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 

14 January 2015

Gentlefolk

I've just downloaded my photos from the last 3 weeks or so.  This post is a selection of some of those photos, to illustrate the things which have been going on in our lives.

On Xmas Eve we were invited for dinner at the home of Professor Zhang Wei Shan.  The photo shows son Tommy ready for the feast.  Although she was very pregnant wife Wang Yi, made us very welcome.  24 hours later, 3 weeks early, she gave birth to a baby boy!

With my 'Liaison Teacher'  Zhang Qi (Carol) and her fiance Zhang Yong.  Carol was  a great help to me during this semester. 

Some of the students in my Monday night Oral English class   They were a fun class.  Front row from left: Kofi; Blake; Janet; Sunny; me; Basma; Shelly; Kay; Shaun; and Chaos.

Getting into the Xmas spirit with the students in my Wednesday Oral English class.

Dinner in our apartment with some of the other foreign teachers. From left: Michael, Steven (obscured), Paul, Andros, Carol, Maria.  Sun Yu entertained us on the 'er hu' instrument.

Steven getting some Er Hu pointers from Sun Yu.

In December I taught a group from Xi Bu Drilling Company, Xinjiang.  Nice bunch of guys.  When they have completed the
3 month intensive English course they will be assigned to work overseas in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Uzbekistan.

Lunch with two of our favorite students, Fan Jing Yi (Tony) and Liu Xiao Li (Lily).

With other judges in the Shandong provincial finals of the National College English Speaking competition.

Some of the contestants in the Shandong provincial finals of the National College English Speaking competition.  

The top three winners of the College English Speaking competition: Zhen Bo Hui (Ocean University); Li Qiu Yan (Ludong University); and Yuan Li (Shandong University).  They will go on to the next round - the National Finals in Beijing in March 2015.

UPC hosted an End-of-year Dinner for all the foreign teachers. Front row, from left: Jiang Da Sen (Deputy Director); Yan Zi Fen (Director, International Office); Maria (German teacher); Oleg (Russian Teacher); Zha Ming (Vice President in charge of International Affairs); Qi Mei Juan (Steven's wife); Vera; Li Hong Bin (from NZ); Liu Li Na (International Office).

Vera (harmonica) and Sun Yu (Er Hu) jamming at the end-of-year party in our apartment.

We invited some students for lunch to celebrate the New Year. From left: Nie Cong (Vicky), Wang Peng (William) Ma Chen  Ru (Christina); Liu Feng Qiang (Oliver); Hong Ying (Faith); Zi Hong (Jordan, from NZ); Ma Yan Xiao (Jason).

Vera waiting for the bus to Qingdao City, 2 January 2015.  Our new apartment building is in the background (we are on the 13th floor).  We visited the impressive Underwater World aquarium in Qingdao City.

Vera with Eddie in Hong Kong, 13 January 2015. Cute kid, he sure is growing fast.

...

That's it for this post, folks.

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn/english/
Wednesday, 14 January 2015

13 January 2015

Gentlefolk,

Greetings from Hong Kong where we are spending a few days with our son & family enroute to Australia.

This post describes the Western Culture final exam which was held a week ago.

Western Culture exam

The final exam for my 5 Western Culture classes was held 7 – 9pm on Sunday 4 January 2015 (yes, you read right: Sunday night).  Part 1 was 20 True/False questions; Part 2 was 20 Multiple Choice questions; Part 3 was 30 fill-in-the-blank questions; and Part 4 was 3 written essays (6 questions to choose from). 

To give you a feel for the types of questions, here are the first 5 questions in Parts 1, 2 & 3.  Part 4 shows the three most popular essay questions (out of 6 options).

PART 1: State whether the statements are True or False

1. Seven of the last 14 US Presidents have been left-handed.

2. Agriculture represents about 1% (one per cent) of the GDP of the USA.

3. The USA has 8 time zones.

4. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886.

