Post #94 4 April 2016

Gentlefolk,

This post contains the News Summary for March 2016.

I compile a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news on China.  

There is so much competition for space in 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.

The second list shows international events reported in China.  There are so many things happening around the world (information overload!), that I find it useful to have such a list to look back at. 

These news items were all sourced from the China Daily newspaper 1 – 29 March 2016. 

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 6.5.

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. 

Events which made the news in China in March 2016

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 Mar	The Govt said that protection of judges would be increased after the shooting of Ma Cai Yun of Beijing’s Changping District Court. The killer, who later committed suicide, was angry at the property settlement in his divorce.
	To boost liquidity China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, reduced the reserve ratio requirement (RRR) of banks by 50 points.
	To reduce pressure on pensions from an ageing society, the Govt announced that it is considering raising the retirement age, currently 55 for women and 60 for men. 16% of China’s population (about 230 m) are 60+ years of age.
	Baidu’s revenue in Q4 2015 was $2.9 billion; its share price rose to $176.
2 Mar	Beijing Municipal Govt said that it plans to almost double its subway by 2020. The subway now covers 554 km (18 lines, 334 stations) and is planned to be close to 1,000 km by 2020. The subway carried over 3.4 billion passengers in 2015.
3 Mar	WeChat will charge 0.1% on money transfers made via its ‘digital wallet’. Digital hongbao (red envelopes) totalling $5 billion were sent via WeChat during the Spring Festival period (7 – 12 February).
	Annual meeting of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened in Beijing. 2,100 delegates. The meeting will conclude on 15 March.
	By 2020 27 provinces and regions will amend their hukou (household registration) requirements to give migrant workers in cities equal access to social services such as education and health care. An estimated 13 million Chinese have no hukou.
	The govt has set aside $2.5 billion to assist the almost-2 million workers expected to be laid off in industries with chronic over-capacity, mainly in shipbuilding, steel, coal and iron ore mining, and cement.
	An online survey by the China Daily listed the top concerns of respondents as: environment 15%; healthcare 12%; education 11%; corruption 10%; housing affordability 9%.
	Beijing will double the number of air quality monitoring stations in the city, from 35 to 70.
	To better target young gay men, Beijing has introduced five mobile HIV testing laboratories.  Testing will be free, and no ID will be required.  Results will be available within 15 minutes.
	134 registered marathons were run in China in 2015, up from 83 in 2104.
	The Royal No. 1 Nightclub in Zhengzhou, Henan, was busted for gambling and prostitution.  Two ‘bosses’ got life imprisonment and 85 others lesser sentences.
	China Resources will buy SAB Miller’s 49% shareholding in Snow Breweries for $1.6 billion.  In 2014 Snow had 24% of the beer market, Tsingtao 18%, Budweiser 14%, and Yanjing 12%.
	Danish company Lego will open a 1,000 sq m store near the new Shanghai Disney Resort.  Lego had worldwide revenues of $5.2 billion in 2015.
	Opening of Kung Fu movie Ip Man 3 Sword of Destiny starring Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson.   Accusations of box office fraud followed, with the producers buying tickets to inflate attendance figures.
4 Mar	China is developing a domestic aircraft industry; forty State Owned Companies (SOEs) were amalgamated to form the Aircraft Engine Corporation of China.
	An estimated 40,000 Chinese have commercial pilots licenses.
