20 October 2014

Gentlefolk,

It has been a disrupted week, hence the delay in completing this post.

The weather has been great, and I managed to get in some good bike rides with colleagues Paul and Michael.

At Golden Beach with riding buddies, Michael Christensen (from Detroit)  and Paul Finkbeiner (from Philly).

View of Golden Beach, about 8 km from our campus.  A few people were in the water, but the warm weather is almost done, and not many people at the beach now.  The hills in the distance are at Qingdao City, about 25 km away, on the other side of Jiaozhou Bay.

With my bike outside the entrance to the underground garage at the side of our new residential building.  The sign says "Air defence shelter".  I hope we never need to use it, but at least it's close!

Qingdao TV

The team from Qingdao TV (journalist Zhao Qing Li and cameraman Yin Yan Wei) returned and we spent the best part of two days with them.  This time they filmed in our apartment, interviewed Vera, and took shots of me cycling around the campus and Tang Dao Wan bay.  Then they filmed one of my Oral English classes.

The next day we went to the International Sailing Centre in Qingdao (where the 2008 Olympic sailing events were held) and they took more shots of us wandering around.

If I understood correctly, I am one of 12 foreigners Qingdao TV is profiling. They will air the program during the Spring Festival in February 2015.  Hope it's all worthwhile..... they must have 6 hours or more of filming which will be edited down to a 10 minute profile. Here are some photos.

In our new apartment Journalist Zhao Qing Li interviewing two former students Bu Ping (Blair) and Li Su (Lydia).

Journalist Zhao Qing Li interviewing Zhu Shan (Susie) who translated my book 'It's all about the students' into Chinese.

Cameraman Yin Yan Wei (centre) took videos of Paul (a teacher from America) and I riding along Tang Dao Wan.

Paul and I riding along the esplanade of Tang Dao Wan bay, opposite our residential building during the filming for the TV show.  It was a beautiful autumn day.  I often ride my bicycle around the bay - we are very fortunate to have this wonderful facility.  It get quite busy on weekends, but during the week is quiet so great for cycling.

The International Sailing Centre in Qingdao, where the sailing events were held during the 2008 Olympics.

Qingdao's 'sister cities' around the world.

A view of the city skyline of Qingdao, from the International Sailing Centre.

Wedding anniversary

We celebrated our 41st wedding anniversary on 18 october 2014 and invited some of the other teachers for dinner in our apartment.  As usual, Vera cooked up a storm!

Celebrating our wedding anniversary, from left: Michael Christensen; Paul Finkbeiner; Steve McCune and his wife Amy, Maria Schlaefer, and Vera.  We drank a toast to absent friends: Ben & Sherry, Barbara, Nelly, and Mathew.

A 'selfie'.  I say 41 years of marital bliss; Vera says 2 life sentences! Whatever, it has been a wonderful time.

Student friends

We invited Liu Fan Qiang (Oliver) and his girlfriend Hong Ying (Faith) to lunch to celebrate Oliver's admission into the Master's program at the Chinese Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.  He worked hard for this, but still a very impressive achievement!

Lunch with Oliver and Faith.

17th Asian Games (Asiad)

I doubt many of you in Australia or in America or in Europe were aware that the 17th Asian Games were held in Incheon, South Korea from 19 September to 4 October 2014.

Almost 10,000 athletes competed in 439 events in 36 different sports (comprising 28 Olympic sports and 8 other sports - cricket, squash, ten pin bowling, baseball, kabaddi, karate, sepak takraw, and wushu).

All 45 countries and regions in the Olympic Council of Asia were represented, extending from Japan in the East to Lebanon in the West.  China sent the largest contingent (894 competitors), Brunei the smallest (11 competitors).

China topped the medal count, for the 9th consecutive Games.  37 countries won at least one medal. Cambodia won its first-ever gold medal (in taekwondo). 14 world records were broken: in archery, shooting and weightlifting.

Top 5 countries in 17^th Asian Games

Country	No. in team	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total medals
China	894	151	108	83	342
South Korea	833	79	71	84	234
Japan	718	47	76	77	200
Kazakhstan	415	28	23	33	84
Iran	282	21	18	18	57

Controversial issues: womens basketball did not allow any head covering (including hijab), so the Qatari team pulled out; Indian boxer Sarita Devi refused to accept the Bronze medal, as she believed she had beaten the South Korean fighter who went on the win Silver (the Indians accused local judges of bias).

Six competitors (including two Gold Medallists from China and Malaysia) failed drug tests and were sent packing.

Incheon built fine sporting facilities for this event and organised impressive Opening and Closing ceremonies, but the crowds were very disappointing which led some commentators to question the future of the Asian Games.