5. The Mayflower arrived in America in 1740.

PART 2: Multiple Choice. Choose the correct answer from the 4 options.

1.  In which city was the 1787 Constitutional Convention held?

A. Atlanta; B. Boston; C. New York; D. Philadelphia;

2.  Which is the smallest US state by population?

A. Alaska; B. Hawaii; C. Utah; D. Wyoming

3.  Which American President signed the law which established Yellowstone National Park?

A. Abraham Lincoln; B. George Washington; C. Ulysses S Grant; D. Theodore Roosevelt

4.  What is the name of the system of measurement used in the USA?

A. Scottish System; B. Imperial System; C. Irish System; D. Metric System

5.  How many patents did Thomas Edison have?

A. 284; B. 584; C. 884; D. 1084

PART 3: Fill in the blank with the correct answer.

1. The Chairman of the 1787 Constitutional Convention was __________ (name).

2. Harvard University was established in _______ (year).

3. The largest US State by area is ___________ (name).

4. The Speaker of the House of Representatives is ___________ (name).

5. The Dow Jones Index of the New York Stock Exchange started in ________ (year).

PART 4: Write short essays on 3 of the 6 questions. (these were the 3 most popular choices)

A.  Describe the key features of the American political system as established by the American constitution.  Who do you think has more power, President Xi Jin Ping or President Barack Obama?  Explain your reasoning.

B.  In your opinion what were some of the most important reasons for the rapid economic development of the USA in the period 1800 - 1899?  What happened to the Chinese economy during that century?

E.  Describe the key features of the Nobel Prize system.  In your opinion, why have only seven Chinese-born people received the Nobel Prize?

A view of the class room I supervised in the Culture exam. My fellow supervisor, Shen Dan, has her back to the camera. 

It was an “open book” exam – students could take in any paper reference materials. Perhaps a bit generous, but from my perspective I didn’t want the students to spend many hours memorizing all the dates and names and facts; it was more important that they developed a general understanding of the subject.

Although the course is called “Western Culture” you will see from the questions that I focused on the USA.  The course was only 17 weeks and I preferred to describe American culture in detail rather than talk superficially about several countries.

One student got all 70 short questions right - the first time in my 4 years teaching that has happened – a great achievement.  I was so impressed that I tracked the student down.  His name is Wang He (English name Albert); home town is Jinzhou, Liaoning Province; in 3^rd year, majoring in Mechanical Engineering; his parents are both architects.

Wang He (Albert) who got all the 70 short questions right.

Six other students got two Parts completely right, but Albert was the only one to get the trifecta.

14 of the 196 students who sat the exam got less than 50% and will not pass.

How did you go with these sample questions?  Did you pass?

...

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Tuesday, 13 January 2015.

10 January 2015

Gentlefolk,

As you know, I do a monthly summary of interesting news events, with a focus on news in/on China.   

There is such competition within Western media outlets that usually only the unusual, sensational, or bizarre in any country gets a mention.  It is much the same here – only when 8 kids are murdered does Australia get into the Chinese papers!

Events which made the news in China in December 2014

These news items were sourced from The China Daily newspaper in December 2014.  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 6.1.

Remember that the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to make the Communist Party (CPC) and Chinese Government look good. 

I read foreign news websites regularly, such as the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC), The Canberra Times, The New Daily, The Beast (Newsweek), The Economist, etc but the only ‘full’ newspaper I read every day is the China Daily. 

My China Daily subscription costs $0.25 per copy, no delivery charge. Each afternoon I pick up the previous day’s copy at the campus Post Office so it is at least one day old, sometimes two or three, before I read it.

If you strip away the propaganda, there is quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper.  It’s not ideal, but it is certainly much better than just getting 30 second news grabs on TV (actually, we haven’t even had access to CCTV English News for the last 3 months, since moving into our new apartment – for some unknown reason we can’t pick up the CCTV signal in this building). 

Hopefully this summary gives you a broader idea of what is happening in China. The events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things which caught my eye.