	National lottery sales (Welfare Lottery and Sports Lottery) totalled $56 billion in 2015,  4% less than in 2014. The National Audit Office has found that 25% of lottery funds were not used for designated purposes.
5 Mar	Annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) opened in Beijing; it will conclude on 16 March; main task to approve the 13th Five Year Plan (2016 – 2020).
	In 2015 China had an estimated 668 million internet users, 72% of whom were urban residents, 28% rural.
7 Mar	Discovery of a 43 year old woman’s body in an elevator in Xian.  She was trapped inside when the power was turned off by workmen before the Spring Festival break.
8 Mar	In 2014 China’s population totalled 1,368 million; 701m males and 667m females. Females represented 50% of High School students, 52% of college undergraduates, and 37% of PhD students. Life expectancy rose from 73.3 years in 2000 to 77.4 years in 2010.
10 Mar	In 2015 China’s grain production totalled 622 million tonnes, the 12th consecutive year of increased production.
14 Mar	4.09 passenger motor vehicles were sold in China in the first 2 months of 2016, and increase of 4% on the same period in 2015.
15 Mar	An estimated 7.65 million students will graduate from college in mid-2016.
16 Mar	The number of gyms increased from 2,930 in 2009 to 3,650 in 2014.
	The State Administration of Industry & Commerce said that in 2015 it received 146,000 complaints (up 87%) related to online shopping, mainly about poor quality of goods and false advertising. It closed 1,134 online shops.
	CCTV’s annual “315 Gala” program for World Consumers Day identified unlicensed vendors on online food company Ele.me platform.  This sector has grown rapidly. Ele had 34% market share, Meituan 33%, and Baidu Takeout 19%.
18 Mar	In 2015 523,700 Chinese students were studying overseas (14% up on 2014); 409,100 students returned to China after studying overseas (12% up on 2014).
19 Mar	Disney’s latest animation, Zootopia, took $127 million in its first two weeks in China.  Flash the sloth, in role of a civil servant, was a great hit.
	Mother and daughter team arrested in Jinan, Shandong for selling Category 2 vaccines which were improperly stored and/or past use-by date. They made sales totalling $88 million between 2010 and 2014. Category 1 vaccines are mandatory, and carefully controlled by the Govt; Category 2 vaccines are optional and have been less strictly controlled. Many netizens expressed anger.
21 Mar	Moodys cut its credit rating on China and its biggest banks from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, citing rising debts and inadequate reforms.
	Winners of the 21st Century Coca Cola National English Speaking competition: Zhu Xue won the college level (there were 110,000 participants, 67 finalists); Wang Xi Wen won the High School level (500,000 participants, 172 finalists).
	In 2015 China’s exports totalled $2.2 trillion and imports $1.6 trillion (trade surplus was $59.8 billion); foreign exchange reserves end 2015 were $3.2 trillion, still by far the world’s largest.
25 Mar	The Public Security University of China has introduced a new major in “Counter terrorism Studies”.  4 year undergraduate program.
	Chinese Super League (soccer) clubs spent $373 million on buying foreign players for the 2016 season.
	Sichuan Jin Qiang (Blue Whales) won the Chinese Basketball Association championship, beating Liaoning Fei Bao 4-1.
	The Govt announced that the current 10% ‘parcel tax’ on foreign purchases would be replaced by a value-added tax.
26 Mar	To cool rising property prices, Shanghai residents who already own a home will have to put down a deposit of 50% on additional purchases; the down-payment rises to 70% on properties valued over $700,000. Shenzhen has been the hottest property market, with a rise of 53% in 12 months; average price now $6,600 per square meter.
	Shanghai Disneyland will open on 16 June 2016.  Regular tickets will cost $56, at peak times $77. Free admission for children less than 1 meter in height.
	Chinese Anti-doping Agency denied swimming cover-up following article in The Times newspaper (London).

