Post #104 9 June 2016

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our visit to Hangzhou, 3 - 6 June 2016.

We were lucky: our flights were on time, and it stopped raining shortly after our arrival.

Where is Hangzhou?

Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province, about 800 km due south of Qingdao.  It is not far from Shanghai. Hangzhou has a population of about 10 million.

This map of China shows Zhejiang province, and the capital Hangzhou.

A map of Zhejiang Province, showing the capital Hangzhou and neighbouring provinces. Shanghai is only an hour by high-speed train.

Hangzhou flourished as the southern terminus of The Grand Canal (approx 1,700 km) which linked Beijing and Hangzhou in 610AD. It got another shot in the arm when, in 1126, the capital of the Song Dynasty moved from Kaifeng to Hangzhou.

What's special about Hangzhou?

Hangzhou's most famous natural feature is West Lake.  There is a saying which goes something like "You haven't lived until you've seen beautiful West Lake".  It certainly is attractive; we were very taken by its tree lined streets and waterways, with lush hills and temples and pagodas in the distance.

We stayed in a small hotel about 2 blocks from West Lake.  Many modern shopping malls and restaurants.  The big Qiantang River runs through Hangzhou, but we spent all our time in the "scenic area" around West Lake.

Very unusual 4 storey houses on the drive into the city from the airport. We haven't seen this kind of architecture elsewhere in China.

Who is Hangzhou's favorite son?

The answer is Jack Ma (aka Ma Yun, DOB 10 September 1964), the founder and Chairman of Alibaba Group, which has its headquarters in Hangzhou.

Jack Ma grew up in Hangzhou. He sat the National College Entrance Exam twice, and still only got into the Hangzhou Teachers College (now called Hangzhou Normal University).  He majored in English and became an English teacher after graduating.

In 1994 Ma visited the US and 'discovered' computers and the internet. The following year, in the living room of his small one-bedroom apartment, he started "China Yellow Pages", reputedly China's first internet-based company. Then in 1999 he founded Alibaba which focused on e-commerce.

From such humble beginnings, a mighty conglomerate was born: last month Alibaba passed Wal-Mart to become the world's largest retailer!!!

Jack Ma went from zero to $25 billion in just 15 years. Amazing. His story has inspired millions, and he is known all over China ... a legend in his own lifetime!

Jack Ma with his brother and sister, on the banks of West Lake. 

Jack Ma with class mates at Hangzhou Teachers College.

Jack Ma and his wife Zhang Ying. She was a fellow student at Hangzhou Teachers College. They have a son and a daughter.

Jack Ma and Bill Clinton. Jack Ma is short and slight, but tough and full of determination and perseverance.

Arnold Schwartznegger and Jack Ma in 2010.

Jack Ma is a keen practitioner of Tai Chi; famous Tai Chi instructors give (compulsory) lessons to Alibaba staff.

Winners are grinners. Alibaba's IPO in September 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange raised $25 billion, a record, making Jack Ma one of the richest men in China (and the world). 

Some of Ma Yun's sayings

Many people said he was crazy when he started Alibaba: "Shopping online? Never happen!".

Here are some of our photos of Hangzhou

Walking along the shore of West Lake.

Attractive surrounds of West Lake, even a 'golden buffalo'.

Lots of people around the shores of West Lake; many little  jam sessions by mainly-older musicians and groups of people singing and  dancing.  Good to see people enjoying themselves.

Vera and Li Zhi Wei (Lena), a friend from Qingdao (ex-student) who was in Hangzhou at the same time. It was fun exploring the city with her.

I was fascinated by these row-boats operated with only one oar. Very skillful 

Lots of beautiful big trees lined the roads around West Lake.

We don't have trees this size in Qingdao! The buses were all battery-powered electric buses made by BYD.

The Bao Chu Pagoda, ancient but often re-built, most recently in 1933.

Quite a hike up the hill to the pagoda, 230 steps, but we made it!

