25 October 2014

Gentlefolk

In this post I outline my teaching schedule for this semester, and summarise my classes.  The second article refers to the recent passing of Gough Whitlam.

My teaching schedule, September 2014 to January 2015

My teaching load in October is 10 classes a week, although it will reduce to 7 classes a week in November and December.  My weekly my teaching schedule is:

Table 1: Alex’s teaching schedule September 2014 – January 2015

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8 – 9.50am				EM1303 Culture Room NJ303
10.10 – 12 noon		EM1301 Culture NT514
2 – 3.50pm			Drilling Co Oral English (October)		Drilling Co Oral English (October)
4.10 – 6pm	Drilling Co Oral English (October)	EM1302 + DM Culture NT118	NM199 Oral English Room NJ502		NM63 Culture Room NJ404
7 – 8.50pm	NM64 Oral English NT322	NM198 Culture Room NJ112

Notes:

EM = English Major (these students are studying English); DM = Double Major (these students are doing a double degree, for example their main major is Petroleum Engineering and their second major is English); NM = Non Major (these students are not studying English, they are taking this subject as an ‘elective’.)

NT = Nan Tang Teaching Building; NJ = Nan Jiao Teaching Building.

My teaching schedule is 7 classes per week, from Week 2 (week commencing 15 September 2014) to Week 18 (week commencing 5 January 2015); 5 classes of Western Culture and 2 classes of Oral English.  Additionally, in October I am teaching Oral English to a group of 30 from the Great Wall Drilling Company three times a week. 

Mondays and Tuesdays are a bit tight with only an hour for dinner between classes.  But overall I’m happy with my teaching schedule this semester.  Leaves plenty of time for other activities.

Alex’s classes, Sept 2014 – January 2015

Table 2: Class summaries, September 2014 – January 2015

Class	EM1301 + EM1303	EM1302 + DM	NM198	NM63	NM64	NM199
Subject	Culture	Culture	Culture	Culture	Oral	Oral
Number	33	52	60	61	31	30
Boys	25%	15%	57%	55%	50%	33%
Girls	75%	85%	43%	45%	50%	67%
Left handed	2	1	1	2	0	0
Can drive	0	6%	22%	20%	25%	10%
1 character	34%	39%	38%	33%	35%	30%
2 characters	66%	61%	62%	67%	65%	70%
Province
Shandong	48%	50%	27%	28%	24%	22%
Parent jobs
Farmers	21%	25%	26%	22%	20%	20%
Workers	30%	32%	25%	28%	14%	33%
Teachers	6%	7%	6%	5%	12%	9%
Govt	2%	4%	7%	13%	10%	13%
Business	12%	18%	15%	14%	22%	6%
Hobbies
Movies	2nd	1st	3rd	3rd	2nd	5th
Music	1st	2nd	4th	4th		3rd
Reading	3rd	3rd	1st	2nd	1st	1st
Computer	5th		5th	5th	5th	4th
Shopping					3rd
Singing	4th
Basketball		4th	2nd	1st	4th	2nd
Tennis
Jogging		5th

Notes:

(1) Students in “13” classes are Sophomores (i.e. in their 2^nd year of university; they started university in September 2013)

(2) I have combined English Major class EM1301 (Tuesday mornings) and EM1303 (Thursday mornings) in the table, to save a column.  EM1301 has 18 students and EM1303 has 15 students.

(3) EM1302 is combined in one class with Double Major classes DM1303 and DM1304. 

(4) My Liaison Teacher this semester is Zhang Qi (Carol).

Comments on Table 2

English Majors

English major students focus on learning English: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.  They will graduate with a BA (English).

Double Majors

These students are doing 2 majors (like a ‘Double Degree’ in Australia):  their ‘main major’ (such as Petroleum Engineering) and English is their ‘minor major’.  They have to be in the top quartile of their main majors before they are admitted into Double Major.  They are the busiest students on campus, with over 40 hours of lectures a week.

In my experience there are usually more girls than boys in the Double Major classes, and this trend continues this semester as verified by the numbers in Table 2.  A Double Major is a big burden to take on, but having good English may help girls when competing for a job.

 

Non Majors

These students come from a variety of Majors, but not English.  All students can apply to do one or two “optional / elective” classes each semester. 

  

About 150 students applied to do each of my Culture classes, and 60 were successful.

Most of the Non Major students in my classes are Juniors (in 3^rd Year), with some Sophomores (2^nd Year).  Occasionally some Seniors (4^th Year) are also in the class, although they are usually preoccupied with finding a job.