(b) International events

1 Mar	Japan’s 2015 Census reported a total population of 127 million, a decrease of about 1 million on 2010. It was the first fall since the Census started in 1920.
	Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar at the Academy Awards, for his role in The Revanant. He is very popular in China.
3 Mar	Astronauts Scott Kelly (US) and Mikhail Kornienko (Russia) landed safely after 340 days on the International Space Station. Kelly used Twitter and Instagram to communicate with people back on earth.
4 Mar	DPRK test-fired rockets – angry at annual South Korean + US military exercises.
7 Mar	IMF estimated GDP growth figures for 2015: US 2.4%; EU 1.8%;  Japan 0.4%; China 6.9%; India 7.5%; Brazil -3.8%; Russia -3.7%. In 2015 China represented 15% of the world economy and 25% of global economic growth.
	Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won Louisiana, but Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders are still in the primaries races.
	Australia govt agreed to the purchase of Van Diemans Land Dairy Company by Moon Lake for A$280m.
8 Mar	Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos announced his retirement; he will be 40 next month. After 18 years in the NFL he retires with two Super Bowls (2007 & 2016) and 186 wins (equal with Scott Favre).
9 Mar	Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova announced that she had tested positive for meldonium/mildronate at the Australian Open in late-January. She claims to have taken it for medical purposes for 10 years. WADA added it to the banned list from 1 January 2016. She has won 5 Grand Slams; the first when she was 17 in 2004.
10 Mar	Google’s AlphaGo AI beat current world champion Go master Lee Se Dol in the first of 5 games.  AlphaGo ended up winning the contest 4-1. China’s Go champion, Ke Jie, said he might play AlphaGo next.
11 Mar	Balkan countries close off the ‘migrant’ routes to north Europe. Negotiations underway that ‘migrants’ will be returned from Greece to Turkey.
	China Railway Rolling Stock Corp won a tender to supply 846 rails cars to Chicago Transit Authority. They will be assembled in Illinois, creating 169 jobs.
12 Mar	Highest earning actors & actresses in 2015: Robert Downey Jr ($80m); Jackie Chan ($50m); Vin Diesel ($47m); Bradley Cooper ($42m); Adam Sandler ($41m); Jennifer Lawrence ($52m); Scarlett Johansson ($35m); Melissa McCarthy ($23m); Fan Bing Bing ($21m); Jennifer Aniston ($17m).
15 Mar	Suicide car bombing in Ankara, Turkey, killed 37 and injured 100+. The following week, another bombing in Istanbul; five dead, dozens injured.
	Angela Merkel’s CDU Party lost ground in three regional elections in Germany.
	Big protests in Brazil to indict ex-President Lula on corruption charges.  Current President Dilma Rousseff appointed Lula to her Cabinet, causing more controversy.
	Lin Dan beat Tian Hou Wei to win his 6th All England Badminton men’s singles title. It was the only title won by Chinese players this time, their worst result for more than a decade.
16 Mar	Hou Yi Fan beat Maria Murzychuk to become the Womens World Chess Champion. Her 3rd time, she first won the title in 2010 at the age of 16.
	World Happiness Report by Gallup ranked 150 countries. First was Denmark, then Iceland, Norway, Finland, Canada, The Netherlands, NZ, Australia, and Sweden. USA was #13, Indonesia #79, China #83, India #118.
18 Mar	Chinese company Midea will pay $1 billion for a majority share-holding in Toshiba’s white goods business. Huawei recruited Lionel Messi as a brand ambassador for their mobile phones.
19 Mar	Opening of the joint Sino-USA Center of Excellence on Nuclear Strategy and Security in Beijing. China has 30 nuclear reactors in operation (installed capacity 29 gigawatts) and 24 under construction.
21 Mar	President Obama and family make official visit to Cuba, the first visit by an American President for 88 years. The following week, the Rolling Stones held a free concert in Havana.
23 Mar	Terrorist bombs at two locations in Brussels: Airport and Subway.
	Lancang Mekong Cooperation Meeting in Hainan – leaders of the countries along the Mekong River (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, China). China offered $1.5 billion in cheap loans for infrastructure projects. The river starts in China where it is called the Lancang River.
	The annual BOAO Business Forum meets in Hainan. Theme “New dynamics, new vision”. Bob Hawke, 86, attended.
	Taxi drivers in Jakarta stage violent anti-Uber protest.
	Apple launched the iPhone SE, smaller, cheaper.
25 Mar	Debris, ‘almost certainly from MH370’, found on the coast of Mozambique.
	More than 2 million New Zealanders voted 57% – 43% to keep current flag design.
26 Mar	ChinaChem announced $43b takeover bid for Swiss agricultural company Syngenta.
	David Beckham’s company bought land in Miami as site for his new soccer team/stadium.
	Johan Cruyff, renowned Dutch soccer player, died of cancer at 68. He has been likened to Pele, Maradona, and Platini.
28 Mar	President Xi Jin Ping made an official visit to Czech Republic, before going on to Washington DC to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.
31 Mar	Suicide bomb in public park in Lahore, Pakistan killed at least 76, many injured.
	Fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

…

Best wishes to you all, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Monday 4 April 2016

Post #93 31 March 2016

Gentlefolk,

This post describes actions by four exceptional Chinese people.