Lots of young people climbed the hill near the pagoda to watch the sunset (even a couple taking wedding pictures).

Good sunset views of West Lake and Hangzhou from the hill behind the Bao Chu pagoda.

We visited the Ling Yin Buddhist Temple. These figures are carved into the hillside leading up to the main temple. 

Lots of people were making offerings in the main courtyard of the Ling Yin Buddhist temple.

Some Buddhist nuns praying at the statue of Siddhartha Gautama.

A giant statue of Guanyin (Goddess of Compassion) surrounded by 150 small figures.

The temple dedicated to General Yue Fei, a hero of the Southern Song Dynasty

The tomb of General Yue Fei (1103 - 1142), in grounds adjacent to the temple. At the age of 39 he was accused of treason by Prime Minister Qin Hui, and executed.  But later investigations found the accusations to be false (fuelled by jealousy); his name was cleared and he was give a hero's re-burial.

Attractive Inlake Youth Hostel

A view of the interior courtyard of Inlake Youth Hostel.

Some of the delicious food we ate in Hangzhou, including West Lake fish and Beggars chicken.

Back in Qingdao, the bus from Liu Ting Airport to Huangdao took the Jiao Zhou Bay Bridge - 40 km over water - always impressive (can you imagine a bridge linking Sydney CBD with Parramatta or Manly - crazy!).

And so ended a most enjoyable, albeit short, trip to Hangzhou.

Lots of people everywhere we went, but that's China. Mostly young people, well dressed and healthy looking. The restaurants were packed.

Hangzhou will host the G20 meeting in early-September 2016 - it will be in the world spotlight then.

...

Doubt we'll have time for any more tripping around before we leave in 4 weeks.  One more week of teaching, then exams and grading.  Our six years of teaching in China are rapidly coming to an end.  

Vera has already started packing - she is so well organised - and I'm sure our departure will go smoothly.

...


Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 9 June 2016

To watch YouTube video of Qingdao TV program featuring Alex Olah and Laxmisha Rai click HERE.  It's about 25 minutes, mainly in Chinese but enough English to get the gist.

Post #103 2 June 2016

Gentlefolk

This post contains the News Summary for May 2016.

I compile a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news on China.   This might be the last monthly News Summary – not sure if I’ll have time to compile one for June, before our departure from these shores on July 9 … let’s see how it goes.

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 – 31 May 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 6.6.

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 one strips away the propaganda, there is still quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. 