Duration of classes

Each class comprises 2 x 50 minute lessons.  The Culture and Oral courses run for 16 weeks (i.e. final exams will be held in the second week of January 2015).

Handedness

My previous research suggests that 4% to 5% of Chinese students are left-handed, compared to 9% to 10% of the population in the USA.  As shown in Table 2, this semester only six of my 267 students are left-handed (about 2%).

Drivers licence

This is a sort of economic indicator .  I’ve noticed in the last 4 years a significant increase in the number of students who have drivers licences, which is a reflection of the rapid economic development of China (either their parents or a close relative now owns a car) .  Four years ago less than 5% could drive - now many more 

Table 2 shows that a much higher proportion of students in my Non Major classes have drivers licences than in the English Major classes.  One reason could be the slightly older age of students in the Non Major classes (Juniors rather than Sophomores).

Given names

Overall, about 40% of Chinese have given names comprising one character and 60% have two characters.  Table 2 shows that my students this semester are pretty much in line with the national average.

Home Province

I am interested to know which part of China my students come from.  The China University of Petroleum is located in Qingdao in Shandong Province and the greatest number come from this Province.  But I am intrigued that my English Major classes (50%) have about twice the proportion of students from Shandong compared to the Non Major classes (about 25%).  Wonder why?

Shandong Province is about the same area as the State of Florida in the US or about 70% the size of the State of Victoria in Australia.  The 2010 census showed Shandong had a population of 96 million (the second largest Province in China by population, after Guangdong).

Parents jobs

This statistic can be a guide to the socio-economic background of the students, particularly how many students come from “the countryside”.  But it must be taken as an indication only, because these days so many farmers have jobs as “workers”.

I am now in my 5^th year of teaching in China, and the decline in the proportion of students who say their parents are ‘farmers’ is noticeable.  Five years ago around 40% of my students said their parents were “farmers” – compared to about 24% in my classes this semester.

Of course that reflects the movement of people from villages in "the countryside" to towns and cities.  Forty years ago the urban population of China was about 20%; it is now 52% and continuing to grow.

Another point to note is that in China the descriptor “workers” is often used in a very general way, covering blue collar and white collar jobs.  So this statistic needs to be viewed with care.

Hobbies

This provides an idea of what the students like to do in their spare time.  But, again, it is an indication only as hobbies can vary greatly with time and place.  For example, many students indicated that ‘reading’ is their main hobby.  But when I quizzed them it often turns out they haven’t read a book in months.  I wonder if they say ‘reading’ to impress me? or because they think that is a ‘suitable’ hobby for students?  or it’s something they would like to do but other things intervene?

An interesting observation is that ‘traditional’ Chinese sports such as table tennis and badminton are being displaced by new sports such as basketball, tennis, soccer, jogging and in-line skating.

Workload of English Major students

Table 3 shows the weekly class schedule for students in English Major 1301 this semester.  They are Sophomores (ie, 2^nd Year students).

Table 3: Weekly class schedule for English Major 1301, September 2014 – January 2015

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8 – 9.50am	Writing English	Oral English	Listening English	Translation	-
10.10 – 12 noon	Physical Education	Western Culture	Reading English	Inter-cultural communications	Reading English
2 – 3.50pm	Marxism	Communication	Writing English	Communication	-
4.10 – 6pm	-	-	Marxism	-	-
7 – 8.50pm	-	-	-	-	-

The students are encouraged to take one or two elective/optional classes each semester, on top of the mandatory classes shown in Table 3.  They can choose from a wide range, including: Oil & gas in China; Nuclear power; Career preparation; International relations; Chinese history;  Military history; Psychology; Marketing; Multi-media; etc.

English Major students must study a second language (French, Japanese, Korean), starting in the second semester of their Sophomore year. 

...

Vale, Gough Whitlam (11 July 1916 - 21 October 2014) 

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Gough Whitlam had a dramatic impact on Australia during his 1,071 days as leader of Australia.  Here are some of the things he did (kinda takes your breath away):

Abolished the death penalty

Lowered voting age to 18

Ended conscription and freed draft resisters

Withdrew Australian troops from Vietnam

National Sewerage Program brought sewerage to outskirts of Sydney and Melbourne

Established Australian Legal Aid office.

Passed Racial Discrimination Act

Established diplomatic relations with China

Granted independence to Papua New Guinea

Pushed France to stop nuclear testing in the Pacific

Abolished university tuition fees

Introduced universal health care (now Medicare)

Founded Triple J

Started the movement to indigenous land rights by granting the Gurindji title to traditional lands

Introduced ‘no-fault’ divorce

etc, etc, etc, etc

How did he achieve all that, with a hostile Senate breathing down his neck?

