Media vote on the final design works of Beijing Finance Street. Page 3
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Tiny museums tell stories of Beijing yesterday. Page 16
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The voice surges up into the sky above the ancient sacrificial altar. Page 12
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China Set to Spend $30 Billion on Olympics
Beijng delegation in Lausanne By Xia Lei/Cheng Feng/Ayi “The Chinese Government and Beijing Municipal Government will put $30 billion in the construction and renovation of roads, sports facilities and environmental regeneration and protection,” said Long Xinmin, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Beijing and Vice Chairman of the Beijing Olympic Games Bidding Committee on May 16. Long expressed this determination from both China’s central government and Beijing’s local authority in his meeting with a press delegation from the United States. The delegation visited China during May 7-17. “Hosting the 2008 Olympic Games for a big country like China with a population close to 1.3 billion will clearly and definitely promote the Olympic movement globally. The great progress and economic development China has achieved in its reform and opening up over the past 20 years provide a concrete and important guarantee for Beijing to host such a big event,” said Long. “The hosting of 2008 Olympic Games by Beijing will also bring great business opportunities not only to China, but also to business partners of the city and China as well, and those multinationals investing in Beijing in particular.”
Cross-Straits Olympics under One-China Policy
“If Beijing were selected as the city to hold the 2008 Olympics, there is a possibility that it will hold the games with Taiwan,” said Yuan Weimin, Chairman of the China Olympic Committee and
Boxing promoter Don King arrived in Beijing Tuesday, together with Evander Holyeld and John Ruiz to inspect the venue for the two’s upcoming heavyweight title ght. The bout, scheduled for August 5, will be the rst heavyweight title ght ever to be held in China. At a press conference held in the international VIP room at Beijing’s Capitol Airport, King said “Ruiz and Holyeld, you saw the rst two ghts. They put on a great show. The third one’s going to be even better!” The three received a warm welcome by the hundreds of correspondents from home and abroad who besieged them with questions. King obviously enjoyed the attention, and promised an even more exciting ght than the previous two shows. He also took the opportunity to voice his strong support for Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games. King is known as a powerful promoter who focuses on the ‘spectacle’ of the ght and never signs an agreement that won’t make a lot of money for him and the two boxers involved. From the time a contract is signed, he plays on the tension between the ghters and uses the sports press to generate public interest in the ght, which translates to box ofce ticket sales. It’s often said in the boxing world that all Mr. King needs is two ghters, and he stages the rest. The Beijing ght will be no exception, and King will no doubt return to the U.S. a signicantly richer man. Holyeld beat Ruiz in a controversial decision in August 2000. Ruiz then took the title in the rematch on March 3. Holyeld said ``John Ruiz is not the favorite. Rahman is not the favorite. They never considered me the favorite. So it’s time for me to prove a new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.’’
Minister of Sports said after a visit of Taiwan recently. Yuan Weimin said Thomas Ta-chou Huang, Chairman of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has expressed willingness to bid for the Games through joint efforts across the Straits. Huang hopes Beijing can succeed in the bid. Yuan stressed the Olympics can only be held by one city of one country. If Beijing were selected to hold the Games, there is possibility Taiwan will be taking some of the sports events after friendly discussions and under the One China policy. However, it must obtain permission from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Kevin Kou-i Chen, Secretary-General of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, said Taiwan could benefit from a successful Beijing bid. First, there will be more business opportunities. Second, it will bring more exchanges on sports across the Straits before 2008. Finally, it will be good for peace.
Beijing Bid: ‘High Quality’
Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympics was evaluated as a “high quality” one that would leave a unique legacy to China and the sport, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in Lausanne on Tuesday. Beijing, Toronto and Paris won ringing endorsements for their bids to stage the 2008 Summer Olympics. The two other contenders, Osaka and Istanbul, were virtually eliminated as potential hosts. The finalist cities were not ranked or given specific marks and the report went out of its way to keep the three main contenders in the same frame. However, Beijing has long been considered the frontrunner. “The combination of a good sports concept with complete government support results in a high quality bid,” the IOC evaluation commission said in its report. The commission takes note of the process and pace of change taking place in China and Beijing and the possible challenges caused by population and economic growth in the period leading up to 2008, but is confident these challenges can be met. “There is an environmental challenge, but the strong government actions and investment in this area should resolve this and improve the city,” the report said.
EDITOR: LI XIN DESIGNER: PANG LEI
King brings the first heavyweight title fight to China
Shaanxi Governor Disciplined over Safety
By Xia Lei Governor of Shaanxi Province Cheng Andong has been handed an administrative disciplinary measure from the State Council for misleading the province on safety standards. During the month of April, 3 major accidents occurred in the province. Explosions at two coal mines killed 48 and 38 people respectively, and a stampede in a
tunnel at Huashan Mountain in Huayin city resulted in the deaths of 17 tourists. As well as sending medical support units, the Central Party Committee and State Council ordered an investigative panel to determine the cause of the three accidents. After a careful check, the panel found that all 3 incidents resulted from a lack of responsibility by the local government and administrative institu-
Photo by Hu Jinxi
tions, leading to a serious loss of life and property. The State Council believes that the incidents reflected the ignorance of the local government on safety standards and workplace responsibility. At the same time, they showed that certain institutions under the government are overly bureaucratic and careless about people’s lives. As a result of the findings, the State Council delivered an administrative disciplinary measure to the provincial governor, Cheng Andong. The provincial government of Shaanxi will be responsible for punishing any local officials whose negligence is found to have contributed to the incidents. The State Council says all local governments and departments should draw lessons from the incidents in Shaanxi, and carry out thorough checks on workplace safety procedures. All the major incidents will be handled according to the State Council’s Regulations on Administrative Disciplinary Measures for Major Safety Incidents.
By Chu Peng
Ofcials Responsible for Industrial Accidents Punished BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhuanet) A total of 21 officials, including a provincial governor, who are responsible for three serious safety accidents in Shaanxi Province, northwest China, have been given administrative punishments of various degrees, sources said Wednesday. The State Council ordered harsh punishment of officials responsible for the accidents in accordance with government discipline. Governor Cheng Andong of the province was given a demerit. The other officials were given varied administrative punishments. Further investigations into the causes of the accidents are still going on, and those who are found to have broken the law will be brought to court.
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TRENDS 态
EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
A Drive to Meet World Standards
China to Beef up Banks’ Capital Mr.Dai Xiang long, chief of China’s central bank -- Peole’s Bank of China
By Bo Long The chief of China’s central bank,
Dai Xianglong, said Wednesday that the government would recapitalize three of its four biggest commercial banks this year to help them meet minimum international standards. Only one of the four - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China now meets the Bank for International Settlements’ standard of holding capital equal to 8 percent of
assets, Mr. Dai said. He did not specify which bank was in compliance, though Bank of China’s annual report for 2000 indicated its ratio at 8.31 percent. “We will strive to recapitalize these to bring them up to 8 percent this year,” said Mr. Dai, governor of the People’s Bank of China. “I think this is achievable.” China is strengthening its banks before joining the World Trade Orga-
nization. Their balance sheets are laden with billions of dollars of bad loans, the legacy of state-directed lending to unprofitable companies. “There are capital adequacy ratios, and then there are capital adequacy ratios,” said Deborah Schuler, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service Inc. Bad loans may be between 35 percent and 60 percent of total lending, Ms. Schuler said. The Bank of
China was in best shape, followed by the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank, she said. China shifted 1.4 trillion yuan ($169.1 billion), or 16 percent of the big four banks’ bad loans, into assetmanagement companies in 1999, the central bank said. He also said China’s economy remained on target to expand by 7.2 percent this year.
Traveling Investors Prohibited By Cheng Feng Chinese authorities in charge of supervising stock market operations have begun examining mainland speculators who organized huge troupes to travel to Hong Kong over May Day holidays, bringing with them rather large sums of foreign currency. After making healthy profits from B-shares at the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges, these 800 ‘package tourists’ hoped to make fortunes on the Hong Kong H-share and Red Chip shares. It is no secret that many securities companies serve as front agents for mainland investors, buying and selling shares on the Hong Kong exchange, but the agency fee for opening a Hong Kong share account sometimes reaches 5 to 10 million Hong Kong dollars. For lowerend retail investors, traveling to Hong Kong themselves is a better option. These ‘traveling investors’ typical trading ‘procedures’ in Hong Kong are simple, too. In this case, the foreign currency savings of mainland inhabitants (in total, 80 billion US dollars) could have flooded into Hong Kong, compromising market transparency. The transfer of foreign currency to Hong Kong without a proper permit is illegal under China’s foreign exchange administration regulations. Some authorities have adopted strict measures to discourage such investment activities. China Securities Regulatory Commission recently publicized a ban on unlawful agent services for Hong Kong stock trading or account maintenance. Companies involved in these illicit transactions have been urged to end these practices or face severe punishment. Mainland financial service firms and private businessmen are also prohibited from serving as second-class agents for Hong Kong share investors. Customs departments have begun checking and blocking departing travelers carrying large sums of foreign currency or RMB, in order to crack down on the foreign exchange black market. But some analysts believe that, besides these severe measures, the authorities should consider broadening the available channels for investment on the mainland. One approach would be to open up the domestic market to Hong Kong companies by allowing H-shares and Red Chip shares to be issued as domestic A-shares or China advancetrust shares. If this is achieved, then the ‘traveling investor’ problem will truly be eliminated.
Tax Exemption Prolonged for Real Estate Development By Zhao Hongyi The preferential policies exempting real estate transactions from business taxes and contract taxes will be extended until December 31, 2002. These exemptions are only applicable for transactions involving industrial facilities, commercial facilities and residential houses built prior to June 30, 1998. According to sources from the Ministry of Finance and National Administration for Taxation, business deals in these categories will not be subject to administrative service charges either. However, Ministry officials stressed that these exemptions do not apply for real estate transactions involving luxury properties such as high-end villas and holiday residential properties. Business taxes and contract taxes for such deals have been in place since the beginning of this year.
Legal Explanation: Compensation for Illegal Labor Abuses By Zhao Hongyi
China wants a healthy and prosperous future of internet development in the country.
Photo by Chen Shiyi
New Regulations on Internet Bars By Cheng Feng Beijing authorities recently launched a three-month campaign to straighten out irregularities in Internet bars. The investigation came about after a survey of the cafes in Haidian District found that one establishment was providing access to harmful information, while another Internet company was operating illegally. New applications for licenses to open Internet cafes will not be approved during the period of examination, according to Zhang Xingyun, head of Market Supervision Department of Beijing Telecom Control Bureau. Current Internet service venues should
Computer Virus Census Prolonged By Zhao Hongyi China Computer Emergency Response Center (CCVERC) postponed the deadline of its nationwide computer viruses census from the original May 15 to May 25, in an effort to cover as many types of virus as possible and guarantee the accuracy of the results. “There are two reasons for prolonging the census, said Mr. Zhang Jian, Director - General of the Center. ” First, the number of computer users participating in the census decreased from tens of thousands to almost none during the seven holidays of May Day. Secondly, the virus of “Happy Time” was widespread in China and invaded quite a few commercial and individual web sites. In the meantime, the
renew registration before June 20. Those businesses which do not obtain new licenses will be regarded as closed. New regulations mandate that licensed venues must post notices regarding rules for Internet use, including time-restriction for under age netizens. Establishments must also list relevant phone numbers for reporting improper practices to the administrative authorities. New rules also introduced off-limit areas for operating public Internet services. Banned districts include areas within 200 meters of organizations owned by the China central government; middle schools and primary schools; community buildings; and locations along Chang’an Avenue. Star-rated hotels and restaurants, shop-
frequency of old viruses spreading and new viruses invading increased. We made the decision to postpone the census deadline to May 25 in order to get a real, comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the current situation of computer viruses in China.” “So far as we have learned, there is a time delay between the time when a virus is discovered and it breaks out. For instance, the virus” Romeo and Juliet broke out abroad at the end of last year and was reported by Chinese media. But at that time, there was no virus of its kind found domestically. Unfortunately, this virus has recently been very active in China. Therefore, we would like to remind computer users to pay more attention to those viruses familiar to us,” said Mr. Zhang. To participate in the computer virus census, please visit: http:// www.antivirus-china.org.cn or http:/ /www.cert.org.cn Contact address for China Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CCVERC): Tel: 022-27316567, 022-87307180 Fax: 022-27316567 E-mail: security@ public.tjuc.com.cn
ping malls over 5000 sqm. and business centers are excluded from the ban. “The campaign is meant to standardize rather than crack down the Internet bars, said Zhang. “But unlicensed business will be outlawed. The procedure for acquiring the Internet business license is as follows: a. Submission of application to the police and culture authorities of the relevant district or county. b. Application for a license from the Beijing Telecom Administration Bureau with the approved papers. c. Registration with the relevant Industry and Commerce authorities. Business range must include special terms allowing for Internet services.
In a rapid developing economy like that in China, labor disputes and discrimination against employees are two increasingly important and popular phenomena. To better protect the employees’ interests, the National Supreme People’s Court released its explanation amended to related laws and regulations, emphasizing that aside from proper labor payment and economic compensation, employers and employing entities will be possibly fined as additional compensation to the latter, in case any reduction or delay of the proper salary payment occurred. The quoted cases of disputes and discrimination in the legal explanation include: employers/ employing entities force individuals to work by means of violence, threats or other means of illegal restriction/violation of human rights and freedom, refuse to make labor payment/offer proper working conditions on the basis of the clauses of the contracts signed, reduce/refuse to make payment to labor, decline to make payment for any additional works in prolonged hours, payment lower than the local minimum standards. An individual forced by any case mentioned above as the rights to discuss the contract signed and raise the disputes to a court for all compensation possible. The legal explanation effective as of April 30 also stipulates that employees can get proper payment in case that noncontract/legally ineffective contract exist.
