Sofitel celebrates its opening
索菲特大酒店正式营业
Photo by Yao Fan



Sofitel Plaza Xiamen celebrated its grand opening on October 17, 2005. Mr Wee Cho Yaw, Chairman of the Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Group, opened the ceremony that was coincided with the 20th anniversary of the United Overseas Bank's Xiamen Branch. Among the invited guests were representatives from the highest levels of Xiamen's city government, top executives from Accor, and prominent leaders of the city's well-known corporations.

 

 

Economics

Xiamen to build "Twin Towers"
将建"双子星大厦"
The construction of Guanyinshan Central Business Operation District will begin in January 2006. The construction includes two 50-storey twin towers and is expected to be ready to invite businesses to begin operations in the district within two-three years.

Shopping festival to begin at month's end
购物节月底登场
In partnership with Xiamen Municipal Government, the Xiamen Trade Development Bureau, Tourism Bureau, Siming District Government, Huli District Government and Xiamen Daily will jointly organize the "2005 Xiamen Shopping Carnival" from October 28 to December 31.

Growth in private car ownership likely to slow down
私人购车可能"减速"
In the first three quarters of this year, the local government collected RMB 276 million in vehicle purchase taxes, up 14% over the same period last year. Industry insiders predict that with surging oil prices, the growth in private car ownership is likely to lose momentum.

4 local people appear on Hu Run's Rich List
胡润富豪榜厦门4人上榜
The 2005 Hu Run's Rich List has recently been unveiled in Shanghai. Of the 400 people on the list, four are from Xiamen. The family of Lan Weiguang, Chairman of the Board of Xiamen Suntar Membrane Technology, and Huang Xi of Good First Group, are tied in 168th place with RMB 1 billion each; Sun Shaofeng, Chairman of China Green Food is in 274th place with RMB 740 million; and Chen Yongfei, Chairman of the Board of Shenghui Group, is in 306th place with RMB 600 million.

 

 

Society

Tainan snacks move into Zhongshan Road
台南小吃街进驻中山路
"Time Shopping Plaza" on Zhongshan Road recently announced in a press conference that Taiwan's Tainan Snacks Street will establish a presence in the plaza, offering 100-plus food stalls featuring Tainan local snacks with about 70-100 chefs from Taiwan. If all goes as planned, the new snack zone will be opened before the 2006 China International Fair for Investment and Trade.

Marathon to be held in March next year
明年马拉松3月开跑
The first session of the Organizing Committee of the 2006 Xiamen International Marathon Championships has announced that the race will be held on March 25, 2006.

13 outstanding freshmen awarded RMB 40, 000 each
13名优秀新生每人奖4万
The Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College this year offered handsome scholarships to the freshmen, with 27 freshmen sharing a total of RMB 700,000 in awards. 13 students each received an award of RMB 40,000.

Public transportation inspectors board buses
公交考评员亮证纠错
Inspectors overseeing the city's public transportation service quality will soon board buses with inspection certificates to correct improper behavior by public transportation service personnel. Service personnel must change any behaviors deemed unsuitable immediately, and those who refuse to mend their way or argue with the inspectors will lose points in evaluations.

7 banks to offer weekend services
7家银行周末提供服务
Seven Xiamen-based banks have announced that they will provide 24-hour online customs duty payment services on Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays. Local importers and exporters are encouraged to pay customs duties online. The seven banks are: the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Xiamen Branch, the Agricultural Bank of China Xiamen Branch, Bank of Communications Xiamen Branch, China Merchants Bank Xiamen Branch, CITIC Industrial Bank Xiamen Branch, China Everbright Bank Xiamen Branch, and Industrial Bank Co Ltd Xiamen Branch.

Paternity tests available to private citizens from Oct 13
亲子鉴定13日起向私人开放
On October 13, paternity tests were made available to private citizens. At present, the cost of DNA testing in Xiamen is among the lowest in China at RMB 700 per sample tested. Interestingly, suspicious husbands who requested DNA tests have mostly been confirmed as the real biological father of their offspring.

Forest park to open in Spring Festival
森林公园春节开放
Tianzhu Mountain Forest Park will complete phase I of its construction project and be open to tourists by Spring Festival 2006. The cement road between Xiamen Island and Tianzhu Mountain has already been completed and construction of the park is speeding up.

Bamboo chopsticks replace wooden ones in eateries
餐饮店竹筷取代木筷
With the implementation of a series of national standards on single-use chopsticks, the number of small-scale catering establishments in the city using single-use wooden chopsticks has been dwindling. The wooden chopsticks are being replaced by plain bamboo ones, and most large- and medium-sized catering establishments have ended the use of singe-use chopsticks.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Building noise to be controlled at weekends
周末禁止施工噪音
Those trying to control and prevent noise pollution in Beijing will soon have detailed regulations to follow. The new regulations direct construction companies not to carry out interior decoration and renovation work outside normal working hours and at weekends. If neighbors make a complaint, construction companies may face fines of up to 6,000 US dollars.

Tsinghua University to train tourism personnel
清华大学设旅游高管课程
Tsinghua University will begin an 11-month training course in strategic tourism management on October 28, in order to improve the quality of tour operators' planning. Tourism has become the fastest growing industry in the economy. Some 41.76 million overseas tourists visited China last year, bringing in revenue of 25.7 billion US dollars for the industry.

1st online Spring Festival evening party to be held
首个网上春晚备播
Four influential websites in China will host the first ever online New Year party this Spring Festival. It is expected to be broadcast live from 18:00 to 24:00 on January 26, 2006, and will include popular songs, comedy, acrobatics and couplet contests. The four websites, including www.china.com and www.sina.com, are now collecting new programs for the online party from Chinese performers all over the world.

