Amnesty International UK's first video about the Beijing Olympics and human rights:
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Podcast RSS feeds blocked in China
When I was last in China (in March), I found it fascinating which podcast RSS feeds the Net Nannies blocked and which they did not. This motley mix of censoring the benign and leaving salty feeds uncensored (e.g., the Distorted View podcast) really emphasizes the keystone cop nature of China's Net Nannies.
BLOCKED RSS PODCAST FEEDS:
60 Minutes
Escapepod
Pseudopod
Scott Sigler
Pacific Coast Hellway
UC Radio Podcast
Best of National Geographic
The Economist
Talk Radio News
The Onion Radio News
This American Life
Well Told Tales
Comedy Central Stand-up
WSJ Tech News Brief
NOT BLOCKED:
Distorted View
BBC - Best of Today - not salty, but interesting that this BBC feed is not blocked given that the BBC was in a tiff with China a few years back, etc.
BLOCKED RSS PODCAST FEEDS:
60 Minutes
Escapepod
Pseudopod
Scott Sigler
Pacific Coast Hellway
UC Radio Podcast
Best of National Geographic
The Economist
Talk Radio News
The Onion Radio News
This American Life
Well Told Tales
Comedy Central Stand-up
WSJ Tech News Brief
NOT BLOCKED:
Distorted View
BBC - Best of Today - not salty, but interesting that this BBC feed is not blocked given that the BBC was in a tiff with China a few years back, etc.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chinese Nationalism on the Rise - Taiwan, Tibet, Olympics, etc.
Mainland Chinese are mad and they aren't going to take it anymore. Invigorated with new-found wealth (largest foreign exchange reserves in the world since 2006, per capita income up by a CAGR of 11% over the last half a decade, largest carbon polluter in the world, world's 3rd largest economy, etc.), the Chinese are responding as best they can to what they perceive as perfidious foreigners trying to break apart their historic Union (Taiwanese and Tibetan separatists).
For example, I received a chain e-mail from Chinese friends about Tibet, the French and Carrefour (a large, French supermarket chain that has expanded aggressively into Asia and China over the last decade and a half). It calls for a boycott of Carrefour:
5月8日-24日正好是北京奥运会的前三个月.请您不要去家乐福购物.因为:
1. 家乐福的大股东捐巨资给达赖
2. 法国支持藏独者甚众
3. 法国总统声言抵制奥运会.
那么我们现在就抵制一下家乐福.为期与北京奥运会同长.前后17天,让他们看看中国民众的力量. 请转发.
It reads:
May 8th - 24th is exactly three months prior to the Beijing Olympics. Please do not go to Carrefour to shop / purchase. Because: 1. Carrefour's largest shareholder has given money to the Dali Lama. 2. France supports Tibetan Independence severally. 3. The French President declared a boycott of the Oympics. Now, therefore, let us boycott Carrefour for a bit. For a period of time as long as that of the Olympics themselves. For these 17 days, make them see the strength of the Chinese people. Please forward this.
(Point 3 refers to President Sarkozy's demand that China open talks with the Dalai Lama, etc. as a condition for Sarkozy to attend the Opening Ceremony.)
China now has the world's second largest Internet population and we will see Chinese netizens being increasingly proactive in using the Web to further their agendas.
For example, I received a chain e-mail from Chinese friends about Tibet, the French and Carrefour (a large, French supermarket chain that has expanded aggressively into Asia and China over the last decade and a half). It calls for a boycott of Carrefour:
5月8日-24日正好是北京奥运会的前三个月.请您不要去家乐福购物.因为:
1. 家乐福的大股东捐巨资给达赖
2. 法国支持藏独者甚众
3. 法国总统声言抵制奥运会.
那么我们现在就抵制一下家乐福.为期与北京奥运会同长.前后17天,让他们看看中国民众的力量. 请转发.
It reads:
May 8th - 24th is exactly three months prior to the Beijing Olympics. Please do not go to Carrefour to shop / purchase. Because: 1. Carrefour's largest shareholder has given money to the Dali Lama. 2. France supports Tibetan Independence severally. 3. The French President declared a boycott of the Oympics. Now, therefore, let us boycott Carrefour for a bit. For a period of time as long as that of the Olympics themselves. For these 17 days, make them see the strength of the Chinese people. Please forward this.
(Point 3 refers to President Sarkozy's demand that China open talks with the Dalai Lama, etc. as a condition for Sarkozy to attend the Opening Ceremony.)
China now has the world's second largest Internet population and we will see Chinese netizens being increasingly proactive in using the Web to further their agendas.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Toilet as "loo"
Taken a few years ago at the Henan Provincial Labor Union building. I assume someone just a dictionary and translated toilet as “loo”.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Way around the Great Firewall o' China
Found a neat way around the Great Firewall of China! E-mail me for more info. Better not post it here otherwise the Chinese Net Nannies might get wise.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tests reveal toxic delta vegetables - Pearl River Delta, China
Well, I guess it is not enough that one can not breathe the air in Guangdong let alone exercise (for fear of injuring your lungs), but now apparently you can not eat the vegetables there due to toxic pollution.
