Couples on the move
情侣马拉松
Photo by Yao Fan



999 couples participated in the Couples' Marathon Competition held on Island Ring Road on February 11th. The champion, two Jimei Physical Education College graduates, received 999 roses, a 9999 yuan cash prize and two cellphones as reward.

 

 

Economics

Property prices up 10%
去年商品房价涨一成
A sample survey shows that the price of housing averaged RMB 6,141.6 per square meter last year, up 9.9% over 2004.

Unwanted gifts net cash
礼品回收行当红火
Many people are selling gifts received over the Spring Festival holidays for cash. Business is booming for small stores which are buying such gifts for resale.

268 million spent over Spring Festival
春节消费2.68亿元
Guess how much money local people spent on shopping over the Spring Festival holidays (January 24 - February 4)? According to the latest statistics, the city's 14 biggest retailers sold a total of RMB 268 million worth of goods over the holidays, up 8.42% on last year.

Xiamen to produce sunglasses
太阳镜基地有望落户
Local authorities have filed an official application with the National Federation of Optical Industries for the title of "National Sunglasses Production Base". According to industry insiders, sunglasses manufactured in Xiamen are setting the trends in the domestic market.

Jiahe Road Laiya to get facelift
嘉禾来雅将变身
Laiya Department Store on Jiahe Road, which has seen great profits in the sale of women's fashion and cosmetics, plans to remove men's wear and children's clothing from its shelves. It will focus exclusively on the female market, and promotions for the new look are currently under way.

 

 

Society

Mascots named
马拉松赛吉祥物定名
The mascots for the 2006 C&D Xiamen International Marathon Race have been officially named. The names were chosen from suggestions sent in by members of the public. The three mascots, which are related to the city flower, tree and bird of Xiamen, are named Meimei, Muge and Ludi in Chinese; Sunny, Merry and Liberty in English; and Guzhui, Yongzhuang and Yuantou in the local dialect, respectively.

Center chosen for World Choir Games
世界合唱比赛主场馆选定
The 4th World Choir Games will require more than 10 venues and the Xiamen International Conference & Exhibition Center will serve as the Games' primary Center. Construction and renovation of all the venues has basically been completed. Final decorations and preparations are expected to be finished in May.

Luban Awards for local projects
两项目获鲁班奖
Luban Awards are the most prestigious awards for engineering quality in China's construction industry. At the 2005 Awards ceremony which was recently held in Beijing, two projects based in Xiamen received the awards. They were Xiamen Wuyi Garden Residential Complex and Xiamen International Bank Tower.

Jiangtou pickpocket free
春节江头无扒窃
Over the Spring Festival holidays, the SM Shopping Mall had an average daily flow of over 200,000 people, but only seven calls were made to the police, including two over sales disputes. For the first time in this area, no pickpocketing was reported in the holiday period.

Parade scheduled for evening
花车巡游晚间举行
The float parade originally scheduled for 9:30-11:30 on the morning of March 26 has been rescheduled for 8:00-9:00 on the night of March 25 after the 4th Xiamen International Marathon. The float parade, sponsored by Xiamen Municipal Government, will have an artistic theme:"the combination of lanterns with flowers and the flow of light and shadow".

Xiamen, Zhangzhou to protect drinking water sources
厦漳保护饮用水源地
Xiamen and Zhangzhou will work together in protecting the sources of drinking water in the Northern Creek of the Jiulong River. In order to bring the quality of drinking water sources into line with national grade II water quality standards. The Northern Creek of the Jiulong River is an essential source of drinking water for both Xiamen and Zhangzhou.

Legal action taken against company named "Xiada"
起名"厦大"惹官司
Officers from Xiamen University have recently traveled to Shanghai to file a lawsuit against a realty company which has named itself "Xiada". Xiamen University is seeking damages of RMB 5 million. Xiada Realty Company argues the duplication of its name with the university is purely coincidental.

 

 

City News
Edited by Lily

Beijing 北京

Baby boom in the Year of the Dog
狗年新生儿剧增
The Year of the Dog in 2006 is expected to produce a high birth rate for the third year running. The Beijing Maternity Hospital helped deliver 324 babies over Spring Festival between January 29 and February 12. Through Beijing as a whole, the number of babies born in the Spring Festival period was about 30 percent more than the same period in the last two years.

Income up, housing costs down
收入增加住房消费减少
Urban residents spent 30.1% less on housing in 2005 than in 2004. At the same time, they have seen their disposable incomes rise by 12.9%. Beijingers spent an average of 1,105 yuan (about 136.4 US dollars) on housing over the year. Their average annual disposable income was 17,653 yuan (about 2,179.4 US dollars). Figures also show that Beijingers last year spent about 10% less on interior decorating than they did in 2004.

Employment challenge
就业形势严峻
Beijing needs to add 300,000 jobs in 2006 to achieve its goal of keeping the urban registered unemployment rate below 2.5%. Currently unemployed residents include 180,000 laid-off workers, and 48% of them are in their 40s or 50s. Many older workers have been provided with community jobs in areas such as security and sanitation. The city also faces a challenge in providing jobs for young and migrant workers.

Shanghai 上海

Salinity crisis
饮用水盐分超标
Shanghai was hit by its first salinity crisis this year, but tap water remained safe. Water samples taken at the city's drinking water intake in the Yangtze River Delta were found to have a chloride concentration of over 250mg per liter. This is above recommended water salinity levels. A reduction in water consumption has helped to ease the pressure on the water supply during the salinity crisis.

