3 April 2015

Gentlefolk

As you know, I do a monthly summary of interesting news events, 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 in any country gets a mention. Hopefully this summary gives 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 in March 2015.  Actual events usually occurred a day or two before they appeared in the newspaper.  Currency is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.2.

Remember that 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 read Chinese and can’t access the local media, so The China Daily is my ‘window’ into trying to understand this fascinating country.

Events which made the news in China in March 2015

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 Mar	Football (soccer) has a huge following in China; but they are usually beaten by countries such as Japan and Korea and even Thailand.  The government has now released a long-term ‘blueprint’ to improve the standard of football in China from the ground up.  Within 3 years they want football to be part of the curriculum of 20,000 primary and middle schools. Every year 6,000 PE teachers specialised in football will graduate, and be assigned to schools.
	To curb dust emissions, Beijing Municipal Govt has introduced fees for large construction sites, ranging from $0.20 – 1.0 per kg.
2 Mar	A documentary about air pollution in China “Under the Dome” by journalist Chai Jing got 100 million views in the first 24 hours.  Only in China!
	Prince William arrived in China, the first official British Royal visit since the Queen in 1986.
	The Govt said that it will probably take 2 years to establish a national database of residential property owners.
4 Mar	China’s GDP grew by 7.4% in 2014.  Agriculture contributed 9.2%, industry 42.6%, and services 48.2%.
5 Mar	From 3 to 15 March, annual meetings in Beijing of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (2,227 delegates) and the National People’s Congress (2,964 delegates).
7 Mar	The Govt announced a 10% increase in the defence budget to about $143b.
	In 2014 Beijing’s population totalled 21.5m. Due to severe water shortages and other environmental problems, the Municipal Govt said it would restrict growth to limit the population to a maximum of 23m in 2020.
11 Mar	The Govt has warned a tightening jobs market faces the 7.5 million college students expected to graduate in mid-2015.
	The number of workplace deaths in China has fallen from 240,000 in 2002 to about 66,000 in 2014.
	In 2014 sixty 5-star hotels in Beijing lost money, blamed mainly on the govt’s frugality drive.  Average vacancy rate end 2014 was 40%.
12 Mar	China’s rail network totals 112,000 km, including 16,000 km of high speed tracks.
	All foreign TV series shown on Chinese online video sites will have to get prior approval from the Govt.
13 Mar	Beijing announced a ban on all smoking in public places (offices, bars, public transport) from 1 July 2015.  On-the-spot fine of $33.  Will it be enforced?
16 Mar	CCTV’s annual program to mark World Consumers Day focused on auto dealers overcharging on repairs, and the growing number of complaints related to online shopping.
18 Mar	China has an estimated 120 million people with Hepatitis B.
	Shanghai announced a 3 year plan to reduce PM2.5 by 20% on 2013 levels.  Coal-fired power stations will be converted and/or upgraded; old vehicles taken off the roads; improved sewage disposal; dust suppression; and tree planting.
20 Mar	According to the Ministry of Education, 377,054 foreign students were studying in China in 2014, including 6,272 from Oceania.
	Yahoo announced the closure of its R&D centre in Beijing, effectively exiting China.
21 Mar	‘Chunfen’ – the official start of Spring in China.
23 Mar	The Shanghai subway system celebrated its 25th anniversary; Shanghai now has 548 km of subways (planned 800 km by 2020). Twenty five cities in China now have subways, expected to increase to 45 by 2020. Qingdao’s subway (initially 58 km) will open in 2016.
	About 889,000 new cases of tuberculosis (TB) were diagnosed in 2014; 2,240 deaths.
	ChemChina announced that it will acquire 65% of Pirelli, world’s 5th largest tire company.
24 Mar	The largest Chinese oil company, PetroChina, announced a profit of $17.3 b (down 17% on 2013, due to falling oil prices). Another State-owned oil company, Sinopec, announced a profit of $7.6 billion in 2014 (down 29% on previous year).
	As part of its anti-pollution drive, Beijing closed two more coal-fired power plants.
	When China joined the world Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 its two-way trade totalled about $500 billion.  In 2014 its two-way trade was $4.3 trillion.
26 Mar	Govt unveiled the “Made in China 2025” Plan.  Ten sectors have been identified which are expected to drive economic development over the next decade, such as aerospace, biotechnology, internet. They will get special support and funding.
	The All China Environmental Federation, an NGO, has sued Zhenhua Company in Dezhou, Shandong for excessive pollution.  The company had ignored efforts by the local government to enforce regulations.
	Hainan Airlines, Chinese 4th largest airline company, placed an order for 30 Boeing 787-9 (seats 280 passengers).
31 Mar	The Govt announced easing of financing for real estate.  Minimum down-payments for second homes reduced from 70% to 40%; capital gains tax will only apply to homes held for less than 2 years.  The Shanghai Composite Index rose to 3,786.
	In 2011 the construction of new golf courses was prohibited mainly to preserve farming land and conserve water resources.  Now 66 golf courses which did not obtain proper permits will be closed. There are 639 ‘accredited golf courses’ in China.

