28 June 2015

Gentlefolk

This post comprises photos of my various classes this semester (March - July 2015).

English News, 7 - 9pm Monday night

My English News class had 60 students. We divided the class to take two photos (this one, and below). This was an 'elective class' so it had students from many different majors and years (Freshmen through to Seniors).

The other half of the English News class. During the semester every student had to make a presentation using powerpoint on a recent News article. They did remarkably well. I still find it amazing that all students must learn a second language (English) at school and then later at College - so different from Australia.

Western Culture classes, 4 - 6pm Mondays and Tuesdays, 7 - 9pm Fridays

Double Major 1302 (Tuesday afternoons).  Double-major students have a very busy schedule and less than half the class usually turned up to my lectures. They are smart kids and it was a pleasure to teach them. From left: Rita, Albert; Roger; Ada; Logan; Doana; Bill.

Double major class 1301 (Monday afternoons). 

Half of Double Major 1303 + 1304 (Friday nights). It's a large class so we took two photos (this one and below).  Some very bright kids in this class, especially the boys at either end of the back row (Francis Chen Zhi Peng and Sunny Sun Pei Li), and the girl on my left (Connie Song Bo).

The other half of Double major 1303 + 1304 (Friday nights).

Oral English, 10 - 12 noon Thursdays

Half of my Oral English class on Thursday mornings.  There were a total of 50 students in the class, so I took two photos (this one, and below). They were Graduate students in the first year of their three year Master's courses. Their  majors included Oil & Gas Drilling, Physics, and Optical Engineering.  Masters courses are 3 years for Engineering majors and 2 years for Arts and Business majors.

The other half of the Oral English Graduate students doing Oral English. Their majors were Mathematics and Statistics.  I found it remarkable that all Masters students must reach a certain level of English before they can move on the the second year of their course. 

Marketplace

At the end of the academic year, in late June, graduating students (about 4,000) sell their text books and excess belongings.  The campus is turned into a giant market-place.

Some of these graduating students were in my classes.  I wish I could remember all their names, but it's just impossible with over 200 students in my classes each semester. 

Andy was in Double Major 0801 and I taught him Western Culture in 2010.  Seems ages ago now.  Andy has just completed his Masters degree (mechanical engineering) and has found a job with a research institute in Beijing. I've only seen Andy 3 or 4 times in the last 4 years - strange, as the campus is not that big (25,000) but it's true that one rarely sees former students.

Group photos

The campus has been full of students taking graduation photos with their classmates. Important time for them - the end of 4 years of living and studying together. I was on my way to teach one afternoon when I saw these three former students taking photos and they asked me to join in. Two have jobs lined up, and the third will go to England for further study. 

Farewell concert

Graduating students put on a concert.  This group were from English Major class 1201 whom I taught in 2011.

Two of the students in EM1201, Emily and Jason, putting on a skit. Jason will do further study in Macao.

...

That's it for this post.  Good memories of my classes this semester.

I have the Western Culture exam tonight, so coming days will be busy with grading.

Then next Thursday my Oral English students will have their exam, and that will be it for this semester; and for another academic year.

Teaching is relatively easy, and the students are lovely - keen to learn and respectful - which makes teaching an enjoyable and rewarding experience.

I might do a post on the exams - time permitting.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 28 June 2015

28 June 2015

Gentlefolk,

The end of the semester always seems to come with a rush.  I had the English News exam last Monday night, and finished marking those papers on Thursday.  Tonight (Sunday) is the Western Culture exam, and then marking of course.  The Oral English exam will be next Thursday, so in a week it should all be 'done & dusted'.

This post consists of recent photos.  I hope to do a separate post (tomorrow, internet gods willing) which will show just contain photos of my classes this semester.

It sure has been an eventful time:

Cruise ship Eastern Star  capsized on the Yangtze River with the loss of 442 lives.
Likeable rogue, Alan Bond, passed away. What a charlatan he turned out to be.
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA championships, first in 40 years.
The Brumbies were beaten in the semi-finals of Rugby Super 15 by the Hurricanes.
NSW beat Queensland in the second game of the State of Origin series. One all now.
The traumatic Rudd / Gillard relationship was revealed in The Killing Season.