Jeeps and Off-Road Cars to Run on Chang’an Avenue By Cheng Feng Beijing Municipal Traffic Control Administration announced recently that off-road vehicles and selected multipower vehicles (MPV) will be allowed to drive on Chang’an Avenue. Starting on May 10, these cars must meet the following criteria: they must have an environment-friendly certification; an exhaust capacity of over 1.6 liters; and a passenger capacity of under 9 people. Light off-road cars have no restrictions on exhaust capacity as long as environmental protection cards are obtained. Vehicles which currently meet these standards include the Cherokee, Buick Gl8, Benz M320, Toyota’s off-road car and the Mitsubishi Pajero. Pickups are excluded. These new rules are likely to boost domestic market sales of imported offroad cars and MPVs.
Beijing Cherokees, along with other off-road and MPVs, are allowed to run on Chang’an Avenue. Photo by Chen Shiyi
发 E-mail: liufeng@ynet.com
By Xiao Rong
The symbol of Finance Street
Photos by Xiao Rong
Journalists from various media from home and abroad voted Wednesday on the four design works for the core area of Beijing’s new Finance Street . Four famous foreign design companies from Japan, Canada, America and Germany were chosen in the first stage of the bid process for the design plan of the core area. The bid process
DEVELOPMENT展
ran from February to the end of April and the final winner is expected to be announced in July, according to Liu Shichun, General Manager of the Finance Street Limited Liability Company. Of the three parts of the Finance Street, the southern part has been completed after eight years of construction. So far, more than 300 financial organizations have settled in this part, mostly
MAY 18. 2001
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EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
One of the four top designs
headquarters of renowned banks and agencies such as the People’s Bank of China, Chinese Industrial and Commercial Bank, and the China Security Inspection and Administration Committee. Although the CBD in Chaoyang District has also been a spotlight of the city, the Financial Street still has its advantages. Liu Jian, director of the Foreign Trade and Finance Committee of Xicheng District, said with confidence, “Xicheng is the most powerful district in Beijing in terms of the number of financial institutions. The output value of the financing industry accounts for more than 30% of the district’s Gross Domestic Product, so the construction of the Finance Street is an important supplement to the CBD of Chaoyang District. Both of them can help promote Beijing’s status in international finance.”
Railway Telecom Fixes Sights on 25% Market Share About Railway Telecom
Railway Telecom’s new headquarters By Yang Xiao Since its March 1 debut, Railway Telecom has set up 29 provincial branches. Peng Peng, president of the company, said, “We are aiming at 25 percent market share within 4 years.” He also announced plans to begin new network operations on June 1. Railway Telecom will spend 7.2 billion yuan on network construction. At present, China Telecom holds a near-monopoly position, with over 99 percent of the fixedline market. At the end of March, the first Railway Telecom lines were installed in Fengtai District near Beijing South Railway Station. Since the cables are planted along railway lines, Railway Telecom is currently able to provide coverage only for areas with-
Photo by Jia Ting
in five kilometers of the station. The company said it also plans to expand its networks to residential districts nearby. Due to different network systems, users of Railway Telecom and China Telecom can not communicate with each other. However, Railway Telecom’s lower service charges attracted 200 customers on its first day. Under the Railway Telecom price structuring, telephone installation will cost 680 yuan (US$82), around half of China Telecom’s 1,235 yuan (US$149) for the same service. Railway Telecom charges for local calls are also 10 percent lower than those of China Telecom. The company said it would cut price for long-distance calls to 20 percent lower than its rival, when its long-distance networks commence operation in June.
Banks to Enter Stock Market By Yang Xiao China Securities Regularly Committee (CSRC) chief consultant, Liang Dingbang, expects significant progress in the development of financial instruments and marketing readjustments over the next two years. Speaking at the China Investment Forum 2001 in Shanghai last week, Liang said that the combined management of banking and securities businesses was likely to be seen in the near future. He pointed out that banking, insurance and securities businesses have until now been operated separately, however this situation can no longer meet the demands of development in a capital market. During the past few years, some tentative steps have been taken toward merging the insurance and securities industries, which have proven feasible and
efficient, he said. Meanwhile, the authorities will continue to keep an eye on speculation and take necessary steps to stabilize the market.
Liang Dingbang, CSRC chief Photo by Lu Beifeng consultant
Railway Telecom is a branch of the Ministry of Railway. The State Department once considered merging with China Unicom, but failed to reach an agreement. In December 2000, the Railway Telecom separated from the Ministry of Railway and now operates independently. Total capital: 13.6 billion yuan (US$1.64 billion) Telecom network: covers the country’s 30 provinces and all autonomous regions and municipalities except Tibet. The network has been developed over
the past five decades and now reaches all areas connected by railway, stretching for 120,000 kilometers. Fiber optic cables make up one-third of the network, which covers 500 large and medium-sized cities around the country. Services: domestic long-distance calls, local telephone calls, data transfer and Internet-related businesses. Employees: 65,000 Competitor: China Telecom, the monopoly which takes up 99 percent of the fixed-line market
About China Telecom China Telecom formerly had 3 primary fields of business: mobile phones, pagers and satellite communications. Last year, the State Department ordered the company to split its operations into four separate companies. China Telecom now only concentrates on the fixed-line market. The company has elected to the Fortune Global 500 list. Total capital: 222 billion
yuan Telecom network: covers the entire country, stretching for 953,000 kilometers using fiber optic cables. Customers: nearly 130 million. Services: domestic long-distance calls, local telephone calls, data transfer and Internet-related businesses. Also, microwave communications, ISP, etc. Employees: about 500,000
Regulatory Body Investigates Foreign Insurance Firms By Yang Xiao Chinese insurance market regulators have launched a nationwide investigation on the use of insurance funds in domestic and foreign insurance companies, sources with the China Insurance Regulatory Committee (CIRC) said last week. Feng Xiaozeng, CIRC vice chairman and head of the examination, said that the move aimed to standardize insurers’ fund management activities in a bid to guard against financial risks. “We will work out rules and regulations on the basis of a follow-up analysis of insurers’ fund management capacity, investment returns and possible risks,” he said. This is the first time the insurance market regulator has undertaken such a massive check-up to put the market in order. All insurers, domestic or foreign-funded, joint-ventures and their branches, will be under review. The committee will focus on fund management efficiency, and will determine if illegal capital is
involved and if insider trading is occurring. Firms that are engaging in securities investment businesses without the committee’s approval will be subject to fines or other restrictions. The committee reiterated that no insurer is allowed to invest more than 20 percent of its assets in any individual securities investment fund, or own more than 10 percent of the total shares of the fund, according to related rules. Feng said that the returns of insurance fund management are the main source of insurers’ profit. For this reason, the committee is working on ways to expand fund management channels and had already introduced a new set of policies. The committee has also allowed for a number of insurance firms to purchase securities bonds on the interbank market, invest in securities, and deal with large contract deposits to help improve insurers’ profitability through legitimate means. By the end of 2000, 12 foreign insurance companies had gained approval for moving into China.
An essential fashion accessory
Booming Mobile Market By Zhang Xiaoxia
Photos by Jia Ting
Nokia CEO
By the end of this year, China’s mobile subscription rate is likely to be on a par with that of the United States, the largest market in the world. Nokia chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila made the prediction at the ongoing high-technology forum in Beijing last Friday. Ollila made the forecast based on the continuing growth of the Chinese mobile phone market, which reached 100 million subscribers in April. He said that Nokia Corp. had racked up $2.8 billion in sales in China. Ollila also said that the growth of mobile Internet services would drive growth of mobile users, and that cellular phones would replace personal computers as the main tool for accessing the Internet.
Industrial Output Surges 11.2% By Zhang Xiaoxia China’s industrial output value grew by 11.2 percent in the first three months of 2001, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This represents an increase of 586.8 billion yuan (68.3 billion dollars), 0.5 percentage points higher than during the same period last year.
The growth rate was higher than expected, given that the target for GDP growth this year has been set at 7 percent. “Metallurgical and transportation equipment took the place of telecommunications equipment and power industries to become the leaders in industrial growth, due to surges in steel and automobile output,” according to Xinhua News Agency.
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MAY 18. 2001
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EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER: LI SHI
Credit plan to enhance subway development By Cheng Feng The Beijing Municipal Government recently announced a privileged credit policy for investors in the capital subway construction, according to the Beijing Development Planning Commission. Plans include the establishment of Metro Lines 5, 4 and 9, as well as a Batong route, a Chunyi line and a Wangjing Zhixian line. The investors bidding for these projects will be remitted for a dozen types of fees related to cultivated land occupation, city infrastructure construction, urban public facilities construction, and temporary road occupation. Additionally, the investors can postpone payments of city sewage fees. Of the total 12 billion yuan investment in building Metro Line 5, Beijing Line 5 Construction Company Ltd has registration capital of 4 billion yuan with a share ratio of 62.5% (China) and 37.5% (Canada). The other 8 billion yuan will be invested in the same proportion. Both banks have written letters of commit-
China to Build 50 Hi-Tech Agricultural Parks BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -China has planned to build 50 large-sized high-efficiency agricultural parks nationwide over the next five years, in an effort to push ahead agricultural modernization and help raise farmers’ incomes. Shen Maoxiang, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology, told Xinhua Sunday that the building of the agricultural hi-tech parks is aimed at spreading advanced technology and wooing more foreign investment. He added that the central government has decided to set aside 500 million yuan (about 60 million U.S. dollars) each year for the translation of agricultural hi-tech findings into productive forces. The official said the application of advanced agrosciences could greatly improve the quality of crops, raise crop output and reduce the pollution caused by pesticides and chemical fertilizers. He said that in the first half of this year his ministry is expected to decide on 10 hi-tech agricultural parks. Wang Yaolin, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said each agro-park is expected to receive 10 million yuan in funds. China feeds one fifth of the world population on only seven percent of the world’s farmland. Experts here said that most of China’s farm produce are not of high quality and can not meet the demand of the domestic market. They said that China should launch a full-scale revolution for new agricultural sciences.
ment to cover the guarantee. Moreover, under the same conditions, the project companies have the preference of developing the land along Line 5. The ticket price for the new line will be fixed based on the construction and operating costs. The government plans to offer compensation if costs exceed the governmentsuggested price. The above-mentioned Metro lines have all entered the planning stage, if not already currently under construction. The scheduled dates for completion are as follows: Batong route (Sihui Dong Station to Tong zhou) at the end of 2002; Line 5 in 2005; Wangjing Zhixian Line (from Wangjing to Capital Airport) in 2004. Line 9 (Liuliqiao, Fengtai--Beijing West Railway Station--Military Museum-Baishiqiao--Zhongguancun-Summer Palace) , Line 4 (Xidan to Liudaokou) and the Chunyi Line (Zhicunlu--Summer Palace) are scheduled for construction between 2002 and 2004, to be completed between 2004 and 2009.
tax tips Beginning with this issue, we are designing this column for expatriates. We will be inviting tax experts to answer any questions that you may have. To submit questions or comments, send e-mail to yangxiao @ynet.com.
Tax-Free Trips Home By Eva Keung Individuals working overseas may face various kinds of challenges, and one of the most common questions they ask is, “How much tax do I have to pay to the local government?” With the high individual income tax rate in China, an increasing number of people are seeking ways to minimize their overall income tax liabilities in a legitimate manner. In order to minimize overall taxes for U.S. citizens and resident aliens, P.R.C. taxes must be reduced. This is because the top marginal tax rate for China is 45 percent. Here are a few tips that might be helpful in enhancing tax efficiency. For Chinese individual income tax purposes, a reasonable amount of travel allowances paid by the employer for home leave is tax free to the extent that i) it is used exclusively for the purpose of home leave and ii) copies of the relevant travel expenses receipts are submitted to the tax bureau for verification and approval. Therefore, expatriates can enjoy the tax-free benefits for the home leave air tickets provided to them and their family members if the above requirements are met. Although the home leave benefit may be taxexempt from a Chinese tax perspective, U.S. expatriates should note that such benefits are fully taxable as income for tax purposes in the U.S. Eva Keung, a US CPA who specializes in expatriate taxation, is a Tax Manager with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
The car financing project introduced by a D-M dealer was given much attention
photo by Wu Yu
Chinese Benet from Car Financing Methods BEIJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- As private cars become more popular among Chinese people, so do the methods of car financing. More than 100,000 people benefited from car financing services last year, or six percent of new car owners, according to a report by the authoritative departments. Experts estimate that over two million people will buy new cars this year, up 13 percent from last year. Some 200,000 people will seek help from car financing.
Car financing, aiming to stimulate the potential consuming ability by providing loans, mainly refers to related financial services for cars, including customers’ loans from banks, dealers’ fund-raising and infrastructure investment. People from financial circles hold that car financing will propel the development of manufacturing and banking, contributing to the prosperity of capital. “Car financing services play an important role in modern eco-
nomical systems,” according to Wayne Booker, vice chairman of Ford Motors. He said that Ford will help China to upgrade its level of financial services and develop economic infrastructure. So far, many Chinese banks have chosen to cooperate with creditable car dealers to promote car consumption. Non-official financing companies and domestic enterprises have also taken an active role in providing financing services. The Chinese government
listed the automotive industry as a pillar industry in the Tenth Fiveyear Plan period (2001-2005), and decided to give full play to car financing. “China will quicken the pace of financial reform. And car financing is a major part of personal loans,” Dai Xianglong, governor of the People’s Bank of China said here during a recent forum. Economists pointed out that appropriate car financing methods will benefit Chinese people.