A similar debate followed the Commonwealth Games which were hosted by Scotland in the middle of this year.  From my observation, they generated little real interest or enthusiasm in Australia.

The Olympics, of course, are in a category of their own, and now-a-days there are World Championships in many sports as well.  My own feeling is that the Commonwealth Games have passed their 'use-by date', and I suspect the Asian Games are in the same boat.

Regardless of what I think, the next Asian Games will be held in Jakarta, and the Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, both in 2018.

Despite their impressive medal haul, there has been much lamenting in the Chinese media at their lack of success in the "big ball sports" which have huge followings in China: football (soccer), basketball, and volleyball.  Both the mens and womens teams failed to impress.   This was seen as a big wake-up call for the Olympics in Rio in two years.

The mascots of the 17th Asian Games, Incheon South Korea, 19 September to 4 October 2014

Psy of Gangnam fame performed at the Opening Ceremony.

China's Sun Yang won the Men's 400m and 1,500m freestyle events (he smashed Ian Thorpe's 1,500 record at the London Olympics).  I am intrigued by Sun's swimming style as he hardly seems to kick.  China unearthed a sprint champion, 21 year old Ning Ze Tao who bagged 4 gold medals.  Both Sun and Ning train in Australia.

200m freestyle ... the one that got away ... Sun Yang was beaten at the post by Japan's Kosuke Hagino (who took home a total of 7 medals, including 4 gold, which earned him the title of Most Valuable Player at the Asiad).  Third was local favorite Park Tae Hwan.

China's Lin Dan beat Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in the Badminton semi-final 22-20, 12-21, 21-9.  They have been great rivals for years.

Lin Dan went on to beat compatriot Chen Long in the Badminton final, 12-21, 21-16, 21-16.  For many, left handed Lin, now 31 years old, is the greatest badminton player ever.   He has won 2 Olympic golds (2008 & 2012); 5 World Championships; and 5 All England Championships.

Teams from Nepal and Lebanon led the Competitors Parade at the Closing ceremony of the 17th Asian Games on 4 October 2014.

South Korean girl band Sistar performed at the Closing Ceremony.

September 2014 events 

As you know, I like to do a summary of important/interesting news events which take place each month.   I am hoping that, in later years, I will be able to look back at these monthly summaries and they will help me to recall the key events which took place at that time in China and internationally.

Below is a brief summary of some of the highlights for September 2014.  

Usually I compile the summary at the beginning of the following month, but the September summary has been delayed.  Vera & I got back to the campus on 8 September, just in time for the start of the new academic year. Vera went to the Post Office to start a new subscription to the China Daily (my main source of news related to China) but they would only start the new subscription from 1 October.  I managed to scrounge copies of the China Daily sometimes, but it was intermittent. 

Of course I had to focus on my new classes, and preparing lesson plans.  Then towards the end of September we moved to our new apartment. So ‘news’ took a back seat for much of the month.  Nevertheless, I want to include at least a list of some of the main events, so here goes.

Events which made the news in China in September 2014.

Note: these news items were sourced from The China Daily newspaper in September 2014.  Actual events usually occurred a day or two before the date shown.  Currency is US$, and the exchange rate I used for September 2014 is US$1 = Yuan 6.13.

(a)   International

2 Sept	Pakistan: Protests against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, led by Imran Khan.   Army retakes Govt TV station in Islamabad from protesters.
3 Sept	Editorial about the ‘close encounter’ on 19 August between a US Navy reconnaissance plane and a Chinese  jet fighter,  220 km from the coast of Hainan. The American military protested that it was just a ‘normal mission’.  Can you imagine the reaction if Chinese military planes flew that close to the USA?
	Ebola outbreak in West Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
	EU considering additional economic sanctions against Russia, but divided views.
	World Economic Forum published its ranking of ‘global competitiveness’ based  on 12 criteria including macroeconomic environment, infrastructure, labour market efficiency, financial markets, technology, etc. Top ten countries, in descending order: Switzerland; Singapore; USA; Finland; Germany; Japan; Hong Kong; Netherlands; United Kingdom; Sweden.  China was ranked #28.
4 Sept	Second beheading of an American by Islamic State (IS). First James Foley, now Steven Sotloff.  Growing pressure on President Obama to act.  A few days later he authorised bombing of IS targets, initially in Iraq, later added Syria.
5 Sept	Boeing estimates world demand for new aircraft over the next 20 years will be 36,000 units (China 17% of total, valued at $870 billion).
9 Sept	First visit to China by Susan Rice, Obama’s principal National Security advisor.
	US Tennis Open: Serena Williams won the Womens Singles (her 18th Grand Slam – Margaret Court holds the record of 24); Marin Cilic beat Kei Nishikori to win his first Grand Slam.
10 Sept	British Consul General in Shanghai married his same-sex partner.
11 Sept	Apple launch of iPhone6 & 6+, and new iPad and Apple Watch (but won’t be available China mainland for another month). 10 million units sold first weekend.  Looks as if Apple’s revenue this year will top 2013’s $171 billion.
12 Sept	South African Oscar Pistorius (‘Blade Runner’) found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
15 Sept	Children in Gaza return to school, after devastating 50-day conflict with Israel in which 2,100 Palestinians were killed, 10,000 injured, and 100,000 made homeless.
	Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced 600 army and airforce personnel will join fight against Islamic State jihadists.  France extends combat area against IS following beheading of Herve Gourdel.
25 Sept	Indian ‘Orbiter spacecraft’ reached Mars.
30 Sept	‘Occupy Central’ protests start in Hong Kong.  Much media coverage overseas, but little in China itself.
	10th China-Japan Forum concludes with call for greater understanding.  Recent surveys show that nearly 90% of Chinese don’t like or trust Japanese, and vice versa.
	United Nations meeting on Climate Change (part of UNGA in New York)

