"Green Brow" drops anchor
"绿眉毛"造访厦门
Photo by Zheng Xiaodong



"Green Brow", the replica antique wooden sailboat steered into Xiamen Harbor on April 20. Since its arrival, crowds have boarded the ship to pay a visit. Seen in the picture is Ms Zhou, a lady in her eighties, who came in her wheelchair. The ship has been sailing along Zheng He's former routes. Green Brow's westward voyage includes Xiamen, its fourth port of call.

 

 

Economics

Air Asia offers RMB 99 Xiamen-Bangkok air tickets
亚航99元飞曼谷
After providing RMB 388 Xiamen-Bangkok discounted tickets for all its seats, Air Asia, the first budget carrier, has embarked again on a promotional campaign from April 22 to May 12, in which potential travelers have a chance to purchase a RMB 99 air ticket to Bangkok if they log into the carrier's website at http://www.airasia.com and answer three questions according to the instructions.

Stock investment and housing spending drop dramatically
炒股购房支出大幅下降
In the first quarter of this year, residents' non-consumption spending averaged RMB 1,128, down 14.2% over the same period last year; investment in valuable securities and spending on housing suffered the largest drop at 100% and 53.02%, respectively.

Local property developer acquires 12 curios at auction
厦门房产商拍走12件古董
At the 2005 Guopai Spring Artwork Auction, a Xiamen-based property developer stood out from the crowd of bidders by acquiring 12 pieces of porcelain from official kilns of the Ming and Qing dynasties for a total price of RMB 5.06 million.

 

 

Society

Xiamen Team tops World Kite Tournament
厦门队夺冠首届国际风筝赛
The 1st World Kite Tournament & 2005 National Kite Tournament kicked off in Weifang, Shangdong on April 21. Xiamen Dazhou Stunt Kite Team, consisting of seven players from Xiamen Sports School and Jimei University, represented China and won the 1st place in the 1st World Kite Tournament, which attracted about 400 players from 40 countries and regions.

Xiamen University institutes real-name registration for BBS
厦大BBS实行实名注册
These days, Xiamen University students are busy going through the BBS real-name registration with the university's Network Administration Center. Effective on June 1, the university will institute a BBS real-name registration system, under which students without real-name registration will not be able to post in the BBS. Jimei University instituted the same system two years ago.

Doctor abandoning post held responsible for patient's death
医院临阵脱逃赔偿死者
During the outbreak of the SARS epidemic, Xiao Nan was sent to the Fever Clinic of Qianpu Hospital after suffering a high fever and dry cough but later died of acute myocarditis following the doctor's disappearance. The city's Intermediate Court recently ruled that Qianpu Hospital, as a result of its "negligence in discharging medical duties", should shoulder 50% of the responsibility for the death of Xiao, and ordered the hospital to pay RMB 136,800 to Xiao Nan's parents for economic losses and RMB 50,000 for mental damages.

Honorary citizen's dream comes true
荣誉市民梦想成真
Dr William N. Brown (Bill), an honorary citizen of Xiamen, will soon see his suggestions for the Island Ring Road turned into a reality. The city's Tourism Bureau and Federation of Literature & Arts, after hearing Dr Brown's suggestions for holding road arts shows, immediately decided to stage such shows during the May Day week-long holiday by holding photography shows, and painting and calligraphic exhibitions on the Island Ring Road. Also, university arts students and folk artists are to perform on the site. These events are tentatively scheduled for May 3 and 4.

70% donors seek anonymity
七成捐赠者甘当无名氏
Xiamen Daily and the city's Red Cross and Charity Association, during their recent joint nominations of Xiamen's top 10 charitable personages, found that more than 70% of routine donors are common citizens who do not want to be identified. These donors have dug deep in their pockets in the names of such as "Warm-hearted", "Dust" and "Clean" which cannot be tracked down, making it impossible for the charity organizers to issue the huge numbers of invoices.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Repairs to section of Great Wall
修复部分长城
Beijing began a second phase of a project to repair a 12.4 kilometer section of the Great Wall in a suburban area. The Huanghuacheng section of the Great Wall was first built in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577). The existing part was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
It has attracted numerous visitors with its original look of the ancient Great Wall, careful architectural handicraft, colorful patterns, steep mountains and dense forests and plants.

Encouraging private nursing homes
扶持私家养老园
Beijing has adopted new measures encouraging non-governmental institutions and individuals to invest in care centers for aged citizens. All welfare institutions for the aged, orphans, abandoned infants and rehabilitation centers run by non-governmental institutions or individuals can apply to local civil affair departments for 100 yuan (12.09 US dollars) in government subsidies for each bed monthly. The municipal government will no longer directly build care centers for the aged in the future but only build some pilot social welfare organizations.

Software export to Europe, America hits new record
软件出口欧美创新高
Beijing exported some 13.46 million US dollars of software to European and American countries in the first quarter this year, a year-on-year rise of 2.8 times. As the leading software export base, Beijing had established more than 3,000 software firms by the end of 2004. Previously, Beijing mainly exported software to Asian countries.