Here are some photos of our recent comings and goings:

Hot pot dinner with friends. From left: Raymond; Michael; Amy; Steven; Paul; Vera

Tow of Vera's private students show her how they can touch their belly-buttons from behind!

Sixteen teams representing different Colleges participated in the University's annual choir contest. Chemical Engineering was the winner, and Arts came second.

Another of  the College teams competing in the annual choir contest.  About 100 in each team, so almost half of the entire teaching staff participated.  Everyone dressed up - they took it very seriously, Most impressive.

Lunch with Fu Xiao.  She was my first 'liaison teacher', in Dongying. and we have kept in touch.  Baby due in December. 

A view of the huge new "Mix-C" mall next to the Shangrila Hotel in Qingdao City.

Inside the new mall.  Modern and vast.

The Food Hall on the 5th floor of the new mall. It was busy, but the shops were quiet.

"Grandma's Kitchen" the most popular restaurant in the new mall - minimum wait for a table is 1.5 hours.

The mall  has a large ice skating rink on the 4th floor - look down from the Food Hall while eating.  Busier at night and on weekends.

Farewell lunch with two of our friends: Paul (left) has been a fellow teacher for 3 years and will now return to the USA at the end of this semester. Oliver is a graduating English major student. He will spend the summer in the US on a 'work & travel' program.  When he returns in September Oliver will start a Master's course at the Foreign Affairs University in Beijing.

The weather has been warming up (maximum temperatures have been pleasant around 26 - 30C), which means visits to Golden Beach about 40 minutes by bus from our campus. It is a lovely beach, almost 2 km long.   The central area get very crowded, but it is not too bad further away.

Some people were in the water, although it is still on the cool side (about 19C).  Next month will be more comfortable for swimming. The beach is safe, shallow and normally with small waves (too small to even body-surf).

Vera has had a bike for about a year, and really enjoys riding around the campus and along the esplanade.

Last weekend one of our student friends, Charles (Yu Zhi Chao) invited us to visit his grand-uncle's apricot orchard on the outskirts of Qingdao City.  Next month Charles will move to Wollongong University near Sydney.

We had a delicious lunch with Charles' family in the village restaurant. From left: his aunt (mother's sister), Charles' father (ex-Navy officer, now working for the Qingdao City Government); Charles' grand-uncle (the farmer) and his wife. 

Summer is the time to eat outside. BBQ dinner in the grounds of the Blue Horizon Hotel. From left: Paul Finkbeiner (PA); Vera; Steven McCune (Texas); Alex; Michael Christensen (Michigan).  Barbequed chicken, pork and mutton washed down with draft Tsingtao beer - doesn't get much better than that!

...

Well, that's it for this post folks.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 28 June 2015

8 June 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post discusses the relevance of World Expos.  All money is US dollars.

2015 Milan World Expo

The 2015 World Expo opened in Milan, Italy on 1 May 2015 and will run until 31 October 2015.

I was delighted to learn that Australia is NOT a participant in the Milan Expo. I congratulate the Abbott Government for making a hard, but necessary, decision.

My impression is that the costs far out-weigh the benefits.  I read that Australia’s participation in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo cost a staggering $65 million. Allegedly the final DFAT report described a great success: it attracted millions of visitors (as did every other prominent Pavilion) and generated media coverage worth an estimated $10 million. Only a government department could define success in that way!

Some institutions, like World Expos and Commonwealth Games, have reached their use-by dates.  They are no longer relevant, and it’s time to move on.

What do World Expos achieve? 

What is the point of a World Expo?  What does it achieve?  I can see relevance 100 years ago, but how relevant is it in today’s globalised and digital world, where information is just a click away?

The first World Expo was held in London in 1851.  It was open four-and-a-half months and attracted 6 million visitors – almost 30% of the population of Great Britain attended!  Britain was the world’s leading industrial power, and ruled a vast Empire.  The Expo was a celebration of “Best of British” with over 13,000 products on display.

Subsequent World Expos (called ‘World Fairs’ in the USA) included: Philadelphia 1876; Paris 1889 and 1900; Chicago 1933; Brussels 1958; Osaka 1970; Seville 1992; and Hanover 2000 to list a few.

