Olympic champion gets hot
奥运冠军孙甜甜签名售拍
Photo by Yao Fan



Sun Tiantian, the Athens Olympic Champion of the tennis female doubles signed autographs for her fans at a racket selling event at the Xiamen Sports Center on November 21.

 

 

Economics

CGS gold bullions to debut in Xiamen next month
高赛尔金条下月登陆厦门
With a booming international gold market, starting next month, you'll be able to trade in gold as an individual. CGS gold bullions, China's first batch of investment-type real gold bars sold through banks, will hit the Xiamen market in early December.

Airport passenger throughput to hit 5 million
机场旅客量将破五百万
Xiamen Airport's passenger throughput this year is expected to break the 5 million mark. Statistics show that as of October, Xiamen Airport has achieved passenger throughput 4.6654 million person-time, up 35.6% over the previous year, attaining the target for the entire year ahead of schedule.

RMB to be accepted in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea
持人民币卡游新马泰韩
Starting next year, Chinese tourists in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea will be allowed to pay for purchases in RMB with bank cards bearing the logo of Union Pay. At the present time, China Union Pay is in negotiations with related authorities and bank card issuers in these four countries to finalize the details of the usage of the RMB bank cards.

 

 

Society

Swindlers arrested for huge sums of "university admission fees"
诈骗高额"大学录取费"
A swindling ring of six members, who disguised themselves as admission officers from Xiamen University and cheated huge sums of "admission fees" out of students from outside of Xiamen, have recently been busted by the police. The swindlers charged more than RMB 200,000 for each student "admitted" to the university, with an amount of money relating to this case being RMB 1.5 million.

Martial arts rally staged
武林大会登场
In anticipation of Mr. Jin Yong's imminent visit to Quanzhou and in an effort to showcase Quanzhou's martial arts achievements, Quanzhou Martial Arts Heroes' Rally was held in Quanzhou Shaolin Temple at 10:00-11:00 AM on November 21. The event attracted nearly 100 martial arts masters from various schools to show off their consummate skills.

Serial thief busted
大盗落法网
Chen Xiaoshan, a serial thief, recently received a life imprisonment from Xiamen Intermediate People's Court, with all his personal property confiscated. He committed 110 thefts worth RMB 270,000 in Xiamen in less than a year. He was one of the most "fruitful" thieves in the local history.

Permission from security guard required for washroom visit
上厕所要保安批准
In the Watsons Supermarket inside the SM City Plaza, shop clerks who wish to go to the washroom must register first and proceed to the washroom when the security guard nods his head. The supermarket argues that this measure facilitates their management; however, as most shop clerks here are female, they feel very uneasy at having to report to the male guard for a washroom visit.

Fake doctor in big trouble
冒充医生闯大祸
Even a highly skilled doctor may not be able to cure malignant lymphoma. A farmer who promised to cure this disease burned a horrible hole in the chest of his female patient. He paid RMB 50,000 to compensate the woman and was sentenced by Huli District Court to six months in jail, with a penalty of RMB 3,000; his illegal profit of RMB 3,700 was also confiscated.

 

 

Education

Singapore middle school students arrive in Xiamen
新加坡中学生来厦
A group of 37 Junior III students from Singapore's Bowen Secondary School arrived recently in Xiamen for a five-day study at Xiamen No. 1 Middle School. They will attend courses on riddle solving, Chinese folk musical instruments, and traditional Chinese holidays to improve their knowledge of Chinese culture.

Macau Polytechnic Institute to recruit students in Xiamen next year
澳门理工学院明年来招生
Macau Polytechnic Institute recently conducted a press conference here in Xiamen to promote its admission program for next year. Since 2001, with the approval of the Ministry of Education, most higher-learning institutions in Hong Kong and Macau have been allowed to recruit high school graduates in 14 mainland provinces and cities who have taken the College Entrance Examinations. Fujian is one of them.