(b) International events

1 Mar	The famous Shaolin Temple in Henan Province has bought a 1,248 hectare property near Nowra on the NSW South Coast.  It will establish a Buddhist temple, hotel, Kung Fu academy and other facilities.
	Thousands attended the funeral of former opposition leader Boris Nemstov in Moscow.
4 Mar	The Forbes ‘Rich List’ had Bill Gates #1 (personal worth $79 b), Carlos Slim Helu #2 ($77b), and Warren Buffett #3 ($73b). On their Chinese ‘Rich List’, Wang Jian Lin of Wanda Group ($24b) was top, followed by Jack Ma of Alibaba Group ($23b).
6 Mar	Australian PM Tony Abbott hinted at the possible scaling back of the search for MH370 which disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 on board. No trace found.
12 Mar	Apple shares increased by 65% in value in the last 12 months, giving the company a market valuation of $700 billion.  It is expected to replace AT& T on the Dow. It sold about 200 million iPhones.  Apple smart watch will be launched next month.
17 Mar	The New Zealand Govt issued an apology to the Ngai Tuhoe Maori tribe for past injustices; they were awarded $125 m and management of the National Park on their traditional land.
18 Mar	Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu; 24 dead, thousands homeless.
19 Mar	Results of an “Image of China” survey in 8 countries: Australia 5.7 positive; Brazil 6.9; India 6.7; Japan 3.4; Russia 7.6; South Africa 5.8; UK 5.5; USA 5.4.
	Mr Netanyahu won re-election in Israel with promises of continued building of settlements and no Palestinian State.
20 Mar	According to the Chicago-based Council of Tall Buildings 130 skyscrapers (over 200 metres in height) are expected to be completed in the world in 2015, 82% of which are in China.
24 Mar	Lee Kwan Yew, founding Prime Minister of Singapore, died aged 91.  A State funeral was held on 30 March, attended by many world leaders.
	Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) was the first to announce his candidacy for the 2016 presidential election.
25 Mar	150 people died when Germanwings flight 9525 crashed in France.  Apparent suicide/homicide by the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz.
	Colliers International estimated that Asians spent $46 billion on buying overseas property in 2014, of which Chinese represented $14.3 billion.
	Indonesian President Joko Widodo made his first official visit to China.  Eight agreements were signed, including one for the construction of a high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung (180 km).
	An IOC evaluation team visited Beijing and Zhangjiakou in regard to the Chinese bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
27 Mar	Geely announced investment of $300 million to upgrade production of the iconic London cabs (Geely bought the company in 2013).
31 Mar	The China Daily reported an official visit to China by “Peter Cosgrove, the representative of the Australian monarch, Queen Elizabeth 2”.
	46 countries applied to be ‘founding members’ of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).  Australia finally decided to join, despite objections from the USA (NZ was much quicker off the mark).

That's it for this post, folks.

Today is Good Friday, not that you would know it here because it is not celebrated in China.  But this year Easter coincides with Qing Ming Festival (aka Tomb Sweeping Festival), so Saturday, Sunday and Monday are designated public holidays.  

Vera & I will take the opportunity to visit Qufu, the home town of the great sage, Confucius.  Hope to do a post on that visit next week.

In the meantime, "happy Easter everyone!".

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Friday, 3 April 2015

28 March 2015

Gentlefolk,

Another week, another dollar.

