the skipper ordered the lashings to be cut and the massive Union Jacks were unfurled so that no one could mistake what country we were from.At this time I was on the quarterdeck and dashed to my Action Station, which was ‘A’ Gun. At this point the shore battery kept on firing, hitting us at will. ‘A’ and ‘B’ Guns could not bear, and only ‘X’ Gun was able to fire, but was soon put out of action.When the wheelhouse took a direct hit, the wheel went over to port, the telegraphs were struck, and so we went aground on Rose Island.Movement was restricted on the upper deck, as snipers on the shore and their main armament continued to fire on us.As the wounded were being taken below, the First Lieutenant (who had assumed command) ordered the crew ashore, asking for about 24 able-bodied men to remain to take care of the wounded.Some men swam ashore, and some were ferried in the port whaler.A short time later the telegraphist Jack French came back on board to do the necessary signals.It was then discovered that there were many more men who had stayed on the ship than originally believed, as we were uncertain of the numbers who had swum ashore.We heard that HMS Consort was coming towards us at full speed and we prepared to be towed off the river bank.The speed at which she was travelling rocked the ship, but we were still unable to get off the mud.Consort turned, and continued to fire broadsides, but she sustained a lot of damage and casualties, and so had to continue her journey to Shanghai.That night, we jettisoned as much heavy gear as possible from the fo’c’s’le and, after several tries, we eventually managed to release the ship from the river bank.It was decided to continue towards Nanking and we found what was considered a safe anchorage.The following day we received a signal to say that the HMS London and the HMS Black Swan were coming to escort us down the river, but they suffered the same fate as Consort and had to withdraw.At around 4pm on April 21 a Sunderland Flying Boat arrived with a doctor and medical supplies, as our own doctor had been killed.The guns from the shore opened up and the aircraft was forced to take off.A Chinese doctor came aboard to help the RAF doctor and they decided that the wounded had to be taken ashore as soon as possible.The Chinese doctor said that he would arrange things.So at midnight it was decided that five wounded and one able bodied person to assist the wounded would be ferried ashore in the sampan (a small boat).I was in the first sampan ashore, the wounded were off loaded and put onto the river bank and the sampan went back to the ship for more wounded.When it returned with the wounded there was no able-bodied person aboard, and so it continued until all the wounded, with the exception of No. 1  Lt Weston, were ashore.There I was, all alone, with 19 seriously wounded and no sign of anyone else.I had noted during the daylight hours that there was a small army camp about a couple of miles from where we landed and I told the wounded that I was going to check out this camp to see if I could find some help.After a while I came back with about 40 men and 20 stretchers. We started to walk to Chinkiang and after approximately three to four miles, I spotted some white hats in the distance.We came to a halt and I went over to them and asked if there was a British naval officer there and a voice asked if I was from the Amethyst and I replied “Yes sir”. He said: “Thank god, we have been looking for you.”It was Lt Commander Kerans, and with him was Brigadier Dewar-Durie, a Canadian who was fluent in Chinese, Commander Packard, an American doctor and his assistant, and a senior Chinese naval officer with medical supplies. At this point I handed over my wounded to them.Lt Commander Kerans and I tried to signal the ship, as it was under way, but no one saw us.We rejoined the wounded and walked a further four miles over a mountain and met some lorries which had been placed at our disposal. We arrived in Chingkiang railway station to board the last train to Shanghai.I was informed that the Captain and A B Winters had not survived the journey.We arrived in Shanghai and were met by American naval staff and ambulances and taken to their hospital. The next day the wounded were taken on board the hospital ship Repose.I joined HMS London and then HMS Belfast and after a short while we set sail for Hong Kong. I rejoined HMS Amethyst when she escaped down river.

Environmentalists say China’s Yangtze river basin faces a future of more extreme weather events, threatening its ecosystems…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: expat china. The blog is also related to: antique china.

Temperatures across the Yangtze River Basin could increase from 1.5 – 2 Degrees Celsius over the next 50 years, while extreme weather events will also become more frequent, according to the largest river basin climate vulnerability assessment yet done.

The Yangtze River Basin Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Report, released today in Beijing, not only describes the impact of climate change but also offers specific adaptation strategies for the Yangtze.

“Extreme climate events such as storms and drought disasters will increase as climate change continues to alter our planet,” said Professor Xu Ming, the report’s lead researcher.

“Given the complexities and uncertainties associated with climate change, adaptation should firstly consider a ‘no-regrets’ strategy,” which does not require additional cost. If we take the right steps now, adaptation measures will pay for themselves.” he said.

Specific adaptation measures discussed in the report include strengthening existing infrastructure, such as power supply, transportation as well as river and coastal dike reinforcement. Other steps involve promoting Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), switching to more flexible cropping systems, and reducing human impact on fragile ecosystems.