I must admit that I didn’t even know a World Expo was held in 2000.  Everyone in Australia was focused on the Sydney Olympics that year.  Perhaps Hanover, too, wishes it hadn’t taken place – few people attended and it recorded losses totalling $600 million.  Ouch!

Here are three good Trivial Pursuit questions: 

• Where and when was the last World Expo held in the USA?  Answer: New Orleans, 1984. 
• Has Australia ever hosted a World Expo?  Answer: Melbourne, 1880.  (Brisbane in 1988 was a smaller ‘International Exposition’, not a World Expo). 
• Where and when were the two most recent World Expos?  Answer: Aichi 2005 and Shanghai 2010. 

Where the hell is Aichi? 

Can you see why I am questioning the worth of World Expos?

Each Expo has a fancy-sounding theme; in Shanghai it was “Better City, Better Life” while in Milan it is “Feeding the planet; energy for life”. 

Once upon a time the Expos featured the latest and best inventions from around the world but these days most National Pavilions just feature films and videos extolling the virtues of their country. Many of the national organising bodies are tourism-related and their main interest is to generate in-bound tourism. 

Why don’t they stop the charade and just call it the World Tourism Expo? 

But how many countries would then spend millions of dollars on what is basically a tourism promotion?  And one that runs for a mind-numbing 6 months.  I worked on many international trade promotions – they normally last no more than a very intense 3 or 4 days -   I can’t imagine what it would be like to work on a promotion which went 6 months!

This seems to be a classical case of a self-perpetuating bureaucracy. 

BIE

The Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) regulates World Expos, a bit like the IOC runs the Olympics.  I had a look at the BIE website (www.bie-paris.org).  The organisation is based in Paris; it was established by the 1928 ‘Convention of Paris’ at which countries agreed to regulate international fairs and expositions. 

I was hoping to find Annual Reports on the BIE website to get more details about the organisation, such as number of employees, and income & expenditure.  But none are available – why publish an Annual Report if you are not accountable to anyone, right?  

The website is big on generalities and small on specifics. The BIE has 168 member countries, and its revenue comes from two sources - member contributions and a cut of ‘gate takings’ at Expos. The BIE has 4 Supervisory Committees:  Executive; Rules; Admin & Budget; and Information & Communications. 

The following countries comprise the current Admin & Budget Committee: Antigua (Presidency); Argentina; China; Finland; Philippines; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Thailand; Togo. 

Not sure I’d trust my money with that lot, would you?

The BIE is the world’s best-kept secret – in my next life I want to be the Secretary General of the BIE!

The USA isn’t a member of the BIE.  In 1999 Congress prohibited the use of public funds for the BIE and Expos.  In 2001, after two years of arrears, the BIE reluctantly took the USA off their membership list. 

The BIE probably feared that other countries would follow the US lead, but that didn’t happen.  Ah, public servants the world over love their business trips to Paris.  Hard to wean them off that delicious teat!

Except for Canada.  In October 2012 the Canadian Government resigned from the BIE citing budgetary pressures at home.  The annual membership fee looks small, but with all the add-ons and public servants, Canada said it was costing about $9 million a year.  For what?

I hope Australia takes the next logical step and also resigns from the BIE.

Despite having resigned from the BIE the USA still participates in Expos, but on a strictly commercial basis. The website of the US Pavilion at Milan shows the organiser as “Friends of the US Pavilion” comprising the James Beard Foundation, the International Culinary Center, and AmCham Italy.  48 ‘partners’ are listed and several official suppliers. The Pavilion is under the auspices of the US Department of State (wonder what that means?).

The Milan Expo is much smaller than the Shanghai Expo was in 2010: Milan covers an area of just over one square km (about 20% of the area in Shanghai) with 145 countries represented.  The organisers hope to attract 20 million visitors over the 6 months (a one-day adult ticket costs 39 euro). 

Australia and Canada are two major countries NOT participating at Milan.  Is this the first chink in the armour? The next World Expo will be held in Dubai in 2020 – will be interesting to see how many countries participate there.

Personally, I think that an organisation such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) should take over the task of organising Australian participation in future Expos, and they should be done on a commercial basis. 

Here are images of some of the Country Pavilions at the Milan Expo:

The impressive Chinese Pavilion has a theme of sustainable agriculture. It is the second largest pavilion (after Germany).