Teachers at this university get a base pay of about $320 per month, plus $8 for every teaching hour.  This semester I have 5 classes a week or 10 hours = 40 hours per month x$8 = $320.  So I'm earning $640 per month. Plus free accommodation and utilities. (All dollars are US$).

Doesn't sound like much, and one wouldn't do this for the money.  But it's fun, and we get enough for Vera & me to live on.  Public transport is cheap, and food is also inexpensive, especially on campus.  An average meal in one of the student canteens is less than $2.  We eat out two or three times a week, and that costs more, up to $10 each depending on where we go, so still quite reasonable.

But when we travel, either inside or outside China, we have to dip into savings.

Gym

I mentioned that we joined the California Gym, a couple of km from the campus. Only $90 a year, but half the equipment is broken, and the place is a mess ....  you get what you pay for.  Anyway, it's convenient, and we try to go early to avoid the crowds.

Attitudes change quickly in China.  Three years ago a gym near here closed for lack of patronage.  Few students had heard of a gym then, let alone joined one ("What, pay to exercise - that's crazy!").  Now, this place is packed and I recognise many faces from our campus.

News class

This semester I have a new course 'English News'.  I was perplexed how to teach this subject.  The first couple of weeks I took in a number of articles from the China Daily and we discussed them.  But there was a subdued atmosphere so last week I asked 3 students to select articles and lead the discussion.  It seemed to work well.

The students selected the following articles:

"Nurses must be more patient" China Daily 20 March 2015.  The article describes a study undertaken by the Department of Health which found a high level of dissatisfaction amongst patients about the attitude of nurses (and doctors); and suggested some remedies.

"Twin sisters adopted from China reunited years later" (16 October 2014). In 2003 two couples, one from California, the other from Norway, adopted baby girls from an orphanage.  Although the babies looked alike, the orphanage said they were not sisters.  Later the parents did DNA tests which found that they are twins. The families met up in 2009, the twins got on well and now keep in regular touch through social media.

"Chinese farmer builds Lamborghini Reventon from scrap metal" (22 August 2012).  A young farmer/mechanic built a Lamborghini by using a small model car as his reference.  Took him 12 months, and cost $9,500. He couldn't afford to paint it, and in any case the police won't allow the car to be registered, so he just drives it around the village.

I took along the following articles:

"Crest fined $960,000 for false advertising" (CD 10 March 2015).  The government slapped Procter and Gamble with a huge fine for a TV advertisement which suggested that Crest toothpaste could whiten teeth quickly.

"Selfie sticks on way to being banned" (CD 19 March 2015).  Several museums have forbidden the use of "selfie sticks" as they could damage exhibits and also injure sightseers.  Some commentators suggest that they should still be allowed in outdoor areas.

"Tiny Times sweeps Golden Broom awards" (CD 17 March 2015). Hollywood has the "Golden Raspberry Awards" for worst films, and China has the "Golden Broom Awards".  A film called Tiny Times 3 scooped the field this year with "worst awards" for film, director, script, and actress.

Getting the students more involved made this a much livelier class.  I think I'll continue along that path.  It's interesting for me too, to see what articles the students choose.

Cricket World Cup

Tomorrow Australia meets New Zealand in the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.  The Kiwis regularly beat us in rugby - let's hope for a different result tomorrow.  Whatever happens, both teams deserve to be there and it should be a great game.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi oi!

In honour of that game I thought I would include the following little story.  Andrew & Caroline live on Wong Nai Chung Road in Hong Kong (on the border of Happy Valley and Causeway Bay), and their living-room windows look across to the Craigengower Cricket Club (CCC).  This is the background to the CCC.

Craigengower Cricket Club

The CCC was founded in Hong Kong in 1894, when Mr. W.D. Braidwood, the Headmaster of the Victoria English School, established a cricket field in Bonham Road near Breezy Point.  The name came from the building which housed his school - Craigengower. 

But the original site did not prove suitable so they moved to an area in the north-east corner of Happy Valley. At that time Happy Valley was a large area of open ground which was used for a variety of sporting activities, including horse racing. In fact, until the proper Jockey Club track was established, cricket games were often interrupted by horses galloping through the oval!