Data collected from 147 monitoring stations across the 1.8 million km2 river basin points to a 0.33 d.C temperature rise during the 1990s. This hotter weather led to a spike in extreme climate events and flooding across the Yangtze basin, a trend that is expected to become increasingly dire over the next 50 years.

Other findings show that from 2001 – 2005, the basin’s climate grew even hotter, increasing by an average of 0.71 degree C.

According to the new report, wetlands will be the hardest hit. Lower water levels will reduce the number of aquatic birds in the Central and Lower Yangtze while climate change strips wetland ecosystems of important resources.

Other impacts that could affect the 400 million people whose livelihoods depend on the basin include more frequent snowstorms and drought.

‘The Yangtze Vulnerability Assessment is an important symbol of China’s commitment to fighting climate change,” said Mr. James Leape, Director General of WWF-International.

“Beyond setting out the vulnerabilities, the Yangtze assessment also underlines how investment in climate change adaptation is a prudent investment in safeguarding the continuing functioning of a landscape vital to many millions”

source:WWF

Asian Travels – 7 Top Places To Visit In Asia

Asia is a wonderful continent and has some of the most beautiful places to visit in the world. A holiday or vacation to this continent is sure to refresh you and give you an insight to some of the most beautiful sites and breathe taking views you have seen. This continent is rich in its various cultures and has a history behind everything. Here are some of the top places you must visit in Asia.
1. Indonesia – Bali. The culture it portrays is rich and the Barong dance is a specialty. Bali is a small magnificent island which houses the Batubulan Village that are famous for its stone sculptures. Do not forget to see the works of the goldsmiths and various handicrafts.
2. Bangkok. This place is famous for its Buddha statues and the reclining Buddha Temple. Modern tours include a Safari and Bangkok’s Pattaya and Coral Island. A must visit is the Erawan Shrine and the Snake Farm located near the shrine.
3. India. It is a country rich in culture and lots to offer. Among the most popular tours would be a boat ride on the Ganges River, Red Fort, The Taj Mahal, Himalayas, and different monuments, temples and churches located all over India. This country will keep you spell bound with all it has to offer to you. India is also known for its diversified food and the different festivals that are celebrated in this country. Do not miss out on this one.
4. Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Durbar Square is a popular spot to learn about the culture of this place and the people. The places to visit include Buddhanikantha temple and the Pashupatinath Temple. The weather in this place is beautiful almost all through the year.
5. China. This is one of the The Yangtze River Cruise is one of the favourite spots of tourists and also the local citizens as well, where one can share a close relationship with nature. biggest countries in Asia and requires ample time to tour the entire country. But some of the most popular tourist spots include Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City as well as the Temple of Heaven. The modern buildings and sky scrapers are a magnificent site.
6. Japan. Tokyo is the most popular city of Japan and is very exciting. Some of its traditional cultures can still be found in the mountain villages of this country. The other popular tourist destinations are the temples, churches and shrines which are situated in the different parts of the country.
7. Turkey. This is one of the most beautiful countries and its culture will captivate you. Some of its other most famous sites are its archaeological sites like Pamukkale’s Hierapolis as well as famous mosques like the Blue Mosque. There are many museums that you can visit like the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. The Turkish chai is a popularity and a must have. The traditional outfit is a wonder and the people are very friendly.

© Edmund Clark wins The British Journal of Photography International Photography Award 2009 with Guantanamo: If the light goes out.

BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY IPA AWARD
Edmund Clark has won The British Journal of Photography International Photography Award for his new project, Guantanamo: If the light goes out. Some of the work can be seen online at lens culture. One of the judges, Nick Galvin from Magnum Photos, said of the Guantanamo series: “Intellectually stimulating work.”

Clark’s previous project Killing Time was shot over two years, and captures life inside a wing for elderly prisoners. Follow this link online at Society Guardian, to see some of the work.

PRIX PICTET 2009
Winner of the £60,000 Prix Pictet photography prize for environmental sustainability is British based photographer Nadav Kander who was nominated for his series of photos Yangtze, The Long River Series, 2006-07 “documenting the rapidly changing landscape and communities of China’s Yangtze River, from its mouth to source”. Kander also scooped the $10,000 Lucie Awards IPA Prize in the International Photographer of the Year category with Elliott Wilcox as the Discovery of the Year and Rachel Papo as the Deeper Perspective Photographer of the Year (sponsored by Blurb). See earlier Hot Blog post on Wilcox.