Overseas Students Start-up the Economy By Lu Chun, Zhu Lin
On May 15th, information released by the Overseas Students Service Center announced that more than 50 doctoral and masters students returned from their overseas studies to participate in this year’s “International Week” to promote their technology projects. Almost all the students had found a way to move forward with their projects, and about half found investment partners. Several deals for amounts close to several hundred million were closed. Dr. Liu Huaizhu, back from the U.S., was chased immediately after his lecture entitled. This technology cost approximately 50 million yuan, with 30% technological stock. The overseas students exclaimed in amazement over and over again, “We did not expect the market in Beijing to be so good!” Satisfied with the results from International Week, they thought
the business environment for technology was favorable. “We’ll tell the other students about it,” they said. “Starting up new business projects in Beijing has already been overseas students’ most popular endeavor,” said Zhao Feng, the director of the service center. In the past two years, more and more overseas students have returned to Beijing to start their new careers. There are two main kinds student start-ups. The first involves technology initiatives backed by private venture capital. The second kind, which is most common, promotes technology with the support of the relevant government department in China. “The development of overseas students’ start-up businesses in Beijing has been very rapid and successful, and their partners prefer to work with them because of their modern technology and approach.” According to current estima-
tions, there are over 150 companies in the three regions for the innovating students in Beijing, with more than 200 overseas students involved. More than 90% of them have masters or doctoral degrees. Last year, these companies earned almost 400 million yuan in technology industry and trade. Since the establishment of an open policy for overseas students to work in China, they have experienced three periods of rapid development. From the 1980’s to the early 1990’s, many overseas students came back to work with stateowned professional enterprises because most of them had originally been sent to study abroad by the government. When the visiting scholars returned to China, they simply went back to their previous work departments. From 1992 to the end of 1997, students were most interested in
working for foreign enterprises. Since 1992, there have been more and more of these companies in Beijing, so most of the students have become “white-collar workers”. During this second period, there were many more self-sponsored overseas students than government-sponsored ones. The third period, which began in 1997 and continues today, may be called the “start-up phase.” In May of 2000, the Beijing government and the Capital Human Resources Department introduced an official policy of encouraging overseas students to return and set up start-up companies. Incentives include priorities for housing, higher salary levels, and residential permit and travel privileges. Since the policy was enacted, a survey revealed that over 80% of Chinese overseas students hoped to return to China, with 60% choosing to work in Beijing.
Conscated Property For Sale By Zhang Xiaoxia
the building on sale
photo by Qiu Binbin
Last Friday, the Administration of the Affairs of State Council announced an auction for a 30-floor building in Beijing, which was previously confiscated by the Council. Work on the building began in November 1996 but was halted because of improper funding and violation of State Council construction regulations. The site is located on the northeast side of the Liuliqiao intersection with the West Third Ring Road. It covers an area of 12,630 sq-meters and the total
construction area exceeds 50,000 sq-meters, with a height of 98.4 meters. Primary construction, outside decoration, and installation of mechanical and electrical equipment have already been completed. The building will be sold or auctioned off in an open procedure, according to the Administration of the Affairs of the State Council. Any person legally registered in China may purchase this building by contacting the Purchasing Office of the Administration of the Affairs of the State Council before May 23, 2001.
CITY
E-mail: liufeng@ynet.com
By Su Nan
MAY 18. 2001
EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER: PANG LEI LI SHI
Ghost Street Smarhed
Pedicabs Improved
Commercial pedicab transportation in Beijing will receive a face-lift in June. Regulations have been issued by the city to improve management of the pedicab business and significantly boost the quality of service, and to standardize the look of the foot-powered cabs. Within the Second Ring Road, individual pedicab companies have been required to create designs for their passenger pedicabs used for the hutong tours. The designs will be reviewed and approved by the city. Outside the Second Ring Road, the Bureau of Communications commissioned professional designs for normal passenger pedicabs. These designs were approved by the municipal administration after examination by several well-known authors, scholars and relevant city departments. The designs incorporate efficiency, safety and comfort while preserving the traditional cultural appeal. The new look body of the pedicab is light blue, with a blue-and-white striped canopy. The framework of the canvas is fan-shaped. Each district in the city is required to ensure that their pedicabs are spray painted, that proper canopies have been attached, and that all drivers have newly required operating documents, business cards and driver’s licenses. The changes are expected to be in place by early June.
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By Su Nan As the bulldozer reared its jaws, the third retail department store, Daoxiangcun, located on Dongzhimennei Street, toppled with a loud crash. Under the city’s project to remove shabby temporary housing for migrants and to add greenery to the city, Beixinqiao Street reluctantly demolished the store, which annually reported 2 million yuan in annual profit. Last year, Dongcheng District tore down 1,064 “squatters’ quarters” -90,000 square metersworth -- and this year the plan is to wipe out another 80,000 square meters of the structures. The 1.5 kilometer Dongzhimennei Street, home to 223 retail businesses, has long been called “Ghost Street.” The squatters’ quarters can be found along the entire length of the street. As part of the large-scale renovation, 41 stores belonging to municipal, regional, local owners as well as private companies and firms will have to relocate. Beixinqiao Street, together with other partners will spend 14 million yuan to revamp Dongzhimennei Street. It will have 19 flower beds, green belts, large parking areas, recreational space, and information boards to form an attractive environment for food and beverage street.
New look of pedicab outside the Second Ring Road
Photos provided by the Bureau of Communications
New Spin on “Survivor” By Su Nan
Night view of the Fourth Ring Road
Photo by Jia Ting
Fourth Ring Road Ready for Traffic By Brendan / Su Nan With the completion of the last 5 kilometers of the Western Fourth Ring Road (from east Lianhuachi Road to Xingshikou), Beijing’s entire highway line has been connected. The city government will now begin to put the traffic control system in place by painting traffic lines, and installing guard rails and protective nets, and will add green space by planting trees. The Western Fourth Ring Road
is expected to be open to traffic by late June. By then, a 50-kilometer section of the Fourth Ring Road will officially become part of the city’s expressway network. It is reported that the Eastern, Southern and Northern sections of the Fourth Ring Road have assimilated 30 percent of the traffic flow from the Second and Third Ring Roads. The fourth loop plays a crucial role in cushioning the traffic congestion in Beijing and intercepting transit transportation.
The new television program “Survivor” on the American network CBS has created a sensation in the United States, reporting record viewing audiences for the weekly show that aims to see who can last longest on a deserted island. The premise of the “reality show” is that several participants are left together on a deserted island, where they can do anything and everything necessary to squeeze others out of the competition to survive in a harsh environment. The group regularly votes on which participant must leave the island, and the man or woman who makes it to the final vote is the winner. This rugged outdoor survival game is the pioneer of a new type of programming known as
City’s Youngest Fraudster By Brendan / Su Nan
In a case that prosecutors say involves Beijing’s youngest corruption suspect, a 16 year-old worker was arrested for embezzling 20,000-plus yuan over a two month period while working as a postal agent in the Fang Shan District. The Procuratorate Against Corruption in the Fang Shan District said that in March 2000, the boy was employed as a postal agent in the district after graduating from secondary school (The Chinese government has stipulated that citizens over 16 are allowed to enter the workforce). Three months later, the boy was put in charge of the service of express mail, postal remittance, and other duties. In July, he illegally altered the stub of a 500 yuan money order to read 5,000 yuan, and changed the remittance fee from 50 yuan to 5 yuan. He then pocketed the 4,545 yuan difference. Prosecutors said the boy was initially frightened by his own wrongdoing, but the
fear gradually wore off as his stash of cash increased. He stole more than 20,000 yuan over two months. The Beijing Post Office discovered the scam when they checked the postal money order against the postal regulations. The boy was apprehended and has returned the stolen money. The case exposed the postal system’s lack of precautionary measures against such criminal activity as well as the inefficient supervisory system that allowed a new, young employee to be responsible for numerous remittance businesses. The head of the Fang Shan Procuratorate Against Corruption said that people’s vague understanding of the importance of rule of law and lack of knowledge of specific laws are behind the rise in criminal activities. Prosecutors said the boy did not realize he had committed an illegal act until he was arrested. With cases of juvenile delinquency on the rise, experts worry that China’s young generation is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the power of money.
“reality TV.” Now the idea has caught on in China, as Chinese television producers are developing their first outdoor survival program, but one with a kinder, gentler content than the American version. “Walk in Shangri-la” is a 30-part series that records dayto-day activities of teams competing in various challenges over a 30-day period. Sichuan Television and several national TV stations will produce the show. In early July, the survival show will begin filming at Shangri-la, located 4,000 meters above sea level at the border of the Yungui Plateau and the Chuanzang Plateau. The 18 contestants, chosen from across the country, will be required to undergo medical check-ups and survival training prior to the show. The contestants are split into three groups, and each person receives a 10-day grain ration and 10
By Brendan / Su Nan
matches before beginning the weeks of team challenge events. Production units film the 18 contestants throughout the 30-day competition, and this footage is mixed with previously filmed clips of the participants’ background. The final version is meant to give a comprehensive view of the participants’ physical abilities and personalities. The show’s sponsors emphasize that “Walk in Shangri-la” is not the Chinese version of “Survivor” as it advocates teamwork, health, and is more sensitive to contestants’ feelings and the harmonious relationship between man and nature. The producers are still looking for suitable contestants. Those interested must be healthy adults interested in adventure. For more information, log onto web-site www.vvhand.com or call 010-88018518. A program committee will select contestants.
Card Opens Olympic Door
Don’t be surprised if you receive an electronic card full of information about Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympics, courtesy of the mayor of the Chinese capital. Insert it into your computer and the design of the city’s Olympic village will appear, with background music and views of Chang’an Avenue. This newly designed card -- the size of a business card -- is part of the promotional package to accompany the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee to Lausanne. Beijing Mayor Liu Qi has one of the new cards, featuring the Beijing 2008 Olympic bid symbol of five interlocking, colored rings. Olympic gold medal winner, Liu Xuan has her own portrait on her special card. One of the computer card designers, Li Kebin, said the card contains a specially made 60M compact disk that stores a wide variety of publicity materials for the Olympic The business card of the mayor of Beijing bid. Photo by Chen Shuyi
City to Build Formula One Race Track By Zhang Xiaoxia A new Formula One race track is to be built near Huangcun of Daxing District of Beijing at the end of this month, according to the Beijing Youth Daily. The race track, which was designed by a U.S. company, had already achieved the international approval and obtained the ability to hold the Formula One race. The race track named Kang Chi, obtained 2 straight roads, with the length of 900 meters separately, and 16 curves. This challenging race track with the length of 5.9 kilometers will be accomplished in three years. The Formula One race is one of the 3 sports in the world with the largest audience. Last year, 55 billion people watched the Formula One race before the screen, only football and Olympics can match the Formula One race with the influence. The accomplishment of the Kang Chi track would improve the investment atmosphere of the south area of Beijing, bring her a comprehensive change, and establish a new view of Beijing as a modernized and internationalized city as well.
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VOICE
MAY 18. 2001
E-mail: liufeng@ynet.com
Peasants from Anhui Province, victims of gene testing. Photo By Nanfang Weekend.
By Lu Jia
O
n May 9, China Youth Daily carried an investigative report on patients’ rights to informed consent in medical research, an issue which has stirred hot debate on medical ethics in China. In 1995, a research project to collect DNA samples for asthma testing from peasants in Anhui Province was launched jointly by an American company, Harvard University, Brigham Hospital affiliated with Harvard, and the Anhui Medical University. During the collection of blood samples, from which DNA is extracted, researchers did not fully explain the program and testing procedures to the peasants, nor did they receive written consent from the donors. The peasants were told they were undergoing routine health examinations and given a small subsidy. The researchers said they did not think peasants would understand detailed explanations or be able to sign letters of consent, as most of them were illiterate. And this drawback would be an obstacle to their research. Here are some responses to the controversial situation: “I believe the staff should have made a clear explanation to the peasants, at least a very general one to tell them why their blood was being used. In Chinese tradition, there is a belief that the human body belongs to one’s
G
uangxi province recently announced that identification cards will take the place of registered permanent residence documentation, and the restrictions preventing rural residents from moving to towns and cities will gradually be phased out. This means that the rural population now will be able to settle freely in towns and urban areas, and the centuriesold permanent residence policy will come to an end. The following are
EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER: LI SHI
Gene Testing: Right To Know parents. In our modern view, the human body is owned by the individual, so he or she has the right to know why their blood is being used. In this way, “Some may say that although this action hurts only a few people’s interests, all of mankind will benefit. It sounds reasonable and worthwhile to sacrifice the interests of the few for the majority. However, man’s value cannot be measured by adding or compared by computing. As for an individual, he or she is priceless, and no one can set their price. “I understand the difficulties in the actual situations. So we may adopt some flexible methods. We responses to the new policy: “I think it is a very good policy. It makes the flow of human resources more reasonable, and employers will be given more flexibility to choose employees. In this way, both urban citizens and rural residents will be treated equally. The worries of those without registered permanent residence such as health insurance, money for housing and other kinds of welfare will disappear.” - Sui Hongqi, university
do not need to tell the donors what a gene is and what DNA is. We perhaps can let them know their blood if being used to cure their diseases and those of others.” Dong Jun, from Sino-chem. “This problem has a very long history in China. I think it is a cultural problem. The reason provided for concealing the blood use is the illiteracy of the research subjects. Essentially it is a feeling of colonialism and a feeling of cultural superiority. Naturally those peasants are defined as culturally inferior and submissive. Because you are poor and illiterate, you need not know. Even if I explain to you, you could
not understand. So why should I bother? But in another sense, why do doctors try their best to save or prolong patients’ lives, even when they know their efforts are useless? It’s the same case here. Doctors save patients in a physical way, and those peasants need to be considered in a spiritual way. “The proper administrations and medical institutions should realize the ideological background behind this ‘little thing.’” - Jiang Wentao, from Beijing University. “In my humble opinion, the right to know is a right given to everyone as soon as they enter the world. This right should get more respect than the lack of
Equal Rights For Rural and City Dwellers
teacher. “In cities, many people without registered permanent residence are working. Some of them have high education with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. If they are not given well-deserved treatment, it is unfair. So I applaud this decision.” - Guo Chong, company manager. “There is a problem with this policy that also troubles the government. If there are no restric-
By Lu Jia
knowledge. “This situation reminds me of another case. The hospitals in China formed a rule not to tell patients when they had a fatal disease. It seems humane. However, the patient will be destroyed physically and psychologically when the disease eventually makes itself known. That is the bitter outcome to the violation of patients’ right to know. “Of course, to respect peasants’ and patients’ right to know will make the problem more complicated. But our society is advancing. Like children, we cannot cut mathematics class in order to relax. So people need to become more skilled in telling the truth. Persuasion and rhetoric are the courses for those medical experts to take. All in all, anyone’s right to know should be respected whether his social status is high or low.” - Liu Yang, college student. tions, the rural populations in some poor areas of the countryside will pour into cities or towns that are comparatively wealthy. The immediate consequence will be the shortage of labor forces in the countryside, which would hurt agriculture production. In addition, the move would place a heavy burden on the city administrations and bring trouble to public security in urban areas.” - Liang Feng, private business owner.