On 22 October 1903 Mr. Braidwood, then President of CCC, convened a meeting which led to the formation of the Hong Kong Cricket League.  A new local newspaper, the South China Morning Post, donated a shield and a League competition consisting of 8 teams Commenced. 

        

The first league game was played at Happy Valley on Saturday, October 24, 1903. CCC played the Civil Service Cricket Club (later known as the Centaurs).  The match was drawn, with the Civil Service scoring 100 (off 37 overs) and CCC 4 for 71 (off 13 overs) in reply. 

The CCC was closed in 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and finally re-opened in 1947. 

In 1976 a major redevelopment took place, which saw the end of the cricket oval – land is such a premium in Hong Kong that more intensive use had to be found.  The Club had some practice nets, but they too have now gone the way of the oval.

Nowadays the CCC has a large modern clubhouse with lots facilities such as parking, dining, tennis, lawn bowls, badminton, gym, swimming pool, billiards, etc - but no cricket ground or nets.  The CCC cricket team leads a nomadic existence, playing on any public or private fields they can find.

I haven't been able to find out the cost of membership, but if the HK Football Club (just up the road) is anything to go by, membership of the CCC is probably well over $100,000 (with a long waiting list)!

Craigengower

I was intrigued by the name Craigengower (rolls off the tongue, doesn't it) and tried to find its origins.

It sounded Scottish, and I expected that it was some famous place in Scotland, but a google search came up with only one minor reference – a hill in South Ayrshire.  I thought I must have missed something, so asked Paul Milton to check it out but he came up with the same result.

Apparently Craigengower means “Hill of goats” in Gaelic.  It is a relatively small hill overlooking the town of Straiton which is about an hours drive south-west of Glasgow, along the M77. 

As this is the only reference we could find to this name, I have to assume that the name originated from this nondescript little hill near Straiton.

Oh, another bit of trivia: the Scottish Hill Running Club organises the Craigengower Hill Race every August.  The course is 3 km with a 200 m climb; the current record holder is P. Prasad who recorded a time of 16 min 11sec in 2008.

So, now you know all about the origins of the Craigengower Cricket Club, a cricket club with no cricket facilities!

...

That's it for this post folks.

Until the next time, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Saturday 28 March 2015.

21 March 2015

Gentlefolk,

We are now at the end of Week 2 of this semester ... what happened to my plan to do weekly posts?

Well, it's complicated.  I guess I could blame Bob Morrison for giving us copies of the British TV series SILK - which have kept us up till all hours - but what a pleasure watching such high-quality TV with marvellous acting and scripting.  The recent release of the new series of "House of Cards" (13 episode in one hit) hasn't helped either.

Or I could blame Little Eddie in Hong Kong - the poor little bugger was sick when we looked after him - and subsequently we both came down with bad flu when we arrived on campus.

Or I could blame WORK - yes, that four letter word which has been my preoccupation for the last 2 weeks.

This semester I have 5 classes a week (10 teaching hours), so not too onerous: three classes of Western Culture, one class of English News, and one class of Oral English. But two subjects are new for me, which has meant having to extract the digit and do some real work for a change.

My Western Culture course has always focussed on the USA and over the last 4 years I have compiled a comprehensive set of lectures on that country.  But one of the classes I had last semester is with me again this semester, so I've had to change tack.

My first thought was to swap that class with another teacher, so that I would have all new classes and could teach my usual American Culture course.  I found a teacher who was willing to swap one of his culture classes with my class (no skin off his nose), but there was a problem: the timing of his class clashed with one of my other classes.

Surely it couldn't be too difficult to change a class time?  Wrong.  The university would not countenance a change: the semester's timetable was final, and no amount of pleading could get them to budge - talk about bureaucratic!

I finally had to admit defeat. The only solution was to teach something else.  So this semester my three Culture classes will study the UK & Australia.  I've been wrenched out of my comfort zone.

Last week I described some famous British historical figures - they particularly liked hearing about King Henry 8th and his six wives: 2 divorced; 2 beheaded; one died in childbirth; and the 6th out-lived him.  What a rogue!

Did you know that three of Henry's wives were named Catherine, two Anne, and one Jane?  Co-incidence that Prince William's wife is also a Catherine (known as Kate)?