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news, December 2014

1 Dec	According to the Ministry of Education 74% of Primary schools and Middle schools now have access to the internet (compared to 25% in 2011).
	The annual Civil Service Entrance Exam (Guo Kao) was held on 30 November. 1.05 million candidates sat the exam (for 22,000 vacancies).
2 Dec	Reports that 60% of groundwater in China is of poor or very poor quality.
	German chain, Metro, now has 79 stores in 55 Chinese cities.
	Last week the average daily turnover on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was $93 billion.
3 Dec	In 2014 so far 15,494 officials have been disciplined for breaches of the govt’s  ‘frugality regulations’.
	A mobile phone number 188----888 sold for the equivalent of $957,000 in Nanning, Guangxi Province. Chinese love number 8!
	Car accidents in China result in 200,000 injured every year and 60,000 deaths.
	China has an estimated 85 million people with disabilities.
4 Dec	China’s two largest railway rolling stock manufacturers, CNR and CSR, will merge. The new company will be called China Railway Vehicle Corporation, with 170,000 employees and assets of $49 billion.
	Outbound tourists totaled 100 million in the first 11 months of 2014 (total for whole of 1998 was 8.4 m). 90% went to Asia (mostly to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), about 3% to each of Europe, Africa and America, and 1% to Oceania.
	Steel demand in 2014 is projected to be 710 million tonnes. Major sectors: construction 395 mt; machinery 144 mt; energy 33 mt; ship building 14 mt.
5 Dec	China’s annual defence budget is $132 billion. President Xi is determined to modernise the military.
6 Dec	China’s grain production in 2014 totaled 607 million tonnes, the eleventh year of increased production.  Grain imports in the first 10 months of 2014 were 73 mt (mainly soy bean)
	Govt announced that the harvesting of body organs of executed criminals will cease at the end of December this year.
	China’s domestically produced ACP1000 nuclear reactor passed the IAEA’s safety review. China has 21 nuclear reactors generating 14.6 gigawatts of power.  Another 27 under construction which will bring the total up to 50 GW by 2018.
9 Dec	Eight Chinese Uygurs given death sentences for terrorist attacks in Urumqi (Xinjiang) in April 2014 in which 46 people died and 79 were injured.
	China Shipping Container Lines took delivery of  the world’s largest container ship with capacity of 19,100 TEU.
10 Dec	The National Electronic Sports Meet held in Qingdao last weekend featured Dota2, League of Legends, Warcraft 3, NBA2K competitions. 70,000 people attended. At the end of 2013 there were an estimated 495 million online video game players in China. An estimated 27 m watched the final of the annual World Championships of League of Legends between a Korean team and a Chinese team.
11 Dec	In 2013 Govt revenue from cigarettes totaled $155 billion (8% of total revenue).
	In 2013 China had 639 ‘accredited’ golf courses (up from 432 in 2009). The building of new courses was prohibited in 2011 to preserve farmland and water resources. Several illegal courses are being closed down.
12 Dec	When swimming champion Sun Yang failed a doping test on 17 May he was only suspended for 3 months, which enabled him to compete in the Asian Games in September where he won 3 gold medals and 1 silver. His transgression was announced on 24 November by the Chinese Swimming Federation. Following a storm of international criticism (eg Australia has banned Sun from training there), China announced much stronger anti-doping regulations.
	Guangdong Province has announced new standard procedures for its 141 universities and colleges in cases of student deaths on campus.
13 Dec	The Central Route (1,400 km of canals, pipelines and tunnels) of the South-North Water Diversion Project started operating. The first water is expected to arrive in Beijing in 2 weeks.  Total expenditure so far estimated at $80 billion.
	Anniversary of the capture of Nanjing by Japanese troops on 13 Dec 1937.  Over the next 6 weeks an estimated 300,000 civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed.