Events which made the news in China in May 2016

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 May	Xu Xiang (aka Hedge Fund Brother #1) and three managers from CITIC Securities were arrested for insider trading.
3	Beijing has introduced standard charges for its 580 ambulances. All have been fitted with taxi-like meters; charge $7.70 for the first 3 km, then $1.10 per km.
	China’s movie box-office took $8.6 billion in 2015.
	Li Hao Tong won the Volvo China Golf Open (part of the European Tour).
4	The case of 21 year old student Wei Ze Xi has been big news. He had a rare cancer, synovial sarcoma, and his family was desperate to try any treatment.  Searching on Baidu he found a clinic at the Second Police Hospital in Beijing offering immunotherapy. He signed up for a course of treatment (about $30,000) which ultimately didn’t help and he passed away.   Baidu came under the spotlight for running misleading advertisements, and the hospital was criticised for sub-letting the clinic to a private company which promoted unproven treatment. Baidu was forced to change its procedures, and the leaders of the hospital were punished.
	New book by Arthur Kroeber (founding partner of Gavekal Dragonomics) “China’s economy – what everyone needs to know”.
5	24 year old female teacher in Shenzhen was murdered by a Didi driver (China’s biggest car-hailing app).
6	Hebei Province closed 200 of the most-polluting companies.
	A couple in Inner Mongolia was detained for selling their two young sons, for $5,150 and $6,050 respectively.
	The govt banned children below 18 years of age from appearing in TV reality shows.  Some very popular shows, such as “Dad, where are we going?” cancelled.
7	New English language website launched, “Baopals” to help foreigners shop on online sites Taobao and Tmall. Usage fee is 5% plus $1.20 per product.
	In 2015 2,766  Chinese donors donated 7,785 organs for transplants, far less than the demand. China stopped the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners on 1 January 2015. The govt has streamlined delivery of organs (livers must be used within 12 hours; kidneys within 24 hours; lungs within 12 hours; heart within 8 hours).
	The Shanghai Composite Index fell to 2913, a seven-week low.
9	Despite the govt’s two-child policy, a survey found that 60% of working mothers did not want a second child; not enough time, and too expensive.
	41 workers missing feared dead following a landslide at a dam construction site in Fujian; the area recorded 192 mm of rain in 24 hours.
	China’s exports in April 2016 increased by 4%; trade surplus of $46 billion.
	China has an estimated 390,000 “core golfers” (play at least 8 times a year); a decrease of 5% on 2014.
11	29 year old Lei Yang was detained during a police raid of a foot massage parlour in Beijing; he died later that night. The police deny using excessive force, but many people are sceptical and an independent autopsy has been ordered.
	Hong Kong is expecting 54 million visitors in 2016, 5 million less than 2015.  Tourism from Mainland is down by 15%.
13	65 year old double-amputee Xia Bo Yu is 1,500 meters from the summit of Everest. He lost his feet to frost-bite in 1975.
	An estimated 19% of arable land in China is polluted, much with heavy metals.
	Zhengzhou City in Henan has introduced “women-only” buses on some routes.
	The Chinese subsidiary of Robert Bosch had revenue of $12 billion in 2015, 16% of its global revenue.
14	Apple announced an investment of $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, China’s largest car-hailing app (currently 11 million rides per day).
	Chen Man from Mianzhu, Sichuan, received $417,000 compensation for wrongful imprisonment for 23 years.
17	Q1 2016 market share of smartphones in China: Huawei 16%; Oppo 15%; Vivo 13%; Apple 13%.
	2015 China had 19,000 km of high-speed railway, which carried 2.5 billion passengers.
18	Movie “Mr Six” got the “2015 Ashtray Award” for 102 smoking scenes.
	A survey found that only 15% of LGBT people had “come out” to their families; 5% to their school friends; and 5% to their work colleagues. Attitudes are slowly changing, with more young Chinese accepting of diversity in sexuality.
19	The govt is pushing ahead with reform of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). SOEs in coal, iron and steel have been told to reduce over-capacity by 10% in each of 2016 and 2017. The 106 “Central SOEs” ordered to cut management staff by 50% and sell off 20% of non-core subsidiaries. Profit of non-financial Central SOEs in first 4 months of 2016 was $99 billion, down 8% compared to the same period in 2015.
	China Tourism Report for 2015 shows 130 million inbound tourists (135m in 2011); 807 five-star hotels (615 in 2011); 120m outbound tourists (70m in 2011).
	New 38 episode TV series “The 38th Parallel” about the Korean War (1950-53); According to Chinese figures 180,000 Chinese soldiers were killed, 383,000 wounded, 25,000 missing (Western scholars estimate the Chinese numbers could be doubled or more. Casualty figures of the UN Forces were 178,000 dead, 566,000 wounded, 33,000 missing).
21	Guangdong Province announced that about 10,000 children of migrant workers will be allowed to do the Gao Kao (National College Entrance Exam) in the province (previously they had to do the exam in their home towns).  To be eligible, students must have done all their Senior High School in Guangdong; at least one parent must have a job and legal residence in Guangdong, and have paid local social security for at least three years.
24	Beijing’s ground-level ozone reached 242 micrograms per square cm; it is set to overtake PM2.5 as the city’s main pollutant.
	Hospitals in China have reduced their use of antibiotics by 40% since 2012; concern that some microbes are developing resistance because of over-prescription of antibiotics.
26	Popular writer Yang Jiang died aged 104. Her best-seller was “Baptism”, about the life of intellectuals in China in the early 1950s.  She also published a book about the Cultural Revolution “Six chapters from my life down under”.
	The Govt has told the Telecom companies to achieve 100% ‘real-name’ registration of subscribers by mid-2017 (currently 92%).
	A recent survey found that ‘hot pot’ is China’s favourite restaurant food.
27	Adoptions are falling in China: 2010 adoptions totalled 29,618, while 2015 adoptions totalled 17,201.
	Beijing will include “smog” in its list of meteorological disasters, together with torrential rain, blizzards, sand storms, and droughts. In 2015 Beijing experienced 46 days of ‘hazardous’ air quality index.
	The yuan has devalued slightly; now US$1 = 6.6 yuan
	Starbucks announced the opening of its first roaster & tasting room in Shanghai.
30	19 year old singer-songwriter Dou Jing Tong’s new album “Stone Café” has been downloaded 40 million times in 3 weeks, a new record. She is the daughter of famous singers Faye Wong and Dou Wei.
31	Chinese researchers published more than 300 academic papers in international scientific journals Cell, Nature and Science in 2015 (sixty came from staff of Tsinghua University in Beijing).
	By 2020 China aims to supply at least 10% of the 200 new satellites launched p.a.