Feng Yan Tao

Vera and I flew back to Qingdao on Friday 26 February 2016; we were late checking in for the flight, and ended up in different rows.

I sat next to an elderly couple from Harbin.  They had just spent a month in Sanya, Hainan - isn't it interesting that now some folk, at least the better off, "go south" for part of the winter (just like Canadians going down to Florida).

It turned out the lady had been a college English teacher.  I mentioned that I had a similar job at the China University of Petroleum (UPC).

When we landed in Qingdao a man in the row in front of me said that he had overheard us.  He said that he and his wife lived near the UPC campus, and offered to give us a ride.

Wow, what a nice offer. Totally unexpected.  We had planned to catch the Airport Bus to our suburb (Huangdao, about 80 km), and then get a taxi, but this sounded much better.

He introduced himself as Feng Yan Tao (English name Ivan).  He is a senior marketing executive in Haier, a very large manufacturer of home appliances (refrigerators etc) which has its headquarters in Qingdao.  He and his wife had been on a business trip to Shanghai.

We got 'home' in half the time it would have taken by bus, which was welcome after a long, tiring day.

What a wonderful, friendly gesture by a total stranger reaching out with a kindness.  Well done, Ivan, you set a good example. If we all did little kindnesses like this, the world would be a better place!

Ren Zhi Qiang

Towards the end of February we spent a few days in Hong Kong, on our way back to Qingdao for the new semester.

I read in the South China Morning Post newspaper that President Xi Jin Ping visited  a number of media outlets, including CCTV, and emphasised that they must promote the Communist Party of China and its policies.

The SCMP article noted that the next day one of China's most popular bloggers, Ren Zhi Qiang, wrote on his Weibo twitter-blog that the media is not part of the formal CPC structure; he said that the media is paid for by citizens' taxes, and as such it should serve the people, not the Party.

This was most unusual - what would happen? We didn't have to wait long to find out.

Two days later the Cyberspace Administration of China, China's internet watchdog, accused Mr Ren of 'spreading illegal information and disrupting social harmony' and ordered the immediate closure of his social media accounts.

Goodbye Mr Ren.

Who is Ren Zhi Qiang?

Add caption

He was born on 8 March 1951 in Yantai, Shandong Province; his parents were strong Party members and senior government officials in Beijing.

In 1968, during the Cultural Revolution, Ren was "sent to the countryside"; the following year he enlisted in the Peoples Liberation Army.  At the age of 30 he joined a State Owned Enterprise in Beijing and rose through the management ranks.  

He took the company into property development, caught the boom, and became very successful and very rich.

Mr Ren became known for his outspoken views, including criticisms of Government policies.  For example, when people complained about rising property prices he had a simple solution: "anyone who can't afford a house in the city should go back to the countryside".

Comments like that did not endear him to the masses.  At a public meeting a frustrated man threw his shoes at Mr Ren.

Mr Ren retired from business a couple of years ago, and started blogging.  The more controversial his comments, the bigger his following. In the end his twitter-blog had almost 38 million followers, more than the population of many countries.

His shoot-from-the-hip and take-no-prisoners style earned him the nickname "The Cannon".

Remind you of anyone? He has been dubbed "China's Donald Trump".

Mr Ren was muzzled on the eve of his 65th birthday.

Unlike The Don, it's doubtful we'll hear from The Cannon again.

Hou Yi Fan

On 14 March 2016 Hou Yi Fan beat Maria Muzychuk to become the new Women's World Chess Champion.

Actually, Hou became the World Champion for the first time in 2010, at the tender age of 16.  This is the third time she has got the crown, and she is still only 22 years old.

Hou was born on 27 February 1994 in Jiangsu Province.  Her father, a local magistrate, bought her a chess set when she was 3 years old. Within a short time she was beating her father.

When she was 5 a local chess master became her mentor; at the age of 13 she was China's youngest-ever National Womens Champion; and at 16 became World Champion for the first time.

Hou is one of only 3 women to break into the "Top 100 Chess Players in the World" - she is currently ranked #73.

What an amazing talent.