15 Dec	Beijing Environmental Exchange reported that since carbon trading was introduced 12 months ago 719 contracts have been signed worth $17 million for 2.1 million tonnes. Carbon trading is being trialed in major cities.
16 Dec	Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun Ying announced that the last barricades of the 79 day Occupy Central protests have been cleared. 130 police and 221 demonstrators were injured during the protests; 955 demonstrators were arrested.
	The fertility rate of Chinese women has fallen from 4.8 in the 1970s to 1.4 now (about 15 million births a year). The one child policy has been further relaxed.  But the population is aging - estimated 30% of the population will be over 60 by 2050.
	Xiaomi sold 17 million smartphones in Q3 2014, 3rdmost after Samsung and Apple.  This still-private company started operations only 5 years ago, and is making big inroads.  Slim margins (reportedly 2%) mean low prices. In November the Wall Street Journal reported Xiaomi made more than $500 million profit in 2013, but that figure has now been revised downwards by 90%.
	China’s glaciers are shrinking at a rate of 244 sq km a year.  An estimated 3.4 million hectares of wetlands have been lost in the last 10 years.
22 Dec	Two new high-speed railway lines opened: Guangzhou to Guiyang (857 km) and Lanzhou to Urumqi (1,777 km).
	Following several scandals, the Ministry of Education announced new procedures for colleges and universities to improve transparency relating to promotions, enrollments, construction contracts, and the allocation of research funds.
	The winter solstice (shortest day/longest night) is called dong zhi in Chinese. The Lunar Calendar divides the year into 24 periods, and the winter solstice is considered the start of the coldest period. Traditionally in Northern China people eat dumplings on this day, while in Southern China they eat glutinous rice balls. It is also a time for ancestor worship.
23 Dec	The two authors who earned most royalties this year were Zhang Jia Jia (“Passing through your world”) and Zang Yuan Jie (“Pipilu” series). Each made a little over $3 million.  Han Han was #6 with $2.5 m,  and Guo Jing Ming was #7 with $2.3 m.
	Construction of Beijing’s second international airport will start next week. It is expected to become operational in 2019, and cost $13 billion. It will handle up to 72 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of freight a year.
26 Dec	China has 358 billionaires; the richest are Li Ka Shing (net worth $29.4 billion), Ma Yun ($29.1 b) and Wang Jian Lin ($24.8 b).
	Following the successful trial of the Shanghai Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ), similar FTZ’s will be established in Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin.
30 Dec	The first water in the Central Route of the South-North Water Diversion Project arrived in Beijing. This new sources will supply about 20% of BJ’s water needs.
	Shenzhen announced that from 1 January only 100,000 new cars will be permitted every year (similar restrictions already apply in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou).
31 Dec	Tragedy: 36 killed and many injured in New Years Eve ‘stampede’ in Shanghai.
	Top 10 online news issues in 2014 in China: Govt’s anti-corruption campaign; deepening reform; rule of law; new normal of economic growth; China’s diplomacy (APEC host); anti-terrorism; missing MH370; Occupy Central; overturned criminal convictions; cyberspace governance. Top 10 China-related business events in 2014: New normal (quality of growth rather than quantity); Natural gas deals with Russia, for delivery of 38 billion cm pa for 30 years; anti-trust investigations resulted in lower automotive prices; Alibaba IPO raised $21.8 b; Lenovo bought Motorola  and IBM’s server business; restrictions relaxed on purchases of residential properties; Silk Road initiative; various bilateral Free Trade Agreements; Central Bank cut interest rates  link between the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges; stock market boom in second half of 2014.