To embargo or not to embargo?
I received the announcement of the winner last week but the press release was embargoed until 21:00. This raises the question of press embargoes and whether they are acknowledged. On a quick web search Katie Clifford found this post from aphotoeditor which was published before the embargo time. This begs the question as to whether, in a digital world where individuals can self  publish in real time, embargoes have any meaning. What happens when an embargo is not respected? If someone wants to “break” news, is it now a case of fastest fingers first? Later, aphotoeditor posted a reply to an email from a disgruntled press dept upset about him “breaking their news embargo”. “I think it’s insane that you would email blast bloggers the winner of a prize you haven’t handed out yet. PR at its worst,” he posted. Any views on this welcomed?

The other Prix Pictet announcements are a photography commission to American photographer Ed Kashi. Kashi has been “commissioned to visit Madagascar with the Azafady team in order to produce a series of photographs that will highlight many of the issues that Azafady are focusing on in this unique and endangered environment. An exhibition of the work made for the commission will launch the 2010 prize in Spring 2010″. Mark Jacobs, Director of Azafady UK said “Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity stems from the island’s long isolation from other landmasses. With over 80 per cent of its plant and animal wildlife found only on this island it is as important as protected areas like the Galapagos Islands. But this unique ecosytem is under threat and poverty is playing a large part in the destruction of the country’s natural environment. While international attention often focuses on the needs of mainland Africa, the island of Madagascar is rarely thought of…”

FREEDOM TO CREATE PRIZE
The shortlist for the 2009 Freedom to Create Prize has been announced. The prize was established in 2008 and “is a celebration of the courage and creativity of artists around the world who use their talents to promote social justice, build the foundations for open societies and inspire the human spirit. It is open to artists in all creative fields”.

Freedom to Create founder Richard Chandler praised the bravery of this year’s 1,015 artists from 110 countries who entered the prize. The five short-listed finalists in the Main Prize section are:

Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, has “dedicated his craft to highlighting social justice issues both in his native Iran and in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan”

Born in a refugee camp in Western Sahara, Aziza Brahim is “a world musician whose songs have been outlawed in Morocco for championing the human rights of the Saharawi refugees in one of the world’s least-understood conflicts”

Former war photographer Karim Ben Khelifa “draws on his experience and skill to create images which redefine and humanize the current conflict between Palestine and Israel”

Afghan female artist Sheenkai Alam Stanikzai uses video performance, installation and photography to tackle the subjugation and violent persecution of women in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries.

Burmese refugee women’s group, The Kumjing Storytellers, use giant paper mache dolls in an installation piece designed to represent their stories of ethnic persecution in Burma and the plight of migrants and refugees from around the world.

Imprisoned Burmese poet and installation artist Saw Wei who was jailed for two years in November 2008 for publishing a love poem which contained a code criticizing the leader of the Junta.

There are three categories: Main, Youth and Imprisoned Artist sharing in an overall prize fund of US$125,000. For more details about the prize and short list in the other two categories, visit Freedom to Create. The winners of this year’s award will be announced on 25 November.

“The Freedom to Create Prize is the only award of its kind in the world. It celebrates the power of art to fight oppression, break down stereotypes and build trust in societies where the social fabric has been ripped apart by conflict, violence and misunderstanding,” said Mr Chandler. “Of most importance, the Prize also celebrates the bravery of artists who pursue their craft despite great danger to themselves.”

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It has been quite a week for Nadav. On Monday at the Lucies, the IPA named him International Photographer of the Year in the editorial category. And yesterday, at the Passage de Retz in Paris, Kofi Annan announced that Nadav is the winner of the prestigious Prix Pictet. Congratulations, Nadav! We’re chuffed, to say the least.

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Kofi Annan presenting the Prix Pictet to Nadav Kander.

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The 60,000£ prize honors works that deal with sustainable development and the environment. Nadav was selected for “Yangtze, The Long River Series, 2006–07,” which centers on the effects of economic development on the communities along China’s  Yangtze River. If you’d like to see more, pop over to the blog for the photo mag 1000 Words Photography. Earlier this year, they published part of his series, along with an essay by Nadav.

This morning, Zoe, Nadav’s studio manager, sent me a couple of clips from today’s papers in London, including the Financial Times…

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…and The Guardian:

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The recent 7 Rockas Festival in La Laguna made me think of Bruce, and Bruce made me think of a guy I met in Las Américas, whose name I forget, when we were putting together a magazine feature.

The bloke in Las Américas seemed to model his behaviour on the Colin Farrell character in Phonebooth. He wore designer clothes, a designer watch and talked consistently about his flash car, other people he knew with flash cars, attending flash events with models on his arms… he talked money, money, money. His conversation left me as cold as the Arctic Circle (actually in these times of climactic change, probably colder).

Bruce on the other hand was a very nice bloke I met on a trip up the Yangtze. Bruce taught me a simple trick with two wine corks which confused and ‘wowed’ me. Clearly, as it involved wine corks, we had been partaking of the odd glass or 5 of wine and so it probably wasn’t that difficult to confuse me. It’s a useful little trick to know whenever a ‘party piece’ is required (unfortunately it’s impossible to describe in words) and it impressed the hell out of me.