Novels top bestseller list
科幻惊险小说畅销
Novels, particularly thrillers with nail-biting suspense and explosive action, enjoyed the largest readership among Shanghai readers in 2005. Of the top 10 best-selling books in Shanghai in 2005, four were novels, including Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and "Digital Fortress". Despite a boom brought about by J. K. Rowling's latest blockbuster novel "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", sales of children's books were sluggish.

Part-time employment rising
自由职业成时尚
Taking freelance jobs has become a popular way for Shanghai residents to make a living, especially among young university graduates. Most of the new part-timers have taken up knowledge economy or highly skilled positions, such as working as interpreters or corporate entertainers. Most of the freelancers are able to earn a monthly income of 2,000 yuan or more, with the top wages for conference interpreters exceeding 7,000 yuan per day.

College women to learn sewing, cooking
大学女生学家政
Students enrolled at Tongji University's Women's College will have to choose from elective courses in cooking, needle work and other traditional feminine skills this year, as part of a program co-sponsored by the Shanghai Women's Federation. All students in the college will have to choose from several elective courses that include cooking, sewing, nutrition and health-care basics, household decorating and other basic skills of a traditional Chinese wife.

Guangzhou 广州

New vehicle emission rules
将出台新的车辆尾气排放规定
Guangzhou will implement a new vehicle exhaust emission standard this year to improve the environment. If approved by the State Council, the city government will require all the new vehicles in the market to install an on-board diagnostics (OBD) system, which will check for problems in the emission control system.

10.7 billion for cultural facilities
文化设施投入超百亿元
The Guangzhou government will invest 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.29 billion) in constructing cultural attractions in the city. The planned facilities include a new library, with construction to begin shortly. Already being built are the Guangzhou Opera House; a museum to commemorate the Revolution of 1911, during which Dr Sun Yat-sen helped to overthrow the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911); and the municipal literature and art center.

Free job fairs for migrant workers
举办多场外来工招聘会
Guangzhou will hold 24 free job fairs for migrant jobseekers after Spring Festival. Guangzhou companies are planning to increase their staffing by over 4% in the first month after the Spring Festival holidays, and an additional 10% after two months. Most companies said they needed skilled workers.

Chongqing 重庆

Mice live longer with liver transplantation
肝移植鼠存活3年
Three white mice celebrated the 3rd anniversary day of their liver transplants on Feburary 9. The liver transplant operations was conducted by the doctors in Southwest Hospital in Chongqing 3 years ago. The 3 mice hold the longest world record for lifespan following a transplant.



30s-style street to bring back the bad old days
将建新传统民俗街头雕塑
A new street recreating the style of the Anti-Japanese War will be built before the coming National Day this October in Gele Township, Shapingba District, Chongqing. In the street visitors will be able to drink tea in traditional Chongqing style houses and take a rickshaw ride over the old fashioned paving slabs.

Farm workers needed in Yangtze and Pearl deltas
长三角珠三角急需民工
Farm workers are in short supply in the Yangtze and Pearl River deltas. Farms are looking to recruit workers from Chongqing to move to the delta areas, and thousands of farm workers are expected to go.

Hong Kong 香港

More efforts to prevent bird flu
加大禽流感防护措施
The HKSAR government has stepped up efforts to protect public health and avoid any outbreak of the disease. Households will not be allowed to keep any domestic poultry after a new ban. Unauthorized raising of five kinds of live poultry (chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and quail) will be an offense carrying a heavy fine.

Animal cruelty penalties to be revised
将加重对虐待动物的处罚
The Hong Kong government is considering increasing the maximum penalties for cruelty to animals to boost the deterrent effect. The decision has been praised by animal rights workers. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals is currently a 5,000 Hong Kong dollar fine and six months in prison.

Taipei 台北

One third of buildings pose health threat
1/3建筑有健康隐患
Nearly one-third of the buildings in Taiwan have been found to be "sick buildings" that pose a health threat to the inhabitants. Newly constructed or remodeled buildings have the worst problems. The indoor environments of about 30% of the buildings have poor air quality, and the concentrations of formaldehyde, bacteria and fungi are higher than the standards set by the WHO.

Taiwan's population nears 23m
台人口近2300万
The population of Taiwan region had risen to 22.77 million by the end of 2005, up 81,000 from the end of 2004. The population density of the island was 629 people per square kilometer. Population density in the major cities, such as Taipei and Kaohsiung, was nearly 10,000 people per square kilometer. There were 15.8 million urban residents, making up 69.4% of the total population.

Pandas to arrive in May
"团团""圆圆"五月抵台
The two pandas being donated to Taiwan, Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, are expected to arrive in Taiwan on schedule in May. A mainland spokesman expressed the hope that no one would oppose the donation for political reasons, and vowed that the mainland would "faithfully fulfill the solemn promise made to our Taiwan compatriots."





Vocabulary
damages 赔偿
mascot 吉祥物
dialect 方言
pedestrian 行人
duplication 重合
disposable 可随意使用的
salinity 盐分
chloride 氯化物
blockbuster 轰动
sluggish 停滞的
free-lance 自由的
diagnostics 诊断学
quail 鹌鹑
deterrent 威慑
formaldehyde 甲醛
fungi 真菌