SOUND ONCE MORE
“This house denitely does not seem like a place that makes people comfortable. I’d rather live in my old one.” Junichiro Koizumi, new Japanese premier, said on moving into his ofcial residence May 9. The premier’s 70-year-old living quarters not only looks unappealing but also has witnessed many bloodcurdling raids and murders.
“If we allow the U.S. reconnaissance plane to y over China’s territorial air space again, it would further hurt the feelings and dignity of the Chinese, and infuriate them.” - Li Zhaoxing, vice foreign minister, commented May 9 that the U.S. should understand China’s decision to forbid the detained U.S. plane to leave Hainan Island by way of ying.
“Our vision is to have Hong Kong play the same role as London plays for Europe and New York plays for North and South America,” Tung Chee-hwa, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, told business executives and political leaders at the closing ceremony of The Fortune Global Forum 2001 on May 17.
PROBE查
调 0E-mail: liufeng@ynet.com
By Lu Jia In the 1850’s, millions of Americans and foreign immigrants moved to California in search of the gold believed to be buried in the hills, starting the legendary “Gold Rush.” In the 1990’s, a “gold mine” appeared in China in the form of the market economy that has filled many people’s pockets with millions.
Who are the wealthy In China?
In July 2000, the National Statistics Bureau (NSB) conducted a survey of 9,956 wealthy families in ten cities. The first question asked respondents to identify who they believed were the wealthy in China, and to define their stan-
The Gilded Age
Leaders and Technical Staff
According to the survey, the leaders of enterprises and technical staff make up over half of the total high-income earners. Enterprise heads account for 31 percent and rank first among the whole group. Technical staff make up 25.2 percent, ranking second. As high technology expands, especially information technology, supply of IT talent will fall short of demand. Thus their salaries will rise sharply.
High Academic Degrees do not Mean High Income
The survey showed that in the first half of 2000, the average monthly income of people with advanced degrees was 5,467 yuan per person. Those with master’s degrees had the highest monthly income, with 11,034 yuan each. People with primary school education earned 7,947 yuan per month, ranking second. Those
people with middle school education took third place with monthly earnings of 5,592 yuan. People with bachelor’s degrees were in fourth place, taking home 5,512 yuan monthly. In terms of age, people between 30 and 40 years old accounted for 37 percent of the group. Those in the 40-50 year age group represented 31.3 percent, and reported sufficient work experience and a solid financial base. Ranking third were young people between ages 20 and 30 who have mastered new knowledge and technology. Many of them work in the IT industry. The NSB survey revealed that families with high income focus their investment on the stock market. In the first half of 2000, the monthly income of experienced stockholders was 8,491 yuan per person, ranking second in the category, behind owners of private enterprises, with monthly income of 13,445 yuan. Out of ten large cities, only Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing listed annual average dis-
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EDITOR: LIU FENG DESIGNER:PANG LEI
posable income of over 10,000 yuan. Residents in Guangzhou had 13,967 yuan in spare cash; those in Shanghai, 11,700 yuan; and in Beijing, 10,350 yuan.
How to Spend Money
The newly published Beijing Blue Book: Capital Development Report in 2001, the total value of property owned by high income families has reached 23.56 million yuan, of which personal property makes up 66.2 percent and investments 33.8 percent. High-income families own their own homes and cars. They are willing to spend money on insurance and their children’s education. In 1999, the average expenditures on life insurance and property insurance were 2,065 yuan and 1,185 yuan respectively. The average spending on children’s education stood at 11,301 per child, with 4,183 yuan going for routine living expenses and 3,925 for study materials and activities. There are 22 cars per every 100 highincome families. The average spending for cars is 200,000 yuan. The survey also showed that the average living space per high-income household is 111.3 square meters.
Dark Income
dard for high income. Dr. Cao Ziwei, from NSB, explained the definition of high income could be determined by two standards: absolute and comparative. For example, categorizing people’s annual income in either 500,000 yuan or one million-yuan brackets sets an absolute standard. With this method, an ordinary income for a Beijing resident qualifies as a high income for a person in the undeveloped west. Therefore, the survey employed the comparative standard, and set the bottom line for the annual disposable income of a wealthy family at 30,000 yuan. In addition, ownership of homes and automobiles were another two points of consideration in deciding who earns high income and who does not. The final survey results were reached based on information from those families with an annual disposable income above 30,000 yuan and who own their own homes and cars.
MAY 18. 2001
In contrast to these official NSB statistics, there is a substantial amount of income going to a fraction of China’s wealthy citizens that is unaccountable. Compared with the high-income families who earn their money through legal means and occupations, this untraceable money comes from a variety of illicit activities. Four Opportunities for Wealthy Chinese The success of the market economy is clearly the cause of the growing wealth in China. This expansion came in four phases: In the mid-1980’s, the unemployed entered the market economy. With less education, they became self-employed laborers, and formed the first group of high-income earners. This trend faded by the early 1990’s. Since the late 1980’s, due to the unreasonable distribution of means of production under the planned economy, steel, wood and even land became hard to get in come places. Opportunists took advantage of this situation to make money from fraudulent buying and selling. When the financial market and stock trading companies appeared at the start of the 1990’s, another category of highincome earners came into being. In the mid-1990’s, commercialization of knowledge and technology created a fourth highincome group very quickly. Compared to previous three periods of growth, this phase is expected to last a long time.
Thanks, but No Thanks –Bureaucrats By Lu Jia The recent State Council decision to raise salaries of civil servants in Beijing, Xi’an and Guangzhou has received a lackadaisical response. According to a survey by the National Statistics Bureau, more civil servants in Guangzhou and Xi’an welcomed the pay raise than their counterparts in Beijing. In general, survey respondents said they worry the increase will widen the income gap between civil servants and laid-off workers and at the same time create obstacles for simplifying internal administration. Of those civil servants questioned, 52.9 percent said they were pleased to hear about the salary hike. In Xi’an, Guangzhou and Beijing, the breakdown was 60.5 percent, 55.7 percent and 44.3 per-
cent, respectively. In Beijing, 16.3 percent said they did not think higher salaries would improve job performance, and 14.8 percent in Xi’an agreed; the proportion was only 5.7 percent in Guangzhou. In Beijing, 5.7 percent of the civil servants were indifferent to the news. The lack of enthusiasm for higher pay is puzzling in Beijing, which has the highest number of civil servants in the country. And in Guangzhou, where the market economy is fully developed, and in Xi’an, a rather conservative city, reactions were lukewarm. The survey also questioned members of the general public. Overall, 39 percent said they thought the pay increase for civil servants was a good idea; 25.2 percent didn’t believe the extra money would affect services noticeably; and 35 percent were indifferent to that. In Beijing, 33.3 percent of non-civil servants were pleased about that; in Xi’an the percentage was 43.9, and Guangzhou, 36.7. On average, 58.8 percent think the salaries for civil servants should be raised. In Xi’an the percentage is the highest at 63.2 percent. On average 41.2 percent oppose that. Guangzhou has the most opposition, at 50 percent.
Census Identifeis Brainy Beijingers By Xiao Rong For every 100,000 people in Beijing, 16,843 have advanced education degrees - more than any other place in China and 4.7 times that of the average national educational level. Compared to Tianjin and Shanghai, Beijing has 1.9 times and 1.5 times as many highly educated residents, respectively. These statistics were released last week by Beijing’s investigation team working on the fifth National Census. The numbers cited above indicate that Beijing has achieved great success in the field of higher education for adults over the past 10 years. Compared with the last National Census conducted ten
years ago, the percentage of the population with higher educational qualifications has rapidly increased, by 81.1%. In addition, the for every 100,000 Beijingers, 91,341 have received schooling, a number higher than the national average of 84,419 per 100,000. Tianjin tallied 89,479 educated residents per 100,000 and Shanghai had 89,695 per 100,000. Moreover, the educational level of the population in the outer suburbs of Beijing has also improved by 242.9%. Taking a regional perspective, the number of people with advanced training in urban areas totals 454,000, and the corresponding number for rural areas totals 153,000. Both statistics reflect at least a twice-over improvement since 1990.
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焦
MAY 18. 2001
E-mail: liufeng@ynet.com
FOCUS点
EDITOR:LIU FENG DESIGNER:PANG LEI
Comment
Freedom under Accountability
By Sun Yue
Xiushui Marker mainly offered fruit and vegetables at first
Brand names abound
The first stall of Xiushui opens in the ’80s
By Xiao Rong For the Beijing Industrial and Commercial Administrative Department, May 10th was the deadline for confiscation of the numerous fake name-brand goods sold in the well-known Xiushui Market. Spontaneously formed in 1982 near the embassy area of Jianguomen in Beijing, Xiushui Street is one of the three most famous fashion streets in the city. The other two are the Yabao Road Market and Sanlitun Clothing Market, all located in Chaoyang District. Widely known as the “Silk Alley” to many foreign residents and visitors in Beijing, Xiushui Market not only boasts silk products, but also offers cashmere garments, down jackets, shoes, hats, watches, leather goods, handicrafts and trinkets. In recent years, however, certain phony goods with foreign logos like “Nike”, “Adidas” and “Polo” have become prevalent in Xiushui Market, attracting customers at home and abroad because of their relatively high quality and cheap prices. The local
Photo by Jia Ting
Xiushui Market also attracts international customers with its unique outdoor shopping environment.”It’s my first time here and I think it’s very interesting. I like this way of shopping because it is fun to bargain with the vendors,” said one young American tourist. Another shopper from Canada smiled and exclaimed: “There is sunshine and fresh air here. You can’t find that in indoor air-conditioned stores.” Dai Jianzhong, a professor from the Academy of Social Science in Beijing, said that the charm of Xiushui Market lies in its folk-trade appeal. “For foreigners, the imperial legacy of China only accounts for part of their interest. What matters most is the traditional folk culture from which they can learn more about China. In other famous urban centers like Paris and London, the open-air markets and secondhand bazaars have proven to be one of the most popular commercial and tourist stops. In Beijing, however, things are quite different. More and more
Silk Alley to Keep Thriving? crackdown on fake products has raised some concerns that the city will lose a renowned attraction for overseas tourists. Famous Fakes “The prohibition of fake products will not have much negative effect on our business, although certain vendors may have to lower prices significantly to get rid of phony goods before the deadline.”said Zhang Xiuqin, who has run a stall in Xiushui Market since the beginning. “At first we mainly sold clothes for foreign trade, made of silk, cotton, flax and cashmere. The ban will only help us to clean out our market.” Two days after the government ban, Xiushui Market was still as crowded as ever. People who come here enjoy shopping in the famous “Silk Alley”. “I can’t tell the difference between originals and fakes, so I don’t look at the brand name anyway, I just examine the texture and quality of the clothes before buying, and I have always been satisfied with my purchases in this market,” commented an Australian shopper. A couple from Italy also said: “We like to come here, mainly for Chinese-style commodities. Compared with those big department stores, goods here are both cheap and fashionable.” A middle-aged Chinese woman shopping with her son, said: “Personally I agree with our country’s policy of
prohibiting the production and sale of counterfeit brands. But I think it’s a tough job to root out the fakes, especially in clothing, because unlike fake medicine and food, phony dresses don’t harm anyone’s health or safety. Take me for example, a phony “Nike” shirt is almost the same quality as the original, and it’s much cheaper. That’s why I always come here. But in the end, Xiushui Market is famous for its silk and cotton products, not for the fakes. So the ban will not affect its business.” Local officials share these customers’ views. Zhang Jianshe, director of the marketing supervisory office of the Beijing Industrial and Commercial Administrative Department and Mr. Qiao, director of the marketing office of Chaoyang Branch of the same organization, both think that the ban of counterfeit products will not affect Xiushui Market.“We are following the country’s strict prohibition of fakes by taking these measures with Xiushui Market. It’s a long-term, difficult task to enforce these regulations of production and sale of clothing.” They also stated that all the bogus brands in Xiushui Market should be eliminated, not just the five most well-known brands most reported in the media. “There is sunshine and fresh air here” Apart from its well-known silk and cotton products,
large shopping malls have been built in recent years, while traditional fairs like Huguo Temple, Longfu Temple and Dong’an Market have disappeared or have been moved indoors. Compared with their original state, those rebuilt fairs have turned out to be empty.” Jiang Lin, a consumer psychologist at Renmin University, talked about Xiushui Market from another point of view. “The reason that Xiushui Market turned out to be one of the most widely-known clothing market is that it suits the tastes of the majority of customers. For ordinary shoppers, especially young people, the pursuit of both fashion and substance are equally important. So vendors are always trying to be upto-date in chasing after the
A vender proffers bargains Photo by Jia Ting
latest fashions. In addition, squeezing through throngs of shoppers and bargaining for a satisfying price is a totally new experience for many shoppers.” Whose Xiushui Market ? In 1999, the Beijing Municipal Government planned to move all the outdoor markets indoors to improve the city’s environment. On hearing the news, stall vendors in Xiushui Market held a public conference, inviting economists, lawyers and socialists, as well as journalists, to offer advice on how to develop Xiushui Market. Although the government finally gave up the reconstruction of Xiushui Market, the critical dispute over who should decide the future of Xiushui Market is still under way. According to Zhu Dingya, another vendor who has been working in Xiushui Market for over 15 years, the ownership of the market is still an unresolved issue. “Privatelyowned enterprises are a significant part of our socialist economy, so we completely support current policies. But we also hope to form some kind of trade union that can help us make our own business decisions.” Zhu’s proposition represents most of the stall holders’ views. Jiang Zezhong, professor of the Capital University of Finance and Trade, expressed his approval. “Xiushui Market is an important milestone in the process of our country’s opening and reform. As a necessary supplement to the public economy, the private economy has played an increasingly significant role in the national economy. Therefore, our government cannot close a prosperous outdoor market so easily. Rather, we should maintain the varied economic systems during the transitional period from planned economy to market economy.” “Unlike the Yabao Road Market and Sanlitun Clothing Market, Xiushui Market doesn’t block the road or stop traffic. After years of spontaneous development, it has become one of the most widely-known commercial streets in Beijing and has contributed greatly to the local economy. It is advisable for local government to allow more freedom in the development of such a booming market. Although there aren’t many possibilities for private economies to organize trade unions under current laws, certain kinds of corporations administered by nongovernmental organizations are an option for cooperation.” As to the specific measures taken to oversee Xiushui Market, the Marketing Department of the Jianguomenwai Community Economic Administration Centre, which is directly in charge of the market, declined to provide comments for this story. Nevertheless, Xiushui Market has survived many years and has created a thriving marketplace, compared with the recent decline of the once-famous Yabao Road Market and Sanlitun Clothing Market.