Our friend Sarah has done lots of things which have also impressed me no end. She’s climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro for charity, been a dead body on the beach for the cover of a crime novel and gave up a very good job in the NHS to go and work for the VSO in Sri Lanka.

A while ago we interviewed an eye specialist in Santa Cruz who goes out to Mexico a couple of times a year to administer free eye treatment to the poor – I was very impressed by him.

On the same trip that we met Bruce we also met Joan, a ninety year old woman travelling on her own. She was as fit as a flea which was impressive in its own right, but what really impressed was a throwaway line as we flew across a piece of desolate land somewhere between China and Russia where we could see the occasional camp fire flickering beside large shadowy tents.

“I once spent the night in a tent with a prince down there,” She remarked and said no more, lighting my imaginative blue touch paper.

At a party a few years ago some people were talking about what they’d just been doing work wise. One bloke mentioned that he’d just finished making a movie about Bob Marley. As I’m a movie buff and had just read the review in Empire movie magazine, I was really, really impressed by that one.

The reason why Bruce made me think of Phonebooth man was that they existed at opposite ends of the spectrum. Phonebooth man and people like him try to impress everyone by parading material goods, but ultimately there’s no substance to them. Bruce and the other people I’ve mentioned haven’t actually set out to impress, they just did things that were, to me anyway, incredibly interesting and therefore impressive.

But what’s all this got to do with the 7 Rockas Festival in La Laguna, I hear you say?

Part of the 7 Rockas Festival involved an air guitar competition which reminded me that Bruce was the proud father of the UK national air guitar champion.

How impressive is that?

The Yangtze River, which forms the premise to this body of work, is the main artery that flows 4100 miles across China, travelling from its furthest westerly point in Qinghai Province to Shanghai in the East. The river is embedded in the consciousness of the Chinese – even those who lived thousands of miles from the river – playing a pivotal role in both their spiritual and physical life. More people live along its banks than live in the USA: one in every eighteen people on planet.

Outros trabalhos do fotógrafo israelense Nadav Kander estão disponíveis em www.nadavkander.com.

The Cruise

The cruise was pretty nice.  The rooms were tiny and the bathroom was not the best but it was alright.  We all had assigned seating for our meals.  My parents and I dined with a bunch of people from England.  They were nice enough but we didn’t talk to them all that much so that made the meals fairly awkward.  Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style but dinner was family style.  Dinner was the only meal that was all Chinese food.  The rest of the meals were a mix.

The staff on the cruise were mostly young kids.  In their teens or early twenties at the most.  They were friendly and worked very hard.  My parents really liked the server we had for our meals and the person that cleaned the rooms.  I thought the river guide, Rebecca, was really good.  She expressed concern over C’s bug bites and gave a lot of information about the gorges.

The first day’s excursion was to Fengdu.  This is supposed to be a city for spirits but it felt more like a tourist trap.  My parents criticized it for looking very cheap.  It isn’t the original construction and alot of things just looked shoddy.  C and I took nine steps over the middle bridge together to ensure that we would be together even in the afterlife.

The captain had a reception after the excursion.  My family and I went up there but were very surprised to see almost everyone had dressed up for the occasion!  Some people were in bow ties and jackets!  Oops.  C and I felt very out of place there but there were some others that were caught off guard as well.  We spent most of the time talking to the cruise director, Natalie.  She was from NYC and took a 6 month contract working the boat.  She was very interesting to talk to.

In the morning of the second day, a big boat of Taiwanese docked next to us.  We looked at their boat and admired how luxurious it seemed compared to ours.  All the rooms had a private deck and the boat had elevators.  The funny thing was that some people would set their clothes out to dry on these patios.  My family saw many people put out their underwear and things.  At one point the owner of the underwear came out and would wave to us as the boats departed.  My mother laughed and laughed at the lady.  I thought it was funny too.  I think we took a picture of her.

The second day on the cruise was mostly spent going down two of the gorges.  I really didn’t know what to expect of the three gorges.  It was obviously something special if people would come from all over the world and take a cruise just to see it.  I liked the scenery of the gorges.  It was definitely very pretty but unfortunately the pictures can’t capture what we were seeing.  The gorges are these high mountain walls and the river just cuts a path through it.  The rock formations and trees were very beautiful.

We also had an excursion to the lesser gorges.  This involved transferring to smaller boat and then eventually a sampan for the lesser lesser gorges.  These lesser gorges were pretty too but the really interesting thing was the coffins that were set into the mountain.  No one knows how the ancient people got them in there.  The highlight of the lesser gorges was the wild monkeys on the side of the gorge.  These were completely wild monkeys.  It was pretty nice even though they were far away.