(b) International events

3 May	Australian Craig Wright admitted he was the creator of Bitcoin.
	In 2015 China’s outbound investment in property totalled about $30 billion; most popular destinations New York, London, Sydney, Chicago, and Seattle. 42% in offices, 18% in hotels, 8% in retail, 27% in development sites (mainly residential).
4	Emirates Air started 4x week direct flights between Dubai and Yinchuan, Ningxia.
	Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by 25 points to 1.75%.
	Leicester City (The Foxes) won England’s Premier League. At the beginning of the season bookmakers had them at 5000 – 1 odds. Jamie Vardy scored 22 goals. Manager Claudio Ranieri. Leicester City-born Mark Selby beat Ding Jun Hui to win the World Snooker Championship.
5	Russia and China announced first joint anti-missile military exercise.
	2016 The Times Higher Education World University Rankings included 5 Chinese universities in the top 100: Tsinghua (18); Peking (21); also Zhejiang, Fudan and Jiao Tong. The survey is based on 10,323 scholars in 133 countries.
7	DPRK’s ruling Workers Party held its first Congress in 36 years. Leader Kim Jun Un pledged to only use nuclear weapons for defence.
	US- FDA brought e-cigarettes under the same rules as tobacco products.
9	Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a “double dissolution” election to be held on 2 July 2016.
	Labour’s Sadiq Khan was elected Mayor of London with 57% of the vote; first Muslim mayor.
10	All the inhabitants of Fort McMurray (80,000), northern Alberta, evacuated because of a huge forest fire.
12	Indian woman, Daljinder Kaur, 70 had a baby by IVF. Her husband is 79; they have been married 46 years.
	Stephen Curry voted NBA – MVP for second year running. It was the first time all 131 selectors had him as their first choice – unanimous; second was Kawhi Leonard, 3rd LeBron James.
13	Brazil’s Senate voted 55 – 22 to begin impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. Vice President Michel Temer is acting President.
	The USA – NATO activated $800 million missile shield in Romania; Poland next.
	COSCO Shipping bought 35% of the Euromax Terminal in Rotterdam for $47 million.
	Australian Sinologist Colin Mackerras, 77, is an Emeritus Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
16	Alibaba, parent of Taobao and Tmall, was suspended from the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition for not doing enough to stop sale of fake goods.
	Taiwan / Mainland connections in 2015: 5.5m visits by Taiwanese and 4.1m visits by Mainlanders; Mainland’s export to Taiwan $45 billion, imports from Taiwan $144 billion; Taiwanese investment in the Mainland $95 billion, Mainland investment in Taiwan $3 billion.
18	Mr Duterte won the Philippine Presidential election; will be sworn in on 30 June 2016.
	ICBC Bank bought Barclay’s precious metals vault in London for $1.07 billion.
19	US imposed anti-dumping duties of 522% on Chinese cold rolled steel.
	NBA Finals Western Conference: Golden State Warriors play Oklahoma City Thunder; Eastern Conference: Cleveland Cavaliers play Toronto Raptors. Cleveland will play the Warriors in the final, beginning in June.
20	Egypt Air flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed; all 66 feared dead.
	Google launched Google Assistant Allo and Google Home.
23	President Obama official visit to Vietnam; US relaxes previous arms embargo.
24	Bayer bid $62 billion for Monsanto.
	Barcelona won the Spanish League and Copa del Rey (28th Copa!); 7th time it has won both titles in the same season. Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid to win the UEFA Champions League.
27	G7 (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan + EU) meeting in Tokyo. Afterwards President Obama visited Hiroshima, site of first atomic bomb 6 Aug 1945 (estimated 150,000 died with 24 hours).
28	Escalating strikes in France protesting proposed labour reforms.
	US National Spelling Bee co-winners Jairan Hathwar (13) and Nihar Janga (11). Third consecutive year of tied winners.  Final words were Feldenkrais and Gesellschaft.