The UK's Pavilion celebrates the contribution bees make to the environment; the Pavilion invokes images of the inside of a beehive.

The Brazilian Pavilion theme is "Spaces connecting people".

The Austrian Pavilion theme is 'Breath fresh' and incorporates a small forest.

The Vietnam Pavilion theme is "water and lotus", featuring giant bamboo lotus.

The USA Pavilion theme is 'Food from America' and features a vertical garden. Inside, the Pavilion is basically a series of restaurants and snack bars selling American food and beverages.

Architects love the BIE and Expos!

...

That's all for this post.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Monday 8 June 2015.

7 June 2015

Gentlefolk,

A post of ‘odds and sods’ today.

New contract

Last week I signed a contract for the 2015-16 academic year (September 2015 – July 2016).  We thought we’d finish up this year under the “5 Year Rule”, but the University was able to arrange an extension and offered us an additional year. 

“Oh no”, we hear you groan, “not another year of Alex’s blog posts.”  Yes, I’m afraid so. Will it really end next year?  I think so.  I’ll turn 70 in August 2016, so that will be a good time to quit.

The new contract is the same as the previous one: $320 per month, plus $8 per teaching hour, plus $1,300 for airfares, plus free accommodation.  There is a rumour that we might get a pay increase in coming months, but I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, we’re here for the experience, and the money is a bonus.

We still enjoy the lifestyle: living in China is interesting and teaching is fun and relatively easy. We are looking forward to another year here, and the time will pass quickly.

Our colleagues Steven, Michael and Gautier have signed up again, but Paul (27) is returning to the US.  He’s been here 4 years, and it’s time for him to start planning for his future. We’ll miss him.

Accident

I was involved in an accident 2 weeks ago.

On Saturday morning I was riding my bike on one of the access roads into Tang Dao Wan Bay. I saw a man cross the street about 30 meters in front; suddenly his 3 or 4 year old son let go his mother’s hand and darted across to join his father - right into my path.  I braked and tried to swerve, but couldn’t avoid him and we both fell down. 

The boy’s parents rushed over, very concerned for him of course.  He was crying (from shock) while they checked his body to see if he was hurt.  Luckily he was not injured.

I suffered scraped knees and knuckles, but nothing too serious.  After making sure the boy was OK, I gingerly cycled home. 

I’ve been cycling here for 3 years and this was my first real, albeit minor, accident.  Accidents here can get complicated: for example, a month ago a Canadian woman attended an international conference in Beijing. On the weekend she visited the Great Wall, bumped into a 70-year-old lady who hit her head while falling, and died.  The police acknowledged it was an accident, but they confiscated the Canadian’s passport until she reached agreement with the lady’s family regarding compensation (it cost her $100,000). 

Laxmisha Rai, an Indian teacher at a nearby university told me that he was riding his bike one day when an old woman in front of him fell off her bike. He stopped to help her, and she accused him of causing her fall. He was sure that he had not touched her bike, so he left.  But the following day she turned up at the university and complained to the security staff.   Rai, was adamant that he had not caused the fall and refused to give her any money, but it caused a lot of ill-feeling as the university sided with the woman.  A nasty experience.

I was lucky nothing serious happened in my case. But I’ve decided not to ride along the bayside esplanade on weekends – the warmer weather is bringing out the crowds and it is not worth the risk of another accident. The esplanade is lovely, but in future I'll only ride there on week-days.

Gym

I mentioned that Vera & I had joined a local gym.  Basic equipment, but adequate for our needs.  We were going 3 or 4 times a week, and starting to feel fitter.  

Suddenly, 3 weeks ago, the power went off.  Management said it was a temporary problem (I suspect they hadn’t paid their electricity bill).

Yesterday we called and were told that the power will be off for another 3 weeks.  Exams are coming and then marking so I doubt we’ll get back to the gym this semester.  Most annoying.

Exams

For the last three weeks I’ve been pre-occupied with compiling the exam papers for English News and Western Culture.

We always have to prepare an A paper and a B paper for each exam – if there is a leak, the other paper can quickly be substituted.

It’s the first time I have had the English News class, so deciding on the format of the exam paper took some time.  In the end I decided on an exam which comprises seven one-page news articles. Students will have to do a Summary of each article (based on the 5W model we discussed in class), and also answer three or four questions on each article.