Wal-Mart to recruit university students
沃尔玛征召大学生
Zhang Ren, Wal-Mart regional general manager, said during a recent speech at Xiamen University that Warl-Mart plans to recruit 60 university graduates from East China this year. This is the first time that Wal-Mart, which has been keeping a low profile since its entry into the Chinese market, has ever conducted a lecture on a Chinese campus. This move indicates that Wal-Mart is gearing up for the comprehensive opening of China's retail industry on December 11.

Primary school students open flea market
小学生摆跳蚤市场
The Songbai Primary School recently held a charity sale, with many students donating used toys, books and stationery, as well as ornaments, pictures and calligraphy created by themselves. The school authorities will use the income from the sale to open a loving heart fund to support its poverty-stricken students.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

First special policewoman to protect kindergarten
幼儿园里配女警
A kindergarten will employ a female security guard from the end of this month. The kindergarten claims the new guard is a retired special police officer who is especially skilled in the often painful art of hand-to-hand combat.
But aside from ensuring the school's kids are safe, the new guard will also spend some time in the classroom teaching. A handful of other private kindergartens in the capital are planning to recruit female guards, despite the higher salary required.

Beijing may get Yangtze water by 2010
2010长江水助京
By 2010, Beijing residents may start getting their water from the Yangtze River.
China's largest water diversion project may start supplying water to Shandong Province by 2007 and Beijing by 2010, an official confirmed.
The worsening water shortage in the two areas, caused by decades of drought, may be alleviated with water from the mighty Yangtze River in the South, which will be diverted into the parched North.

Yahoo seeks to expand on mainland
雅虎瞄准大陆市场
This autumn 1,000 search-engine servers from the US were installed on the 14th floor of an office tower in Beijing. They belong to Yahoo!, one of the world's biggest search-engine companies. The US giant hopes to become the No. 1 search engine company in China by buying up the competition. In June, Google invested US$10 million in Baidu. Yahoo! has been making up for lost time, seeking to build a dominant position in the mainland market through new products, acquisitions and alliances.

Shanghai 上海

Foreign trade registered a 40 percent increase
注册外资激增
Shanghai recorded nearly 230 billion US dollars in foreign trade in the first 10 months of this year, a year-on-year growth of 41.4 percent. The trade volume has already exceeded the total foreign trade volume of 2003, according to local customs sources.
The European Union, Japan and the United States remained as Shanghai's top three trade partners. Electrical and mechanical products made up the largest percentage of exports. The export of textile, garments, furniture, shoes and plastic products also reported increases.

Driving schools charge more
驾校涨价
A growing number of learning drivers are having to pay up to 10 per cent more at local driving schools.
The report says that more than ten well known driving schools in the city have raised prices by an average of 300 Yuan, since the middle of this month, with a maximum increase of 900 Yuan, over $110 dollars.
The highest increase shown is for Santana sedans, up from 4,500 Yuan before the National Day holiday to the current 5,700 Yuan.

The tale of a mouse
老鼠东航奇遇
A passenger jet owned by China Eastern Airlines has been held out of service for five days while crew members searched for a most unlikely stowaway.
The culprit: a small mouse that may have boarded the plane in Shanghai.
The high-flying rodent was finally trapped over the weekend, but the plane remained grounded for inspections. Crewmen failed to catch the stowaway in Singapore and became concerned that it might chew through electrical wiring and pose a safety hazard. So instead of flying back to Shanghai with a full load of passengers, the plane returned to Pudong with only the mouse aboard.

Wedding-to-cradle site to open
人生旅途"一站式"购物
Shanghai will open a pioneering family planning center later this month in Hongkou District that provides one-stop shopping for everything from wedding arrangements to maternity care. If the test program proves successful, the concept may be applied citywide. Officials of Hongkou's Population and Family Planning Commission said the effort stems from their desire to upgrade wedding, pregnancy and child-rearing services.

Men make lousy workers
上海男人"磨洋工"多
Shanghai men are arrogant and do more talking on the job than actual work, unlike migrant men in the city who are hardworking and diligent, a recent survey suggests. Nearly 39 percent of people surveyed said their male colleagues from Shanghai are arrogant, like to give indiscreet criticism and desire to manipulate others.
Only 9 percent of respondents had similar criticisms about their migrant male colleagues.
About 48 percent of them said that migrant male employees are harder workers and more duty-bounded than local men.