Although it is simply one shopping outlet, Xiushui Market is a prime example of the opening and reform process in China, reflecting the major problems with China’s transitional market economy. A market economy brings with it certain guiding principles, which should be followed. Simply creating a market system does not necessarily lead to immediate prosperity. In the case of Xiushui Market, success has been achieved after years of much individual hard work and experience —and prosperity has been a result of obeying the objective laws of the market (supply and demand). The declining business at Yabao Road Market, Longfu Temple Market and Liulichang has been caused by human and government interference, which is a point that should be carefully considered. To create a better environment for market systems, the transformation of ideas and systems is very important. In the period after the industrial revolution, the development of capitalism depended greatly on the three principles used in the modern judicial system, which are “individual freedom, free exchange, and accountability.” Only with these three ideas in place, can capitalism develop freely. Under this system, all people have equal rights. The corporation, which is the aggregate of individuals, is subject to the general law, but also has rights. Regarding the administrative affairs of Xiushui Market, the people most directly involved in the market operations should have the right of self-management. This will ensure that the market develop in a flexible and spontaneous manner. Any other outside interference will likely be detrimental.
The small handicraft shop attrcts foreigners
Do You Know?
1982 Locals began selling handicrafts, paintings, and fruits and vegetables along East Xiushui Street, marking the beginning of Xiushui Market. 1985 Xiushui Market was established by the Government of Chaoyang District. At that time, the monthly tax was 15 yuan. Each stall had a white piece of cloth which read, “Lawful Management, Clean Environment, High Quality and Reasonable Price”. Most of the stalls then were simply tricycles and impromptu sheds. 1988 Under the local government regulations, the 140 stalls paid 3000 yuan each and set up fireproof permanent installations, which are still used today. The area of business: 1252 square metres The number of stalls: over 600 The monthly administrative fee: 850 yuan The monthly tax: 2173 yuan The annual revenue turnover: 1.5 billion yuan The annual number of customers of the market: over 2000 thousand people, 40%---60% of which are foreigners
面 E-mail: zhangxiaoxia@ynet.com By Wang Lifang In the rehearsal hall of the Central Ballet of China, sunlight shines down on beautiful ballerinas in small groups chatting or just warming-up for the upcoming class. A tall and slender girl comes out with a coy smile and introduces herself to us in a low but pleasant voice: “I believe you’re looking for me, Kang Hua.” Exactly fitting the image of a ballerina, Kang is the kind of glowing and healthy girl who would brighten anyone’s eyes at first sight. This May “Raise the Red Lantern”, the ballet drama directed by Zhang Yimou, attracted attention from the whole Beijing media scene. Under the dazzling spotlights, Kang Hua, the elder concubine in the ballet drama, turned out to be nothing but a common girl. In the duration of the interview, Kang Hua told us several times: “There is nothing special about my life, I’m just a common girl.” Kang Hua used to live in the student halls of the Central Ballet of China’s Tongzi Building, in which all residents on a floor share one bathroom and one kitchen. “The conditions there were not so good. Every day after rehearsals, we would take a shower in a small public bathroom. You had to hurry because there would be no hot water left if you were late.” Kang Hua smiles and continues, “But finally that building was torn down and every one had to move out. “ Now Kang Hua rents a small apartment near the Central Ballet of China and walks to work every day. She’s glad to have her private place where she can read books or listen to music or do anything she likes. Kang Hua has to rehearse almost every day including Saturday and Sunday, but she has more interests than ballet. “I like reading on Internet and chatting with my friends through icq.” Coming to things she likes, Kang Hua becomes excited and punctuates her speech with vivid gestures, adding grace and energy to what she says. Kang Hua and her friends also go to the disco sometimes. Imagining ballet dancers dancing disco, you may think that everyone would stop dancing and just gawp. “Though we practice dancing all the time, we don’t know how to dance freely to the rhythms of disco.” Kang curls her lips and says,
“I’m not a good disco dancer anyway.” A ballerina’s life is not always splendid and colorful. Kang sometimes regards her life as routine and boring. She says practicing ballet every day makes her desperate for a change sometimes, but that’s the way she chooses to live and she will go on with it. Dancing all the way to CBC Kang began to learn dancing at the age of 5. “From when I was a kid, I felt ballet was so graceful and elegant. I came to love it immediately.” After little Kang studied in Xi’an Arts School for two years, teachers from The Middle School affiliated to The Beijing Dancing Institute, the cradle of all famous ballerinas in China, went to Xi’an to lecture. After seeing her dancing routines, the teachers thought little Kang a potential ballerina and decided to enroll her in their school. Kang’s mom asked her: “Would you like to learn ballet in the capital, Beijing?” “Capital? That will be fun. I’ll go.” The first time little Kang came to her new class, her new classmates, all a little older than her, wanted to deal her a head-on blow at the first encounter. “You take off your shoes and show us stretching tight feet.” Little Kang Hua looked around at her new classmates, then took off her shoes quietly and stretched her feet. “Oh, not bad, eh?” those little girls nodded with satisfaction. They soon became good friends after that. Kang Hua distinguished herself soon after entering CBC for her excellent performances. Up to now, she has acted in dozens of ballet shows including “The Death of Swan”, “Red Female Guards” and the recent “Raise the Red Lantern”. “I have been working in CBC for five years and now I’m already an senior ballerina.” Kang laughs when talking about her age, not showing any sign of embarrassment. Maybe due to her age, Kang can understand the characteristics of the roles better and so can offer a richer interpretation on stage. Dancing costs me so much, but the rewards are greater! When Kang was learning dancing in Xi’an Arts School, one day she hurt her foot while dancing. She went to hospital and had an X-ray of her foot. The doctor studied the X-ray film for almost half an hour and could not help asking: “Little girl, what did you do
to hurt yourself in this way?” Little Kang answered: “I’m a dancer.” “Oh, I see, I see.” The doctor nodded his head: “Could you leave your X-ray film in our hospital so that we can use it as an example in teaching?” Kang Hua’s feet have already altered their shape due to dancing and she doesn’t usually wear sandals, even in summer. Kang Hua says, “Others will stare at my feet because they are different. I like the sandals with slim strips so much and I always focus on this kind of sandals in shop windows, but I never buy a pair for myself.” Kang Hua is 1.74 m high and now is the tallest female ballerina in CBC. As Kang says, she is somewhat too tall for dancing ballet, which makes it difficult to control herself in dancing. Once Kang danced with Tamila, a Mongolian boy, for a pas de deux. In the practicing, Tamila put his hand a little too high while lifting Kang and pocked his finger into her ribs. Kang didn’t feel any pain at the time, but soon it swelled. The doctor told her to rest for several days, but how could Kang rest while the date of performance was drawing near. So Kang bound her waist with emery cloth. “Tamila felt so sorry at that time and wanted to treat me to dinner. But I knew it wasn’t his fault, it’s because I’m too tall.” Ballet gives Kang Hua lots of pleasure, though most ballet dramas she acts are tragedies. “Training
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Photos by Jia Ting
FACE 孔 is so tiring, especially the days before performances. But the feeling of satisfaction after a performance is incredibly rewarding, and can’t be compared to anything else.” Even after performance, Kang Hua will still think about the fantastic time on stage. That feeling compensates for everything Kang has put into “the art on toes”. Kang Hua believes she is in a growing stage and wants to continue dancing for 3 or 4 years. “After 30, dancing actresses will have little room for improvement; the muscle conditions will not be as good. While actors can keep dancing until around 35.” Asked what is her dream for the future, Kang Hua falls into thought for a while and answers: “Ballet is imported to China from Western countries and I think China’s ballet still has a long way to go. I hope to have a chance to study the Western approach to ballet in the future.” Kang raises her head and looks into the distance with hope and determination in her eyes, as if she can see her future.
Red Lantern In Kang Hua’s Eyes In “Raise the Red Lantern”, Kang Hua has several minutes of solo dancing. “The elder concubine (Kang Hua’s role) has very complicated thoughts. She is jealous of the lord’s other younger and more beautiful concubines, but never shows it, because she still has some authority and power in this family. But when she sees the sedan chair of the third concubine, Song Lian, she suddenly recalls her past young ages. She touches the sedan chair and returns to her happy days. All of a sudden, the lights on stage go off and she comes back to reality. She returns to normal and glances at the sedan chair coldly.” “Classical ballets have more strict requirements and they are more challenging to us dancers. But I feel glad to play a role in Raise the Red Lantern because we can dance more freely and I not only dance but also act in the drama.”
Oi! Go easy on the cakes, girls!
Kang Hua will celebrate her 25th birthday next week. “Oops, I will be one year older then.” But there is a bright side, because CBC buys every actor or actress a birthday cake on their birthdays. As we all take for granted, all ballet dancers have to keep in good shape and almost all of them have to go on a diet sometimes. Male dancers will be especially “angry” when they find out that these girls eat lots of food, for they have to lift females in almost every practice session and performance. “Our boys will surely cry: “Oi! Go easy on the cakes, girls!” when I get the birthday cake. They are actually saying: “Be careful to keep your weight down.” Kang Hua laughs happily.
MAY 18. 2001
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EDITOR: ZHANG XIAOXIA DESIGNER: LI SHI
10
京
MAY 18. 2001
E-mail: zhangxiaoxia@ynet.com
LEGACY韵
EDITOR:ZHANG XIAOXIA DESIGNER:LI SHI
Ming Buddhas Need Protection By Miao Yajie
By Yue Zhe A 40-part TV serial Da Zhai Men with a rating of up to 20% has become the hottest topic recently among viewers and the media, with the special background of the director, Guo Baochang, and one of the most popular names with over 330 years of proud history always on people’s lips--Tong Ren Tang. Tong Ren Tang was established by a Mr. Yue, whose family practiced medicine for generations, under the name of Yue’s Drugstore in the 8th year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty (1669), and obtained the privilege to supply medicine to the emperor in the beginning of the reign of Yongzheng Emperor (1723). Legends abound throughout the history of Tong Ren Tang. The following are some I learned from 82-year-old Liu Zhenjun, consultant of Tong Ren Tang who has devoted 62 years of his life to the pharmacy. Anguo Market Anguo (Now Qizhou,Hebei province) Market, the biggest medicinal herb supplier in the Qing Dynasty, used to hold an annual fair around April 28 of the Lunar calendar. Tradesmen there would wait for the boss of Tong Ren Tang to lay down the prices for their herbs, because no one would know better than someone who supplied medicine for the royal family; and the quantity and quality of the herbs Tong Ren Tang needed were the largest and the best.