The other new subject is News in English.  I like news, and try to keep up with local and international developments, but how does one teach News?  And, later, how does one test the students' knowledge of this subject?

For the first two classes I took along copies of articles from the China Daily.  The students had 10 minutes to read each article, and then we discussed it.  But isn't that really just a Reading class?

Maybe I'm taking this too seriously.  To better understand their motivation, in the first lecture I asked ten students (62 in the class) why they had chosen this subject. Nine said they wanted to have a class with a foreign teacher, and an opportunity to practice their English; only one of the ten even mentioned news.  And here I was thinking that all these students were interested in current affairs.  

So where does that leave us?  With a Reading class (by another name), and some oral English thrown in to keep them interested.

For next week's class I've asked 4 students to select an item of news each (article, video, whatever) and to lead the discussion on their item.  Hopefully the atmosphere will be more stimulating than I have been able to achieve so far ... but that still leaves the question of how to test this subject?

Weather

When we arrived back in Qingdao 2 weeks ago the weather was cool.  In fact we had a few cold days when the maximum didn't go over 5C.

But on 18 March it suddenly changed, and we have had maximums of around 14C and 15C.  Fairly polluted, but definitely warming up.  Buds are starting to appear on trees ... spring is around the corner.  But I suspect we might have  a few more cold spells before we farewell Old Man Winter and welcome warmer weather.

Our China sojourn

We thought with the enforcement of the Five Year Rule we would have to finish teaching in July 2015, at the end of this semester.  We had one year in Dongying (2009-10), then a year back in Australia looking after Mum, and we are now in our 4th year here on the Qingdao campus.

The university checked with the Foreign Experts Office in Beijing and were told that because we had the break in Australia, our period of continuous service started in 2011.  So they offered us another year, which we have accepted.  Suckers for punishment.  What the hell, we're healthy and still enjoying campus life - golf and beach can wait a bit longer.  But poor you, having to suffer through another year of blog posts!

That means RTA (return to Australia) in mid-2016.  I'll turn 70 in 2016, so next year will be a good time to hang up the spurs.

Talking of birthdays, Vera has a significant birthday today.   An amazing lady; not one to sit still, she is always doing something: learning Chinese, or cooking, or cleaning, or tutoring, or exercising.  She has a wonderful way with people.  A dozen friends will join us for dinner tomorrow night.   What a gal!

Gym

Another big development: this week we started at the California Gym, a couple of km from the campus.  The facilities are basic and half the equipment doesn't work (the Southern Cross Health Club it ain't) but it's just great to get back to some vigorous exercise.

Brumbies

The Brumbies have had a very good start to this Super 15 season.  Did you see last Saturday's game against the Reds? (I caught it at Knuckles Bar down the road).  A remarkable five tries to zip romp, in Brisbane no less. Tomorrow the Waratahs in Sydney - always tough - let's hope they can keep it up.

...

A friend, Fu Xiao, took this photo and added the caption: "Love is the one thing that transcends time and space". Amen.

Well folks, that's it until my next post.

Best wishes, keep healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Saturday 21 March 2015

4 March 2015

Gentlefolk,

I have woken from blog-hibernation.

We've had a lovely break, in Hong Kong and Australia.  Caught up with lots of family and friends. The Aussie lifestyle is great.  Actually made us question why we are going back to China - but while we still enjoy teaching and living there we'll continue, at least for the time being.

We are now back in Hongkers for a few days; fly to Qingdao on Friday for the start of the new semester (teaching will start next Monday, 9 March 2015).

My intention is to do regular (weekly?) posts during this semester, but I've heard that the Chinese government is still disrupting Google ( & gmail, Blogger, etc) so will have to see how it goes.  I don't really have a 'plan B', so this might be the last post for a while ...

Here are some photos taken during the last few weeks in Hong Kong and Australia.


Hong Kong

Visiting Andrew's office in Hong Kong.  This city is crazy, but good.

They moved into their apartment in Happy Valley - Caz hard at work in her new 'office'.

With Little Eddie, we had lunch at the Google office in Hong Kong ... and yes, the food is as good as rumoured!  Five weeks later, when we were in HK again, we witnessed Eddie taking his first steps.  A momentous moment!