On the lesser gorges excursion, I came up with a new joke.  I would have my mother put up 1 finger and say number one son so I could take a picture.  That was for me.  My mother wouldn’t do it so we would play with it.  Sometimes she would put up 2 fingers or do something else funny.  I eventually tricked her into doing it while I had my camera ready and snapped a picture really fast.

I spent a lot of time just staring out the window or on the observation deck.  I liked looking at the people that were living on the sides of the river.  I don’t know if I could live in such a remote place.  They had farms and probably pretty hard lives.  I would think about what was lost in the flooding from the dam.  I am sure many families lost homes that were in their families for generations.  All of the local guides (not Rebecca) would tell us how their lives improved after getting relocated out of the flooded towns but it felt like propaganda and I didn’t really believe it.

Late on the second day we reached the dam.  We weren’t scheduled to reach the dam and hte ship locks until after midnight but I guess the schedule changed and no one notified us.  C was asleep already and my parents were going to sleep.  From staring out the window I could tell that we were getting close to something.  Then I went up to the observation deck and noticed that we were at the dam and moving into the ship locks.  I ran down and told my family.  C was too sleepy and didn’t come up but my parents came with me.  We entered the lock and waited and waited for the back door to close.  The boat comes really close to the wall of the lock, so close that some people could reach out and touch the wall.  At some point my father gave up on waiting for the door and went to sleep.  My mom and me waited some more to find out that the back door wasn’t going to close and that the front one already opened!  We stayed even longer and then saw the doors close, the water levels sink and the front doors open.

Driving to Wuhan

By the time I woke up the next day we were through the locks and waiting for an excursion to see the three gorges dam.  It was huge but it was still just a dam.  It wasn’t all that interesting to me.

Finally we ate lunch and met our local tour guide at the dock on Yichang.  The tour guide’s only job was to pick us up and drive with us to Wuhan airport.  She was nice enough but really didn’t have much to do.  The ride was about 3-4 hours long and she didn’t have much to say (it was all highway).  We found out the driver had another tour to pick up so she was going to have to take a bus back home (she wasn’t getting home until very late).

The timing of the cruise was perfect.  It was right in the middle of the trip so it let us rest after the hot and tiring days in Chengdu and Emei.  It gave us a break from the heat and constant traveling from 1 city to the next. Besides the timing, the cruise was really nice because we could go back to the room and relax or use the bathroom anytime we wanted.  It was good for me because I was still getting over the stomach problems that I had earlier in the trip.

Our flight was delayed by an hour and half.  The airport was hot and we were all so tired (the flight was supposed to leave at 9 something).  For some reason I wore jeans that day and was just miserable.  I thought we would get on the plane and it would get better but that wasn’t the case.  The plane was hot and the other passengers were so loud.  They didn’t stop talking the whole time.  The worst part was the stewardesses would wake you up to give you your snack.  I didn’t want it.  I wanted to sleep but they still nudged you to give it to you.

We finally get to Hanzhou and get picked up by another tour guide.  She had it easier than the other one that we had.  She just picked us up from the airport and got us checked into the hotel.  The hotel was nice.  We stayed here at the last trip to Hanzhou.  Very modern and fancy.  It was after 12:30 by the time we got to our rooms.

O femeie din China pe nume D-ra. Wang  a plătit 4 milioane de yuan (aproximativ 600,000$) pentru un câine din rasa Mastiff Tibetan negru pe nume Yangtze River Number Two (în vârstă de 18 luni). Căţelul fiind raportat ca cel mai scump câine din lume.

 Talk about people havin too much time on their hands and too much money.

A woman, idenified only by her last name,”Wang” bought a DOG for a mind-blowing $582,000!!!   “Wang” traveled to Qinghai province of northwest China to purchase the 18-month old dog, named “Yangtze River Number Two“,  a Tibetan Mastiff.

Tibetan Mastiffs, a fairly rare breed, typically cost about $2,000 in the West, but are more expensive in China where they are valued for their skills as guard dogs.

Yangtze came home to an A-List entrance at Xi’an airport in China’s Shaanxi province, where he was reportedly greeted by hordes of dog lovers and picked up on Wednesday by a motorcade of 30 black Mercedes-Benz cars.  Ms. Wang has plans to mate Yangtze with another Tibetan Mastiff that she owns, according to Chinese reports.

A family in Florida previously held the record, paying $155,000 for a Labrador named Lancelot Encore, cloned from their dead dog, Lancelot.

When you think of the many people in the world who are homeless and hungry-this seems quite extravgant…

For more absurd wastes of money , go here.