Lin Dan

On 13 March 2016 Lin Dan won his sixth All England Mens Single Badminton title.

Lin Dan was born on 14 October 1983 in Fujian Province. His parents tried to interest him in the piano, but that hope quickly vanished when he was introduced to badminton at the age of 5.

Lin is nicknamed "Super Dan " by his fans.  He is 1.76m tall, and weighs in at 68 kg.

By the age of 28 he had completed the Super Grand Slam having won all nine major titles in world badminton - still the only player to achieve that feat.  He is undoubtedly the best badminton player ever.

Lin has won the World Badminton Championships five times, and Olympic Gold twice (Beijing 2008, London 2012).  Fingers crossed that he gets a third Gold Medal at the Rio Olympics later this year.

What a guy!

...

That's all for this post.

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 31 March 2016

Post #92 27 March 2016

Gentlefolk,

Last night I did my first post for this semester.  I'm on a roll, so here's another one.

This post is about my teaching schedule; and also includes some photos from the end of last semester.

Alex's teaching schedule

The teaching load for foreign teachers is usually less in the second semester of the academic year. Not sure why, but that has been the case the last few years, and again this semester.

My teaching schedule is shown in the table below. I have seven classes a week (14 teaching hours) but four of those classes (Selected Readings) will end in Week 8. For the last two months of the semester I'll only have three classes a week (6 hours).

At present I have four different classes:

Double Major 1201 + 1202 (total 44 students). Their course is called "Selected Readings in English newspapers and journals".  I have them 4 times a week (Monday and Friday nights, and all Saturday afternoon).
Non Major 60. Their course is "English News".  60 students; 4.10 - 6pm Tuesdays.
Non Major 63. Oral English. 31 students (+ visitors); Tuesday nights.
Non Major 295. Oral English. 30 students (+ visitors); Wednesday nights.

Although I have four classes I have to compile six lesson plans a week (Oral x 1; News x 1; Selected Readings x 4).  Each the four weekly Selected Readings classes requires a new Lesson Plan.  I have managed to be "creative", but even so this semester has been pretty busy, and will continue to be until the Selected Readings course ends in Week 8 ... after that it should be cruisy.

A nice thing about my teaching schedule is that I don't have any 8am starts. I usually get up at 7.30am - way better than 6am for early classes - also means I can get to the gym comfortably by 9am three times a week.  Nice indeed.

The trade-off is that I have 4 night classes, 7 - 8.50pm.  Night classes can be tough: the students are usually tired after a long day and the classes must be lively and interesting to keep them engaged - a challenge.

Alex’s teaching schedule, March - June 2016

Time	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
2 – 3.50pm						DM1201/2 Selected Readings
4.10 – 6pm		NM60 English News				DM1201/2 Selected Readings
7 – 8.50pm	DM1201/2 Selected Readings	NM63 Oral	NM295 Oral		DM1201/2 Selected Readings

Notes:

DM1201 + 1202 =  Week 1 to Week 8 (last day 23 April 2016)

News & Oral English classes = Week 1 to Week 17 (last day 25 June 2016)

Double Major students

When I first saw my teaching schedule I thought DM1201/2 might be a problem, and that's how it turned out.  

These are Senior Students, in the last semester of their 4th (final) year.  Normally the last semester is 'light' - students are given plenty of time to focus on writing a thesis for their major which they have to pass before they can graduate.  They are also busy preparing for the future, either finding a job, or organising to do further study in China or overseas.

In the case of these students, they are Double Majors and so have to write two thesis papers to graduate, one for their main major and one for their English major.  

They were supposed to do the "Selected Readings" course last semester, but the teacher got sick and the course was postponed until this semester.  

So they have a lot on their minds, and you can imagine that they are less-than-enthused about spending 8 hours a week reading English articles with me! 

I decided to cut them some slack and said that to sit the final exam I expected them to turn up to at least 50% of my classes (the normal university requirement is 85% attendance).

We have just finished Week 4 - half-way through their course - so far so good.   Three or four of the students are not meeting the 50% rule, but I am confident they are all gainfully employed and will let them sit the final exam; it would not be fair to delay their graduation for the sake of a few English articles!