With Mai and Art Kobler at their stunning home in Clearwater Bay.

The Bruce Lee statue on the Avenue of the Stars at Tsim Sha Tsui is very popular. He is a legend!

If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room ....

Canberra

Played a round at Federal Golf Club in Canberra.  Beautiful course, great day, pity about the golf ...

Dinner at the Austrian Club with Neil & Helen and Bruce & Linda has become a tradition.  The "Bauernschmaus" is delicious!

Caught up with old friends Chris Creswell, Paul Flint and David Evans. Lao pengyou!

Congratulating Maria Taylor at her book launch at the ANU on 11 February.

Aniko & Peter Carey, and Richard & Liz.  They always make us feel so welcome in Canberra.

Friday 13 February was a lucky day for the Brumbies; they beat the Queensland Reds 47 - 3; afterwards players signed autographs for fans on the oval.

With mates at the Brumbies game.  Great team, great win, great night.

Sydney

Exploring Cremorne Point with Howard Eakins. Gorgeous part of Sydney harbour.

At Niniek & Paul Milton's place, with Kath, Dave & little Miles.

Tweed Heads

Lover boy Dennis Smith always cuddling girls!

Brisbane

Finally arrived in Brisbane, just ahead of Cyclone Marcia.  Here with grandkids Kurt (9), Nate (7) and Sid (5).

Never a dull moment with Nate and Sid.

With Jennifer at the boys' weekly swim class.

Tom training for My Kitchen Rules. He and Jen are both awesome cooks.

Kurt in ribs-heaven.

Vera playing soccer with the Sid and neighbour Kai in the back yard.

Miscellaneous

Ian Loiterton sent me this photo of the 50th anniversary dinner of the ANU's Burton & Garran Hall.

Angie going out on a limb for Rotary!

Papa Andy giving Hinamoana some tips at Timberland.  Never too early to start ...

...

The latest Cost of Living survey compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit was published today. This survey is based on the prices of 160 products and services (but not housing costs - not sure I believe this, as HK is actually quite reasonable apart from housing) in 140 countries.   The ten most expensive cities in the world are: Singapore; Paris; Oslo; Zurich; Sydney; Melbourne; Geneva; Copenhagen; Hong Kong; and Seoul.  New York is #22; Shanghai #28 is the most expensive city in mainland China.

It puzzles me why two Australian cities are in the top six - we used to be relatively inexpensive, but not any more.  Why are Sydney and Melbourne more expensive than great metropolises such as Tokyo, London, Berlin or New York?

...

Well folks, that's it for this post.

Hopefully we'll be in touch soon.

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Best wishes,  alex & vera olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
Currently visiting Hong Kong,
Wednesday, 4 March 2015

23 January 2015

Gentlefolk,

It must be something special to get me out of blog-hibernation.

The billion dollar house

Yesterday Hong Kong media reported that a property at 75 Peak Road had sold for HK$5.1 billion. The buyer had to pay an additional $1.2 billion in taxes, making the deal worth a total of HK$6.3 billion.

At today's exchange rate, that translates to a fraction over A$1 billion (or about US$800m)!

And you thought Australian real estate prices were out of control?

The buyer was Season Glitter, a company controlled by Cheung Chung Kiu a billionaire businessman based in Chongqing with interests in Hong Kong.  In an effort to dampen demand from outsiders (particularly mainland Chinese), a couple of years ago the HK government introduced high taxes on property purchases by outsiders, hence the huge $1.2 billion in taxes on this transaction.

Did Mr Cheung get hectares of land and a castle for his A$1 billion?  No.  He got an empty block of 124,000 sq ft (about 11,000 sq meters), with a buildable area of about 50%.

No. 75 Peak Road has an interesting history.  In 1924 it was bought by Sir Robert Ho Tung Bosman (1862-1956; Dutch father, Chinese mother; usually referred to as Robert Hotung) who built a mansion on the property surrounded by landscaped gardens.  It became known as Ho Tung Gardens.

Apparently Sir Robert preferred living in his other residences and mainly used #75 to entertain visitors.