Shanghai 上海

More money in Shanghai pockets
上海人钱袋鼓了
Salaries rose in Shanghai last year and the income gap narrowed. The per capita annual salary in the city reached 24,398 yuan (US$2,950) in 2004, up 10.1 per cent on 2003. Of 19 local industries surveyed, information technology and financing offered the best paid jobs, with per capita annual salaries of 54,530 yuan (US$6,570) and 45,700 yuan (US$5,530) respectively.

Four locals tour world to boost games
四人环游世界奥委会成员国
Four young men from Shanghai are planning to spend 800 days traveling to all 202 member states of the International Olympic Committee to welcome athletes and visitors to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The world tour is scheduled to start from the city on April 11 next year and the group will arrive in the capital on August 8, 2008 in time for the opening ceremonies of the 29th Olympic Games. On arrival in every foreign country, the expedition team will interview local Olympic athletes and invite them to the Beijing Olympic Games.

Fudan University breaks down major barriers
复旦大学打破专业界限
In order to break down walls between various departments, Fudan University will lump all of its incoming students into two groups, arts and science, this year, instead of grouping students by their majors. The idea is to give students a chance to take courses offered in various departments so they get a broader education in their first year of studies.

Guangzhou & Shenzhen 广州 & 深圳

Database to combat nepotism
建立信息库防止裙带关系
Guangdong is building a database on employment information of government leaders' families to avoid nepotism and tackle corruption. All leaders above county level will fill in a form detailing the employment information of family members and hand in the forms to the disciplinary inspection commission before May 15. The leaders or their families should clarify if they or their family members had been promoted or got new jobs or contracts within a month of the change.

Face-making robot debuts in Shenzhen
表情丰富的机器人亮相深圳
Chinese scientists have developed the first human-shaped robot able to make facial expressions. The 35 centimeter-high robot has been given a friendly, cartoon-style design with a unique nose, wrinkles, big ears and golden hair. Its mouth moves while speaking, and it makes appropriate facial expressions and head, neck, arm and leg movements. The invention is aimed at helping rudimentary knowledge development and character cultivation in preschool children.



Chongqing 重庆

White Crane Rock Beam applies for world cultural heritage
白鹤光岩申报世界文化遗产
White Crane Rock Beam of Stone Fish, located in the Yangtze River, is preparing for applying for world cultural heritage. The 1600-meter long White Crane Rock Beam is normally submerged in the water of Fuling Dock, and only during low water can it be seen. There are engravings of stone fishes and paragraphs of inscriptions on the Beam, recording the lowest water levels from the Tang Dynasty (AD763) to the Qing Dynasty (AD1685), and which is even regarded today as "Yangtze's Most Precious Hydrological Datum". It will be open to the public in June next year.



Hong Kong 香港

Another case of leptospirosis
发现又一例细螺旋体病例
Another case of leptospirosis involving a 24-year-old woman has been reported. Her blood samples were positive for leptospirosis antibodies and the case is epidemiologically linked to the two leptospirosis cases involving a couple earlier. They were members of a tour which traveled to Sabah, Malaysia, in March. The risk of leptospirosis was usually related to occupational or recreational water exposure, such as water contaminated by urine of infected animals.

Top Chinese medicine maker builds Hong Kong base
同仁堂香港设生产基地
Beijing Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Company, the leading Chinese medicine manufacturer in China, is establishing a production base in Hong Kong, the first one outside the Chinese mainland. The initial design and pre-construction work began early this year and is expected to be completed in July 2006. The plant will produce eight forms of Chinese drugs with an estimated production value of 200 million Hong Kong dollars when it starts operation.

Huge painting to raise environmental awareness
巨幅画卷呼吁环保
More than 3,000 kindergarten pupils and teachers kicked off an environmental education program - Green Kindergarten Network, by working on a huge handprint painting together. They produced the painting on a 370 square meters canvas, hoping to break the Guinness World Record. The painting design was based on the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh's magnificent wheat fields with mountains in the background to highlight the theme - We Love Nature.

Taipei 台北

Taiwan gets tough on trash
垃圾处理问题棘手
Sifting through garbage isn't something most people are very keen on but, in Taiwan, dodging the dirty duty could result in a fine of almost US$200. Recycling has become an urgent issue in Taiwan as the crowded, mountainous island of 23 million people is rapidly running out of space to dump its trash. Taiwan has 200 landfills which will all be full in two years, and then will be dependent on trash incinerators' huge, unsightly furnaces that emit poisonous fumes and are highly unpopular with residents. Incinerators already tackle two-thirds of Taiwan's non-recycled waste.

Taiwan orders rise on Hong Kong demand
对港出口上扬
Taiwanese export orders rose to a record in March as demand picked up in mainland China, the biggest overseas market for the island. Orders, which are indicative of shipments in one to three months, rose 21 percent from a year earlier to a record $20.9 billion after climbing 19 percent in the first two months of the year. Orders from Hong Kong reached a record in March, reflecting steady demand from mainland China.


Vocabulary
outbreak 爆发
clinic 门诊
myocarditis 心肌炎
curio 古董
calligraphic 书法的
kiln 窑
nepotism 裙带关系
leptospirosis 细螺旋体病
epidemiological 疫学的
crane 鹤