Final year students are assigned topics for their thesis papers by their teachers. They have to write 7 - 8,000 word essays; and then must defend their conclusions in a formal meeting with faculty staff before they can graduate.

Here are some examples of topics of students in DM1201/2:

"Translation of The Economist Style Guide"
"Translation of culture-loaded words in English subtitles of the popular TV series Mi Yue"
"Analyse the misuse of the definite and indefinite articles by Non Major students"
"Analyse The Color Purple (by Alice Walker) from the perspective of post-structuralism"
"American personal heroism exhibited in Marvel movies" (Iron Man; Captain America, etc)
"Translation of Science Dissemination using Open Access"
"Study the Mis-translation of Chinese film titles into English titles"
"Translation of History of Creation (by Bill Mesler)"
"A study of the American jury system based on the 1995 OJ Simpson trial"

Some of these are pretty esoteric subjects, don't you think?  Glad I don't have to write these essays. Of course, the thesis topics for their main major (eg Chemical Engineering; Geology; Financial management; etc) are more technical.


Here are some photos taken in January, at the end of the last semester.

8 January 2016 Graduation ceremony for the group from Sinopec (Zhong Shi Hua) Construction Company #10. They will build a petrochemical plant in Kuwait.  I'm sitting in the front row with all the company 'heavies'.  My speech encouraged them to find ways to keep up their new-found fluency in English.

Some of the students in the Sinopec Training Group. The class leader, David Li Cheng Kun (in the center of the photo), was a great help.    They were a nice group. I became quite close to several, including Frank Guo Qing Hai (third from right).

12 January 2016. The foreign teachers (from left: Michael, Gautier, Seven, Vera & I ) hosted a lunch for our "leader" in the International Office, Liu Li Na. She is going on maternity leave so we won't see her for a few months. 

Liu Li Na proposing a toast.  Foreign teachers come under the International Office and she was directly responsible for us.  She has been a wonderful 'boss', gentle and kind. We all wished her well for the new baby (a girl, born in February 2016).

Liu Lin Na with her husband Dr Sun Gang Yun and daughter Sun Xiao Qi (Si Si). 

Vera with her Saturday night private students: Shu Ming; Gavin; and Helen (Shu Ming's daughter).

Vera with Susie Zhu Shan.  Susie was my Liaison Teacher four years ago.  We became good friends, and still meet for lunch every week.  In 2013 Susie translated my book "It's all about the students"; it would not have been published without her help and encouragement.

Me with Albert Wang He, still the only student to get all the short questions right in my Western Culture exam.

...

We have just finished Week 4 - hard to believe that 25% of this semester is done - time flies when you're having fun.

I have a new Liaison Teacher this semester, Kathy Wu Qian.  She is lovely and very helpful, so I'm sure that everything will go smoothly.

...

Well folks, that's enough for this post.

The weather has finally warmed up - max of 20C today - it looks as if Spring is here at last.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday 27 March 2016

Post #91 26 March 2016

Gentlefolk,

It is almost the end of March 2016 and time I "put pen to paper" and did some posts on my blog.

This post will focus on our time in Hong Kong and Australia.

Hong Kong

With Andrew, Caroline and Little Eddie living in HK, we route our travel through that amazing city.

We were there 15 - 23 January, and then again on the return 21 - 26 February 2016.

It's often wet at this time of the year, and this was no exception.  But HK is such a vibrant and exciting city that our spirits were not dampened by the rain.

The highlight, of course, was spending time with Little Eddie. He was almost 2 years old - what a time of incredible development in both body and mind - we were enchanted by him.

Caught up with Stuart Valentine; we served in the Aussie Embassy in Beijing together in the mid-80s after which Stuart switched to a career in Law in HK. Also saw Don Hess, ex-Austrade, who likewise ended up practising law in HK.

 The big news is that Caroline has just launched her online furniture business, Reddie.com.au, in Australia - to see the website click HERE.  A fabulous achievement - she is amazing!

 Australia

We had 4 weeks in Australia, 24 January to 20 February 2016.

What a country, what a life-style.  Every time we go back we marvel at the wide, open spaces, the beautiful beaches, the big, clear, blue sky.