His will stipulated that the property could not be sold until at least the 3rd generation.  His grand-daughter Ho Min Kwan decided to re-develop.  The HK government considered keeping the estate for historical reasons, but could not agree on terms with Ms Ho (she wanted $7b, the govt offered $3b).  In 2013 the mansion was demolished, and the land has now been sold to Mr Cheung.

75 Peak Road, Hong Kong (aka Ho Tung Gardens)

A closer look at 75 Peak Road.  The mansion was built in 1927 and demolished in 2013.

Robert Hotung in 1916.  At one stage he was said to be the richest man in Hong Kong.

When his first wife could not have children she arranged for Robert Hotung to marry her cousin, who bore him 3 sons and 7 daughters.  The Americans took a dim view of polygamy when the family visited the USA in 1908. Apparently it was legal in Hong Kong until 1971 for wealthy Chinese to have more than one wife. 

Robert Hotung identified more with Chinese than Europeans, perhaps because his Dutch father, Charles Bosman, abandoned the family when he moved to London (Robert was about 8 years old). Robert made his fortune as Chief Compradore of Jardines, a leading British merchant company in Hong Kong. 

Sir Robert entertained George Bernard Shaw at Ho Tung Gardens in 1933.

Ho Min Kwan, Sir Robert's grand daughter, could not come to terms with the HK Govt.  She demolished the mansion in 2013 and finally sold the property in January 2015.

I can't quite get my head around the fact that 11,000 sq m can cost A$1 billion.  It's a crazy world.
...

We leave Hong Kong tomorrow for Australia.

Did you see the Socceroos beat China last night?  Tim Cahill scored two great goals to put us into the semi-finals of the Asian Championships.  And the Australian Tennis Open is on at the moment in Melbourne.  Lots to look forward to.

We've enjoyed our almost-two weeks in Hong Kong.  It's an incredible city - so crowded, so intense, yet works so well (the New York of Asia).

Something that always surprises/intrigues Australians about Hong Kong is that every second car seems to be a luxury brand: mostly Mercedes or BMW, with the occasional Rolls and Bentley thrown in.  How can there be so much wealth in such a small place?

Best wishes, alex & vera olah
Hong Kong,
Friday 23 January 2015

15 January 2015

Gentlefolk,

Greetings from Hong Kong where we are visiting Andrew & Caroline & Fast Eddie on our way to Australia.

One of the many great things about HK is the internet.  There were often disruptions to Google and gmail in the last 2 or 3 weeks in Qingdao; once you got online, you were never sure how long the connection would last.  I didn't realise how stressful that environment was until we arrived here.

By the way, did you see the Akamai report a couple of days ago that Australia has fallen to 44th by internet speed?  South Korea was tops, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, and Switzerland. How can we hope to be a 'clever country' in the digital age if we are so far behind the eight ball? Whoever thought of the NBN - thank you! - we need visionary leadership like that.  Hopefully it will turn things around.

This is probably my last post until we get back to the UPC campus in early March, for the start of the next semester.

This post refers to a recent program aired on Qingdao TV, and also includes an index of posts in the last 6 months.

Qingdao TV

Qingdao TV has profiled several 'foreign experts' who are living and working in Qingdao.  I was selected for the project, as was an Indian lecturer (Laxmisha Rai) working at the Qingdao University of Science and Technology which is located about 15 km from our campus.

For this segment the directors decided to alternate scenes between the two of us: Rai is featured for a few minutes, then me, then Rai again, then me, etc.  This program was aired on QTV-1 on 27 December 2014 and will be repeated during the Spring Festival holiday (19 - 26 February 2015).

This segment on Rai and myself goes for about 25 minutes.  Although the commentary is in Chinese, much of the dialogue is in English so you should be able to get the gist of it.

For ease of access Andrew down-loaded it to You Tube.  To view, click HERE or go to the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbQZ96OckWg&feature=em-upload_owner

Index of blog posts

Here is an index of the blog posts in the last few months.

I started this blog almost a year ago, in February 2015. I used to compile monthly "letters" to family and friends about our lives as English teachers in China, but our son finally convinced me that a blog was the way to go.

I've done 42 posts (excluding this one); to date there have been 4,244 page views.

Has it succeeded?  How does one define success: is it interesting? useful? educational?  amusing?