The Victoria Jenna Offers Exceptional Views Of Southwest China, Departing From Chongqing, Sichuan Province

Tourists can expect luxurious accommodations as they take in spectacular views of the Yangtze River aboard the five-star Victoria Jenna (Image: PR)

Domestic travel has taken off in the last 10 to 20 years in China, with tourists scouring the country looking for unique locales and accommodations as travel has become more effortless and affordable. Although many high-end travelers still head abroad for their vacations, a rising number of upper-middle-class and middle-class Chinese travelers have looked inward to discover areas they had never seen while embarking on new tourism opportunities, particularly in the fast-rising southern and southwestern provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangxi.

Recently, the American-built Victoria Jenna, at 133.8 meters long and 18.8 meters wide currently the world’s largest five-star river liner, set off from southwest China’s Chongqing city, attracting a flood of reservations and interest from primarily Chinese tourists. Currently, luxury cruises on the Victoria Jenna are sold out until some time next year. For tourists looking for a unique, yet still luxurious, way to see China’s subtropical southwest, with its immense rivers, traditional villages, and lush foliage, river cruises like that offered in Sichuan could become a very popular option in coming years.

As CRI English notes, a cruise aboard the Victoria Jenna is anything but cheap — but for the upscale clientele this cruise line is meant to serve, that might not be a problem:

[The Victoria Jenna], made by American company Victoria Cruises, costs some 100 million yuan, or about 14.6 million US dollars.

It can serve a total of 400 passengers for a single voyage, providing 2 presidential suites, 38 other luxury suites and 160 standard rooms, along with unique balcony views, conference rooms, wireless Internet access and cuisine services.

Four days and three nights in a presidential suite on the Victoria Jenna will cost 5,000 US dollars.

Reservations for rooms aboard the liner have accounted for 80 percent of the company’s total bookings in September and October, and some of the rooms can only be booked next year, the company said.

Chinese man jumps in river to avoid his nagging wife.

A Chinese truck driver was so fed up with his nagging wife that he jumped from a ferry in the Yangtze-river. According to a report from the Chongqing Evening Post.

Witnesses saw how the tormented man left the cabine of this truck, while on the ferry. With both his hands covering his ears he yelled that he couldn’t take it anymore. Following was his loudly nagging wife, who also left the cabine.

“I have to get out of here!”, Zhou said before he dove in the Blue River. Because it was getting dark, the ferry personnel quickly switched on the search lights to find the man. But the voluntarily shipjumper was nowhere to be found.

Later that evening, the police found the man in healthy state on the shore of the river. He had swam one and a half kilometer before he went ashore. “I thought I would die, but even that is better than to suffer the complaining by my wife”, said the exhausted man towards the police.

The next morning the bizar couple was reunited at the police station. The wife of Zhou promised that she would stop with her endless nagging.

bron: www.hln.be [10-08-2009]

This is a continued feature multi-part blog post written by our Executive Director, Alanna Hendren. Alanna will be blogging about her recent experience flying off to China as the leader of the People-to-People Psychiatric Services and Developmental Disabilities Delegation. Every Tuesday and Friday, we will be posting about her journey in China, the developmental services offered there, and the people there. To read part 10, click here.

The next day we left the jungle, flying over the region’s uniquely Chinese mountains, the beloved Li River and acres of brilliant green rice fields. China is a country of towns that are increasingly becoming connected by an infrastructure of new roads. They also continue to make full use of their water and canal systems and have good airline service, so the movement of goods and people is becoming more inclusive of rural areas. Towns of over 1 million people are common and will likely become even more universal as China develops industry throughout the nation and urbanizes. With a recent revolution in technological connectivity – people who could not afford landlines now all have cell phones – the Chinese are developing communication and transportation networks that previous generations could never have imagined.

We arrived in Shanghai and checked into the historic Jin J’iang Hotel, which is an oasis in the middle of the insanely fast pace of the streets of the French Concession. The Jin J’iang is the hotel where Chairman Mao used to regularly meet with his National Assembly and where Deng Xiaoping first met with Nixon in 1978 to begin to open China’s window on the West. That window is now a door and wide open for business, as reflected by the growing, towering skyline of “New Shanghai”, across the river facing the old historic Bund. Comprised of old, small classical Western buildings overlooking the Huanpu River (a busy tributary of the Yangtze), compared to New Shanghai, the famous Bund looks simply quaint. Having been a busy international city in past years, Shanghai takes pride in its historical Western architecture and has some of the best examples of Art Deco structures in the world. One of them is the Jin J’iang and another is the Shanghai Garden across the street. Down the road is the Art Deco Lyceum where we saw the Shangai Acrobatic troupe, who incorporated Asian themes into very modern dance routines. The contortions of some of the acrobats left most of the physicians in our group fearing for the future physical condition of the performers in terms of arthritis and other chronic problems.