(b)   Domestic, in China

2 Sept	Price of residential real estate fell for the 4th consecutive month.  Still, prices in August 2014 were, on average, 3.2% higher than a year earlier.
3 Sept	Beijing International Airport handles an average of 88 flights per hour.
	70% of the e-cigarettes in the world are made in China.  Some local groups are calling for the same restrictions on e-cigarettes sold here.
	The Politburo of the CPC announced reductions in salaries and allowances paid to executives in Sate Owned Enterprises (SOEs).  There are 113 ‘Central SOEs’ (‘the backbone of the economy’) and thousands of others.  Average executive salary in 2011 was $110,000 (plus allowances). The SOEs are often in monopoly situations, and become inefficient and sometimes corrupt.
5 Sept	The Ministry of Education proposed changes to the National College Entrance Exam (Gao Kao). In future only Chinese, English and Math will be tested in the Gao Kao, with other subjects (eg history, physics) results based on whole year’s work.
8 Sept	Sale of moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival (last weekend) dropped dramatically this year, blamed on the Government’s anti-extravagance campaign.
10 Sept	Popular gold-medallist hurdler Liu Xiang married actress Ge Tian.
11 Sept	China’s suicide rate has fallen from 23 per 100,000 population in 1995 to 9 per 100,000 in 2014.
	In 2013 Beijing’s subways carried 3.2 billion passengers, and buses carried 4.6 billion.
	The Chinese government announced that commencing 1 April 2015 all programs on video websites will face the same regulations as TV channels.  They must get prior approval for all programs; and programs which glamorise or promote violence, sex, gambling, and superstition will be banned. Foreign shows should not exceed 30% content. The 4 most popular American programs on video websites at present are: The Strain 67 million viewers; Two broke girls 55m; The last ship 44m; House of cards 41m; Masters of sex 35m.
12 Sept	Two foreign car companies were fined for price-fixing: Audi $40m; Chrysler $32m.
13 Sept	On 1 March 2014 a gang of 8 terrorists from Xinjiang killed 31 people at the Kunming Railway Station. Four were shot by police at the scene, three (Iskander Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz & Hasany Mohamad) have now received the death penalty, and a pregnant woman (Patigul Tohti) was sentenced to life imprisonment.
15 Sept	Police are investigating websites which promote foreign brides (mainly from Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia).  Seen as virtual human trafficking.  Problem is that there are about 117 boys born for every 100 girls in China, and a shortage of potential brides has developed for young men.
	The 27th anniversary of the first email sent from China (to Germany). Now China has an estimated 632 million internet users.  Hard to imagine life without email!
	Crack-down on public service “ghost employees” (people who are paid, but don’t work). Estimated 100,000 nation-wide (55,000 in Hebei Province, 28,000 in Sichuan, 15,000 in Henan, etc).
26 Sept	Bank of China forecasts 7.4% GDP growth in 2014 (down from 7.5%).
30 Sept	China’s international trade in the first 8 months of 2014: exports $1.48 trillion; imports $1.28 trillion.
	After a 14 year absence, Microsoft released the Xbox One which is produced in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.  Cost of base model $600 (ten games included).  Sony Playstation is expected to follow soon.
	Government licensed 5 new private banks: Jincheng Bank; Minshang Bank; WeBank; Shanghai Huarui Bank; and MYbank (principal shareholders in MYbank are the Alibaba Group 30% and Fushun Group 25%).

Well, that's it for this post.

Next week I hope to do a post on my teaching schedule, and a summary of my students.

Best wishes, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Monday 20 October 2014