Photos by Cui Jun
As for the quality, Tong Ren Tang would only buy some rare herbs like musk, ginseng, and fruit of Chinese wolfberry, in the place of production. Crack down on counterfeit Tong Ren Tang Because of its growing reputation, many tradesmen outside Beijing used the name “Tong Ren Tang” for their own stores. In the reign of Xianfeng and Tongzhi, official notices were put up to claim that anyone else who used the name of Tong Ren Tang was violating the law and would be punished. Stores were closed down
and the owners were sentenced to parade through the streets to be exposed to the public for three days. I believe it is rare around the world that a government without any trading laws would launch an anti-counterfeit campaign some hundreds of years ago. Prescription dispensed by Tong Ren Tang Mr.Liu, hoary-headed but still sturdy and strong, said this story is the one that many old customers of Tong Ren Tang would recount with great relish. One day, a customer
came into the store with a prescription: he said that he had visited all of the drug stores in the city and that no one would make up the medicine for him. Tong Ren Tang was his last hope, he begged the doctor to dispense the prescription for him. The doctor read the prescription, and immediately he knew the reason. There are pairs of herbs which cannot be made up together in this particular prescription. According to certain theories of Chinese medicine, any of those two herbs made up together would bring
Ancient Bricks Used in the Restoration of Ancient bricks of over 400 hundred years old from the west wall of the old Imperial City are now in the restoration The Temple of Emperors By Wu Yuezhan
site of the Temple of Emperors. The 2000 pieces were found when laborers demolished two rows of single-storey houses at Beishuicheng Street on May 5. The walls of these houses were built with blue bricks almost uniform in size, 48cm long, 24cm wide, 12cm high. More than ten different names of kilns and the titles of emperors’ reigns could easily be recognized. Experts said that the bricks, from the walls of the Imperial City of the Ming Dynasty, were preserved well and of excellent quality. The different names of the kilns proved that the bricks for the Imperial City walls were not made only by the imperial kiln, but that some privately owned kilns also contributed
Cai Shixiang, Administration of the Temple of Emperors Photo by Cui Jun
out a poisonous side effect, sometimes even kill the patient. Fortunately the clerk was very experienced, he knew the purpose of the prescription must be combating poison with poison. So the clerk got contact with the doctor and asked him to sign the prescription. The patient was cured, the story became part of the legend of Tong Ren Tang. The three-storey store at Dashanlan Street in typical Chinese style was crowded with customers from home and abroad. In the administrative office, I was not much surprised to find an antique tortoise shell-inlaid Chinese table, now packed with files and books. “It is at least 100 years old. I heard that it was rescued from the old store when the store was to be reconstructed after the earthquake in 1976,” Ms. Kong Yangping, deputy director of the office, told me. Some say the extremely popular broadcasting of the TV serial allows Tong Ren Tang to enjoy a kind of new profile, but Jia Wensheng, the deputy manager of Tong Ren Tang Pharmacy, disagrees. “Tong Ren Tang has a tremendously long history of over three centuries, a profound cultural background and has experienced tumultuous changes over the years; all this endows Tong Ren Tang with an outstanding charisma. It is not fair to say Tong Ren Tang was promoted by a TV serial, to some extent, I think, it is the high reputation of Tong Ren Tang that makes the TV serial hot.”
to the construction of the Imperial City. When the old Imperial City walls were torn down in 1969, the bricks were used directly to build those one-storey houses on the same site. It is estimated that more bricks will be discovered from Beishuicheng Street northwards to Fuchengmen overpass. The Temple of Emperors was first constructed in the 10th year of Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1531), and is the temple for offering sacrifices to former kings and princes, generals and ministers. It underwent two periods of renovation in the reign of Yongzheng and Qianlong. The site was allocated to No.159 Middle School from 1929. The renovation began last December with a total investment of 150,000,000 million yuan from the Xicheng District government. It is reported that the Temple of Emperors will be opened to the public in 2003.
After wide media coverage in Beijing of the discovery of three Buddha statues of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) at Mount Pingdin of Badachu Park some twenty days ago, many climbing enthusiasts and devout Buddhists came rushing to get a first hand glimpse. The warnings at the gate of Badachu asking tourists not to worship the Buddhas on the cliff side for safety and protection reasons, seemed to be merely an advertisement. Newspapers, half-burnt joss sticks, a cotton cushion, a cucumber and even a bag of milk were scattered before the Buddhas. “There used to be vegetation everywhere when we first climbed up to look for the statues. Now a road has been built.” Said Mr. Yang Jianlin, an administrator of the park accompanying me to the statue. The biggest Buddha of the
Photo by Xuan Zhang
three is 1.2 meters high, 0.8 meters wide. The mineral pigments on the hair, cheeks and auspicious clouds have peeled off and lost their brightness due to the ages and oxidation. Inscriptions on both sides of the statue are too vague to read except “In the year 32 of Emperor Chia-Ching (1554)” on the right. Also easily recognizable is an antithetic couplet indicating the way of practicing Buddhism. About 10 meters downwards, two smaller Buddhas were found on the same piece of rock. The inscription beside the left one reads “Stonemason Xu Dajin”. “It is one of the most important discoveries of Buddhist carvings in the last one hundred years in the Beijing area,” according to Mr. Liu Weidong, associate researcher at Beijing Carved Stones Museum. “I will appeal to the relevant authorities to take immediate effective protection measures.”
章 E-mail: zhangxiaoxia@ynet.com
CHAPTER节
Wandering Around
MAY 18. 2001 EDITOR: ZHANG XIAOXIA
me, you’ll know: the mountains, the rivers, and the plains, they are something absolute, something that can last forever. You’ll feel, they are real, everlasting and... unchangeable.” “We are no longer curious about people and things around us. We no longer talk about our depressions and frustrations. We live separately in different corners and feel ashamed to see others. We are no longer interested in “compare” and “contrast”
be dismissed from school this time after looking through only three pages. Both A Lai and I are caught by a bad presentiment suddenly and lose self-control. And now, all the students on campus are gearing up for a grand and spectacular review for final exams and there are people of every kind reading books in a frenzy all over the campus. Teachers assign outlines for review like they are your fathers.”
at all. In another word, we are now grown up.” This section describes the absurdity and happiness of our life on campus: “The first activity after setting up our music band is stealing a cock from the biology lab of our university. The second is stealing a bicycle. The third is selling the bicycle. So I propose to change the band name to “criminal gang, they don’t agree anyway.” “I take out those scary textbooks of which I know nothing at all from my bag and begin to read. I feel myself sure to
Books similar: Animals Brutal Though written by famous “hooligan writer” Wang Shuo, this novel is exceptionally innocent and the writing is very sparse. The story takes place in 1950’s China, following a teenage boy obsessed with making master keys. One day, using one of the keys he made, he enters an apartment and discovers it belongs to a beautiful girl...
By Li Fang
Wandering Around the Young Ego “Having nothing to do”, broadly speaking, can be concluded as a state of life: from east to west, from within campus to without, from friends to lovers, from cafeteria to shopping market... that’s the state of wandering around.”-----Shi Kang. Wandering Around, an autobiographical novel by Shi Kang, is mainly a love story between Zhou Wen, a young college student and A Lai, a pretty and intelligent girl. Not classified as a mainstream novel, the book is filled with emotions of frustration, confusion, indignation and indulgence. According to Shi Kang, he wrote the book because he “cannot find an interesting book within eyeshot”. It seems that Shi Kang’s primary intention is to fulfill his ambition, while also having a bit of fun. To some extent, he has achieved his first intention. Nowadays, Shi Kang is so popular in Beijing that his book is widely discussed in magazines and BBSs on the Internet. Shi also wrote the book for fun, which directly contributes to its popularity. Like many best sellers, “Wandering Around” is rebelling against the authority of the written word. It exaggerates the desperate plight of middle class young people in big cities. They often work for themselves and have enough money to afford alcohol, even drugs. They are both bolshy and melancholy. They are bad boys or bad girls, caring little about virginity or responsibility, but hungering after love. It also bitterly satires traditional values like sublimity and immortality and traces the absurdity of modern society. Wandering Around reminds many people of the days of their youth. And, surely it represents the life of that generation.
Part of Wandering Around Zhou Wen loves A Lai so much that he writes a poem for her. The poem is quite similar to the beginning of the American novel, Lolita, by Nabokov: “A Lai, you are my yellow butterfly, you are my mysterious wonderland, you are my last tear drop, you are my redeemer, you are my most cherished present, you are my temporality and perpetuity. After you fade away, I am lost in trials and tribulations, floating around in the face of perplexity, I holler without meaning, I exist with-
out destiny, I recall but cannot remedy, I feel empty without knowing where the end lies.” We are growing both mentally and physically. We have many thoughts and ideas which may vary from others. We take all these down as a record of the process of growing up: “We once advocated destroying everything, destroying everything that we could not get used to. Now I come to understand, we can destroy nothing, nothing except ourselves. If you ever stay in the wilderness like
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DESIGNER: LI SHI
Dialogue with the Raging Youth By Wang Lifang As one of the most famous representatives of “raging youth” in late 1980’s and personally, a good friend of Shi Kang, Gou Zi (meaning ‘doggy’) talked to me about Wandering Around, and about his generation. Wang: Words like “boring”, “spiritual vacuum” and “depression” abound throughout the narrative of Wandering Around, do you think these feelings truly reflect your life? Gou Zi: The only thing is I’m not satisfied with my life. Wang: Does A Lai represent order, beauty, goodness and hope in Zhou Wen and the author’s eyes? Gou Zi: Shi Kang meant to make A Lai an ideal savior for a guy who is spiritually lost, but I believe she’s his ruin. There is no thing or any person in this world that can stand for hope. Wang: The characters in Wandering Around don’t follow traditional values, but rather they “satisfy their every desire”... Gou Zi: Another thing you may have missed is that they “take every responsibility they deserve”. That’s why they live so unhappily. Wang: Are you satisfied with your living conditions? Gou Zi: Of course no. Wang: Have you ever thought of making any changes in your life? Gou Zi: I once went to other cities to live with different people for several months, only to find that they are even worse off than we are. I mean, they live in a desperate condition too. Wang: Do you think there is something in this world that can save you from this state? Gou Zi: Surely there are, such as religion and the lofty ideal of revolution. But they are too far away from us... there are also alcohol, drugs and love, though these things can only temporarily make your conditions better. But now we have to depend on these things because we can’t find other ways out. Pictures By Lao Du
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爆
MAY 18. 2001
E-mail: zhangxiaoxia@ynet.com
SPOTLIGHT 棚
EDITOR:ZHANG XIAOXIA
DESIGNER:LI SHI
By Zhu Lin “Wake up!” The voice surges up, out, into the sky, high above the ancient sacrificial altar. They rise to the call. Fans shout back. A slender woman unthinkingly stands up from her seat. Undoing her ponytail, she sways, a slave to the moment, patting her boyfriend’s head. Under a tree, on a rock, an unidentified fan hops and skips outside the stadium, hoping to snatch a glance inside the altar built for ritual sacrifice to the sun god, hallowed ground to the 2001 Heineken Rhythm Music Festival. Little by little, the deity sinks into an orange-pink blur behind beer tents as green as trees. The aroma of beer and the hymns of Han Hong drift in the breeze. Before the festival, some fretted over tickets. But as the music starts, anxiety withers and the masses move to the motion of a new emotion. The Temple of the Sun is soaked in music that melts to the rhythm of life, to the beat of a new lifestyle and a smart new generation of urban Beijing people. This was the third such annual festival. In the first, not so many cared. In the second, postponement and rain hardly helped, but the occasion nonetheless garnered a late surge of interest as city cognoscenti picked up word of the latest western fad. This year,the media and fans began
Photo by Jia Ting Singer and fans of Shaggy Photos by Jia Ting
Pavilion Bores, Inspires By Zhao Xia
talking two months ahead. Han Hong, Chang Kuan, A Fun Ti headlined the Chinese section of the May 12-13 show. Pop/reggae star Shaggy, Australian aboriginal band Yothu Yindi lost out the foreign market. The rare meeting of cultures has created a reputation for the festival. It is not the auspicious venue or the intriguing musical styles, but the feeling, however brief, that for one evening, all share a common humanity.
C’est La Vie is the Message from “Things in the Pouch” By Yi He From April 28 to May 20, “Things in the Pouch” is being staged in the People’s Art Theatre. During its rehearsal, the director Lin Zhaohua, explained the feeling he wanted from the actors and actresses,“When you’re on the stage, be as natural as possible. Just forget you’re acting.” Lin is the master in Chinese drama circles, enjoying great international fame. He used to be criticized for using over extravagant dramatic forms, especially in his recent production Richard III. This time, however, he offers a mirror to the audience by reflecting Chinese youths’ state of mind nowadays. The drama tells the stories of two young couples. The producer, Fu Weihe said, “After watching it, many young people made comments ‘I didn’t realize my life is like this. C’est la vie, indeed.’” The producer Yuan Hong is satisfied with box office sales, “It seems that young people today run through society in the right way, but in fact, they get what they want, but what they lose is unexpected.”
Photo by Lu Beifeng
When “Pavilion of Women” began showing across China this spring, viewers immediately picked up on the subject matter: a local woman’s love for a western missionary. “Brother, here we go again: another cross-cultural love tryst!” chimed in the critics. But whatever they say, the box office takings for Yim Ho’s “Pavilion of Women” are already bigger than for “Gladiator” in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Screenplay co-author and actress Luo Yan has no doubt about why she chose to produce the movie herself. “Because I thought audiences would like it,” she smiles. This is her first self-produced movie. With “Pavilion of Women,” Luo becomes Hollywood’s first independent Chinese film producer. In her next movie “Bamboo Circle” she reveals concerns about the Anti-Japanese War. Whomever it pleases or displeases, Luo has already left an indelible mark on the face of Chinese film producing. “I’m very much encouraged by Luo Yan,” said Wei Yihe, film producer. “If she can become the first independent Chinese filmmaker in Hollywood, why can’t I become the first in China?”