…

Tomorrow we fly to Hangzhou for the weekend.  I hope to do a post on that visit next week.

…

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

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Post #102 30 May 2016

Gentlefolk,

This post describes our visit to Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province last weekend.

Shenyang is about 1,000km due north of Qingdao.  The flights took about 1.5 hours.  We flew up on Friday evening, and returned Sunday evening.  Remarkably, both flights left right on schedule (Xiamen Air - well done!!!).

The main purpose of the visit was to say goodbye to Li Ying. We met Ying and her friend Olivia when we first arrived in China in August 2009. They were very helpful to us in our first few months in Dongying - we called them "our guardian angels".

Olivia worked in UPC's International Office, while Ying was a student, majoring in marketing; she did both Bachelors and Masters here (first Dongying campus, then Qingdao campus).

When she completed her Masters (3 years ago) Ying found a job with Budweiser beer in Shenyang, her home town. She did well, and quickly became a team leader.  But, like many young Chinese, she dreamt of running her own company.

Last year Ying and two partners founded Chess Ivy, a school to teach kids to play chess. They rented nice premises (see photo below) but progress has been painfully slow - let's hope it picks up soon.

Actually, I visited Shenyang back in 1984-6 when I worked at the Australian Embassy in Beijing.  It was then known for its heavy industry, pollution and shabby Soviet-inspired architecture.  I had heard that it had changed, and was curious to see it again.

Saturday 28 May 2016

 Ying met us at our hotel, and we walked to the Go Gung Palace.

Lunch at the Lao Bian Restaurant - it's been serving dumplings for more than 150 years!

In the afternoon we visited Zhong Shan Square to look at the huge Mao statue, the old Liaoning Hotel, and surrounding buildings.

Ying's parents, Li Zhi Ming and Wang Xiao Ping, invited us for dinner in their apartment.

Sunday 29 May 2016

Visit to the Tomb of Huang Tie Ji, second emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

Lunch in hot pot restaurant.

7pm Return flight to Qingdao

Here are some photos of our visit to Shenyang.

Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning Province, which in turn is part of "Dong Bei" or the North East Region comprising Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces.

Shenyang is about 1,000 km due north of Qingdao. It has very cold winters and hot summers.

Shenyang is the capital of Liaoning Province, and the largest city in the North-East Region. It is the transport hub of the province.

Liaoning has long been a battlefield.  The British founded Port Arthur; Russia controlled the Liaodong Peninsula for about 5 years, then the Japanese took over when they won the Russo-Japanese War.  Finally Liaoning was part of the Republic of China , only for the Japanese to return and establish a satellite state  in Manchuria (1931-45). The Communists finally won the Civil War, but that was followed closely by the Korean War .  The long-suffering people of Liaoning!!!