The exam is 2 hours, so students will have about 17 minutes per article.  A fairly tough assignment, given that English is not their first language.  But we discussed each of the seven articles during the semester, so they have a head-start (at least, those who were awake!).

For Western Culture this semester we studied the United Kingdom and Australia.  In the past I’d focussed on the USA, so this was new territory for me.  Even though I used the US format -  True/false; Multiple choice; Fill-in-the-blank; and 3 written essays - the questions were all new as they had to relate to the UK and Australia.

The News exam will be held on 7 – 9pm Monday 22 June.  That day is actually the Duan Wu (Dragon boat) national holiday.  I gave the students a number of options, but they picked that day.  They will be studying for final exams anyway, and are keen to get this exam over with early so they can concentrate on their other subjects.  

Can you imagine holding an exam on a public holiday in Australia? Couldn’t happen.

The Western Culture exam will be held 7 – 9pm on Sunday 28 June (yes, Sunday night).

My Graduate class will have their Oral English exam on Thursday 2 July, and that will be my last exam. The official end of this semester is 4 July. Many students will then do a “short semester” for 3 weeks, finishing on 25 July.  A ‘short semester’ was introduced about three years ago – apparently the authorities felt the summer break was too long - I don’t know if other Chinese universities follow the same system?

The University summer holidays will be 26 July to 5 September.

Upcoming travel

As usual, we’ll head “Down Under” for the holidays, to catch up with family and friends.

Plan to spend a week in Shanghai (haven’t been there for some years), then see Caroline & Andrew (& Little Eddie) in Hong Kong, before flying to Brisbane to see the Roberts family. 

We’ll drive to Canberra, but will only have 10 days in the National Capital before re-tracing our steps.  We’ll be back in Qingdao on 3 September for the start of the new semester.

We're looking forward to the break, although the temperatures in Canberra are a bit daunting!

...

Here are some recent photos:

Scraped knees and knuckles from the bike accident. I came off lightly. Surprising how long knees take to heal.

The impressive new 30 floor Engineering Building, next to our residential building. 

Another view of the new Engineering Building.

The underground car-park of the new Engineering Building is called an "Air Defense Basement". Our building's basement has the same designation.  There is no apparent aggressor, but good to be prepared ...

The view of Tang Dao Wan Bay from our apartment. Notice the shadow cast by the new Engineering Building next door. The big white building in the distance is the Wyndham Grand Hotel. The accident when I ran into the young boy took place near that hotel.

On 27 May we met Ewan Proctor, an impressive young man, at the Shangrila Hotel in Qingdao City.  Ewan is a good friend of Andrew's, from Canberra school days, and is now the Penfold Wines representative in China.  He was part of a 250-person delegation from South Australia to mark the 30th anniversary of the SA - Shandong Sister State relationship. In 1985 I was working in the Australian Embassy in Beijing, and remember the inaugural meeting (that's dating me, isn't it!).

The weather has been good the last few weeks, so I often ride with my colleague Paul Finkbeiner.  Paul will return to the US at the end of this semester. Vera and I have gotten to know him well - a lovely guy - we'll miss his company.

We had dinner in the Teacher's Dining Room with Fan Jian Yi (Tony). He majored in International Trade and will graduate this semester.  I taught his class Oral English 2 years ago and we kept in touch.  He has found a job with a large shipping company in Shanghai, and will start work in July.  Smart and personable, he'll do well.

...

Well, that's it for this post.

Until next time, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 7 June 2015

3 June 2015

Gentlefolk

As you know, I compile a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news in/on China.  

There is so much competition within Western media outlets that usually only the unusual, sensational, or bizarre gets a mention. Hopefully this summary will give you a better idea of some of the things happening in China.

The events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things which caught my eye.

These news items were sourced from the China Daily newspaper 1 – 30 May 2015. 

Actual events usually occurred a day or two before they appeared in the China Daily newspaper. 

Currency shown is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.2.

Remember: the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government look good.  But if you strip away the propaganda, there is still quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. 

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the information, but the Chinese keep a myriad of statistics and most of them are probably accurate.