Shanghai 上海

More investment in solar power
增加太阳能建设投入
Shanghai is making big investments in solar power in the hope that it can alleviate the city's chronic energy shortages. It will focus especially on residential areas. At present, solar energy accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the city's power, with most solar power equipment, including water heaters and street lamps, being located in suburban districts. However, Shanghai's geography and climate are extremely favorable for solar power use, even more so than Japan, which currently generates about half of the world's total solar power.

Shanghai Auto to double capacity by 2010
2010年上海大众产量翻番
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., China's biggest carmaker, aims to double its production capacity in the second half of the decade to 2 million vehicles a year. Including output from South Korea's Sangyong Motor Co., which Shanghai Auto took control of last year, the company's capacity will reach 1.02 million vehicles by the end of the year.

Monks attend business school
僧人交大深造
Buddhist monks, long regarded as aloof and removed from secular matters, are joining Shanghai's management elite in a business school for MBA courses. The 18 monks in bright yellow robes at the Antai Management College at Shanghai Jiaotong University are studying how to better manage their ever-modernizing temples.

Guangzhou 广州

Time for daisy crabs
秋高吃靓蟹
Large numbers of daisy crab are being sent to Guangzhou, hitting the local markets from the beginning of autumn. 3 tons of daisy crabs are transported by air to Guangzhou every day. Provinces and cities that produce daisy crabs take advantage of the harvest in autumn to try to meet the demand in Guangzhou. The crabs are loaded into aircraft in the morning, and are distributed quickly to markets after they arrive at midday, thus guaranteeing the crabs' freshness.



Youth Psychological Crisis Prevention Center opened
青年心理危机防治中心开张
The newly established Guangzhou Youth Psychological Crisis Prevention Center will use advanced psychotherapy equipment to provide free psychological health checks for young people. A hotline will be operated around the clock. Psychologists will provide a free consulting service over the phone and an Internet counseling service as well.

Gas prices up
煤气价格上涨
The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) provided by three major Guangzhou gas companies rose by two yuan (US$0.25) per cubic meter on October 15. The new price will be 13 yuan per cubic meter for residents, and 15 yuan for others. The price of liquefied petroleum gas-air mixture will also rise from 5.4 yuan per cubic meter to 6.17 yuan for residents.

Chongqing 重庆

Three new twin cities
携手三国际友城
Brisbane in Australia, Shiraz in Iran and Aswan in Egypt announced that they would be twinned with Chongqing at the Asia Pacific Cities Summit. Chongqing now has 12 twin cities world-wide.



Global mobile congress opens
召开全球手机理事会
The 2005 Global Mobile Congress has begun in Chongqing. The theme this year is "Open Wireless Architecture (OWA) will dominate the future of mobile communication". Delegates from all over the world will take part in discussions focusing on time-division synchronous code-division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) technology, communications networks for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the commercial applications of 3G mobile communication technologies.

Land prices rise by 60, 000 yuan
每亩地价上涨六万元
The Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Land and Housing Administration has released figures showing that land prices in the central area of Chongqing are nearly 60,000 yuan per mu higher this year than last year. Chongqing is ranked 4th on the list of the best cities for investment in China.

Hong Kong 香港

To increase RMB business
扩展人民币业务
The HK central authorities have given approval in principle to an increase in the scale of Renminbi (RMB) business in Hong Kong. This includes raising the transaction limits for exchanges between RMB and Hong Kong dollars, raising the credit limit on RMB cards issued by banks in Hong Kong and relaxing the RMB remittance limitations imposed on Hong Kong residents. The arrangements will soon be officially announced.

Crack down on pirate discs syndicate
摧毁盗版光碟生产线
Hong Kong Customs officers have mounted a large-scale operation against the manufacture, distribution and retailing of pirated optical discs (PODs) in Mong Kok and Yuen Long, with total POD seizures worth 1.04 million HK dollars (134,193 US dollars). They are continuing their efforts to clamp down on piracy, including attempts to root out pirate syndicates.

Three conservation projects launched
启动三个环保项目
In a bid to improve its environment, Hong Kong is launching three new conservation projects. The first aims to increase the diversity of butterflies in the region by conserving the land in Fung Yuen, an important butterfly habitat. The second involves forming a partnership with farmers to increase the biodiversity in Long Valley and to create a better environment for bird species. The last project is the formulation of an agricultural and conservation management strategy in Long Valley.

Taipei 台北

Taipei 101, ferris wheel most outstanding
台北101塔, 摩天轮最醒目
A survey has revealed that the residents of Taipei regard the Taipei 101 Building and the colossal ferris wheel at the Miramar Entertainment Park as the two most outstanding structures in the metropolis. The choice shows that the fun-loving residents of Taipei now favor architecture that is associated with shopping and entertainment.

Students lack foreign language skills
大学生外语能力欠佳
Nearly half of Taiwan's university students due to graduate this year view their lack of foreign language skills as their major shortcoming. The results of a poll conducted by a headhunting web site show that half of the senior students at universities surveyed selected their lack of language skills as their greatest weakness in the workplace.

Professional mourners under threat
职业哭丧面临挑战
As tradition clashes with modernity, some Taiwanese young people are reconsidering the need for elaborate funerals, opting for simpler, more restrained rites instead. This is potentially bad news for mourners like Liu Li. She and her band are part of a thriving local funeral mourning business, professional entertainers paid by grieving families to wail, scream, and create the kind of anguished sorrow befitting a proper funeral.


Vocabulary
membrane 膜
suspicious 怀疑的
biological 生理的
dwindle 减少
chronic长期的
daisy上好的
exclusive孤高的
secular世俗的
wail痛哭
befit适合