In his spare time he also reformed the ALP, breaking union stranglehold, which made it electable after 23 years of conservative rule.

Here are some photos of this extraordinary man:

Gough & Margaret's wedding, 22 April 1942; they were married for 69 years, until she passed away in 2012.  He always said she was the love of his life.

Gough served in the RAAF during WW2 (1942 - 45) as a navigator, attaining the rank of Flight Lieutenant

Flight Lieutenant Gough Whitlam relaxing with a cup of tea.

The Whitlam family in 1954. Children: Antony (1944), Nicholas (1945), Stephen (1950), and Catherine (1954).

In June 1971, as Leader of the Opposition, Whitlam visited the PRC.  It was a politically-risky move, but he believed strongly that it was time to bring China into the family of nations. Richard Nixon's visit to China was announced a few weeks later (took place in February 1972), which silenced Whitlam's critics.

1972 federal election campaign, wearing It's time slogan T-shirts with singer Little Pattie.

Following the election win, Gough Whitlam and Lance Barnard formed a 'duumvirate government' from 5 - 19 December 1972, until the new Ministry was sworn in.  

PM Whitlam's first Ministry.  Some good ones in that lot, but also some that proved to be disasters!

31 October - 4 November 1973, Whitlam's first official visit to China as Prime Minister.  He was welcomed by Zhou En Lai, China's Foreign Minister.

Meeting Chairman Mao Ze Dong in Beijing.  Mao was already quite sick and feeble, but he lasted another 3 years.

Deng Xiao Ping (right) as Vice Premier responsible for Foreign Affairs escorted the Whitlams on their visit to the Forbidden City museum, November 1973.  Wonder what they made of their diminutive, nondescript guide (Gough was 194 cm, Deng only 150 cm)?   Did the Whitlams have any inkling, after spending a couple of hours with him, that within five years Deng would be the supreme leader and that his "opening & reform" policies would change China forever?

At the 'Echo Wall' of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, November 1973. Dr Stephen FitzGerald, Australia's first Ambassador to the PRC, is looking on.  The Temple of Heaven was our favorite cultural site during our posting to Beijing 1983-86.

PM Whitlam discussing the reconstruction plan with Major General Alan Stretton after Cyclone Tracy flattened Darwin on Xmas Day 1974

The Governor General's official secretary David Smith proclaiming the appointment of the Fraser caretaker government, 11 November 1975. (David Smith was in my political science class at the ANU in the  mid-1960s).

Many people were shocked and dismayed by "the dismissal", but Labor was soundly beaten at the subsequent election.  Whitlam was a visionary leader but not a good manager, and the electorate was fed up with the shenanigans of his Ministers.

28 July 1976 Gough and Margaret were visiting Beijing when a devastating earthquake struck Tangshan (about 250 km from Beijing), inspiring a Peter Nicholson cartoon showing the couple in bed with Margaret asking 'Did the earth move for you too, dear?'  Laborites thought it was disrespectful, but Gough loved the humor, bought the original and hung it in pride-of-place above the conjugal bed!

A personal recollection:

Vera and I met Mr Whitlam when he made an official visit to Thailand in early 1974.  I was on a short-term assignment to the Trade Office in the Australian Embassy (intellectual John Holmes was Senior Trade Commissioner and practical Bill Barry was the Trade Commissioner, a good team).

Everyone in the Embassy was involved in planning for the visit.  One of the activities was a boat trip on the Chao Phraya River, during the course of which Mr Whitlam insisted on spending a few minutes with each member of staff.

A day later, at the conclusion of the visit, several of us went out to the airport to farewell the official party.  He walked down the line, shaking hands.  When it was my turn he said "It was nice to meet you Mr Olah, and thanks for your help with the arrangements." Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather - I couldn't believe that he remembered my name. He must have met dozens of people during his time in Bangkok ... how on earth did he remember the name of "small-fry" like me?  I guess that was the measure of the man.

About eighteen months later I had to look after Malcolm Fraser (then Leader of the Opposition) when he was transiting through Vancouver airport.  He was a taciturn man, and we exchanged few words during the hour we spent together. I'm absolutely certain nothing about me registered with him.

Whitlam and Fraser, adversaries in one of the great dramas of Australian politics, in later life became quite close and even cooperated on a number of social issues confronting Australia.  Time heals.

Gough Whitlam: a great Australian. Rest in Peace.

...

That's all for this post.

Congratulations to Alex and Engara in Rarotonga on the birth of their first child, a daughter named Hinamoana.  A little bundle of joy.

Best wishes and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Saturday 25 October 2014

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