Events which made the news in China in May 2015

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 May	Beijing’s Palace Museum (aka Forbidden City) announced plans to build a satellite museum at Xi Yu He, about 30 km from the Forbidden City. Total area 620,000 sq metres (including 125,000 indoor).
	Beijing is home to 91 universities with enrolled students totalling 814,300.  A recent survey found that Beijing students have an average monthly expenditure of $220; they spend an average of 2 hours per day online.
	China National Tourism Administration has launched a 3-year “Toilet Revolution” during which 33,000 new toilets will be constructed at major tourist sites, and 24,000 existing toilets will be renovated.
	China’s steel exports in the first quarter of 2015 totalled 26 million tonnes, and increase of 41% over Q1 2014.
	Govt announced the overseas origins of malware/computer attacks in 2014: 22% USA: 19% Hong Kong; 8% South Korea; 4% Japan; 3% India.
2 May	183 exhibitors from 40 countries participated in the Shanghai Aviation Expo.  In 2014 China bought 35 business jets, well down from 55 in 2011.
	The Beijing Ducks won the China Basketball Association championship final on 22 March.  The television audience was 190 million. American Stephon Marbury, 38, was MVP.  He has 3.7 million followers on Sina Weibo (China’s Twitter).  A stamp has been issued in his honour.
4 May	Forbes magazine estimated that at the end of 2014 there were 13.9 million “mass affluent” Chinese (with more than $100,000 to invest).
	The Communist Party of China (CPC) banned official meetings by Party or Govt agencies from being held in 21 top tourist areas.
5 May	Opening of ‘totally robot’ factory in Dongguan, Guangdong.  In 2014 Chinese companies bought 57,000 industrial robots, about 25% of world demand; next biggest buyer was South Korea, followed by Japan; USA; Germany.
	19 senior managers of State Owned Enterprises (SoEs) being investigated for corruption.  New leadership at CNPC (Wang Yi Lin) and Sinopec (Wang Yu Pu).
	A 57 storey building was erected in 19 days in Changsha; pre-fabricated steel structure; 1,200 workers worked 24/7; includes 800 residential apartments and offices for 4,000 staff.
6 May	The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4%, biggest daily fall in 3 months.  The SCI is back down to 4298.
7 May	Premier Li Ke Qiang is determined to cut red tape.  He cited a recent case were a person applying for a govt permit was told “prove your mother is really your mother”. 98% of netizens said they had experienced similar absurd requests.
9 May	Taxes on cigarettes have increased from 5% to 11% which will raise retail prices by about 10%.  Last year govt revenue from cigarette taxes was about $150 billion.
	Premier Li Ke Qiang visited Beijing’s Zhongguancun District (aka China’s Silicon Valley) to promote local entrepreneurship.  The District averages 49 start-ups per day.
	Ex-NBA player Yao Ming (now owner of the Shanghai Sharks team) raised $3 million through “crowd funding” to expand his winery in California’s Napa Valley.
11 May	The Central Bank cut interest rates again.  The benchmark one-year lending rate is now 5.1%; the benchmark deposit rate is 2.25%.
	A Tianjin-based health products company celebrated its 20th anniversary by taking 6,400 staff to France for a week.
	A replica of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) covering 400 hectares was opened at Hengdi Movieworld at Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. Cost $4.8 billion. The company is forecasting 10 million visitors a year (adult entry ticket $45). The original Palace was destroyed by British & French soldiers in 1860 during the 2nd Opium War.
	In 2014 Beijing International Airport handled 582,000 flights (86 m passengers); 96 airlines fly to 133 destinations in China and 111 overseas.   A second airport is under construction in Daxing.  It will open in 2019 with a capacity of 72 million passengers a year.
12 May	The demand for smartphones appears to be stabilising.  In Q1 2015 99 million units were shipped, down from 103 million in Q1 2014.  Most popular in Q1 2015: Apple 15%; Xiaomi 14%; Huawei 11%; Samsung 10%.
	Retail price of 90-octane gasoline has risen slightly to $1.05 a liter.
13 May	Jackie Chan’s 2nd autobiography was released on his 61st birthday.  He is also Dean of the new Jackie Chan Film & TV Academy, part of the Wuhan Institute of Design and Sciences.