The next day we met with professionals from the East China Normal University (ECNU), including Yang Guangxue, Dean, Professor and Supervisor of the PhD program, Nan Li Zhou, PhD, Associate Professor and Lianjun Chen, Assistant to the President of the East China Normal University Graduate’s Union. Founded in 1951 (only one year earlier than DDA), ECNU was founded on the site of Great China University when it amalgamated with Fudan and Tongji Universities. It is now one of the key institutions of higher learning under the auspicies of the Ministry of Education. Influential in China and abroad, the university has 15 full-time schools including the newest – the College of Preschool Education and Special Education, which has 78 full time faculty who provide education for over 1,000 students. The college has recently established several research labs and is encouraging provincial and national research. The college has also established relationships with universities in the U.S., Britain, Germany, Australia, Canada, Singapore and Japan.

There are three doctoral programs within the school: speech, early learning and special education. There is also a special program focused on autism. Nian Li Zhou had recently completed a research project on autism and kindly led us through a presentation of her results. The researchers developed their own tool for early diagnosis and intervention where they used interviews, observation and psychological testing in order to classify the severity of the childrens’ challenges.

The research study followed 55 kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder aged 32 to 72 months and classified them into low, medium or high severity based on frequency and intensity of body language, emotional language and verbal language. It was also curiously noted during the study that, when asked to draw pictures of their families or themselves, none of the children with autism ever drew ears. For the low severity group, language was present so they focused on reciprocity of language. For the medium severity group, the focus was on language use, and for the high severity group where all the children were non-verbal, they focused on comprehension. Their research proved that it was valid to teach children with different levels of autism separately, with a more specific focus. 80% of their subjects with autism also had I.Q.’s under 70.

After special pre-schools, children with disabilities generally move on to either segregated or integrated schools, then on to vocational training schools – what we would call day programs – for people aged 16 – 35. Children who have more severe, physical or multiple disabilities usually do not attend school but are cared for at home by their families. Residentially, adults with developmental disabilities who cannot live with their families can live in apartments built for seniors, the homeless and those who require special care. Some care facilities have user fees. Otherwise, some in-home services are available, but these are extremely limited. There are also orphanages in China.

All teachers receive 20 hours of training about children with developmental disabilities and some can further specialize. Cross-discipline cooperation is as difficult to maintain in the People’s Republic as it is in B.C. Shanghai developed a coordinating board so hospitals, schools, universities and the Disabled Person’s Federation could work together. Special Education and Early Childhood Development are very new in China but together they are learning that a focus on education alone is not effective, so they have to develop a multidisciplinary approach with an additional focus on mental health, communication and socialization. They are not as far behind us as they might believe since it is precisely this type of multidisciplinary approach that we are just starting to develop in B.C. In order to further cooperation, the Vice Mayor of Shanghai proposed that other associated professionals become part of the education system because it is currently the strongest, with clinics already available at some schools. Every district has resource teachers, but students in special schools are usually the most vulnerable to funding cuts, which sounded strikingly familiar.

In China, ideology rarely trumps effectiveness, so they are enthusiastic researchers. A 7-year study indicated that the best system provided options for children from full segregation in special schools to full inclusion, with most children doing best when they were included in typical schools but had special needs classes within the school. As with all students, parents will hire tutors and aides for their children in order to accelerate learning if they have the money.

The faculty and researchers at the East China Normal University were very impressive. We hope to see Dr. Yang Guangxue when he visits Vancouver in the near future and show off what we have accomplished during our 57 year history.

There was barely enough room to tread water as thousands of swimmers crowded into a pool in an attempt to escape China’s scorching heatwave.

But the fact there was no elbow room was not going to stop the fun in the world’s most populous nation.

Families desperate to escape the heat grabbed their rubber rings to jostle for space at a local pool in Nanjing (南京), the capital of the Jiangsu Province (江苏省).

[Rubber ring to rubber ring: Swimmers still manage to smile despite being crammed into a swimming pool in Nanjing, China, as a heatwave sweeps across the country]

A heatwave has blasted many parts of China with temperatures reaching a sweltering 40 degrees.

Stretches of sand were covered in a kaleidoscope of colour as beach-goers struggled to find a spot free for their towel.

With a population of over a billion, China’s inhabitants will be hard pressed to find relief.

[Beach-goers struggled to find a free spot in Dalian (大连)]

And with crammed pools and thousands flocking to the sea, residents had to resort to jumping into the Yangtze river (simp长江;trad長江) to cool off.

As the Shanghai Central Meteorological Observatory (上海地区强对流天气短时预报系统) issued a red alert on high temperature, some took to more inventive measures to protect themselves from the sultry air.

Residents of Hubei province (湖北省) even crowded into an indoor pool as desperate swimmers must have felt  little relief from the hot spell.