At the end of the day, you out there are the judges.

From a personal perspective it's been a mixed blessing.  I think it is a good record of our lives in Qingdao, but sometimes I take it too seriously and spend too much time and energy on it.

When I start writing again in March 2015 I will try to keep it shorter and lighter in tone ... hope springs eternal!

Index for Post # 19 (June 2014) to Post # 43 (January 2015) on alexolah.blogspot.com

The blog is primarily about our lives as English teachers at the China University of Petroleum (UPC), Qingdao, Shandong Province but I also include commentary on other things which take my fancy (such as Robin Williams' death). Posts 19 to 43 cover the period September 2014 to January 2015, the first semester of the 2014-15 academic year.

Post number & date	Events/subjects
Post #19 27 June 2014	In Kuala Lumpur Index of Posts #1 to  #18 Flight MH370 Ukraine crisis Angie & Rotary
Post #20 14 September 2014	Mid Autumn Festival In Kuala Lumpur, photos with Eddie Time with the Roberts family in Brisbane Robertstour2014.wordpress.com Photos of our stay in Australia (July & August 2014) 2014-15 Academic Year: key dates
Post #21 21 September 2014	Photos of Kuala Lumpur UPC students:  living conditions Military training for Freshmen students Bill Clinton’s book “My life: the Presidential Years”
Post #22 27 September 2014	Move to our new apartment Military training – photos of final parade Qingdao Golden Beach Hilton Hotel
Post #23 1 October 2014	China’s National Day Photos of new apartment Meeting with Qingdao TV Vera with former student Zhang Ya Xuan Han Han (possibly the world’s most popular blogger)
Post # 24 7 October 2014	Visit to Dalian and Lushun (Port Arthur), 2 – 6 October during the National Day holiday. Photos of Dalian and Lushun
Post #25 20 October 2014	Photos of bicycling Qingdao TV interviews and videos Our 41st wedding anniversary 17th Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea News summary for September 2014
Post #26 24 October 2014	My teaching schedule this semester Class summaries & explanations Weekly workload of class EM1301 Vale, Gough Whitlam
Post #27 31 October 2014	Photos of new apartment & Tang Dao Wan bay An explanation of Chinese names Photo of Papa Andy with Hinamoana
Post #28 1 November 2014	House of Cards Great Wall Drilling Company News summary for October 2014
Post #29 8 November 2014	Whitlam’s Memorial Service Western Sydney Wanderers win Asian Champions League Visit to Bin Hai University Photo with Fu Xiao Robertstour2014 Photos of Andrew, Caz & Eddie in Hong Kong
Post #30 16 November 2014	APEC & Bob Hawke Australian Embassy Beijing 1983-86 (and the Channar project) Memories of Beijing 30 years ago Images related to Channar Main actors: Paul Barratt; Kevin Rudd; Ross Garnaut; Richard Rigby; Denis Gastin; Jocelyn Chey.
Post #31 24 November 2014	Left-handedness in China Postscript
Post #32 1 December 2014	Recent photos (including visit to Qingdao Naval Museum) Breaking Bad TV series Turn-out rate at US elections
Post #33 4 December 2014	News summary for November 2014
Post #34 6 December 2014	Love poems with International Trade theme Students’ questions during the  Western Culture course Some suggested changes to the US political system The Roberts family ‘turn left’
Post #35 11 December 2014	Ode to Omi (3rd anniversary of her death)
Post #36 14 December 2014	Analysis of the Forbes “List of 72 Most Powerful People”
Post #37 24 December 2014	About UPC students: Class timetable Student workloads My teaching schedule University degrees
Post #38 27 December 2014	China’s development Comparison of college China/USA
Post #39 29 December 2014	Robin Williams
Post #40 2 January 2015	Olah family highlights of 2014 The South-North Water Diversion Project
Post #41 10 January 2015	News summary for December 2014
Post #42 13 January 2015	Western culture exam held 4 January 2015
Post #43 14 January 2015	Recent photos

...

Unless I feel an overwhelming urge to put pen to paper, my next post will be in March 2015, at the start of the new semester (the 2nd semester of the 2014-15 academic year).

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Wednesday, 14 January 2015