	The 21st annual nation-wide English language competition for college students “21st Century Coca Cola Cup” was launched.
	Release of a 94 minute documentary “Mr Deng goes to Washington” about first official visit to USA by Deng Xiao Ping for 9 days in January/February 1979.
15 May	Four new penthouses for sale in Beijing; asking price of $80 million each.
20 May	Ministry of Industry launched “Made in China 2025” project. Emphasis on cultivation of innovation and high-tech industries.
	Disney opened first store in China, in Shanghai’s Pudong area not far from where the Disney theme park will open next April. The store has an indoor area of 860 sq m, as well as a huge outdoor area; it carries 2,000 products for sale.
21 May	Tough new anti-smoking restrictions will commence in Beijing on 1 June.  About 24% of adults (43% of males, 2% of females) in Beijing smoke, down 4% on the figure in 2008.
	A survey found a definite gender bias in hiring graduates: males applicants got job interviews almost 50% more often than female applicants.
	In 2014 there were 274 million migrant workers in China (compared to 242 m in 2010); 67% male; 80% finished school at 16; average earnings $410 per month.
	In 2014 China had 300 gigawatts of hydropower capacity (15% of total energy); target is 420 gigawatts of hydropower by 2020.
	China’s cinema box-office takings in 2014 totalled $4.8 billion.
	An authorised online car-hailing service will commence in Shanghai on 1 June; joint venture between SH govt + taxi corporation + Didi Dache (which runs the Didi and Kuaidi apps).
22 May	Infamous celebrity Guo Mei Mei, 23, was finally charged with running an illegal gambling establishment (she was detained in August 2014).
	Yu Mu Chun, 20 (Ferrari) and Tang Wan Tian 21 (Lamborghini) were each given 4 month jail sentences and fined $1,500 for dangerous driving following their high-speed crash in a Beijing road tunnel last month.
	A website has exposed 210 (mostly located in Beijing) unauthorised ‘institutes’ awarding dubious degrees. China has 2,845 authorised institutions of higher learning, including 447 private colleges and 292 institutes of lifelong learning.
27 May	The Defense Ministry issued its first-ever White Paper “China’s Military Strategy”. It confirmed a policy of “active defense”, with focus on building naval capability.
	The govt announced plans to build lighthouses on two reefs in the South China Sea: Hua Yang Reef and Chi Gua Reef.
	38 died and 6 were injured when a fire swept through a retirement home in Pingdingshan, Henan.
	600 ‘members’ signed up on the first day when a “morality bank” opened in Yanji, Jilin Province. Members get ‘credits’ for good deeds; for example, picking up trash will get you 10 points, while donating blood gets you 200 points.  Points can then be exchanged for services such as a haircut (150 points); having your home cleaned (500 points); or a full health check (1,200 points).
29 May	“No one tells us what to do!” big headlines in the China Daily in response to criticism by the USA of building on disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea.
	The stock market has been up and down like a yo-yo this month. Yesterday the Shanghai Composite Index lost 6.5%, to finish at 4630; but then bounced back to flirt with long-anticipated 5,000.
	Student Kang Xia is leaving soon to start a Masters at Columbia University and advertised his collection of 1,741 books on WeChat (3 for $10; 7 for $16, randomly selected).  He was overwhelmed when buyers deposited $110,000 in his PayPal account within 24 hours! Most will have to be refunded.
	A survey by the Chinese Doctor’s Association found that 70% had suffered verbal or physical abuse from patients; 13% had injuries which needed treatment.
	3% of the 274,400 Chinese students who were studying in the USA in 2014 were expelled from US schools and colleges; main reasons: poor grades, followed by cheating & plagiarism.
	Police in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces seized 1.1 tonnes of ‘ice’ when they busted several big methamphetamine labs.
30 May	A South Korean businessman visiting Guangdong Province was diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Contacts in quarantine.
	The Municipal Govt of Beijing is considering the introduction of tougher parking regulations.  Beijing has 5.6 million cars but only about 3 million parking spaces. In future intending car buyers may be required to show proof of ownership of a parking space.