[Relief: Swimmers attempt to escape the heat at an indoor pool in Wuhan]

Others ignored health and safety hazards to dive off steel platforms on wooden columns into the Yangtze River.

[Cooling off: Temperatures reached as high as 40 degrees forcing many Chinese to seek relief in swimming pools and even the Yangtze river.]

Children took advantage of the weather to run amock in the fountains of People’s Square.

[Running amok: Children play in the fountains at People's Square, Shanghai]

But it wasn’t just children feeling the heat – as one monkey found that the best way to battle humidity was with a refreshing ice lolly.

[Sweet treat: A monkey feels the heat and cools off with an ice lolly]

The country is now bracing for extreme weather, with strong gales and soaring temperatures in recent weeks serving as harbingers of disasters to come.

Rainstorms have already wreaked havoc on southern parts of China leaving dozens people dead or missing and forcing many more to evacuate their homes.

bron: www.dailymail.co.uk [21-7-2009]

I haven’t written in days and to tell you the truth, I feel guilty for the absence. So, I return with a belly full of Pollo Alfredo Pizza and a penchant for nonsense. Let the consciousness stream…

Well, after a moment I realize, apparently, my consciousness is, in fact, not streaming today. Perhaps, much like China and the Yangtze, someone built a dam and flooded out hundreds of ancient villages, leaving the temples and monuments of the past empires of my mind under leagues of water. Such a miserable thought. Still, I suppose it will power the nation.

I want some chocolate right now. The kind you go out of your way for, the kind you can only find if you go to special candy shops, maneuver your way back to the far corner and look up and to the left. There you find the hidden treasures of Europe, like the Aero Bar, the Cadbury Fruit and Nut, the Toblerone, etc. Instead I am left thinking, “Perhaps I should head to the Lindt store in the mall and buy an obnoxiously overpriced bag of chocolate balls filled with white chocolate!” They’re phenomenal when placed in the freezer. Much like Reese’s Cups…and 3 Musketeers Mint.

That reminds me, my aunt once told me she worked for a family that kept their daughter’s placenta in the freezer. Why would anyone do that? And in a container that looked much like ice cream, as well. What does one do with 20 year old Placenta? “Aaah, finally, it is ripened to true perfection. Let’s salt it and make jerky!”

Anyway, my fingers are hurting in an aching unnatural kind of way. I want to crack them, but the pain is in the first knuckle, so there’s no magic maneuver for that one. And they’re itchy, too. (My hands not my knuckles.) They say that means you’re coming into money.

My daughter just asked for a bag of Yogos. I must keep an eye on her for fear of nasal assault.

Adieu!

It’s been awhile and to be honest, a bit difficult to go without contacting anyone outside the boat the last several days. I’ve gone though some pretty remote areas throughout my ride on the Yangtze, which is quite the contrast from the city. In the city, everyone is loud and pushy, and of course some of the aromas and smog are not very pleasant either. It’s like the day after Thanksgiving everyday, no matter where you shop. No, the boat went down the river and through the mountains. It was quiet and peaceful.

I can’t even begin to tell you all of the things that have happened in the last few days. Here are some highlights and lowlights…

HIGHLIGHTS
-Going inside the 2008 Beijing Olympic Center – the Birdsnest and the Watercube!
-Hearing Chinese traditional music played live
-The Qutang Gorge, the Wu Gorge, and the Xling Gorge via boat all the while listening to Iron and Wine on my ipod…simply gorgeous!
-Having a Chinese/American dance party with some of the crew from the boat
-Being treated like celebrities – light brown hair is a BIG deal, don’t even get me started on blue eyes
-Eating my heart’s content of plain white rice, as well as some other great food, none of which has caused me to be sick!

LOWLIGHTS
-Using the Chinese toilets and several times out of necessity…oh my, just google this for a visual and you should understand the dilemma here
-What was once supposed to be an overnight train trip turned 30-hour trip thanks to some miscommunication and construction
-Eating Chinese McDonald’s…out of necessity, and so far that’s given me more of a stomachache than anything else
-Accidentally walking into the wrong train compartment of sleeping Chinese people..oops!
-Being stuck at an extremely lame museum for several hours…uhh
-Spending about two hours hand washing my clothes in the sink and then accidentally leaving the cord on the boat (don’t worry, I have all my clothes though)

After traveling around China now, I find it interesting how noticeable your basic needs become. It  doesn’t matter matter if you’re in China, the U.S., or somewhere in between. No matter what gorgeous sites surround you, you still need sleep, food, and drink…and maybe a shower, too. I’ve probably missed out on some beautiful pictures because I needed a nap instead. All in all, I’ve seen more than I ever would have hoped. Although I miss everyone back home, it’s been amazing!

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse.” -Romans 1:20