Today Shenyang is a modern, bustling city of about 10 million people.  It is located on the banks of the Hun River. 

Another view of Shenyang City. When I visited the city 30 years ago the highest building was 6 storeys!

We stayed at one end of Zhong Jie, a long pedestrian street lined by modern shopping malls.

On Saturday morning we visited Gu Gong, the Imperial City built between 1625 and 1636 by Nurhachi (1559-1626), the founder of the Qing Dynasty and his son, Huang Tai Ji (1592-1643).   The Qing defeated the Ming, and in 1644 moved their capital from Shenyang to Beijing "inside the Great Wall" and ruled China from there.  The Qing Dynasty finally collapsed in 1912 when the last emperor, Pu Yi, abdicated and the Republic of China was established. 

The Emperor's "office" was located in this ornate pavilion.

We were lucky to catch a little enactment during our visit: the Emperor receiving visiting dignitaries. 

Some girls in period costumes put on a welcome dance during the "show". How could they move so gracefully on those awkward-looking wooden clogs and wearing those elaborate head-dresses?

The Emperor, accompanied by wives #1 and #2, receiving guests.

We had lunch at the Lao Bian Dumpling restaurant, which can trace its origins back to 1829. Still going strong.

On Saturday afternoon we visited the huge Mao statue in Zhong Shan Square. It was built in 1969, at the height of the Cultural Revolution - many of the figures are wearing Mao badges on their jackets and waving the Little Red Book.

Adoring hordes surround the Great Leader, waving copies of Mao's sayings.

Everyone was eager to build New China.

The venerable old Liaoning Hotel is on one side of Zhong Shan Square. It was built in 1929. Now the city has a dozen  or more five-star hotels.  I stayed here 30 years ago when it was still the best hotel in town! 

Li Ying and Vera accompanying some street art. There were some interesting old buildings in this part of the city.

Ying's parents invited us home for dinner.  Very nice to meet them - wonderful hosts.

Ying has started a school to teach children how to play chess.  Attractive premises, but up-take has been slow.

On Sunday we visited the Tomb of Emperor Huang Tai Ji (1592-1643) which is located in Bei Ling Park.  He was the second Qing Emperor and leader of the Manchu people, basically of Mongolian origin.  Fierce warriors, they defeated the Ming Emperor in 1644 and ruled China for more than two-and-a-half centuries.

Visitors paid to dress in traditional costumes.

One of the many impressive gates and buildings in the Tomb.

The Tomb covered a large area, with the actual body believed to be buried under this mound. They claim to be waiting for improved technology before excavating the burial site some time in the future.

They created lakes near the Tomb - good fortune - now a popular spot for families and boating.

On Sunday afternoon we had a leisurely lunch at a hot pot restaurant. From left: Xu Liang (Ying's cousin, he studied physics in Toronto); his wife Jiang Yi Xiao (doing a PhD in Organic Chemistry); and Li Ying.

...

We enjoyed our short visit to Shenyang. It was great to see Ying before our departure  - who knows if we'll ever get up this way again - and to meet her parents and her cousin and his wife.

We couldn't believe our luck on two counts: firstly the flights were both on time, and secondly the weather was perfect: high 20s with clear, sunny skies.

Lastly, the city has changed beyond recognition from 30 years ago.  The factories and smoke-stacks have been moved to the outskirts and the city is a cluster of gleaming, modern structures. Truly amazing.

...

Next weekend we will visit Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province.  We always wanted to see famous West Lake, and time is running out so here goes.

...

The NBA semi-finals have seen great contests.  The Toronto Raptors put up a great fight but finally lost to Cleveland Cavaliers.  They will play either the Golden State Warriors or Oklahoma City Thunder in the final.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.euu.cn
Monday 30 May 2016