(b) International events

1 May	Prize money at this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships will total $41 million.  Both Mens and Womens singles champs will receive $3 m.
	Vietnam celebrated the 40th anniversary of ‘Liberation’.
	The World Expo opened in Milan.  140 countries participating. Germany has the largest pavilion, followed by China.
4 May	Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao for the Welterweight Crown by unanimous decision. They made over $100m each. Pacquiao was criticised afterwards for not disclosing a shoulder injury.
	40,000 shareholders (including 2,000 Chinese) attended Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway AGM in Omaha, Nebraska.
	A daughter, Charlotte, born to Prince William & Kate.
	Stephen (Steph) Curry, 27, of the Golden State Warriors named NBA Most Valuable Player for this season. He scored 286 3-pointers (broke his own previous record).  His 4 year contract is worth $44 million.
8 May	The Conservative Party won 331 seats in yesterday’s UK General Election; they will be able to govern in their own right. Parties fielded 11 candidates of Chinese origin; one, Alan Mak, was elected as Conservative MP for Havant.
9 May	The Forbes Global 2000 List contains 579 US-based companies and 232 Chinese companies.
11 May	President Xi Jin Ping was one of 20 world leaders (none from West!) to attend the 70th Anniversary celebrations in Moscow to mark the end of WW2. The China Daily said that the Soviet Union lost 27 million in WW2, and China 35 million.
	The World Health Organisation declared Liberia “ebola-free”. 4,700 died from ebola in Liberia.
	Thousands of boat people from Myanmar (Rohingyas) and Bangladesh try to enter Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
	A team from China beat South Korea to win the League of Legends Championships in Florida.
13 May	Much damage, many dead and injured, following earthquakes in Nepal (Tibet also affected).
	Former badminton World #1, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei, returns from drug-ban to participate in the Sudirman Cup.
15 May	Official visit to China by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
	Actor Johnny Depp ordered to remove his pet dogs from Australia because they did not go through the required quarantine procedure.
	A factory fire in the Philippines killed 72.
18 May	Premier Li Ke Qiang left for official visits to Ireland, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile.
19 May	People in Australia lost at least $66 million in Online dating scams in 2014; this was the most common type of financial fraud in Australia.
	9 dead, 18 injured in shoot-out between rival motorcycle gangs in Waco, Texas.
	Google’s “Cultural Institute” has virtual tours of 700 museums world-wide (including 15 from China). Photos and videos are gigapixel, so super clear.
	Barcelona won its 23rd La Liga Championship title when it beat Athletic Madrid Messi scored the winning goal). Real Madrid was runner-up (RM’s Ronaldo got 45 goals this season; he now has 30 career hat-tricks).
	Rory McIlroy set a tournament record in winning Wells Fargo Golf  in Charlotte in 267 strokes (21 under par, 5 better than the previous record). On one round he set a new course record of 61.
22 May	A USAF P8-A surveillance plane, carrying a CNN film crew, flew over the Yongshu Reef in the disputed Nansha Islands to observe construction.  When ordered by Chinese military to leave, the pilot responded “We are in international airspace.”
	Professor Zhang Hao of Tianjin University was detained when his flight landed in Los Angeles, on charges of industrial espionage. It is alleged that he was one of three Chinese PhD graduates who stole company secrets while working for US companies after graduating from American universities.
	The US Justice Department fined banks a total of almost $6 billion for colluding: including Barclays; Chase; Citicorp; JP Morgan; RBS.
23 May	The founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) met in Singapore to finalise the articles of association.
28 May	Seven FIFA officials were arrested in Zurich for extradition to the USA on corruption charges.
	The highest paid CEOs in the US are: David Zaslav (Discovery) $156 million a year; Leslie Moonves (CBS) $54m; Philippe Dauman (Viacom) $44m; Robert Iger (Disney) $44m; Marissa Mayer (Yahoo) $42m.
29 May	Golden State Warriors beat Houston Rockets 104 – 90 to advance to the finals of the NBA playoffs; they will play the Cleveland Cavaliers; first game 4 June.
30 May	The Premier of South Australia, Jay Weatherill, led a 250-person trade delegation on a visit to Shandong Province.  The visit marked the 30th anniversary of the SA-Shandong Sister State relationship (I worked at the Australian Embassy at the time).

This semester is rapidly drawing to a close. We anticipate leaving Qingdao on 8 July for points south (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Canberra).  We have signed up for the 2015-16 academic year (suckers!?), so will return to Qingdao in early September for the start of the new semester.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Wednesday 3 June 2015.