Tests reveal toxic delta vegetables
High lead, cadmium levels in food
Zhuang Pinghui and Cheung Chi-fai
Jan 18, 2008
Serious heavy-metal contamination has been found in vegetables from the Pearl River Delta and in the soil they grow in, a mainland report says.
Surveys of densely populated cities such as Guangzhou, Foshan , Dongguan and Zhongshan discovered the soil contamination, the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday. Samples taken in areas such as Nanhai and Xinhui - among the province's main vegetable-producing areas - showed serious contamination.
An expert said the areas did not supply Hong Kong's vegetables.
Although the contamination may not be serious enough to lead to food poisoning - because most chemicals can be washed away before consumption - the findings confirm the fears of environmentalists that Guangdong's breakneck economic development over the past three decades has caused serious environmental damage.
The soil sampling - initiated by Guangdong's Agriculture Department - is being carried out after Chen Riyuan , a professor at South China Agriculture University, submitted his own study to the government last year alerting it to the problem of heavy-metal contamination of vegetables.
Another study conducted by Sun Yat-sen University examined vegetable samples taken from 12 wet markets in Guangzhou. It confirmed that contaminated vegetables had found their way to consumers.
Lead levels in leaf samples tested were 37.5 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium levels were 18.1 per cent too high. In samples of root vegetables, the level of lead was 26.3 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium 9.7 per cent too high.
It is not the first time researchers have found chemical contamination of Guangdong's farmland. In 2005, a State Environmental Protection Agency survey found 40 per cent of the delta's cities suffered from heavy-metal pollution, with the contamination "serious" in 10 per cent of cities.
Contacted yesterday, Professor Chen said he hoped the government would be able to come up with solutions. He said his study showed the problem had been controlled in big cities but was prevalent elsewhere.
"Land that has suffered low levels of pollution can be treated through technology," he said. "But it will be very costly to deal with land with serious pollution."
He suggested growing flowers or trees as an alternative.
Professor Chen said Hong Kong should not worry because vegetables supplied to the city mainly came from so-called "pollution-free" production bases in the province. According to the Guangzhou Daily, Guangdong has 260,000 hectares of farmland qualified as pollution-free.
Wong Ming-hung, director of the Croucher Institute for Environmental Science at Hong Kong Baptist University, said there was no cause for panic since most of the chemicals could be washed off leaf vegetables.
"The top priority now is to conduct research to find the sources of these heavy metals. Contaminated land should be left vacant," he said.
Edward Chan Yue-fai, of environmental group Greenpeace, cautioned that the problem could spread as polluting factories moved inland.
Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety would not comment on the Guangzhou Daily's report.
High levels of lead can damage virtually every system in the body. It is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children.
Tests reveal toxic delta vegetables
High lead, cadmium levels in food
Zhuang Pinghui and Cheung Chi-fai
Jan 18, 2008
Serious heavy-metal contamination has been found in vegetables from the Pearl River Delta and in the soil they grow in, a mainland report says.
Surveys of densely populated cities such as Guangzhou, Foshan , Dongguan and Zhongshan discovered the soil contamination, the Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday. Samples taken in areas such as Nanhai and Xinhui - among the province's main vegetable-producing areas - showed serious contamination.
An expert said the areas did not supply Hong Kong's vegetables.
Although the contamination may not be serious enough to lead to food poisoning - because most chemicals can be washed away before consumption - the findings confirm the fears of environmentalists that Guangdong's breakneck economic development over the past three decades has caused serious environmental damage.
The soil sampling - initiated by Guangdong's Agriculture Department - is being carried out after Chen Riyuan , a professor at South China Agriculture University, submitted his own study to the government last year alerting it to the problem of heavy-metal contamination of vegetables.
Another study conducted by Sun Yat-sen University examined vegetable samples taken from 12 wet markets in Guangzhou. It confirmed that contaminated vegetables had found their way to consumers.
Lead levels in leaf samples tested were 37.5 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium levels were 18.1 per cent too high. In samples of root vegetables, the level of lead was 26.3 per cent above acceptable limits and cadmium 9.7 per cent too high.
It is not the first time researchers have found chemical contamination of Guangdong's farmland. In 2005, a State Environmental Protection Agency survey found 40 per cent of the delta's cities suffered from heavy-metal pollution, with the contamination "serious" in 10 per cent of cities.
Contacted yesterday, Professor Chen said he hoped the government would be able to come up with solutions. He said his study showed the problem had been controlled in big cities but was prevalent elsewhere.
"Land that has suffered low levels of pollution can be treated through technology," he said. "But it will be very costly to deal with land with serious pollution."
He suggested growing flowers or trees as an alternative.
Professor Chen said Hong Kong should not worry because vegetables supplied to the city mainly came from so-called "pollution-free" production bases in the province. According to the Guangzhou Daily, Guangdong has 260,000 hectares of farmland qualified as pollution-free.
Wong Ming-hung, director of the Croucher Institute for Environmental Science at Hong Kong Baptist University, said there was no cause for panic since most of the chemicals could be washed off leaf vegetables.