(b) International events covered in the China Daily, December 2014

1 Dec	Poland’s Donald Tusk assumed Presidency of the European Council for next 5 years.
	ALP won the Victorian State elections in Australia; Daniel Andrew new Premier.
	Rugby: Australia’s Wallabies beat Wales but lost to France, England and Ireland.
2 Dec	190 countries were represented at the Lima Conference on Global Warming. Since the first conference in Rio de Janiero in 1992, carbon dioxide levels are up 60%. Aim is to announce firm commitments by countries in Paris next December.
	OPEC decided to maintain output at 30 million barrels per day. Weak oil prices have hit the Russian economy, with the rouble down by 50%  in 9 months.  ExxonMobil report “Outlook for Energy” predicted that the USA will become a net exporter of oil and natural gas by 2020.
	21 year old American Jordan Spieth won the Australian Golf Open. He hit a course record 63 in the last round. Lydia Ko, World #3, will attend university in Seoul.
5 Dec	Decision by Grand Jury not to charge NY policeman Daniel Pantaleo for ‘choke-hold’ death of Eric Garner in July.  Big demonstrations in many US cities.
6 Dec	Ireland to introduce ‘plain packaging’ for cigarettes.
	Queensland University and the China Research Academy for Environmental Sciences established the joint Australia-China Centre for Air Quality.
10 Dec	World-wide 63 deaths due to sharks in last 10 years; 25% in Australia.
	New format “Premier Tennis League” started – emphasis on fun, speed and noise.
11 Dec	Time magazine named “Ebola Fighters” their Person of the Year (there have been 19,497 cases of Ebola and 7,588 deaths in the last 12 months). Xi Jin Ping was named “Person of the Year” by the Russian Biographical Institute.
	Three Chinese films nominated for “Golden Globe”: Coming Home (Director Zhang Yi Mou); Dearest (Peter Chan); and The Continent (Han Han).
	“Shirtfront” was the Aussie Word of 2014.
	A French university found that men reacted more favourably to women the higher their high-heels.
13 Dec	The World Health Organisation reported that there were 12 million new cases of syphilis in the world last year (about 450,000 in China).
15 Dec	PM Shinzo Abe won re-election in Japan.
16 Dec	Hostage drama in Lindt Café, Martin Place, Sydney ended with 3 dead (2 hostages and the gunman).
	France drafted a UN resolution setting a 2 year deadline for withdrawal by Israel to pre-1967 borders and finalisation of a Two-State solution.
	White South African medical student Rolene Strauss won the Miss World contest.
	Kobe Bryant passed Michael Jordan’s total of 32,292 to become the 3rd highest regular season point scorer in NBA history.
	A six-man Taliban group killed 130 students in an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
18 Dec	President Obama announced moves to normalise relations with Cuba.
	The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) announced that it received 2.6 million patent applications in 2013; 32% from China, followed by USA, Japan.
19 Dec	Avon paid a fine of $135 million for violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practises Act for bribing local officials in China.
	The Rev. Libby Lane became the first female bishop of the Church of England.
	A Chinese consortium will build a 734 km high-speed railway between Bangkok and Nong Krai.
	Eight children were found stabbed to death in Cairns, Queensland. Mother arrested.
23 Dec	Aussie father, Steven van Lonkhuyzen, and his two sons (5 & 7) survived 10 days stranded in the Outback.
	A Hong Kong company started construction of the Inter-oceanic Grand Canal in Nicaragua. The Canal will be 278 km long and take 5 years to build ($50 billion).
27 Dec	After 13 years of combat operations, President Obama marked the end of US role in Afghanistan; 2,200 troops killed; cost more than $1 trillion dollars. NATO (incl. US) will leave 13,500 advisers in Afghanistan.
29 Dec	AirAsia flight QZ8501 crashed flying from Surabaya to Singapore; 155 passengers and 7 crew perished.

...

It has been a busy week of marking exam papers; but with Vera's help I got through it all.  Tomorrow we leave Qingdao, first to Hong Kong and then to Australia.  We'll return on 5 March 2015 for the start of the second semester of this academic year.

So this is my last post from China for the next couple of months.  I might get a chance to do something in Hong Kong, but we'll be running around in Australia and blog posts will take a back seat.

Anyway folks, it's been nice having you along for the ride over the last year or so.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Saturday, 10 January 2015