Guangzhou & Shenzhen 广州深圳

Shenzhen implements regulation of protecting witnesses
法规出台护证人
The procuratorate in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, has implemented a regulation incorporating a witness protection program.Chinese laws do not specify protective measures for witnesses, and legal action usually follows after witnesses are hurt. The regulation was the first of its kind in the country. Witnesses who suffer or might suffer insults or threats against their lives can be granted round-the-clock protection. All information regarding witnesses will be kept confidential.

Guangzhou students go online with a new network
建立教育网络
As personal computers enter more households, primary and middle schools are jumping onto the high-tech bandwagon.
Guangzhou education authorities have already started work on a computer network that may provide every student with an e-mail address and allow faster communication with teachers and administrators. Students will soon be able to get their marks and performance reports by logging on to the Guangzhou Education and Research Network (GERN). In addition to their marks, other information that may impact the students will also be sent through email.

Chongqing 重庆

Chongqing tea-house explosion
茶馆爆炸亡12人
An explosion at a tea-house has killed 12 people and wounded two dozen others.
The blast, which took place last Thursday afternoon, tore through the building in Tongliang county in Chongqing municipality and killed nine people at the scene. Three more died en route to hospital. Officials were conducting an investigation and have so far excluded the possibility that it could have been caused by leakage from a household gas cylinder.

Oil-saving products swarm into market
节油产品蜂拥重庆
With the increase of oil prices, more and more car-owners are worried about maintenance fees. Various fuel-economizers and fuel-efficient additives are swarming the market. It's estimated that if half of the current 400,000-500,000 cars and cargos are installed with this fuel economizer, there will be a market of RMB 100million.
A freight cargo which runs 6,000 kilometers a month will save about RMB 300 with the installation.

Hongkong & Macao 香港澳门

Mystery disease in HK may be viral infection
怪病疑是病毒感染
A mystery respiratory illness that is plaguing a local hospital is likely to be the result of a viral, not bacterial, infection.
The total number of cases increased to 31 last week after one more patient showed signs of fever and respiratory tract infection.
Four children are still down with a fever, said a hospital authority spokesman.

HK plans pedestrian zones in busy-shopping areas
商业闹市拟添步行区
Causeway Bay's Kai Chiu Road and Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong's two famous busy-shopping areas, could be converted into full-time pedestrian zones under a new government proposal.
The project in Causeway Bay will involve a walkway and a new subway under Hennessy Road linking Sogo Department Store and Hennessy Center. The Planning Department has consulted the public and is analyzing the views gathered.
So far, six full-time and 26 part-time pedestrian zones have been designated in Hong Kong.

Macao gets green light to expand flights to mainland
获准增辟航线
The Central Government has agreed to let another airline fly to the Chinese mainland from Macao, which could help the tourism-dependent region establish itself as a gateway for budget travel. The new pact allows a second airline to fly from Macao to the Chinese mainland, except for the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Service to those cities should be opened by the summer of 2006. The agreement has "paved the way for big expansion in the future," the Macao SAR Government said in a statement.

Taipei 台北

Warner files suit against Taiwan-based karaoke chain
华纳诉台娱乐业
The U.S.-based Warner music company has filed a lawsuit accusing a popular Taiwan-based karaoke chain of playing its music videos without permission and is demanding CNY 200,000 ($24,000) in damages.
The Hong Kong arm of the U.S. music giant also is asking a Beijing court to order Partyworld to apologize for playing three Warner videos.
The lawyer in Beijing for Warner declined through an employee to comment. A spokeswoman for Partyworld in Taipei, Taiwan, said they had no immediate comment.

RMB interest rate rise has little impact on firms
人民币汇率上扬 台公司影响甚微
The raise of RMB interest rates has had little impact on the operation and financing of Taiwan-funded companies on the mainland, said a central government spokesman at a press briefing.
China's central bank raised both lending and deposit interest rates 0.27 percentage points on Oct. 29. It also broadened the floating degree of the lending interest rate of the RMB and allowed the RMB deposit interest rate to float downward.