"The top priority now is to conduct research to find the sources of these heavy metals. Contaminated land should be left vacant," he said.
Edward Chan Yue-fai, of environmental group Greenpeace, cautioned that the problem could spread as polluting factories moved inland.
Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety would not comment on the Guangzhou Daily's report.
High levels of lead can damage virtually every system in the body. It is especially harmful to the developing brains of fetuses and young children.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The 21th Floor
Here is an interesting bit of Chinglish / Engrish taken at a Beijing hotel in Zhongguancun (the Silicon Valley of Beijing as it were).
The twenty-firTH floor?
The twenty-firTH floor?
The Shenzhen Web
The Shenzhen Web appears to be a good resource for facts and information regarding ole Shenzhen:
- 17,000 - foreigners living permanently in Shenzhen
- 430,000 - foreigners studying or working temporarily in Shenzhen
- 8.46 million - Shenzhen hukou holders in 2006
- 11 million - target limit of Shenzhen hukou holders by 2020
- 15 million - “warning threshold” at which “the per capita public resources will be reduced and the city’s development restrained”…
- 12345 - Phone number for English language hotline for laowai to whinge about lack of public services.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Ouch! Fist salute to the head.
I understand that the fist salute has a long Socialist and Communist history? Sorry though, reminds me of the People's Front of Judea's fist-to-the-head salute (painful!) in Monty Python's Life of Brian film.
Red Chinese Fist Salute Propaganda Video - Click here for the most popular videos
Red Chinese Fist Salute Propaganda Video - Click here for the most popular videos
Wacky pirated DVD subtitles
As is well known, one can find DVDs at extremely low prices in China. It is often unclear if the DVDs of recent movies are pirated or not. Often though, the subtitles in English are quite funny. Not sure why technically, but it seems the pirates must re-enter subtitles and the English is very different from the actual speech or text. Here is an example from American Gangster:
* In the opening scene, Denzel and partners are dousing someone in gasoline. The victim screams "Damn!" or something. The subtitles say: "what damn". Then "damn of mix Zhang".
* The movie's title scrolls across the screen: "AMERICAN GANGSTER". The subtitles say: "name of movie: the United States be".
* "Based on a true story". The subtitles say "reorganize from the true story".
* When the mentor gangster is distributing Thanksgiving turkeys from a truck, the subtitles say: "Thanks-giving Day happiness".
* 1968 - Harlem. The subtitles say: "1968 year black living quarters".
* As the mentor gangster distributes turkeys from the truck, the subtitles say: "give you".
There is more. But that's all for now.
* In the opening scene, Denzel and partners are dousing someone in gasoline. The victim screams "Damn!" or something. The subtitles say: "what damn". Then "damn of mix Zhang".
* The movie's title scrolls across the screen: "AMERICAN GANGSTER". The subtitles say: "name of movie: the United States be".
* "Based on a true story". The subtitles say "reorganize from the true story".
* When the mentor gangster is distributing Thanksgiving turkeys from a truck, the subtitles say: "Thanks-giving Day happiness".
* 1968 - Harlem. The subtitles say: "1968 year black living quarters".
* As the mentor gangster distributes turkeys from the truck, the subtitles say: "give you".
There is more. But that's all for now.
Location-based SMS text ads in China
Location-based SMS text ads have become quite pervasive in China. Verging on spam. Well, no they are spam. However, sometimes quasi-useful. For example, during a recent trip to the Great Wall of China, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a text ad offering me a discount at a nearby hotel.
One also receives updates from China Mobile in terms of welcoming you to a new city (say Shanghai) with weather reports, etc.
One also receives updates from China Mobile in terms of welcoming you to a new city (say Shanghai) with weather reports, etc.
2 penises brought to you by the letter "I"
You can see the strangest things on TV in China (and other parts of Asia). I have blogged (or at least uploaded videos) in the past with rough translations of faux medical product infomericals. So, my mind wandered into the gutter when I turned on the TV and saw a father and son set of blue penises eating ice cream. Well, of course, they were not penises, but the capital letter "I" and his son, lower-case "i".
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Crowding during holidays in China - Just say NO
Chinese, like all human beings, love to travel and love their holidays. However, given the population density in China, it is advisable NOT to travel during holidays and try to time your travel and vacationing when most of the 1.3 billion Chinese are working.
Then again, if you want to experience foot-to-foot crowds as dense as in the planet Gideon in Star Trek, then by all means go to China during their holidays.
This photo says it all:
Then again, if you want to experience foot-to-foot crowds as dense as in the planet Gideon in Star Trek, then by all means go to China during their holidays.
This photo says it all:
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
"Support the One-child Policy!"
Support the Planned Reproduction (read: One-child) Policy! -- so says this governmental propaganda on the side of a fence. Fence of an apartment complex in Shenzhen, China.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Free HIV/AIDs tests for farmers in Shandong Province, China
I noticed this public service ad in a bathroom at a 4-star hotel in Jinan, Shandong Province. Glad to see this. Free HIV/AIDS testing poster for farmers. Lots of farmers in Shandong Province and some are sure to have been victim to the paid blood donation sort of scandal that has led to infections in Henan Province and other areas.
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