Big gala for ancient festival
海峡两岸赛龙舟
Photo by Yao Fan

Xiamen's biggest ever dragon boating contest thumbed its nose at the rain on Sunday and brought together 51 crews and 10,000 spectators to celebrate China's ancient Duanwu Jie or Dragon Boat Festival. The crews came from Xiamen and Taiwan, but it was the home team who walked off with the big prizes: the Jimei Neighbourhood crew won the men's event, and the women's was taken by Jimei University Physical Education College.

 

 

Economics

Largest ever vessel calls at Fuzhou Port
福州港迎来开港百年最大散杂货轮
On the morning of May 27, the largest vessel to berth in Fuzhou Port in its century of operation arrived with a full load of coal. The “Baozhong 188”, laden with 50,000 tonnes of coal, dropped anchor in the Kemen Operating Zone of Fuzhou Port Luoyuan Bay. The coal was unloaded into Kemen Thermal Power Plant’s warehouses with conveyor belts.

Continued growth of waste paper imports
回收率低导致废纸进口持续增长
From January to April this year, Fujian imported a total of 444,000 tonnes of waste paper for recycling, worth USD 60.06 million. This represents a rise of around 20% over the same period last year. Customs experts attribute the continued growth in waste paper imports to the low rate of paper recycling in China. At present, less than 30% of paper in China is recycled, lagging far behind the world average of 43.7%.

Xiamen to produce “super coal”
厦独创空腔煤技术
A hollow lump of a new kind of coal the size of a table tennis ball is able to support the weight of a person. The high cohesion of the carbon in this newly developed fuel gives it extraordinary strength, as well as much greater efficiency. The “bi-roller briquette” can be made using low grade raw materials and can still make for savings of 20% on fuel use. A Xiamen firm named Jiasheng is going to set up a site producing the briquettes in the municipality.

Fuzhou－Xiamen corridor to be national IT center
福厦沿海成为首批信息产业基地
The Fujian economic and trade committee has released figures showing that information technology is now the biggest and fastest growing industry in Fujian. In 2005, total sales for the industry in Fujian were RMB 192bn, making 9.1% of the provincial total and up 11% on the previous year. The Fuzhou-Xiamen corridor was also named as one of the nine areas designated at national level as IT focus points.

Biggest chipboard factory set up in Sanming
三明投产国内最大刨花板生产线
The biggest chipboard factory in China, producing 450,000 m3 of board a year, began production with a party on Sunday. RMB 1bn has been invested in the plant, which applies international technology and standards and sets the pace for the industry in China.

 

 

Society

China’s largest medical info. system begins operation
国内最大规模远程医疗网络开通
On May 26 the Fujian Medical Network, China’s largest centralized medical information system, officially started working. Planning for the network started in 2003, and it now covers all cities in Fujian. The project aims to increase ease of access to medical services and to rationalize the distribution of resources in cities and rural areas. Eventually it will help to make medical services more accessible and affordable in areas which currently lack medical resources.

Fujian－Taiwan Museum opens
中国闽台缘博物馆开馆
On May 27 the Fujian-Taiwan Museum opened in Quanzhou. The national museum contains exhibits illustrating the historic relationship between the mainland and Taiwan spread over 7,355 square meters of exhibition space. The exhibits cover all aspects of the historic relationship across the Taiwan Straits. The museum will serve as a center for education, research and exchange as well as the collection and display of artifacts.

Public planning hearings for shops in residential estates
住宅小区内开店要举行听证
The impact on the local environment of the commercial activities of commercial properties in housing estates has long been a matter of concern. Residents complain that their rights are compromised by the businesses. Now, Fuzhou city authorities have announced that from June 1 onwards, the Industry and Commerce Administration Department will organize public hearings on the potential impact of a shop in a residential estate before granting or denying a business license.

 

 

Education

“Yangtze Scholar” joins XUT
理工学院首聘“长江学者”
On May 27, the Xiamen University of Technology (XUT) granted lifetime tenure to Prof. Huang Guohe, who is a “Yangtze Scholar”. Prof. Huang is the biggest star recruited by XUT since its upgrade to a four-year university. “Yangtze Scholars” are part of the “Yangtze River Scholarship Program”, which was jointly launched by the Ministry of Education and Li Ka-shing.

Taiwanese students have own classes
厦门首次增设台生班
Under the plan for class numbers in junior middle schools, Xiamen No.1 Middle School and the junior section of Shuangshi Middle School will have three more classes and 180 more students. In addition, Xiamen No.1 Middle School and Shuangshi Middle School will each organize two classes specifically for Taiwanese students. The children of Taiwanese residents will be able to choose either to opt for the Taiwanese classes or to enter into the computerized school assignment system with other residents.

Quanzhou children win major dance prize
泉州儿童舞蹈荣获大奖
The “How I wish to” dance, the only entry from Quanzhou, won 2nd prize in the 2nd “Guomiao” Cup National Children’s Talent Show. The dance reflects the aspirations of children who want to be Fuwa, the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The dance was chosen from among the more than 200 entries by the highly experienced judging panel. The Quanzhou troupe will join the other lucky winners in Zhuhai from May 27 to May 31 for a party celebrating the show and Children’s Day (June 1).

 

 

Big numbers

RMB 120,000 in rewards
参与打击“两抢”获奖12万元
On May 25, Fuzhou Public Security Bureau presented RMB 120,000 in rewards to 14 people who had given assistance to the police in capturing suspects involved in robbery and bag-snatching. This was the highest pay out, to the largest number of people, since the Fuzhou police set aside special reward funds early this year as part of their campaign to crack down on street crime.

RMB 4 million for restoration
胡里山古炮穿400万“防护衣”
Three major construction proposals for the preservation and restoration of the 280mm Krupp cannon in Xiamen’s Huli Hill Fort have been approved by an expert panel. The behemoth cannon, made in Germany 112 years ago, has been suffering from corrosion. China North Heavy-industry Special Mechanical Plant has been contracted to perform the restoration, which will cost more than RMB 4 million.

2,000 street sweepers
2000多名志愿者上街清扫
On May 28 more than 2,000 community volunteers used their Sunday morning to clean up dirty corners in streets and alleys throughout Siming District, kicking off Xiamen’s first-ever “Community Volunteers’ Day”. Siming District has reportedly decided to make the day an annual event, designating the last Sunday of May each year as the “Siming Community Volunteers’ Day”.

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Vocabulary
crack down 打击[da(3),ji(1)]
behemoth 庞然大物[pan(2),ran(2)da(4)wu(4)]
rationalize 合理化[he(2),li(3),hua(4)]
briquette 煤球[mei(2),qiu(2)]
lag far behind 远远落后[yuan(4)yuan(4),luo(4),hou(4)]