SHOPPING店
E-mail: jianrong@ynet.com
MAY 18. 2001
13
EDITOR: JIAN RONG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
Jun Ye Home By Jiao Pei I saw a guy walking out of a shop called Junyexing the other day, holding a rather serious looking African blowgun. Junyexing means marching or camping out. From this shop’s name, you can tell that it specializes in military uniforms and camping and outdoor gear. There are 2 floors, fitted out in a style guaranteed to make Photo by Fan Xuedong ‘Terminator’ fans feel right at home. The 100% cotton or polyester cotton uniforms, mostly imported from the U.S. and some from Britain, Germany and France, are branded Alpha, Rothco and Atlanta, the major suppliers of U.S military uniforms. They have M-65, M-A1, 45-P jackets (army, air force and navy), and many kinds of BDU jackets, T-shirts, as well as field equipment such as sleeping bags, water bottles, tents, hammocks and field packs. You can also find all kinds of handy odds and ends like Swiss army knives, electric flashlights, lighters, military watches and compasses. For those with a score to settle, you might be interested in their range of blowguns and slingshots. And for the theorists and armchair adventurers, they offer a selection of military books & magazines. Part of the 2nd floor is in the process of being turned into a small cafe. They have a second branch at Chongwenmen. Tel: 64015066 Add: Shop 1. 383 Dongsi North Rd. Dongcheng District. Bus: 106,116 807 to Qianliang Hutong then walk south, or to Dongsi then walk north. Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Carpenter
Tan
By Wang Dandan
Tanmujiang, or Carpenter Tan is a shop selling a range of quality hair combs made from various natural materials such as ox and sheep horn, boxwood, peach wood and sandalwood. These materials are all commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. Prolonged use of the combs is said to have a multitude of beneficial effects, from keeping your hair glossy and elastic, promoting blood circulation, curing headache, cold and fever, to prolonging your life. The shop offers a double your money back guarantee on any products that are found to be not up to standard. Address: Take subway to Jishuitan, walk about 200 meters south from the southwest exit, it’s on the left side of Photo by Fan Xuedong Xinjiekou Dajie. Tel: 66137632
By Li Dan Whether you’re looking for something to keep the kids occupied, or are simply into collecting toys yourself, T.O.T.S. at Guomao (World Trade Center) is well worth checking out. T.O.T.S. specializes in wooden toys. Brightly painted Snow Whites and any number of dwarves, they’re all here. The wood is oak, imported from Thailand, and the paints are natural, organic and pollutionfree. The range of ‘Playpoint Toys’ is aimed
at toddlers and includes big, bright building blocks, jigsaws and cute wooden animals. ‘Pinpoint Toys’, for older kids and kids at heart are more in the chess and wooden marble variety. Designers from Germany, Thailand, Finland and the Netherlands have come up with all kinds of amusing and unusual designs. Whether you bring the kids or not, don’t expect to leave empty handed! Address: Guomao, (World Trade Center) Underground Shopping City, near the Skating Rink. Jiangguomenwai Dajie. Bus: 1, 4, 57, 28, 48, 9 or subway, to Guomao Tel: 65054548
By Wang Dandan I had lunch the other day with my friend Andy at Zhulindao (Bamboo Corridor) Barbecue. Now barbecue has been one of my favorite types of food since I was a kid. I cut my baby teeth on BBQ beef and salad with cold noodles, so I consider myself something of an expert on this style of cuisine! Zhulindao is a newish restaurant, it’s been open for about one year. It’s a great place to eat on a nice day, a great place to get together with a few friends and while away a few hours. Do not wear a Tie! Zhulindao is not the kind of place where you need to empty your wallet in the name of gourmet dining. This restaurant is for people who know what food is supposed to taste like. Ok, let’s start with the food. WOW! I ordered the barbecue chicken, mushroom and potato salad and fried rice. Andy
Photo by Fan Xuedong
Even Shao Fan himself is not sure whether these structures can be called ‘chairs’ or not. Beautiful works of art are usually appreciated and admired, but seldom serve a functional purpose at the same time. Shao Fan’s creations use parts of original Ming Dynasty chairs, combining sleek modern art with ancient classic Chinese design. The current price for each piece is about 20,000 yuan, and valued for private collection. On exhibit in Beijing, Japan, Singapore and Pairs, the chairs, made of catalpa and elm wood, represent ‘a unique fusion’. You can contact the young artist directly if you have comments or suggestion, or have interests in purchasing one of his chairs: His mobile number is 13701061767, his E-mail is shaofan@sohu.com, or fax his office: 87315407. By Xu Yan
BBQ
had the barbecue beef and Chinese bamboo salad, which is a specialty of the restaurant. The chicken was done to perfection, covered in a delicious barbecue sauce, it was easily the best chicken I have had. As for the salad, I don’t exactly know how to describe how much I enjoy potato salad, and they make it just the way I like it, smooth, with just the right amount of pickles. I do not know about you, but I really cannot forget the last time the owner of a restaurant actually came out and talked with me, making sure that I enjoyed my meal. Although I can not guarantee the owner will come out and talk to everybody, I can tell you that this will be one meal that you will enjoy. If you are lucky, you might have the chance to listen to some traditional Chinese music
What Amazing Chairs!
played by the boss. Actually he seems more like an artist than a businessman. Zhulindao is a kind of barbecue bar, where people sometimes gather around and play and sing together. If you like BBQ and you want to try something new, this is it. You can find Zhulindao on the southern side of Beixinqiao crossroad. You can’t miss it. You really shouldn’t miss it! Take bus 106, 110, Dong Si Bus Stop. Tel: 6402 1152
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HOUSING
MAY 18. 2001
E-mail: jianrong@ynet.com
EDITOR: JIAN RONG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
approval from the national security ofce of the department of foreign affairs. 2% of the annual rent will be deducted as procedural fees and both sides will share the payment. Apart from this payment, there are no other government related fees. If responsibility for maintenance is not specied in the contract, then it is the owner’s responsibility to maintain the apartment and repair any damage resulting from natural causes. The owner is allowed to break the contract if you sublet or exchange the apartment without the owner’s approval; you deliberately damage the apartment; your rent is 6 months or more in arrears; you use the apartment to engage in illegal activities, or for other reasons according to law. It is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the apartment is available on the day specied in the contract and to promptly carry out any
Picture by Lao Du
By Wang Dandan
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an is a friend of mine who sought my help recently to rent an apartment in Beijing. Foreign citizens living in China are required to live in ‘foreigner approved’ apartments. We went to check several of these apartments together, with me acting as interpreter, and by the time he nally moved into his new home, we had both found that it isn’t so easy for a foreigner to rent a house in Beijing, without some local assistance. As a guide, I’ve listed below the procedures you should go through, once you have actually found a place you wish to rent Firstly, you and the owner must sign a ‘License of Renting Houses’, which the owner can obtain from the management department of real estate. The contract must state the name and residential address of owner; the location, size, furnishings and facilities of the apartment; your reason
Buying an Apartment With a Loan From a Chinese Bank By Wang Dandan
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for renting the apartment; the rental period; the amount of rent and method of payment; who is responsible for maintenance; whether you are permitted to sublet; who will be responsible if there is any change in the contract; the responsibilities should either side break the contract; and any other supplementary agreements Within 30 days of signing the contract, the owner should go to the municipal real estate bureau to register the contract and pay the individual tax. The owner must also obtain
oreigners who wish to buy an apartment with a loan from a Chinese bank may do so, provided the apartment is designated as ‘foreigner approved’ and the purchaser fullls the relevant requirements. You must rst obtain a license from the municipal real estate bureau allowing you to buy an apartment in China, and ll out a loan application from the bank. Deliver your passport, Beijing temporary dwelling license, apartment purchase contract with the real estate company, rst payment receipt and your income certi-
cate to the ofce of a designed lawyer. The lawyer will check these materials; determine whether you are eligible for a loan and comment on your credit status. You should buy apartment insurance from the bank, and the bank will recheck the above-mentioned documents. Upon approval of your application, you will sign relevant documents with the bank, regarding loan contract, warranty contract and so on, and open an individual account for the loan. The lawyer will be in charge of conrming all these contracts.
necessary maintenance. Any loss caused by delay must be compensated for. If you wish to sublet the apartment, you must, with the approval of the owner, sign a contract with the lease and have it registered at the real estate bureau. The expiry date cannot be later than that on the original agreement, unless the owner agrees to the new date. If all these rules and regulations seem too difcult, don’t despair! Just phone 65902521; our editors are at your service. The bank will deliver these documents to the real estate company and pay the loan into the company’s account, and you should then repay the loan and interest as per the terms of the contract. At present, the only Chinese bank that offers loans to foreigners is the China Construction Bank. “HOUSING” welcome your feedback: What kind of difculties do you encounter when looking for housing in Beijing? What kind of information do you need? What can we help you with? Our E-mail: jianrong@ynet.com Tel: 65902522 Fax: 65902525
Beijing Siheyuan
By Xu Yan
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rey clusters of adjoining, low-rise quadrangles, laid out in an orderly, and not so orderly fashion, the Siheyuan, or courtyard house is a silent testament to old Beijing’s history and culture. Qing Dynasty and earlier Siheyuan are of an elaborate and delicate design. Those built more recently are simpler. The oldest examples are in the inner city, especially around Nanluogu Xiang, Dongsi North Street, Jiaodaokou Avenue and Xisi North Street. Some of these Siheyuan are available for rent by foreigners. Monthly rents start at about $2,000 (not including charge for water, electricity, gas and telephone), depending on the size, condition and location. Such units are usually fully renovated and provided with basic furnishings, air-conditioning, and heating facilities. To rent a Siheyuan, you should make sure the unit is legally approved to be rented to foreigners, and take your identity certicate and residential permit issued by the Municipal Public Security Bureau to sign a formal contract with the owner. More information can be found in various media and on the Internet (www.chinats.com \www.beijing.gov.cn etc.). 5 6 7
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6. Posterior Shielding Rooms 7. Main Courtyard 8. Side Courtyard 9. West Wing Rooms 10. Corridor 11. Reversely-set Rooms
帮 E-mail: jianrong@ynet.com
WEEKEND Saturday, 19, May Clear, light breeze Max: 36C. Min: 21C.
Sunday, 20, May Clear , light breeze. Max: 35-37C. Min: 22C.
NEXT WEEK Monday, 21, May Cloudy, becoming clear. Max: 35C. Min: 21C.
Tuesday, 22, May Clear to cloudy Max: 33C. Min: 22C.
Wed, 23, May Cloudy, becoming overcast . Max: 30C. Min:20C.
Bars & Cafes No. 52 Bar & Coffee Live music everyday from 8:30pm to 2:00 pm. Daytime features Trance, Techno, Acid Jazz, Jazz Funk and Bossa Jazz. From Friday to Sunday, Zhou Zilei, who took 3rd place in the Young Singers’ Competition last year, will be performing. And next week, Li Hong, a Tian Zhen impersonator (one of the most famous female singers in China), will come here to put on her show. Add: 52 Sanlitun Nan Jie Chaoyang District Tel: 010-64164697 Hours: 10:00am---6:00pm Cash only Nashville Bar & restaurant Live music (English songs) from 9:30pm to 12:30am on weekdays and from 9:30pm to 3:30am on weekends. The bands vary. Add: 1st floor East 14#, Nan Sanlitun (South Bar Street) Chaoyang District Tel: 010-65024201 Fax: 010-65861943 Hours: 10:00am--3:00am (later on weekends) Cash and credit cards CD Cafe: Fei Yu & Flower Young bands scheduled to perform: Xin Feng Co, (New Bee), Flying Fish (Fei Yu) and Flower (huaer) are famous pop-funk bands in China. Performance starts at 9pm Door charge : 30yuan Tel: 010-65018877 ext. 3032 Add: South of Agriculture Exhibition Center, East Third Ring Road Hours: 8:00pm--2:00am, May 19
Auctions Thur,24, May Cloudy Max: 28C. Min: 18C.
Friday, 25, May Cloudy to clear Max: 30C. Min: 19C.