The emptiness of the countryside always comes as a shock after China, where every square inch is cultivated.  It's strange to drive for an hour or two and never see a person, just some farm houses and a few sheep or cattle.

Living and working in China has been a wonderful experience - we wouldn't trade it for the world - but it does put into sharper focus the great country "Down Under".  Sometimes being away from a place gives you a better appreciation of it.  We really are a Lucky Country.

 We started off in Noosa (caught up with old mate Will Costin, from Jakarta days 40+ years ago); then to Brisbane where we helped Jennifer celebrate her 40th birthday.  We always enjoy the drive down to Canberra via friends at Ocean Shores (Mills), Nambucca (Morrisons), and Sydney (Miltons).

Eight hectic days in good old Canberra, before we did it all again in reverse.

We got back to the campus in Qingdao on 26 February, just in time for the start of the new semester.

Here are some photos of Hong Kong and Australia.

Meeting Tarik, Michelle and David's new son. From left: David's mother, Vera, Little Eddie, Caroline, Marguerite Hess and Tarik, Andrew.

Always construction going on in Hong Kong. The city works very well.

Queen Victoria at entrance to the park named in her honour.

The impressive Hong Kong Central Library.

A church in a corner of Causeway Bay.

The pool on the roof of the Hong Kong Football Club, with the Leighton Hill Residences in the background (aka The Great Wall of HK).

Andrew changing Little Eddie.

Vera feeding Little Eddie.

Lunch at The Spirit House Thai Restaurant, Yandina, with the Roberts family. 

Noosa Beach. From left: Vera, Nate, Tom, Sid, and Jen.

Noosa Beach. The boys love the ocean, body-boarding and surfing for hours.

6am Kurt and others at swimming training in The Gap. Kurt made the District Swimming Comp this summer.

Jen's 40th birthday family celebration at lunch.  

Big party for Jen's 40th birthday. 

Everyone got into the spirit of the "80s" theme.

Jen got a stand-up paddle board for her birthday ... the boys couldn't wait ...

Jen doesn't look too bad for 40, does she? She is the complete package: daughter, wife, mother! Great cook, manager of  boy's  rugby, and can score cricket - what more would you want?

Father and daughter 39 years ago in Vancouver.  Jen has grown into a fine young woman.

With the "Three Terrors" Sid (6), Nate (8), and Kurt (10).  Good kids.

The boys all love playing cricket on weekends. Quintessentially Australian. 

Weekly assembly in the Hilder Road Primary School hall.  We were proud that Kurt received an award.

With Irene and Dennis in Tweed Heads.

With Shana and Greg at Ocean Shores.

With Bob and Siri in Nambucca Heads.

One of the beautiful beaches at Nambucca Heads.

Vera and my sister Aniko in Canberra.

Aniko & Peter, with their son Richard and his fiance Liz.

We love the "Two bridges lake walk" in Canberra. Dramatic sky.

Dinner with friends Sharon & Ian, and Christine & Logan.

Lunch with friends Paul, Christine, David, Noel, Neale, and Alex.

While working in China for the past few years we have been fortunate to go back to Australia every 6 months, during the long Winter and Summer holidays.  Always enjoyable to catch up with family and friends.

A interesting little incident occurred during our fleeting visit to Canberra.  My 5-year ACT driver's licence will expire in August 2016.  I wanted to have a current licence when we arrive back in Australia in mid-September, so decided to try to renew my licence early.

I went to the Motor Registry office in Dickson. The lady explained that, as I will be 70 next birthday, I had to do an eye test.  She asked me to read the middle line of the chart - I failed! She said that I had to get an expert opinion from an optomotrist before I could renew my licence.

But we were only in Canberra for two more days, so not enough time.  Not looking good.

That afternoon we happened to be in another suburb called Woden.  On the off-chance, I popped into the  Motor Registry office there.  Same procedure, but this time the lady asked me to read the top line. No problem - passed with flying colours!  Ten minutes later I walked out of there with a new 5-year licence. My lucky day!

Now we are back on campus in Qingdao, for our last semester teaching here.

I'll do another post tomorrow about teaching.

Keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Saturday 26 March 2016