Air Quality Forecast Saturday 19/ Sunday 20 May, Clear & light breeze, moderate level of suspended air particles
2001 Spring Auction for Fine Arts and Antiques Zhongmao Shengjia International Auction Corporation. Three parts: 1.contemporary works of Chinese painting and calligraphy 2.ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy 3.antiques and rare curios Preview: 9:30am-6:00pm, May 17-19 Auction Time: 1:30pm, May 20; 1:30pm, May 21 Location: Banquet Room, second floor, Swissotel Tel: 010-64156669 Auction for Paintings and Calligraphy More than 400 works of Chinese painting, calligraphy, oil painting, water color and print by famous artists like Dong Shouping, Liu Lingcang, Huang Jun, Dai Ze, as well as collections from the Xu Beihong Museum will be on sale. Location: Museum of Xu Beihong, 53 Xinjiekou Beidajie
INFO 助
Preview: 9:00am-5:00pm, until May 18 Auction Time: 9:00am, May 19
Sports & Activities Aquascape Scuba Driving Club (Beijing Bi’an Qianshui Julebu) 北京彼岸潜水俱乐部 Go diving in the 4-meter-deep swimming pool for 160yuan. Their 40 day-training-program will be starting soon, 420yuan/person Tel: 010-68498613/ 68713791 Location: Swimming Pool, Kanglebu, Friendship Hotel Hours: 10:00am--9:00pm Beijing Green Equestrian Club (Beijing Gelin Mashu Julebu) 北京格林马术俱乐部 Beautiful scenery, outdoor track, excellent equestrian training. 80yuan/hour Location: North Bank of Wenyu River, 1 km east from Lijing Garden Villa, Jichang Fu Road, Chaoyang District Tel: 010-64577166/ 65881508
Exhibitions Soldiers of the Past Dynasties--Oil Painting Exhibition by Liu Fenghua, Yan Yu and Pu Guangxie Themes related to past generations of soldiers are expressed through screen painting and modern techniques. Liu Fenghua conveys his appreciation of soldiers’ influence on the development of society, history and culture. Location: Qin Gallery, 38A, Fangcaodi Beijie, Chaoyang District Time: until May 24 Tel: 65868929 Paintings by Foreign Artists in Beijing Works by resident artists, including Christine Giraud, George Lonita, Jamie Rawding, Jennifer Defazio, Lotta Kilander and Magda Zorko-Gastaric will be on display. Location: Creation Gallery, 4 Ritan Bei Lu, Chaoyang District Time: May 19-23 Tel: 65067570 Joint Exhibition Works by eight artists from northeastern China: Lin Jing, Zhao Kaikun, Qin Xiujie, Song Xuezhi, Wang
MAY 18. 2001
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EDITOR: JIAN RONG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
Jianguo, Lu Ming, Zhang Tiemei, Jing Yumin and Huo Shouyi will be on display. Location: Fun Gallery, north end of Silk Market, Chaoyang District Time: May 19-30 Tel: 010-65860344 Rebuilding A joint exhibition of 12 artists from New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Beijing. The artists reflect a multicultural combination between several generations. They all produce concrete works of art, using the human body and other substances to explore themes of society, history and individualism. Location: Art Gallery of Central Art Institute Time: May 19 Tel: 010-65284838
Musics & Performances China International modern dance performance The dancers come from various places throughout the world. Performances are based on Chinese culture, choreographed by Chinese artists. They include: Man Jiang Hong, performed by the Beijing modern dance troupe, and Sky Earth & Human by Chinese dancer Yang Liping. Time: 18 May--2 June Tel: 010-67211656 Add: 8 Majiapu Dongli Chaoyang District. Go 500 meters west from Yangqiao, Fengtai District. The Loft Cui Jian Concert Cui Jian, the most famous rock and roll singer in China, will perform at 9:00pm on Saturday, 26 May. The Loft can hold 1000 people, and tickets may be bought online or at Zhuoyue or the Loft. Tel: 010-65017501 Add: 14 Gongti Beilu , take the alley next to the Pacific Century Plaza Main gate and follow the signs, Chaoyang District Hours: 11:00am--2:00am Cash and credit card Great pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja visits Beijing One of the most distinctive contemporary artists in Austria will be playing in Beijing. Nowadays, Leonskaja often performs solo and
with famous European and North American orchestras. 1 Xinhuajie, Liubukou, Xi Chang’an Avenue, Xicheng, Beijing Music Hall No. 7 stop at Liubukou Time: May 25--May 26, 7:30pm Tel: 66057006-206 Touch Tibet Zena Zhuoma is a Tibetan singer with a beautiful voice. She expresses the internal mysteries and miracles of Tibet through her singing. 135 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Xicheng, Beijing Exhibition Center Theatre ( Beijing Zhanlanguan Juchang) No.7,15,27,102,107,111,332,808 to Exhibition Center Time: May 18-19, 7:30pm Tel: 010 - 68354308 European folk music Jinbo is a quartet band from the beautiful Swiss Alps. Founded ten years ago, the group is dedicated to European folk music, and their sounds transport listeners’ imaginations to the Roman Plains, the Alps and the city of Paris. 24 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng, Golden Sailing Hall No. 104, 108, 111 gets off at National Art Museum Time: May 23, 7:30pm Tel:010-65250615 Concert to commemorate La Traviata composer The performance will be in appreciation of his contribution to art, music, and opera history. Invited conductor: Lawrence Gegrein (U.S.A.). Performed by Beijing Symphony Orchestra. Dongcheng, Zhongshan Park, The Forbidden City Concert Hall (Zhongshan Yinyuetang) Time: May 18, 7:30pm Tel: 010-65598285 Effie Awards -- A celebration of Advertising For the first time, the Effie Awards will be held in city of Beijing. Supported by the Marketing Committee of the United States, the China Advertising Committee will host this event, which honors successful and artistic advertising campaigns. 3 Fuxinglu, Haidian, China Science and Technology Hall, Zhongguo Keji huitang No.1,4,52,320 or subway to Muxudi Time: May 22, 9:00am--5:30pm Tickets 180 Yuan Tel: 010-66037255 By Jiao Pei, Li Dan, Li Yuan Contact us: Bjtodayinfo@ynet.com
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E-mail: jianrong@ynet.com
PLAN 案
Agriculture and plant protection were placed strong emphasis on during the just concluded Beijing hightech week. For this reason we have picked two important sight-seeing spots in Beijing, Beijing Glorious Land Agricultural Sight-seeing Garden and Beijing Botanical Garden, and scheduled a one-day trip to them. In the two gardens you can learn Chinese people’s efforts in agricultural technology improvement and plant protection. We hope that you will have a good time in the two beautiful gardens.
EDITOR: JIAN RONG DESIGNER: PANG LEI
Trip to Beijing Glorious Land Agricultural Sight-seeing Garden Beijing Glorious Land Agricultural Garden was designated as one of the important sightseeing spots during Beijing’s just concluded High-tech week. Visitors to the garden are enlightened with all sorts of information about modern agricultural techniques and the future of agriculture. Beijing Glorious Land Agricultural Sight-seeing Garden has been devoted to introducing innovative technologies and science to traditional agriculture since its inception. In the Hydroponic Lettuce Workshop, the use of soil in the growing cycle of vegetables is rejected. In this workshop, there is a flower market, your may buy your favorite hydroponically grown flower or potted landscape there. In the Fish - Vegetable Ecosystem Workshop, vegetables take root in the culture substrate floating in the water, while just below, sturgeons swim leisurely back and forth. The clink of glass bottles signals the very different nature of this agricultural garden to the traditional variety. Tens of thousands of glass bottles neatly lining the shelves are not only a visual surprise, they may well turn your concept of agriculture upside down. In the Tissue Culture Workshop, tens of thousands of culture bottles nurture the vulnerable seedlings of calla. The green babies rest peacefully in the moderate moisture and temperature. This workshop is responsible for an annual output of 20,000,000 calla seedlings. In the Seedling Room, Pepper Sunshine, Victory Yellow Pepper, Eastern Green Seed, and Butter Lettuce are thriving.
By Jiang Zhong
Photo by Louge
The sightseeing garden feeds some famous breeds of cattle, such as Piedmontese from Italy, Gelbvieh from Germany and Limousin from Canada. In the Rare Bird Growing Center, you will see keets, white peacocks, blue peacocks and ostriches.
You will find a Butterfly Specimen Demonstration Hall near the main entrance of the garden. About 100 butterfly specimens are on display here. The garden also has a large sports center, a golf course, a go-cart track and a fishing center. There is a restaurant, called Dadi Restaurant near the main entrance. Sports center opening hours: Monday-Thursday: 2pm-9pm Friday: 2pm-10pm Saturday: 10am-10pm Sunday: 10am-8pm The go-carts cost 40 yuan per six minutes. Restaurant opening hours: 11am-1:30pm 5pm-8:30pm
There are various species of mushroom growing in the Workshop Producing Space Shiitake; you can even buy some to take home. The big glossy ganoderma that frequently features in traditional Chinese fairy tales are also on display. Visitors are welcome to sit in a comfortable armchair and enjoy a cool drink. Address: Liao Gongzhuang, Si Jiqing, Haidian District Fee: 20 yuan Take bus 336 at Fu Chengmen or 370 at Gong Zhufen, get off at Liao Gongzhuang
Trip to Asian biggest green house in Beijing Botanical Garden After visiting the Glorious Land Agricultural Garden, you might like to check out Asia’s biggest green house, in the Beijing Botanical Garden. The big greenhouse comprises four exhibition areas, including the Desert Plant House, the Flower Exhibition House, the Tropical Rain Forest section and the Orchid, Bromeliad and Carnivorous Plant House. The Tropical Rain Forest section has an area of 1,200 square meters, with more than 500 species of tropical plants The Flower Exhibition House lies on display. These include Cofin the center of the green house. fea arabica, C. Canephora, It has an area of 3,500 square meC.liberica, Ilex latifolia, Arters, and comprises 3 major exhibitocarpus communis, Ficus tion areas; the central garden, foyer religiosa, Ficus microcarpa, area and palm tree area. There are Synsepalum dulcificum, Alseveral species of rare arbor on dissophila spinulosa, play here. The important plants of Codariocalyx gyroides, Victothe hall include: Cycas revoluta, ria amazonica, Parashorea chiRoystonea regia, Dolonix regia, Mexnensis and Hevea brasiliensis. ican frangipani, W. filifera, Pandanusiltilis, and Ravenala madaga scariensis.
By Chen Guangzhong, Jiang Zhong Beijing celebrated the 25th International Museum Day on May 18, with eighty of the city’s 112 registered museums participating in the theme exhibition held on that day. Beijing has many theme museums, each telling about a different aspect of history, that the larger ones tend to overlook. I strongly suggest you visit some of these smaller museums and have selected some particularly interesting ones that will give you a real insight into the history of the city. A bicycle should be of great convenience for such a museumhunting trip.
Deshengmen Watchtower-Beijing Ancient Coins Museum In the mid 1990s, construction of the Beijing Ancient Coins Museum was in preparation and the south part of the Deshengmen watchtower was selected as the exhibiting
The Desert Plant House is also known as the cacti hall. It occupies an area of 1,200 square meters and features typical desert plants, such as Euphorbia tirucalli, Jatropha podagrica, Welwitschia bainesii, and Echinocactus grusonii.
The Orchid, Bromeliad and Carnivorous Plant House has an area of 500 square meters and features various species of orchids and insect-eating plants. The important species include: Paphiopedilum, Phalaenopsis, Cattleyahybride, Dendrobium nobile, Vanda, Neoregelia carolinae, Aechmea fasciata, Billbergia pyramidalis, Pinguicula alpinal, Dionaea muscipula, Nepenthes mirabilis and Sarracenia.
Theme Museums Tell Different Stories room. As well as featuring a comprehensive exhibition of ancient coins, the museum also sells books on coin collecting and reproductions of various ancient coins. The watchtower itself is 31.9 meters high, with 4 floors and 82 arrow shooting windows. Open hours: 9am - 4pm Subway: to Gulou Station on the loop line (古楼站) Bus: 5, 27, 44, 55 to Deshengmen. (德胜门) Closed on Mondays. Fee: 5 yuan Zhihuasi--Beijing Wenbo Museum Zhihuasi (智化寺) was built in 1443 by Wangzhen, a high ranking eunuch, and named Zhihua Chansi Temple by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. The temple comprises of five courtyards. Unlike other temples, the roofs of the temple are covered with black glazed tiles, symbolizing the vanquishing of demons and monsters. The area of the temple is neatly arranged and it is one of the best preserved architectural complexes of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Beijing. On the 25th anniversary of the International Museum Day, infor-
mation about one hundred Beijing Museums will be on display in the temple. Location: 5 Lumicang Hutong (禄米仓胡同), Dongcheng District Open hours: 9am-4pm Bus: No. 24 to Lumicang Closed on Mondays. Fee: 5 yuan The Ancient Fa Yuan Temple Fa Yuan Temple is one of Beijing’s oldest temples. Built in 645 AD under the orders of the first emperor of Tang Dynasty Li Shi Min. Fa Yuan Temple comprises six courtyards. In the fifth courtyard, stands the Hall of Guanyin, featuring a one thousand hands and one
thousand eyes statue of Guanyin. The building at the rear of the temple is used to store religious scriptures. A 7.4-meter long wooden Buddha with a benevolent expression lies on his side before the building. There are also many other precious cultural relics. Open hours: 8.30am - 11am, 1.30pm - 4pm Address: Fa Yuan Si (法源寺) Qianjie, Xuanwu District. Take bus 61 to Niu Jie (牛街), then walk to the temple. Ticket fee: 5 yuan. The temple is closed to the public on Wednesdays. The Museum of Postal Services Beijing Museum of Postal Services is located in a single-story house in a small alley named “Xiaobaofang Hutong” (小报房胡同) in the Dongdan area. There are only three rooms in the museum, and only one and half of these rooms
Photo by Chen Guangzhong
serve as exhibition space. The exhibition here shows the history of the Chinese postal service, from the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BC-220 AD) right up to modern times, and includes precious historical pictures and antiques related to the postal service. People may pay a visit to the exhibiting room and choose some stamps or books on the history of postal services. They may also have the commemorative envelops with the introduction of this museum, sealed on Feb. 19, the founding day of the museum. Besides, the two stamps in it are of highly value to be collected. Open hours: 9am-11:30am, 1pm-4pm, closed on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays Location: 7 Xiaobaofang Hutong, east side of Chongwenmen Nei Dajie (opposite Dongdan Park) Bus: 8, 39, 41, 44 or 108 to Chongwenmen Fee: 3 yuan
Other Theme Exhibitions
1. Exhibition on Chinese Ancient Pagodas You will learn the origin, evolution, name, style and structure of ancient Chinese pagodas from more than one hundred pictures present here. Location: Beijing Art of Stone Carving Museum Add: 24 Wuta Si Cun(五塔寺村）, Xizhimenwai, Haidian District 2. Simulated Archaeological studies You may participate in archaeological studies and visit the underground palace of the Han Tomb. Location: Beijing Dabaotai Han Tomb Museum（大葆台西汉墓） Add: 500m south to the World Park, Fengtai District 3. Exhibition of Song Dynasty Porcelain Genuine Song Dynasty (960-1127) porcelain from the famous ‘five kilns’, as well as imitations will be on show. Location: Palace Museum（故宫） 4. Exhibition of Technological Achievements in Ancient China Themes: ancient astronomical calendar, agriculture, textile, pottery and porcelain, metal smelting, machine manufacture, architecture, medical science and the Four Inventions. Location: China History Museum(历史博物馆） Add: east side of Tian’anmen Square By Li Yuan